The Football League Championship play-offs are a series of playoff matches contested by the teams finishing from 3rd to 6th in the Football League Championship table. The semi-finals are played over two legs, with 6th playing 3rd and 5th playing 4th, with the return fixtures following. The final is played at Wembley Stadium, although from 2001 to 2006, it was played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff while Wembley was being rebuilt.
There is no single sporting event in the world more valuable to the winners, who end up approximately £85,000,000 better off than the losers, mainly due to the increased commercial television revenue from being promoted to the Premier League. However, by convention the two finalists agree that the loser will keep all the gate receipts from the game, so as to slightly soften the financial blow of missing out.
The most recent final was played on 19 May 2012, with West Ham United beating Blackpool 2–1 at Wembley Stadium.
Ipswich Town have been in the Championship play-offs a record seven times: 1987, 1997–2000 inclusive, 2004, and 2005, making the final only once in 2000 (when they won promotion). Leicester City have reached the Championship play-off final four times, losing two in 1992 and 1993 and winning two in 1994 and 1996. Crystal Palace have also appeared in the final four times, losing in 1996 and winning in 1989, 1997 and 2004.
The team finishing highest in the league (third) has succeeded in winning promotion nine times out of twenty five seasons up to 2011, with 4th managing four promotions, 5th six and 6th five.
The play-off winners have managed to finish above the Championship winners and runners-up in the subsequent Premier League season on five occasions: Blackburn Rovers in 1992-93, Leicester City in 1996-97, Ipswich Town in 2000-01, West Ham United in 2005-06 and Swansea City in 2011-12.
Read more about Football League Championship Play-offs: Format, Past Winners, Records
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