2024 Football League play-offs

English Football League play-offs 2023–24
Season information
Winners	Championship: Southampton League One: Oxford United League Two: Crawley Town
Season statistics
Matches played	14
Goals scored	38
← 2023	2025 →

The English Football League play-offs for the 2023–24 season (referred to as the Sky Bet Play-Offs for sponsorship reasons) were held in May 2024 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.

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:2023–24 EFL Championship

	Semi-finals							Final
	3	Leeds United	0	4	4
	6	Norwich City	0	0	0
								3	Leeds United	0
								4	Southampton	1
	4	Southampton	0	3	3
	5	West Bromwich Albion	0	1	1

Championship Semi-Finals

First leg

12 May 2024 12:30 BST	Norwich City	0–0	Leeds United	Carrow Road, Norwich Attendance: Josh Smith Referee: 26,982
		Report

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12 May 2024 14:15 BST	West Bromwich Albion	0–0	Southampton	The Hawthorns, West Bromwich Attendance: Samuel Barrott Referee: 25,367
		Report

Second leg

16 May 2024 20:00 BST	Leeds United	4–0	Norwich City	Elland Road, Leeds Attendance: 36,384 Referee: Jarred Gillett
	Gruev  7' Piroe  20' Rutter  40' Summerville  68'	Report

Leeds United won 4–0 on aggregate.

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17 May 2024 20:00 BST	Southampton	3–1	West Bromwich Albion	St. Mary's Stadium, Southampton Attendance: 30,712 Referee: Tim Robinson
	Smallbone  49' Armstrong  78', 86' (pen.)	Report	Kipré  90+7'

Southampton won 3–1 on aggregate.

Championship Final

Main article:2024 EFL Championship play-off Final

26 May 2024 15:00 BST	Leeds United	0–1	Southampton	Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 85,862 Referee: John Brooks
		Report	Armstrong  24'

League One

Main article:2023–24 EFL League One

The final table was confirmed after the final matchday on 27 April 2024. Going into the final day, Bolton Wanderers had already qualified for the play-offs but still had a chance of automatic promotion. However, a Derby County win prevented that possibility. In the end, they drew with Peterborough United, who had also already guaranteed their place in the play-offs for both clubs to finish 3rd and 4th respectively. The final day also saw a four-way battle between Barnsley, Oxford United, Lincoln City and Blackpool for the final two spots. In the end, Oxford United secured 5th with a win over Exeter City while Barnsley's draw with Northampton Town proved enough to finish 6th as Lincoln City and Blackpool both lost to Champions Portsmouth and Reading respectively to miss out.

Final league position - League One
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
3	Bolton Wanderers	46	25	12	9	86	51	+35	87
4	Peterborough United	46	25	9	12	89	61	+28	84
5	Oxford United	46	22	11	13	79	56	+23	77
6	Barnsley	46	21	13	12	82	64	+18	76

	Semi-finals							Final
	6	Barnsley	1	3	4
	3	Bolton Wanderers	3	2	5
								3	Bolton Wanderers	0
								5	Oxford United	2
	5	Oxford United	1	1	2
	4	Peterborough United	0	1	1

League One Semi-Finals

First leg

3 May 2024 19:30 BST	Barnsley	1–3	Bolton Wanderers	Oakwell, Barnsley Attendance: 13,846 Referee: Will Finnie
	Cosgrove  76'	Report	Charles  23', 53' (pen.) Williams  90+4'

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4 May 2024 19:45 BST	Oxford United	1–0	Peterborough United	Kassam Stadium, Oxford Attendance: 11,125 Referee: Lewis Smith
	Moore  53'	Report

Second leg

7 May 2024 20:00 BST	Bolton Wanderers	2–3	Barnsley	Toughsheet Community Stadium, Horwich Attendance: 24,518 Referee: Oliver Langford
	Collins  43' Toal  45+1'	Report	Cosgrove  36', 76' Phillips  64'

Bolton Wanderers won 5-4 on aggregate.

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8 May 2024 20:00 BST	Peterborough United	1–1	Oxford United	London Road, Peterborough Attendance: 12,420 Referee: Andrew Kitchen
	Knight  41'	Report	Brannagan  45+3' (pen.)

Oxford United won 2–1 on aggregate.

League One Final

Main article:2024 EFL League One play-off Final

18 May 2024 16:15 BST	Bolton Wanderers	0–2	Oxford United	Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 70,472 Referee: Samuel Barrott (Yorkshire)
		Report	Murphy  31', 42'

League Two

Main article:2023–24 EFL League Two

The final table was confirmed after the final matchday on 27 April 2024. Going into the final day, Milton Keynes Dons had already secured a play-off place and were confirmed to finish 4th. The remaining three places were under contention between Doncaster Rovers, Crewe Alexandra, Crawley Town, Barrow and Bradford City. Thanks to Doncaster Rovers' spectacular run from February onwards, where they only lost once coupled with a 10-match win streak, a draw against Gillingham was enough to see them finish 5th. A draw against Colchester United was also enough for Crewe Alexandra to secure 6th. Crawley Town's win over Grimsby Town saw them take 7th as Barrow's draw against Mansfield Town meant they would drop out off the play-offs. All these results meant that Bradford City's win over Newport County would not be enough to see them over the line.

Final league position - League Two
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
4	Milton Keynes Dons	46	23	9	14	83	68	+15	78
5	Doncaster Rovers	46	21	8	17	73	68	+5	71
6	Crewe Alexandra	46	19	14	13	69	65	+4	71
7	Crawley Town	46	21	7	18	73	67	+6	70

	Semi-finals							Final
	7	Crawley Town	3	5	8
	4	Milton Keynes Dons	0	1	1
								7	Crawley Town	2
								6	Crewe Alexandra	0
	6	Crewe Alexandra	0	2	2
	5	Doncaster Rovers	2	0	2

League Two Semi-Finals

First leg

6 May 2024 17:30 BST	Crewe Alexandra	0–2	Doncaster Rovers	Gresty Road, Crewe Attendance: 8,220 Referee: Sunny Singh Gill
		Report	Molyneux  34' Biggins  48'

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7 May 2024 15:00 BST	Crawley Town	3–0	Milton Keynes Dons	Broadfield Stadium, Crawley Attendance: 5,564 Referee: Ross Joyce
	Kelly  5' Williams  45+1' Darcy  65'	Report

Second leg

10 May 2024 20:00 BST	Doncaster Rovers	0–2 (a.e.t.)	Crewe Alexandra	Eco-Power Stadium, Doncaster Attendance: 12,889 Referee: Scott Oldham
		Report	Demetriou  6' (Tabiner) Maxwell  16' (o.g.)
		Penalties
	Ironside Westbrooke Miller Bailey Adelakun	3–4	Baker-Richardson Demetriou Cooney Leigh Kirk

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11 May 2024 19:45 BST	Milton Keynes Dons	1–5	Crawley Town	Stadium MK, Milton Keynes Attendance: 10,053 Referee: Seb Stockridge
	Dean  45+1'	Report	Williams  3' Orsi  30'  48' (L. Kelly)  90+2' (Darcy) Roles  80'

League Two Final

Main article:2024 EFL League Two play-off Final

19 May 2024 13:00 BST	Crawley Town	2–0	Crewe Alexandra	Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 33,341 Referee: Ben Toner
	Orsi  41' Kelly  85'	Report