 Wembley Stadium was the venue for each play-off final | |
| Season | 2021–22 |
|---|---|
←2021 2023 → | |
TheEnglish Football League play-offs for the2021–22 season (referred to as theSky Bet Play-Offs for sponsorship reasons) were held in May 2022 with all finals being staged atWembley Stadium inWembley.
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 theChampionship andLeague One and the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th-placed teams inLeague 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]
TheEnglish 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]
AllEnglish Football League play-off games were broadcast live onSky Sports. It was simulcast on theESPN+ streaming platform in the United States.[citation needed]
The final table was confirmed after the final matchday on 7 May 2022, due toBournemouth beatingNottingham Forest on 3 May 2022; this meant that Nottingham Forest andHuddersfield Town were guaranteed to finish either 3rd or 4th and in the play-offs.Sheffield United andLuton Town won their games againstFulham andReading respectively, because of this,Middlesbrough andMillwall 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 |
Huddersfield Town won 2–1 on aggregate.
| Nottingham Forest | 1–2 (a.e.t.) | Sheffield United |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Penalties | ||
| 3–2 | ||
3–3 on aggregate. Nottingham Forest won 3–2 on penalties.
The winner, Nottingham Forest, won promotion to the top fight after more than two decades of absence, joiningFulham andBournemouth in being promoted to thePremier League for the2022–23 season.
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 thanRotherham United.Sheffield Wednesday andSunderland won their games againstPortsmouth andMorecambe respectively to finish 4th and 5th.Wycombe Wanderers beatBurton Albion and due toPlymouth 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 |
Wycombe Wanderers won 2–1 on aggregate.
| Sheffield Wednesday | 1–1 | Sunderland |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Sunderland won 2–1 on aggregate.
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 betteredNorthampton 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 ongoal 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 beatWalsall in their game, andMansfield Town drew to championsForest Green Rovers, which was enough to qualify for the play-offs. It meant that Mansfield Town played Northampton and Swindon Town playedPort 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 |
| Swindon Town | 2–1 | Port Vale |
|---|---|---|
McKirdy 26',68' | Report | Wilson 83' |
Mansfield Town won 3–1 on aggregate.
2–2 on aggregate. Port Vale won 6–5 on penalties.
