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2022 English Football League play-offs

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2022 English Football League play-offs
Wembley Stadium was the venue for each play-off final
Season2021–22
2021
2023

The English Football League play-offs for the 2021–22 season (referred to as the Sky Bet Play-Offs for sponsorship reasons) were held in May 2022 with all finals being staged at Wembley Stadium in Wembley.

The play-offs begin in each league with two semi-finals which are played over two legs. The teams who finished in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th place in the Championship and League One and the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th-placed teams in League Two compete. The winners of the semi-finals advance to the finals, with the winners gaining promotion for the following season.

All three play-off finals will use Video Assistant Referees (VAR), making it the first time that they have been used in each of the respective leagues.[1]

Background

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The English Football League play-offs have been held every year since 1987. They take place for each division following the conclusion of the regular season and are contested by the four clubs finishing below the automatic promotion places. The fixtures are determined by final league position – in the Championship and League One this is 3rd v 6th and 4th v 5th, while in League Two it is 4th v 7th and 5th v 6th.[citation needed]

Television

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All English Football League play-off games were broadcast live on Sky Sports. It was simulcast on the ESPN+ streaming platform in the United States.[citation needed]

Championship

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Semi-finals

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The final table was confirmed after the final matchday on 7 May 2022, due to Bournemouth beating Nottingham Forest on 3 May 2022; this meant that Nottingham Forest and Huddersfield Town were guaranteed to finish either 3rd or 4th and in the play-offs. Sheffield United and Luton Town won their games against Fulham and Reading respectively, because of this, Middlesbrough and Millwall did not qualify for the play-offs regardless of their results. It meant that Luton played Huddersfield, and Sheffield United played Nottingham Forest in the 1st legs, and vice versa in the 2nd legs.

Final league position – Championship
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
3 Huddersfield Town 46 23 13 10 64 47 17 82
4 Nottingham Forest 46 23 11 12 73 40 33 80
5 Sheffield United 46 21 12 13 63 45 18 75
6 Luton Town 46 21 12 13 63 55 8 75

First leg

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Luton Town1–1Huddersfield Town
  • Bradley 30'
Report
Attendance: 10,005
Referee: Robert Jones
Sheffield United1–2Nottingham Forest
Report
Attendance: 30,225

Second leg

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Huddersfield Town1–0Luton Town
Rhodes 82' Report

Huddersfield Town won 2–1 on aggregate.

3–3 on aggregate. Nottingham Forest won 3–2 on penalties.

Final

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The winner, Nottingham Forest, won promotion to the top fight after more than two decades of absence, joining Fulham and Bournemouth in being promoted to the Premier League for the 2022–23 season.

Huddersfield Town0–1Nottingham Forest
Report
Attendance: 80,019
Referee: Jon Moss

League One

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Semi-finals

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The final table was confirmed after the final matchday on 30 April 2022, Milton Keynes Dons had already guaranteed a place in the play-offs and would have been promoted if they had a better result than Rotherham United. Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland won their games against Portsmouth and Morecambe respectively to finish 4th and 5th. Wycombe Wanderers beat Burton Albion and due to Plymouth Argyle losing to MK Dons, Wycombe finished 6th and Plymouth finished 7th. It meant that Wycombe played MK Dons and Sunderland played Sheffield Wednesday in the first legs, and vice versa in the second legs.

Final league position – League One
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
3 Milton Keynes Dons 46 26 11 9 78 44 34 89
4 Sheffield Wednesday 46 24 13 9 78 50 28 85
5 Sunderland 46 24 12 10 79 53 26 84
6 Wycombe Wanderers 46 23 14 9 75 51 24 83

First leg

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Wycombe Wanderers2–0Milton Keynes Dons
Report
Attendance: 8,987
Referee: Darren Bond
Sunderland1–0Sheffield Wednesday
Report
Attendance: 44,742
Referee: Matthew Donohue

Second leg

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Milton Keynes Dons1–0Wycombe Wanderers
Report
Attendance: 13,012

Wycombe Wanderers won 2–1 on aggregate.

Sheffield Wednesday1–1Sunderland
Report
Attendance: 32,978
Referee: James Linington

Sunderland won 2–1 on aggregate.

Final

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Wycombe Wanderers0–2Sunderland
Report
Attendance: 72,332
Referee: Simon Hooper

League Two

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Semi-finals

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The final table was confirmed after the final matchday on 7 May 2022, Bristol Rovers had already secured a play-off place and could still have finished 3rd and gained automatic promotion if they bettered Northampton Town's result in the last game of the season. Northampton Town and Bristol Rovers both won their games, putting both of them on 80 points with the promoted team decided on goal difference. Due to Bristol Rovers winning their game 7–0, it put them both on a +22 goal difference, but Bristol Rovers had scored more goals than Northampton Town (71–60). This meant that against all the odds at the time, Bristol Rovers were promoted and Northampton were condemned to the play-offs. Swindon Town beat Walsall in their game, and Mansfield Town drew to champions Forest Green Rovers, which was enough to qualify for the play-offs. It meant that Mansfield Town played Northampton and Swindon Town played Port Vale in the 1st legs, and vice versa in the 2nd legs.

Final league position – League Two
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
4 Northampton Town 46 23 11 12 60 38 22 80
5 Port Vale 46 22 12 12 67 46 21 78
6 Swindon Town 46 22 11 13 77 54 23 77
7 Mansfield Town 46 22 11 13 67 52 15 77

First leg

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Mansfield Town2–1Northampton Town
Report
Attendance: 7,469
Referee: Anthony Backhouse
Swindon Town2–1Port Vale
McKirdy 26', 68' Report Wilson 83'
Attendance: 14,086
Referee: Ross Joyce

Second leg

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Northampton Town0–1Mansfield Town
Report McLaughlin 32'
Attendance: 7,619
Referee: Ben Toner

Mansfield Town won 3–1 on aggregate.

2–2 on aggregate. Port Vale won 6–5 on penalties.

Final

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Mansfield Town0–3Port Vale
Report
Attendance: 37,303

References

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  1. ^ "VAR to be used at EFL Play-Off Finals". www.efl.com. Retrieved 2022-05-28.