The Debate: Championship Play-Offs Revamp - Stick or twist?

Two of bet365's Senior Content Producers trade blows as to whether the somewhat controversial plan to revamp the Championship's play-offs should get the green light when all 72 EFL clubs vote on the subject this Thursday.

The Championship play-offs system isn’t broke; so why are we trying to fix it?, writes Jaquob Crooke

Jaquob Crooke

The current play-off concept has stood for more than two decades since the away goal rule was abolished and whether you agree with the format, you cannot deny it makes for sublime entertainment.

From the astonishing ending at Vicarage Road in 2013 when Troy Deeney thumped Watford into the play-off final after Anthony Knockaert’s missed penalty, to hometown hero Dean Windass’ spectacular volley to send Hull City to the Premier League, we’ve witnessed countless epic moments in a play-off system that doesn’t need altering.

Let’s cut through it: the implementation of an expanded Championship play-off format, like everything else in this sport, is the result of financial and broadcasting incentives.

Sky Sports are understandably delighted at the prospect of televising two extra matches given the wealth of drama and jeopardy the play-offs provide.

But off the back of a season where Bristol City were scoffed at for achieving a play-off berth with just 69 points, why are we rewarding clubs that finish eighth with an opportunity to achieve the same riches as those that have accrued 25/30 more points in first and second?

Preston North End director Peter Ridsdale is a driving force behind this change. Since Preston’s promotion from League One in 2014/15, Ridsdale’s club have finished 11th, 11th, 7th, 14th, 9th, 13th, 13th, 12th and 10th – we’ll omit their 20th-place finish last term - so it should be no surprise that Ridsdale is a staunch supporter of rewarding mediocrity.

The entire revamp is unlikely to alter the current play-off trend.

Only twice in the last 10 seasons have we witnessed a team finish below fourth and achieve promotion: Aston Villa in 2018/19 and Huddersfield Town in 2016/17. David Wagner’s Terriers can be considered an outlier given they accrued 81 points in that campaign, enough to finish fourth or above in four of the previous five seasons.

The last team to finish sixth at the end of a Championship season and win promotion was Blackpool in 2009/10. Before them it was West Ham in 2004/05.

Given the disparity in wealth and squad depth between those vying for automatic promotion and those aiming to sneak a top six berth, the play-offs are less of a lottery compared to two decades ago.

Will the new format address that? Adding two more teams into the mix who ultimately were not good enough to achieve their promotion objective over the course of a 46-game season doesn’t feel like it’s the answer.

It's time to end parachute payment power in the Championship and expand the play-offs to six teams, writes Mark Mothershaw

Mark Mothershaw

There's absolutely no doubting, as Jaquob rightly says, that the current format of the Championship play-offs provides exceptional drama and excitement.

But the changes being put forward to all 72 EFL club's this week isn't to try and fix a 'broken' play-offs system, they are primarily designed to both further enhance what is already one of the most riveting and captivating events on the footballing calendar and open the top-flight door to other clubs ready and waiting to break the mould.

Everybody associated with the sport understands the riches on offer for the winners of the play-offs - a reported £300 million reward together, of course, with the prestige of playing in by far the biggest, and most watched league in world football, the Premier League.

Adding an additional layer to the current format not only spices things up even more, it also offers other clubs - many of whom are significantly hamstrung by the current FFP profit and sustainability rules - a greater chance of winning promotion.

As a fan of a club have undoubtedly been significantly hit by the current abhorrent and quite outrageous rules in the past, changes to the play-offs format are undoubtedly needed.

At present, there are on average of six clubs in the Championship each season who are beneficiaries of parachute payments from the Premier League - significant multi-million pound pay cheques, over a three-year period, which gives them a significant advantage when it comes to attempting to bounce back to the top-flight of English football.

These clubs can, and always do, spend vast amounts more than pretty much every club in the league, which in itself, doesn't sit right with a large number of supporters whose sides currently ply their trade in the second-tier.

FFP rules and regulations need a major revamp of their own, but that's for another day. For now, the focus is on the potential format changes of the play-offs, which I struggle to understand why anybody would be against.

Expanding the system to include teams which finish in seventh and eighth spots adds an extra dimension to the league table - it will freshen the Championship up a tad, whilst it will also minimise those dead-rubber matches that sometimes occur during the latter stages of the campaign.

In a day and age where cash is undoubtedly king in football, and where the 'bigger clubs' are often aided in their bids for success, why not open up the possibility of promotion to the Premier League to clubs who aren't risking both limbs and life in the pursuit of fulfilling their top-flight dream, whilst also giving the neutrals another couple of key encounters to take in on the big screen.