2021 English Football League play-offs

English Football League play-offs 2020–21
Season information
Winners	Championship: Brentford League One: Blackpool League Two: Morecambe
Season statistics
← 2020	2022 →

The English Football League play-offs for the 2020–21 season (referred to as the Sky Bet Play-Offs for sponsorship reasons) are held in May 2021 with all finals played at Wembley Stadium in London. The play-offs began in each league with two semi-finals 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 were set to compete. The winners of the semi-finals advanced to the finals, with the winner of the final gaining promotion for the following season.

The away goals rule does not apply in the playoff semi-finals.

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.

Championship

Main article:2020–21 EFL Championship

Qualified teams

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
3	Brentford	46	24	15	7	79	42	+37	87
4	Swansea City	46	23	11	12	56	39	+17	80
5	Barnsley	46	23	9	14	58	50	+8	78
6	Bournemouth	46	22	11	13	73	46	+27	77

		Semi-finals				Final
	6	Bournemouth	1 1 (2)
	3	Brentford	0 3 (3)
						3	Brentford	2
						4	Swansea City	0
	5	Barnsley	0 1 (1)
	4	Swansea City	1 1 (2)

First leg

17 May 2021 18:00 BST	Bournemouth	1–0	Brentford	Dean Court, Kings Park, Boscombe Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Tim Robinson
	Danjuma  55'	Report

17 May 2021 20:15 BST	Barnsley	0–1	Swansea City	Oakwell, Barnsley Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Geoff Eltringham
		Report	Ayew  39'

Second leg

22 May 2021 12:30 BST	Brentford	3–1	Bournemouth	Brentford Community Stadium, Brentford Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Jarred Gillett
	Toney  15' (pen.) Janelt  50' Forss  81'

Brentford won 3–2 on aggregate.

22 May 2021 17:30 BST	Swansea City	1–1	Barnsley	Liberty Stadium, Swansea Attendance: 3,000 Referee: John Brooks
	Grimes  39'	Report	Woodrow  71'

Swansea City won 2–1 on aggregate.

Championship final

Main article:2021 EFL Championship play-off Final

29 May 2021 15:00 BST	Brentford	2–0	Swansea City	Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 11,689 Referee: Chris Kavanagh
	Toney  10' (pen.) Marcondes  20'	BBC Report	Fulton  65'

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League One

Main article:2020–21 EFL League One

Final league position – League One
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
3	Blackpool	46	23	11	12	60	37	+27	80
4	Sunderland	46	20	17	9	70	42	+28	77
5	Lincoln City	46	22	11	13	69	50	+19	77
6	Oxford United	46	22	8	16	77	56	+21	74

		Semi-finals				Final
	6	Oxford United	0 3 (3)
	3	Blackpool	3 3 (6)
						3	Blackpool	2
						5	Lincoln City	1
	5	Lincoln City	2 1 (3)
	4	Sunderland	0 2 (2)

First leg

18 May 2021 18:00 BST	Oxford United	0–3	Blackpool	Kassam Stadium, Oxford Attendance: 3,224 Referee: Bobby Madley
		Report	Turton  23' Simms  26', 74'

19 May 2021 18:00 BST	Lincoln City	2–0	Sunderland	Sincil Bank, Lincoln Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Craig Hicks
	Hopper  51' Johnson  77'	Report

Second leg

21 May 2021 19:45 BST	Blackpool	3–3	Oxford United	Bloomfield Road, Blackpool Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Keith Stroud
	Embleton  11' Dougall  13' Yates  54'	Report	Taylor  7' Atkinson  52' Shodipo  74'

Blackpool won 6–3 on aggregate.

22 May 2021 15:00 BST	Sunderland	2–1	Lincoln City	Stadium of Light, Sunderland Attendance: 9,971 Referee: Michael Salisbury
	Stewart  13' Wyke  33'	Report	Hopper  57'

Lincoln City won 3–2 on aggregate.

League One Final

Main article:2021 EFL League One play-off Final

30 May 2021 15:00 BST	Blackpool	2–1	Lincoln City	Wembley Stadium, London Referee: Tony Harrington
	Dougall  34', 54'	Report	Turton  1' (og)

League Two

Main article:2020–21 EFL League Two

Final league position – League Two
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
4	Morecambe	46	23	9	14	69	58	+11	78
5	Newport County	46	20	13	13	57	42	+15	73
6	Forest Green Rovers	46	20	13	13	59	51	+8	73
7	Tranmere Rovers	46	20	13	13	55	50	+5	73

		Semi-finals				Final
	4	Morecambe	2 1 (3)
	7	Tranmere Rovers	1 1 (2)
						4	Morecambe	1
						5	Newport County	0
	5	Newport County	2 3 (5)
	6	Forest Green Rovers	0 4 (4)

First leg

18 May 2021 20:15	Newport County	2–0	Forest Green Rovers	Rodney Parade, Newport Attendance: 900 Referee: Charles Breakspear
	Dolan  31' Collins  56'	Report

20 May 2021 18:00	Tranmere Rovers	1–2	Morecambe	Prenton Park, Birkenhead Attendance: 3,400 Referee: Darren Drysdale
	Clarke  19'	Report	Knight-Percival McAlinden  45+1'

Second leg

23 May 2021 12:30	Morecambe	1–1	Tranmere Rovers	Mazuma Stadium, Morecambe Attendance: 1,558 Referee: Thomas Bramall
	Wildog  9'	Report	Vaughan  53'

Morecambe won 3–2 on aggregate.

23 May 2021 18:30	Forest Green Rovers	4–3	Newport County	The New Lawn, Nailsworth Attendance: 1,300 Referee: Martin Coy
	Adams  7' Collins  8' Cadden  53' Matt  87'	Report	Ellison  70' Labadie  77' Maynard  119'

Newport County won 5–4 on aggregate.

League Two Final

Main article:2021 EFL League Two play-off Final

31 May 2021 15:00	Morecambe	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Newport County	Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 9,083 Referee: Bobby Madley
	Mendes Gomes  107' (pen.)	Report