Coventry and Ipswich have secured automatic promotion from the Championship, leaving four clubs — Millwall, Hull City, Middlesbrough and Southampton — to contest the playoffs for the division's remaining top-flight berth. The draw of those ties and the full bracket are now set, with both legs of the semi-finals to come before a Wembley final.
Millwall came closest to joining the automatic pair. According to the Guardian's Opta analysis, the south London club finished just a single point behind Ipswich, meaning a playoff route is their only remaining path. The near-miss will lend their campaign an edge of frustration, though it also reflects a season of genuine ambition from a club not historically accustomed to challenging at this level.
Their top-flight history is sparse by the standards of the other clubs involved. As the Guardian notes, Millwall have spent only two seasons in English football's highest division. They won the Division Two title in 1987-88, finished 10th in their debut top-flight campaign and were relegated the following year after finishing bottom. For a club of their support and tradition, a return would carry considerable weight.
Southampton arrive in the playoffs as a side with more recent Premier League experience, having spent an extended period in the top flight before their decline through the divisions. Their presence in this bracket reflects something of a rebuild — whether that rebuild is ready to complete its final step is the question the coming fortnight will answer.
Hull and Middlesbrough represent the northern contingent. Both clubs have navigated long Championship campaigns with sufficient consistency to reach the postseason, and neither will consider themselves merely making up the numbers. The playoff format, with its compressed drama and single-game final, has a habit of producing outcomes that the regular-season table would not have predicted.
The four-team bracket offers no straightforward route for any side. Millwall's momentum, Southampton's pedigree, and the resilience shown across the campaign by both Hull and Middlesbrough mean the semi-finals are genuinely open. One club will emerge from Wembley with a place in next season's Premier League. The other three will spend the summer wondering how close they came.