2022 English Football League play-offs

2022 English Football League play-offs
	Wembley Stadium was the venue for each play-off final
Season	2021–22
	← 2021 2023 →

The English Football League play-offs for the 2021–22 season (referred to as the Sky Bet Play-Offs for sponsorship reasons) were held in May 2022 with all finals being staged at Wembley Stadium in Wembley.

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 the Championship and League One and the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th-placed teams in League 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]

Background

The English 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]}

Television

All English Football League play-off games were broadcast live on Sky Sports. It was simulcast on the ESPN+ streaming platform in the United States.^{[citation needed]}

Championship

Semi-finals

The final table was confirmed after the final matchday on 7 May 2022, due to Bournemouth beating Nottingham Forest on 3 May 2022; this meant that Nottingham Forest and Huddersfield Town were guaranteed to finish either 3rd or 4th and in the play-offs. Sheffield United and Luton Town won their games against Fulham and Reading respectively, because of this, Middlesbrough and Millwall 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

First leg

13 May 2022

19:45 BST

Luton Town	1–1	Huddersfield Town
Bradley 30'	Report	Sinani 12'

Kenilworth Road, Luton

Attendance: 10,005

Referee: Robert Jones

14 May 2022

15:00 BST

Sheffield United	1–2	Nottingham Forest
Berge 90+1'	Report	Colback 10' Johnson 71'

Bramall Lane, Sheffield

Attendance: 30,225

Referee: Andre Marriner

Second leg

16 May 2022

19:45 BST

Huddersfield Town	1–0	Luton Town
Rhodes 82'	Report

John Smith's Stadium, Huddersfield

Attendance: 23,507

Referee: Peter Bankes

Huddersfield Town won 2–1 on aggregate.

17 May 2022

19:45 BST

Nottingham Forest	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Sheffield United
Johnson 19'	Report	Gibbs-White 47' Fleck 75'
Penalties
Johnson Cafú Cook Lolley	3–2	Norwood Hourihane Berge Ndiaye Gibbs-White

City Ground, Nottingham

Attendance: 29,015

Referee: Michael Oliver

3–3 on aggregate. Nottingham Forest won 3–2 on penalties.

Final

The winner, Nottingham Forest, won promotion to the top fight after more than two decades of absence, joining Fulham and Bournemouth in being promoted to the Premier League for the 2022–23 season.

29 May 2022

16:30 BST

Huddersfield Town	0–1	Nottingham Forest
	Report	Colwill 43' (o.g.)

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 80,019

Referee: Jon Moss