EFL

Play-offs, promotions and safety – who needs what on last weekend of EFL season?

By Sports Desk May 05, 2023

The 72 EFL clubs are set to play their 46th and final league game of a gruelling season this weekend, with promotion, play-off and relegation spots still to be decided.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the state of play across the three divisions.

Championship

Burnley are champions and Sheffield United have secured automatic promotion in second place.

Relegation spots are also confirmed following the Blades’ loss at Huddersfield on Thursday night, with Neil Warnock’s side securing safety at the expense of their final-day opponents Reading. The Royals will join Blackpool and Wigan in dropping down to the third tier.

Meanwhile, victories last weekend put Coventry and Millwall in prime position to make the play-offs alongside Luton and Middlesbrough, but there is a cluster of three teams hoping to sneak into the top six on the final day.

Sunderland, West Brom and Blackburn can all theoretically qualify should they win. Three points for the Black Cats would virtually guarantee them a play-off place if Coventry lose or Millwall drop points, while – barring a thumping win at Swansea – Albion are likely to need Sunderland to slip up as well.

Blackburn face Millwall in the knowledge that a win will see them leapfrog their opponents, but their goal difference of -3 leaves them relying on other results to go their way.

League One

Plymouth and Ipswich are promoted but the title race remains undecided. Plymouth have a one-point advantage but Ipswich’s vastly superior goal difference – +66 compared with +33 – means they will be champions if they better Argyle’s result on Sunday.

Sheffield Wednesday, Barnsley and Bolton have qualified for the play-offs and will be joined by either Derby or Peterborough. The Rams travel to Wednesday knowing a draw is likely to be enough for a top-six berth, while Darren Ferguson’s Peterborough must win at Barnsley and hope for a favour from the Owls.

MK Dons, Morecambe and Cambridge are in a three-way fight for League One survival. The Dons will stay up with a win at Burton, but a draw or defeat would open the door for their rivals.

Morecambe can overtake the Dons by bettering their result against Exeter, while Cambridge can overhaul both teams (should they fail to win) with victory over the already-relegated Forest Green.

Accrington, meanwhile, are all but down following defeat against the U’s last weekend. Stanley require a win and an unlikely 16-goal swing to go past MK Dons in 20th place.

League Two

Champions Leyton Orient and second-placed Stevenage will be playing in League One next season, but Northampton’s defeat against Bradford last weekend has left them in danger of missing out on automatic promotion for a second successive campaign.

Having been denied by an incredible 7-0 Bristol Rovers’ victory on last season’s final day, the Cobblers know that a win at Tranmere this time around will see them go up. Anything less, however, will give Stockport the opportunity to secure promotion with three points against second-from-bottom Hartlepool.

With the Pools already relegated alongside Rochdale, it is only third spot and the play-off places that are mathematically still up for grabs.

Turning attention to the play-off picture, a point for Carlisle, Salford or Bradford will guarantee a top-seven finish, while defeat would see eighth-placed Mansfield draw level on points if they beat Colchester.

The Stags also need to make up a deficit in goal difference, with Carlisle, Salford and Bradford currently eight, four and three goals better off respectively.

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    Introducing an independent regular will serve up some "easy wins" as well as settling the ongoing financial disputes between the Premier League and lower tiers of the English footballing pyramid.

    That was the message from football financial expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke to Stats Perform as charges continue to be pressed against the likes of Everton, Nottingham Forest and Leicester City.

    Everton had an initial 10-point deduction reduced down to six for a breach of the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules in the 2021-22 reporting period, though the Toffees are this week arguing a second case, which refers to the 2022-23 reporting period.

    Forest saw four points taken away for their own misdemeanours under the same ruling, while Championship title contenders Leicester could face a points deduction for a breach from last season, when they were relegated from the top flight.

    The UK government has already reaffirmed its commitment to introducing an independent regulator for English football, which would be a standalone body to rule over existing competition authorities.

    That move is welcomed by Maguire, who believes the additional form of governance would protect the future of clubs and have the best interests of fans in mind.

    "I think [English football's independent regulator] is going to cover a variety of issues, some of which, I think it's fair to say, are easy wins," academic, broadcaster and author Maguire said. 

    "The setting up of fan advisory boards, who will potentially have the right to a golden share in the club, would give them the ability to veto a change of the club's home shirt [for example].

    "[That] is always a very emotive issue as far as clubs are concerned."

    A plethora of clubs have suffered from lacklustre ownership across the English Football League in recent years, with League One side Reading the current strugglers under Dai Yongge's stewardship.

    Former Premier League side Derby County also went into administration in 2021 owing to ownership struggles and they remain in League One after a downturn in performances on the pitch following off-field issues.

    Maguire insists an independent regulator could somewhat avoid these issues, adding: "It's likely that there's going to be a series of tests to make sure that prospective owners are of appropriate, good character and have sufficient funding."

    Funding remains a topic of discussion at English football's top table, too, with the Premier League still negotiating financial deals with the English Football League (EFL).

