Kieran McKenna was honest about it. Asked what he made of the Championship adding two playoff places, the Ipswich manager said he had only seen the news that afternoon. Would he back it? “I’d have to think about it a little bit further.”
He was not the only manager unsure. After EFL clubs voted for a six-team playoff, starting in 2026/27, the reaction from the touchline was split.
What changes
The playoffs will run to seven fixtures. Fifth plays eighth and sixth plays seventh in single-leg eliminators. The winners then face the third and fourth-placed teams over two legs, and the two survivors meet in the final. It follows the method already used in the National League, National League North and South.
For
Derby’s John Eustace said it “makes the season a little bit more exciting” and should help sides with small squads and injury lists to keep fighting. He saw it from both sides at Kidderminster, where the playoffs grew from four to six, and he was knocked out once by a team finishing eighth. “That wasn’t great, but it’s about momentum.” Still, he said, finishing 20-odd points clear and missing out feels “a little bit unfair.”
Stoke’s Mark Robins liked the extra hope. “What’s not to look forward to?” he said. Preston’s Paul Heckingbottom called the original playoffs one of the best things to happen to football, and dismissed critics of the format: Sunderland came up through the playoffs and are now the best of the promoted sides, he said. Wrexham’s Phil Parkinson called it “a distraction but I think it’s a welcome one.”
Against, or wary
Leicester’s Gary Rowett understood the money, with a promotion prize he put at £150m “or whatever it is,” but said as a purist he was no fan. Should the sixth team finish 25 points behind the third, he asked, should it have a chance? Gillingham’s Gareth Ainsworth said bluntly: “I would have preferred it to stay the same.”
Southampton’s Tonda Eckert worried that finishing higher could become a disadvantage if a team loses its rhythm while others play eliminators. He added that many decisions “are commercially driven.”
Birmingham’s Chris Davies said it opens the league up and gives clubs like his more chances. Veteran Neil Warnock said he first thought it a bad idea, but later it worked out for him: he finished in every position and still got promoted. It gives mid-table sides more reason to push after Christmas, he said, though it makes life harder for the third and fourth-placed teams.
