Following their 3-1 victory over West Bromwich Albion, Southampton have sealed their place in the Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Final. Southampton will take on Leeds United (who defeated Norwich City for their place in the final) to determine who takes the final spot alongside Leicester City and Ipswich town for promotion into the Premier League.
The final is set to take place on Sunday the 26th of May at England’s national stadium, Wembley. Both Leeds and Southampton left it to the second leg of their semi-finals to push for their space in the final, after it was 0-0 draws in each fixture. However, Leeds and Southampton showed their worth by putting in two convincing performances, with Leeds dominating Norwich 4-0 and Southampton defeating West Brom 3-1.
The kits for the final have also been decided, based upon the finishing place of each team. As Leeds United finished third, compared to Southampton’s fourth, they are seen as the home team, so will be able to wear their home strip at Wembley as they take on Southampton (who will be seen as the away team, so will likely wear they away top) for promotion to the Premier League.
Both sets of fans will be desperate for tickets to what is regarded as the richest prize in club football, with a prize being a golden ticket to the Premier League. And talking about tickets, Southampton and Leeds United fans will all be desperate to get their hands on their Championship Playoff Final tickets with a capacity crowd expected at Wembley.
Although the Championship Play-Off is often coined the ‘richest game in football’, promotion to the Premier League is a difficult transition for many clubs to cope with, as shown by Luton Town this season.
Luton Town narrowly defeated Coventry in last season’s Championship Play-Off, which ended in a 1-1 draw and required a penalty shoot-out to separate the sides. Although Luton won the Penalty shoot-out (6-5), and were then promoted to the Premier League, their time at the top level of English football was short, as they have now been relegated back into the Championship after a single season.
This is a clear display of how difficult it is for a Championship side to successfully move into the Premier League and stay there. With that said, it does certainly go both ways, with Fulham being a club who were recently promoted into the Premier League in 2022/2023 season and finishing in a respectable 10th place in their first season, and 13th this season.
Southampton, along with Leeds and Leicester City were the trio of teams who were relegated from the Premier League last season, and with the Leicester already booking their spot in England’s top league for next season, Southampton and Leeds won’t want to miss this final opportunity for promotion.
A short series on major finals and tournaments taking place over the next few weeks in conjunction with Caughtoffside.com…
