Burnley
Blackburn Rovers
Coventry City
Derby County
Leeds United
Luton Town
Middlesbrough
Millwall
Norwich City
Portsmouth
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield United
QPR
The Championship play-offs is the pinnacle of the footballing calendar.
Known as the biggest prize in football, the play-offs can land Championship clubs a big pay day, as well as promotion to the Premier League.
Agony or ecstasy is a fine line for the four teams who compete for that coveted promotion to the top flight and it’s all about who can hold their nerve across the three games.
There’s plenty of Championship sides that have appeared in multiple finals. Some have fared better than others in the high-pressure occasion.
But who ranks as the most successful and least successful? EFL Analysis took a look at the record of clubs in the play-offs.
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Who are the most successful Championship play-off teams?
Crystal Palace are the most successful team in Championship play-off history, winning promotion via that route a record four times.
Their last play-off triumph was back in 2013, when they beat Watford to get to the Premier League, where they have been ever since.
Fulham, West Ham United, Watford, Bolton Wanderers, Hull City and Swindon Town have all been promoted to the top flight two times, although Swindon officially only have one promotion to their name after being forced to withdraw due to financial problems.
| Team | Number of times they’ve won a play-off final |
|---|---|
| Crystal Palace | 4 |
| Fulham, West Ham United, Watford, Bolton Wanderers, Hull City, Leicester City, Charlton Athletic and Swindon Town | 2 |
| Notts County, Blackburn Rovers, Ipswich Town, Birmingham City, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Derby County, Burnley, Blackpool, Swansea City, Queens Park Rangers, Norwich City, Huddersfield Town, Brentford, Nottingham Forest, Luton Town, Southampton | 1 |
Who are the least successful Championship play-off teams?
The record that nobody wants to be a part of, the side who have failed in the play-offs the most.
In this case, the honour – if you can call it that – is shared by Derby County, Sheffield United and Reading.
Each of these sides have lost three Championship play-off finals each and forever have that dark cloud over them. Derby are the only one of the trio to have been promoted to the Premier League via the play-offs.
Sheffield United have never been promoted from the play-offs in any division across eight attempts and the Blades will be hoping they can make it fourth time lucky.