How does championship playoffs work

We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. The Championship Play-Offs include the most valuable sporting event in the world, giving one team a slot in the Premier League.

But do you know how they work? Baring a historic makeup of goal differential, Fulham are in the playoffs. Being four points out of fifth place means Fulham are locked into sixth. We may not yet know are opponent, but we do know the playoff format.

The qualifications for the Championship playoffs are pretty easy to understand. The teams that finish in third through sixth place are the only teams that make the playoffs. Unlike some other leagues, there is no team from the top flight that competes with the lower division squads to go back up. The first round of the playoffs is held over two legs. On the first leg of the tie, the sixth place team hosts the third place team, while the fifth place team hosts the fourth place team.

Since Fulham are locked into sixth place, the first leg of the semi-final will be held at Craven Cottage. The two semi-final games will happen on consecutive days, Saturday May 13th and Sunday May 14th.

Two teams - first place and second place - earn automatic promotion, but the teams which finish third, fourth, fifth and sixth enter a play-off series. A merit system is in place to pair the teams for the semi-finals. Third place plays sixth place in one semi-final and fourth place plays fifth place in the other semi-final. The Championship semi-finals are traditionally two-legged affairs, but the away goals rule does not apply. The semi-final winners progress to the play-off final.

Brentford secured their place in the Championship play-offs with three games to spare. The Bees will be joined in the promotion tournament by Bournemouth , Swansea and Barnsley. Norwich City secured automatic promotion in April, with Watford joining the Canaries a few weeks later with a second-placed finish. Kick-off times in the final round of group games and knock-out round matches will be at 6pm and 10pm local time 3pm and 7pm UK time.

Play for free, entries by Search Sky Sports. Fill 2 Copy 11 Created with Sketch. Sunday 14 November , UK. How do the play-offs work? Come on!