    Maguire believes if agreements between the two competitions over lucrative financial rewards cannot be agreed, the regulator would serve a purpose as an independent and unbiased adjudicator.

    "I think this is why the Premier League have been so against the idea of the regulator due to its ability to determine a financial agreement between the Premier League and the rest of football," he added.

    "We've seen the Premier League reject the proposals for the EFL to have 25 per cent of the overall TV deal. The Premier League has rejected the EFL's desire for the abolition of parachute payments.

    "Could the regulator step in? My understanding is that it would much rather Richard Masters and Rick Parry corral both their sets of troops and come to an agreement.

    "But it is prepared to say, 'Well, if you fail to do that, then we will step in and be a decider of last resort'."

  • Dave Challinor urges Stockport to make MK Dons victory a ‘statement win’ Dave Challinor urges Stockport to make MK Dons victory a ‘statement win’

    Stockport manager Dave Challinor called on his side to back up their crushing 5-0 win against fellow promotion hopefuls MK Dons after they gave their chances of securing an automatic place a major boost.

    Callum Camps, Paddy Madden, Tanto Olaofe, Connor Lemonheigh-Evans and Neill Byrne scored the goals as the Hatters secured just a second win in their last eight matches.

    Victory moves them back up to second place – two points behind leaders Mansfield – having dropped below Wrexham earlier in the day.

    And Challinor is keen to see his team follow it up in the right manner, starting with Friday’s game away at bottom side Forest Green.

    “Is it a statement win if you lose the next two? No it’s not, it’s a win,” he said.

    “You have to go and make it a statement win and after 46 games reflect and say ‘yeah, that was a win that really gave us the kick and the boost we needed at the right point in time’.

    “You’ve got to go and back that up now with four or five more feelings like that because if you can do that four or five more times, then you get the ultimate feeling of achieving something that we’ve worked so hard for over the course of the season.

    “All we’ve done today is increase the gap over MK Dons and put us in a stronger position, and probably put a little bit more pressure on them in terms of the results they’ve got to get in their last six.

    “But from our perspective, it still remains the same – we’ve got games to win.”

    Defeat for MK Dons sees them remain in fourth place – three points behind Wrexham, who occupy the final automatic promotion spot.

    Manager Mike Williamson was left to rue his side’s inability to convert their opportunities before going behind just after the half-hour mark – a period during which they were very much in the ascendancy.

    “We’re on the raw end of a heavy defeat, but when we diagnose and we look at it, we’ve got to hold our hands up and say that we gave goals away, of course, uncharacteristically,” he said.

    “I thought we played extremely well – we were clean, we were sharp, we mixed it up.

    “We couldn’t take any of our chances early on when we were dominant, and then obviously we were punished for it.

    “We need to refocus and go again, and try and get that momentum back to where it was before the first goal.

    “But they’re up there for a reason and they were clinical in everything they did.”

  • Grant McCann happy to feel the pressure as Doncaster boss dreams of play-offs Grant McCann happy to feel the pressure as Doncaster boss dreams of play-offs

    Doncaster manager Grant McCann is happy to have a few more sleepless nights as he contemplates an unlikely late push for the League Two play-offs.

    Rovers collected a third consecutive win as they strolled past Forest Green Rovers 2-0, ensuring a top-seven finish remains an outside possibility with a 10-point gap to make up.

    And McCann revealed he had discussed the prospect with his wife, despite her misgivings.

    “I was laying in bed with my wife and I told her about how far off the play-offs we are and she said she doesn’t know why I put so much pressure on myself,” he said.

    “I think she knows me by now. I put a lot of pressure on myself, whether it was when I was playing, when I’m managing or even in every day life. That’s the way I like to work.

    “For me and this group, it’s all about the next game now. We just want to carry on, game after game now, and see where we are at the end of the season.

    “We’ve got a very tough game next week away at Crawley and we’ll prepare the boys as best we can to go and win that one.

    “We stuck to our task in this one and got the job done, even though we could have been better with the ball.”

    A Luke Molyneux strike and a Richard Keogh own goal, both in the second half, saw Doncaster secure the win after enduring a tough time breaking down stubborn Forest Green.

    Steve Cotterill felt the telling factor in the game was confidence, with his Forest Green side smarting from a defeat to fellow strugglers Sutton while Doncaster were enjoying an excellent run of form.

    “It’s very much a confidence thing in the league,” said the Forest Green boss.

    “When teams get a win, they can quite often go and get another one and it works the other way as well when you get a defeat.

    “I think that was the difference between the teams today. They looked confident and maybe if we had played them six or seven games ago, it might have been different. They looked like they were on the crest of a wave and we didn’t.

    “We didn’t perform anywhere like I know we can. Admittedly, we were playing a team in form but we’ve done that before and had good results.

    “We didn’t show enough. Some of the mistakes we made, we weren’t in any sort of rhythm and it was a disappointing day for us.

    “We’ve had those before and we’ve got to try to deal with them because the games are running out.”

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