EFL clubs will next month vote on an expansion of the Championship playoffs to six teams after being given approval to pursue the radical change by the Football Association’s board.
The Guardian has learned that the 72 EFL clubs were on Tuesday invited to an extraordinary general meeting on 5 March, when the vote will take place on a new playoff format that would begin next season.
A simple majority of the 72 clubs and 24 in the Championship – 37 and 13 votes in favour respectively – is required to formalise a regulation change approved by the EFL board last week.
The FA is understood to have given its approval at a board meeting in December despite opposition from the Premier League, which is concerned about a potential drop in standards and reduced competitive balance if a team finishing eighth in the Championship are promoted to the top flight.
The EFL’s proposal would add an eliminator round to the Championship playoffs in a format similar to that used by the National League.
The fifth-placed team would play the eighth-placed team, and sixth would play seventh, at the higher-ranked club’s ground in a one-off tie to determine progression to the two-leg playoff semi-finals against the clubs that finished third and fourth.
The Leicester caretaker Andy King told his players they could have no complaints about being booed-off after watching them throw away a 3-0 lead before being beaten 4-3 by Southampton.
After being deducted six points by the EFL for financial breaches and sitting perilously close to the relegation zone, the hosts looked to be cruising to a first win under their interim manager when Patson Daka and Abdul Fatawu pounced following the on-loan Manchester City teenager Divine Mukasa’s opener.
But King’s opposite number Tonda Eckert took introduced three substitutes at the start of the second period before bringing on two more late on, and three of them - Ross Stewart, Ryan Manning and Shea Charles - joined the captain, Jack Stephens, on the scoresheet in a stunning turnaround.
Stephens and Manning both struck during the final 10 minutes of normal time before Charles left the City fans calling for the boards’ heads when he scored the winner deep into stoppage time.
City, now without a victory in six, appeared crushed as the cheers which had been reverberating around the King Power Stadium turned to jeers.
King said: “Let’s not be naive about what has just happened there. The fans are fully justified to react the way they did at the end.
“I was very strong on the point at half-time that the game hadn’t been won. I was pleased with the first half but it’s certainly not a positive. There are no positives to take because of the second half. None at all.
“I can’t explain what happened. I have spoken to the players and there is a sense of anger but I won’t elaborate on that until I’ve had time to reflect more.”
With only goal difference now separating City from the bottom three, King said: “I want to apologise for that last half an hour because it wasn’t acceptable. You can’t hide away from anything. It’s going to be difficult to bounce back from that.”
While City peer anxiously over their shoulders, Southampton are now within touching distance of the playoffs after Eckert’s tactical and personnel tweaks sparked a dramatic upturn in performance. “At half-time, we reset,” he said.
“I asked the players to make a decision and that was if they wanted to have a proper go. In fairness, they had already made that decision. I don’t have an explanation for what happened during the first half. But we bounced back. It was a crazy night.”
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The winners of those ties would then meet at Wembley as normal to play for promotion to the Premier League.
The EFL is understood to be confident that the change will be approved, having consulted widely with the clubs since the idea was proposed at a Championship divisional meeting in September.
The idea of expanding the playoffs has been discussed in EFL circles before without gaining sufficient traction.
The EFL is understood to have gained the backing of its rights holder Sky Sports, which has welcomed the prospect of two extra games given the drama and jeopardy of the playoffs, one of the highlights of the club season.
If successful the new format could be extended to League One and League Two in subsequent seasons.
The FA and EFL declined to comment.
