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On May 2, in the final round of the 2025-26 English Championship, 12 games were played simultaneously. Ipswich defeated the mid-table Queens Park Rangers 3-0 at home. With 84 points in 46 rounds, Ipswich secured second place in the league and returned to the Premier League together with champion Coventry. The 3rd to 6th places in the league are Millwall, Southampton, Middlesbrough and Hull City respectively. These four teams have entered the promotion play-offs and have to go through two rounds of semi-finals and a final to determine the final ticket for promotion. As for the three relegated teams, they were determined in advance before this round, namely Oxford United, Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday.
Before the start of the game, Millwall was trailing, one point behind Ipswich Town. Middlesbrough was also behind, trailing Ipswich Town by two points. Both of them had the possibility of overtaking in the final round. However, the "Tractor Boys" did not give their competitors any chance. They scored two goals in less than 10 minutes of the opening game, firmly holding the opportunity to succeed in the Premier League in their own hands, and scored another goal at the last moment of the game. This successful return to the Premier League is also the first time Ipswich has participated in the top league again after a year. In the 2024-25 season, as a newly promoted team from the Premier League, they ranked 19th in the standings. They only scored 22 points in 38 rounds and were relegated. The team's aces Delap, Hutchinson and others were also poached by other teams. This season in the British Championship, the team is still led by the young coach McKenna from Northern Ireland. The 80 goals they scored are the third most in the British Championship, and the 47 goals they conceded are the joint second fewest in the British Championship. It can be regarded as a more balanced offensive and defensive situation. The player with the most goals in the team is winger Jack Clark who scored sixteen goals.
Compared with the calm battle for direct promotion qualifications, the final battle for promotion play-off tickets was extremely dramatic and full of ups and downs. The top five teams before the English Championship have long been determined, but the order may change. Only sixth place still has a lot of uncertainty: Wrexham has 70 points, Hull City also has 70 points, and Derby County has 69 points. These teams all have the possibility of getting that ticket. Among these teams, Wrexham has the advantage by virtue of points and goal difference, but its opponent is stronger, and it is Middlesbrough who originally had the potential to hit the top two. After the game officially started, Middlesbrough did take the lead in launching an offensive, taking the lead in just 5 minutes. Let's look at what happened next. Wrexham mustered up all their energy to launch a counterattack and successfully achieved a 2-1 lead in the 41st minute. However, just 2 minutes later, they lost a goal again and entered the halftime period with a score of 2-2. At the same time, Derby County led Sheffield United 1-0 at home, while Hull City and Norwich City drew 1-1. If the game ends with this score, Derby County will achieve a counterattack and advance to the play-offs.
In the second half, there were three "fighting six" teams, and they were all making their final efforts. However, it was Derby County's opponent Sheffield United who scored the first goal. Furthermore, all three games ended in draws, with Wrexham winning on goal difference. Then, Hull City scored a goal in the 67th minute to achieve a 2-1 lead over Norwich, which also allowed its real-time points to surpass Wrexham, which was still tied. At the last moment, Wrexham launched a fierce attack on Middlesbrough. They took 11 shots in the second half and had an expected goal value of 1.07, but failed to score any more goals. There was no good news from other matches. Derby County lost with a score of 1 to 2, and Hull City won with a score of 2 to 1, finally achieving the lead.
In this case, Wrexham scored 71 points, and its wonderful journey of jumping three levels in three consecutive years has come to an end for the time being. After Hollywood stars Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds bought the club, Wrexham has transformed from a team in the fifth tier of the 2022-2023 season to a strong team in the British Championship today. However, if they want to compete in the Premier League, they will have to wait and work hard again. Hull City, which scored 73 points, will continue its journey to the Premier League. The team's last appearance in the Premier League was in the 2016-2017 season. After that, they fell into English League One in 2020, and then returned to the English Championship the following year. The best result they achieved in the past four seasons was seventh in the English Championship.
