Key events
Goal! Preston 0-1 Southampton (Harwood-Bellis, 12)
That’s the 80th goal of the season for Saints, scored by their captain. They will be a team to fear in the playoffs.
Portsmouth are 1-0 up on Birmingham, Adrian Segecic opening the scoring.
Goal! Ipswich 2-0 QPR (Philogene, 9)
As stated previously, Philogene is flying, and is played in by George Hirst to score. This has been awesome from Ipswich.
Sheffield Wednesday takeover completed
Sheffield Wednesday have been bought by American consortium Arise Capital Partners, the club have announced.
A Sheffield Wednesday statement and headed ‘Sheffield Wednesday Reborn’, read in part: “The Joint Administrators of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club Limited are pleased to confirm the successful completion of the sale of the Club to Arise Capital Partners LLC, a consortium led by David Storch, alongside Michael Storch and Tom Costin.
“The transaction has been completed following constructive engagement with key stakeholders, including the English Football League (EFL), and in accordance with all relevant regulatory requirements.
“As part of this process, the EFL Board exercised its discretion, as provided by the Insolvency Policy, and concluded that it would not be appropriate to impose a 15-point deduction on the Club following its exit from Administration. As such, the Club will begin the upcoming season on 0 points. A position has also been agreed on wage and transfer parameters that is both acceptable and supportive of the Club’s forward progress.
“The sale secures the long-term future of the Club and marks the beginning of a new era for Sheffield Wednesday – one built on stability, responsibility, and renewed belief.
“Throughout this turbulent period in the Club’s history, staff and players have shown unwavering professionalism and pride. Supporters – through uncertainty and frustration – have shown they are amongst the most loyal in the land.”
Ipswich 1-0 QPR
Ipswich have been rampant, Philogene is flying, they want to get the job done, four shot have rained down on the QPR goal.
Goal! Derby 1-0 Sheffield United (Szmodics, 5)
That goal means Derby climb into the top six.
Goal! Wrexham 0-1 Middlesbrough (Conway, 4)
That’s a huge goal, Boro keeping up the pressure and knocking Wrexham out of the playoffs.
Goal! Ipswich 1-0 QPR (Hirst, 3)
Ipswich in dreamland, Leif Davis sets up George Hirst to tap in.
Goal! Bristol City 1-0 Stoke (Burgzorg, 1 )
Roy Hodgson’s team get the goals started, after a horror error by the Stoke goalie.
Away we go on the final day of the Championship
In two hours or so, destiny will be decided, and the pitches are likely to be invaded, too.
Across the Championship, teams are making their way to the field. At Ipswich, it’s a sea of blue, and the pyro is out. Kick-off is but moments away.
Bill Preston gets in touch: “I think Wednesday beating West Brom and finishing on zero points, the same as they began the season with*, would be fitting. It would reflect a new start to the club, a fresh page, a story yet to be written.
“Although, one can’t help but feel I’ll be writing the same email again this time next year albeit into the League One finale if they get the expected fourteen points deduction post takeover and slide again.”
Derby v Sheff Utd teams
Derby: Zetterstrom, Ward, Langas, Clarke, Forsyth, Ozoh, Travis, Brereton Diaz, Szmodics, Banel, Morris. Subs: Vickers, Batth, Salvesen, Johnston, Sanderson, Fraulo, Eames, Clark, Allen.
Sheff Utd: Adam Davies, Seriki, Tanganga, McGuinness, Burrows, Hamer, Peck, Arblaster, O’Hare, Bamford, Cannon. Subs: Ings, Hoever, Soumare, Chong, Sasnauskas, Riedewald, Rothwell, Betts, McGlinchey.
Speaking of Wrexham:
Wrexham AFC, the football club part-owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac, used taxpayer funds to re-lay its pitch, even though initial grant documents assessing the state investment did not make reference to it.
The club has been awarded £18m in grants, with the first £3.8m tranche in February 2022. However, legally required state aid documents relating to that initial grant made no reference to the pitch works.
