Saturday 23 May 2015 16:00, UK
Norwich should be favourites to win promotion to the Premier League, according to play-off history.
Alex Neil's men take on fierce rivals Ipswich in their Championship play-off semi-final - however, their third-place finish could prove to be a good omen.
Since the end-of-season shootout was introduced in 1988/89, the team which has finished third in the Championship has gained promotion via the play-offs 35 per cent of the time. In comparison, teams finishing the regular season in fifth place (27 per cent), fourth place (19) and sixth place (19) have proved to be less successful.
It’s a trend which has also been replicated in League One and League Two. In League One, third-place finishers have been promoted 31 per cent of the time, while in the fourth tier, which has three automatic promotion spots, the team which ended the season fourth has won the play-offs on 13 occasions out of 26.
That’s good news for Preston and Wycombe, who finished third and fourth in League One and League Two, respectively.
However, Southend and Stevenage supporters may be a little concerned that just 15 per cent of teams finishing fifth or sixth in League Two have been promoted – the lowest percentage of any finishing position.
PLAY-OFF PROMOTION WINNERS
Championship
Third place: Nine promotions (35 per cent)
Fifth place: Seven (27)
Fourth place: Five (19)
Sixth place: Five (19)
League One
Third place: Eight promotions (31 per cent)
Fourth place: Seven (27)
Sixth place: Six (23)
Fifth place: Five (19)
League Two
Fourth place: 13 promotions (50 per cent)
Fifth place: four (15)
Sixth place: four (15)
Seventh place: five (19)
THE 2014/15 PLAY-OFFS - FIRST LEGS
Championship
Brentford (fifth) v Boro (fourth) - Sky Sports 1 HD, Fri, 7.30pm
Ipswich (sixth) v Norwich (third) - Sky Sports 1 HD, Sat, 12pm
League One
Chesterfield (sixth) v Preston (third) - Sky Sports 5 HD, Thu, 7.30pm
Sheffield Utd (fifth) v Swindon (fourth) - Sky Sports 2 HD, Thu, 7.30pm
League Two
Plymouth (seventh) v Wycombe (fourth) - Sky Sports 1 HD, Sat, 7.40pm
Stevenage (sixth) v Southend (fifth) - Sky Sports 1 HD, Sun, 6.30pm
