With a pot of Premier League gold for 2022 winners Nottingham Forest, it's little wonder theEFL Championship playoffs have a final known as "the richest game in football".

Former playoff winners Fulham have already been promoted to the top flight this season, leaving some of the second-tier sides behind them to engage in a nail-biting race to reach the end-of-season lottery.

Bournemouth beat Forest to the second automatic promotion spot, meaning Huddersfield Town, Forest, Sheffield United and Luton Town contested the playoffs for the right to play Premier League football in 2022/23.

Huddersfield were the first team to book their spot at Wembley after Erik Gonzalez Jersey Jordan Rhodes scored the decisive goal in a 2-1 aggregate win over Luton.

In the other clash, Forest's playoff against Sheffield United needed to be settled on penalties with the sides level on 3-3 after 210 minutes of action as Forest goalkeeper Brice Samba saved three spot-kicks in the shoot-out.

How does the annual finale to the domestic English season work? Who's won before? Here's what you need to know.

MORE:

Who qualified for the EFL Championship playoffs 2021/22?

After the final day of the regular Championship season on May 7,Huddersfield Town,Nottingham Forest,Sheffield UnitedandLuton Chris Stratton Jersey Townwere confirmed as the four sides to enter the playoffs.

Huddersfield snatched third place in the table after a 2-0 win over Bristol City, with Forest only able to draw 1-1 at Hull City. Sheffield United took fifth place after a 4-0 thrashing of champions Fulham, while Luton Town's 1-0 victory over Reading ensured they stayed in that top six.

Huddersfield and Luton headed into the second eg at The John Smith's Stadium tied at 1-1 and the home sided needed striker Rhodes to come to their rescue on 82 minutes with his strike sending them to Wembley.

Sheffield United trailed Forest 2-1 after the first leg but a 2-1 win for the visitors sent the tie to penalties at the City Ground.

But the Blades failed to take their chances and a 3-2 win on penalties for Forest sparked jubilant scenes on the pitch from fans and players.

Championship table 2021/22: Final top eightRankClubGPWDLPtsGD1.Fulham**462791090+632.Bournemouth**462513888+353.Huddersfield Town*4623131082+174.Nottingham Forest*4623111280+335.Sheffield United4621121375+186.Luton Town4621121375+87.Middlesbrough4620101670+98.Blackburn Rovers4619121569+9

** = Won promotion* = In the playoffs

How do the EFL Championship playoffs work?

The teams finishing in the top two places in the division are automatically promoted to the Premier League. The teams finishing between from third to sixth enter the playoffs.

The side who finish third play those who came sixth, with fourth place facing fifth.

In each of these two-legged semi- Bryan Reynolds Jersey final ties, the team that finished higher in the league table plays the second leg at home a system designed to give them an advantage because of their superior league position.

If the aggregate score is level at the end of 90 minutes of the second leg, an extra 30 minutes are played to try to create a winning team. The contest is decided by a penalty shootout if the scores remain level after extra time.

The away goals rule, which has been used in past competitions to send the team with the most away goals over the two legs through if the aggregate score finishes level, is not applicable any longer.

The first semi-final first leg will took place on May 13, six days after the regular season concludes. The final was held at Wembley Stadium, London, on May 29, where Forest beat Huddersfield 1-0.

Who are the past EFL Championship playoff final winners?

While the familiar cliche that form goes out of the window under the pre sure of the playoffs Jacob Stallings Jersey is not quite true teams carrying momentum from the final stretch of the season have often won the final the club finishing highest in the table has only been promoted in 13 of the 36 editions so far.

The outcomes since the format began in 1987, however, suggest that teams finishing 3rd are most likely to wind up celebrating in front of thousands of fans on the pitch at the national stadium although that may be little consolation to supporters acro s the decades who have seen their teams suffer double agony after narrowly failing to go up automatically.

MORE:

Teams that finish in the lowest position, sixth, fare weakest in the playoffs despite a common belief that a late surge up the table can prove vital. Only five of them have proceeded to promotion, and none have done so since 2010.

The greatest challenge for teams who win the playoffs arrives immediately after promotion, as they have le s time than their Premier League rivals to finalise bringing in reinforcements before taking the Lonnie Chisenhall Jersey step up the following season.

It has been a mixed bag for playoff-winning teams in their first season in the Premier League after promotion in recent years: Hull City suffered immediate relegation in 2016 and Fulham have repeated the trick twice since then.

Huddersfield, however, survived a season among the elite, while Aston Villa have established themselves in the higher division and Brentford stayed up this year after an impre sive campaign.

Playoffs yearWinnersFinal league position1987Charlton Athletic19th (First Felipe Vazquez Jersey Division)*1988Middlesbrough3rd*1989Crystal Palace3rd1990Swindon Town**4th1991Notts County4th1992Blackburn Rovers6th1993Swindon Town5th1994Leicester City4th1995Bolton Wanderers3rd1996Leicester City5th1997Crystal Palace6th1998Charlton Athletic4th1999Watford5th2000Ipswich Town3rd2001Bolton Wanderers3rd2002Birmingham City5th2003Wolverhampton Wanders5th2004Crystal Palace6th2005West Ham United6th2006Watford3rd2007Derby County3rd2008Hull City3rd2009Burnley5th2010Blackpool6th2011Swansea City3rd2012West Ham United3rd2013Crystal Palace5th2014QPR4th2015Norwich City3rd2016Hull City4th2017Huddersfield Town5th2018Fulham3rd2019Aston Villa5th2020Fulham4th2021Brentford3rd2022Nottingham Forest4th

* The first two seasons of the playoffs involved the Premier League (then known as the First Division) team immediately above the relegation places and the three Championship (then Second Division) clubs finishing below the automatic promotion places.

** Sunderland were subsequently promoted insteadafter Swindon were found guilty of illegal player payments.