The English Championship is one of the toughest leagues in the European game. It is a league that can be difficult to win promotion from, as the riches of the Premier League are the reward for a strong season.
The agony and ecstasy of the play-offs
While Coventry City and Ipswich Town won automatic promotion to the promised land of the Premier League by finishing first and second-place in the table, as is usually the case, the play-offs produced drama, but not just on the pitch.
Hull City recorded a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough in the play-off final at Wembley. The Tigers finished sixth-place in the table, 11 points adrift of second-place Ipswich and 22 adrift of champions Coventry.
Sergej Jakirovic’s team were the outsiders for promotion when the play-offs began, but proved to be the strongest team in the end to book their lucrative spot in the Premier League.
Striker Oli McBurnie was the hero at Wembley, scoring the only goal of the game in stoppage time. Including the play-offs, the Scottish forward scored 19 Championship goals, which made him the second-highest scorer in the second tier.
However, it wasn’t enough for the forward to earn a spot in Scotland’s World Cup squad.
For Hull, it was delight, as they will return to the Premier League for the first time since the 2016/17 season. It was the third time in their history that they had won promotion to the English top-flight via the play-offs.
Bizarre circumstances led to Boro’s play-off final spot
For beaten finalists Middlesbrough, it was heartbreak. However, the north east club were only in the play-off final due to some bizarre circumstances elsewhere.
Middlesbrough had been defeated by Southampton 2-1 in extra time of the semi-finals of the play-offs after the tie ended 1-1 over two legs. That seemed to be the end of Boro’s promotion charge.
However, Southampton were disqualified from the play-offs after that semi-final win due to a member of the Saints’ staff spying on Boro’s training sessions prior to the two-legged encounter.
Even more bizarrely, it wasn’t the first time that Southampton had used this rather bizarre tactic. It was revealed that the Saints had spied on other teams’ training sessions during the campaign.
The whole incident didn’t reflect well on anybody at the club, including head coach Tonda Eckert, who had lifted the team after just two wins from their opening 13 Championship games under Will Still.
As ever, the Championship play-offs have produced heroes and villains. However, this year’s play-offs have produced some drama that is unlikely to ever be seen again, and that was just off the pitch.