2018 English Football League play-offs

The English Football League play-offs for the 2017–18 season (referred to as the Sky Bet Play-Offs for sponsorship reasons) were held in May 2018 with all finals being staged 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 competed. The winners of the semi-finals advanced to the finals, with the winners gaining promotion for the following season.

English Football League play-offs

Wembley Stadium was the venue for each play-off final
Season	2017–18
Matches played	13
Goals scored	24 (1.85 per match)
Biggest home win	Exeter City 3–1 Lincoln City Fulham 2–0 Derby County Rotherham United 2–0 Scunthorpe United
Biggest away win	Notts County 1–4 Coventry City
Highest scoring	Notts County 1–4 Coventry City
Highest attendance	40,505
Lowest attendance	5,645
Average attendance	17,637
← 2017 2019 →

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: 2017–18 EFL Championship

Championship Semi-finals

Final league position – Championship
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
3	Fulham	46	25	13	8	79	46	+33	88
4	Aston Villa	46	24	11	11	72	42	+30	83
5	Middlesbrough	46	22	10	14	67	45	+22	76
6	Derby County	46	20	15	11	69	48	+21	75

First leg

Derby County	1–0	Fulham
Jerome 34'	Report

11 May 2018^[1]

19:45 BST

Pride Park Stadium, Derby

Attendance: 27,163

Referee: Roger East^[2]

Middlesbrough	0–1	Aston Villa
	Report	Jedinak 15'

12 May 2018^[1]

17:15 BST

Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough

Attendance: 29,233

Referee: Bobby Madley^[2]

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Second leg

Fulham	2–0	Derby County
Sessegnon 48' Odoi 66'	Report

14 May 2018^[1]

19:45 BST

Craven Cottage, Fulham

Attendance: 23,529

Referee: Chris Kavanagh^[2]

Fulham won 2–1 on aggregate.

Aston Villa	0–0	Middlesbrough
	Report

15 May 2018^[1]

19:45 BST

Villa Park, Birmingham

Attendance: 40,505

Referee: Mike Dean^[2]

Aston Villa won 1–0 on aggregate.

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Championship final

Main article: 2018 EFL Championship play-off final

Aston Villa	0–1	Fulham
	Report	Cairney 23'

26 May 2018

17:00 BST

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 85,243

Referee: Anthony Taylor

League One

Main article: 2017–18 EFL League One

League One Semi-finals

Final league position – League One
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
3	Shrewsbury Town	46	25	12	9	60	39	+21	87
4	Rotherham United	46	24	7	15	73	53	+20	79
5	Scunthorpe United	46	19	17	10	65	50	+15	74
6	Charlton Athletic	46	20	11	15	58	51	+7	71

First leg

Charlton Athletic	0–1	Shrewsbury Town
	Report	Nolan 80'

10 May 2018^[1]

19:45 BST

The Valley, Charlton

Attendance: 14,367

Referee: Simon Hooper^[2]

Scunthorpe United	2–2	Rotherham United
Ihiekwe 18' (o.g.) McGeehan 88'	Report	Taylor 17' Newell 64'

12 May 2018^[1]

12:30 BST

Glanford Park, Scunthorpe

Attendance: 6,591

Referee: Tim Robinson^[2]

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Second leg

Shrewsbury Town	1–0	Charlton Athletic
C. Morris 58'	Report

13 May 2018^[1]

17:15 BST

New Meadow, Shrewsbury

Attendance: 9,016

Referee: Jeremy Simpson^[2]

Shrewsbury Town won 2–0 on aggregate.

Rotherham United	2–0	Scunthorpe United
Wood 45+2' Vaulks 63'	Report

16 May 2018^[1]

19:45 BST

New York Stadium, Rotherham

Attendance: 11,061

Referee: Scott Duncan^[2]

Rotherham United won 4–2 on aggregate.

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League One Final

Main article: 2018 EFL League One play-off final

Rotherham United	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Shrewsbury Town
Wood 32', 103'	Report	Rodman 58'

27 May 2018

15:03 BST

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 26,218

Referee: Robert Jones

League Two

Main article: 2017–18 EFL League Two

League Two Semi-finals

Final league position – League Two
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
4	Exeter City	46	24	8	14	64	54	+10	80
5	Notts County	46	21	14	11	71	48	+23	77
6	Coventry City	46	22	9	15	64	47	+17	75
7	Lincoln City	46	20	15	11	64	48	+16	75

First leg

Lincoln City	0–0	Exeter City
	Report

12 May 2018^[1]

15:00 BST

Sincil Bank, Lincoln

Attendance: 9,509

Referee: Ben Toner^[2]

Coventry City	1–1	Notts County
McNulty 87' (pen.)	Report	Forte 49'

12 May 2018^[1]

19:30 BST

Ricoh Arena, Coventry

Attendance: 17,404

Referee: Gavin Ward^[2]

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Second leg

Exeter City	3–1	Lincoln City
Stockley 27' Boateng 47' Harley 69'	Report	Green 78'

17 May 2018^[1]

19:45 BST

St James Park, Exeter

Attendance: 5,645

Referee: Darren England^[2]

Exeter City won 3–1 on aggregate.

Notts County	1–4	Coventry City
Grant 44'	Report	Biamou 6', 71' McNulty 37' Bayliss 85'

18 May 2018^[1]

19:45 BST

Meadow Lane, Nottingham

Attendance: 17,615

Referee: Darren Drysdale^[2]

Coventry City won 5–2 on aggregate.

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League Two Final

Main article: 2018 EFL League Two play-off final

Coventry City	3–1	Exeter City
Willis 49' Shipley 54' Grimmer 68'	[3][4]	Edwards 89'

28 May 2018

15:00 BST

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 50,196

Referee: David Webb