Wrexham v Middlesbrough teams
Wrexham: Ward, Hyam, Scarr, Doyle, Kabore, Dobson, Matty James, Rathbone, Thomason, Windass, Smith. Subs: Okonkwo, Cleworth, Keillor-Dunn, Cacace, Sheaf, Moore, O’Brien, Broadhead, Longman.
Middlesbrough: Brynn, Ayling, Fry, Malanda, Targett, Browne, Morris, Brittain, Whittaker, Strelec, Conway. Subs: Wildsmith, McGree, Gilbert, Kaly Sene, Silvera, Castledine, Edmundson, Hansen, Sarmiento.
Should Sheffield Wednesday beat West Brom today, they will climb to a total of zero points, nil point, if you will
Millwall v Oxford teams
Millwall: Patterson, Leonard, Crama, Cooper, Sturge, De Norre, Bannan, Azeez, Neghli, Ballo, Ivanovic. Subs: Crocombe, McNamara, Mitchell, Doughty, Langstaff, Watson, Cundle, Smallbone, Mazou-Sacko.
Oxford: Cumming, ter Avest, Helik, Brown, Spencer, Vaulks, Konak, Mills, Donley, Emakhu, Lankshear. Subs: Ingram, Long, Brannagan, Harris, Currie, Jeon, Makosso, McDonnell, Peart-Harris.
Hull v Norwich teams
Hull: Pandur, Coyle, Hughes, Egan, Giles, Slater, Crooks, Belloumi, Gelhardt, Millar, McBurnie. Subs: Phillips, Lundstram, Ajayi, Hirakawa, Joseph, Gyabi, Dowell, Koumas, McNair.
Norwich: Kovacevic, Stacey, McConville, Cordoba, Fisher, Mattsson, Wright, Forson, Ben Slimane, Ahmed, Toure. Subs: Grimshaw, Darling, Gibbs, Maghoma, Field, Schlupp, Kvistgaarden, Springett, Mundle-Smith.
Ipswich v QPR teams
Ipswich: Walton, Davis, O’Shea, Greaves, Furlong, Matusiwa, Taylor, Burns, Nunez, Philogene-Bidace, Hirst. Subs: Palmer, Kipre, Neil, Johnson, McAteer, Akpom, Azon, Mehmeti, Clarke.
QPR: Walsh, Mbengue, Edwards, Clarke-Salter, Norrington-Davies, Bennie, Varane, Morgan, Madsen, Vale, Chair. Subs: Salamon, Adamson, Smyth, Saito, Hayden, Esquerdinha, Smith, Alemayehu, Scarlett.
Preston v Southampton teams
Preston: Iversen, Storey, Lindsay, Hughes, Potts, Devine, Whiteman, Moran, Vukcevic, Dobbin, Jebbison. Subs: Cornell, Valentin, McCann, Brady, Thompson, Smith, Small, Osmajic, Offiah.
Southampton: Peretz, Charles, Harwood-Bellis, Wood-Gordon, Welington, Bragg, Jander, Fellows, Archer, Scienza, Stewart. Subs: Long, Quarshie, Bree, Manning, Romeu, Edozie, Azaz, Larin, Oyekunle.
Preamble
It’s a big day in the north, and south. The east, too. It all comes down to this. It’s been a vintage Championship season, and though the bottom three has been decided – farewell, Sheff Wed, Leicester and Oxford – there’s automatic promotion and playoffs to be decided. Make no mistake: this is massive.
Automatic promotion, the key games:
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Preston v Southampton
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Wrexham v Middlesbrough
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Millwall v Oxford
Playoffs, the key games:
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Preston v Southampton
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Wrexham v Middlesbrough
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Hull v Norwich
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Derby v Sheffield United
It all kicks off at 12.30pm, UK time.
Following that a huge day in the Premier League, and in League One and League Two, too. Join me.