The EFL has confirmed the Sky Bet Championship play-offs will be expanded from four to six teams from next season onwards.
Supporters of the change believe it will create more interest in the run-in to the Championship season, as it gives more teams a chance to qualify for the post-season and a shot at promotion to the Premier League. Teams finishing between third and eighth will be involved.
The National League currently operates a six-team play-off tournament, where the teams finishing second and third progress straight to the semi-finals while those finishing fourth to seventh compete in quarter-finals.
However, further guidance from sources has confirmed that clubs actually voted on Thursday to include TWO significant differences from the play-off format used in the National League.
Firstly, the semi-final will be played over two legs, not one.
Secondly, in the semi-final, the thrd-placed team in the league will play against the lowest-remaining ranked team.
Clubs felt in the meeting on Thursday that the team that finished highest in the main season deserved the advantage of playing the lowest ranked opponent remaining. That is why the EFL today didn't announce the format that the play-offs would take and, because it isn't a regulatory matter for the league (only the switch from four teams involved to six, is), it is still possible the clubs might change their minds.
But, as things stand, that is the format the Championship play-offs will take next season.
While the format will not be confirmed until the summer, it is expected that the expansion would see the play-offs take this shape:
The current format in the EFL - with a single-leg final at Wembley preceded by two-leg semi-finals - has been in place since the 1989/90 season.
The Championship play-off final has come to be regarded as the most lucrative single game in world football, given a place in the Premier League is at stake to the winners.
Sunderland were last season's victors, overcoming Sheffield United 2-1. The success was estimated to have secured a minimum of £200m in extra income for the Black Cats.
EFL chief executive Trevor Birch said: "Since their introduction in 1986/87, the play-offs have become a highlight of the domestic football calendar, capturing the drama, suspense and jeopardy that make the EFL so special.
"Following several months of discussion with clubs and other stakeholders, we are confident this change will further strengthen the Championship as a competition and give more clubs and their supporters a genuine opportunity of achieving promotion."
