'I've never been part of a game like it' - how the play-off shootout unfolded

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Hull City, Wrexham and Derby County all spent time in the top six on the final day of the Championship season Three clubs had the chance to snatch the last remaining Championship play-off place on the final day of the season. And all three - Hull City, Wrexham and Derby County - occupied that one place over the course of an early afternoon of footballing drama played out across East Yorkshire, north east Wales and the East Midlands. Spoiler alert: Hull City were the one to get over the line with their victory against Norwich. And below is a snapshot of how the Tigers came out on top at the end of a day that started with Hollywood-backed Wrexham in sixth and saw Derby threatening to gatecrash the play-offs when leading Sheffield United at half-time. It all began with Wrexham in pole position to continue their hopes of challenging for promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs. Numbers were crunched by statisticians (see the table above) and predictions aplenty were made by pundits who had the Red Dragons - a club going for a fourth-successive promotion under the ownership of Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac - as favourites to finish sixth. How quickly that changed once their game against Middlesbrough, Hull's meeting with Norwich and Derby's date with Sheffield United kicked off at 12:30 BST. 12:34: Middlesbrough's Tommy Conway opened the scoring at Wrexham, dropping the Welsh side out of play-off places. At this point, it's advantage Hull. 12:36: The Tigers, who were feeling their way through the early moments of their game with Norwich, are only sixth for a matter of seconds as Sam Szmodics' tap-in finish for Derby gave the Rams an early lead. This advantage sends Derby, who started the day eighth, above both Hull and Wrexham into sixth in the live table. Image source, ShutterstockImage caption, Sam Szmodics put Derby County ahead against Sheffield United with this finish from point-blank range 12:58: A wondrous free-kick from Josh Windass gets Wrexham back level against automatic-promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough. But it's still advantage Derby by a point. That goal coincided with Norwich taking the lead at Hull, which had the Tigers momentarily losing touch in eighth place before Oli McBurnie levelled within two minutes. 13:11: A bullet header from Sam Smith had Wrexham ahead against Boro for the first time and back back up to sixth. Cue pandemonium at the the Stok Cae Ras. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Wrexham's Sam Smith took flight with his goal celebration against Middlesbrough 13:13: At this point, it's worth highlighting that Wrexham incredible journey from non-league football to be within touching distance the Premier League is the focus of a smash hit docuseries. Why say that now? Well, because of the season-defining plot twist the followed just two minutes later when David Strelec levelled with a close-range finish to stun the expectant hosts. 13:19: That Middlesbrough equaliser had changed the half-time picture somewhat. It meant Derby were back up to sixth and within 45 minutes of play-off football. Image caption, How the Championship table looked at half-time on the final day of the 2025-26 season 13:52: A misplaced pass from Derby's Joe Ward had a seismic effect on this game and the play-off race. The ball was quickly and coolly moved on to Tom Cannon in the box, who slotted Sheffield United's equaliser into an unguarded net as Rams defenders swarmed in collective panic around him. With the score 1-1 at Pride Park, and both Wrexham and Hull also locked in stalemates in their respective games, Derby dropped back to eighth with Wrexham wriggling back up to sixth. 13:59: And it only got worse for Derby, as Sydie Peck put mid-table Sheffield United - a team with nothing to play for - ahead for the first time. Barring a spectacular turnaround, Derby were as good as out of contention. 14:01: Wrexham replaced Derby in sixth for less than 10 minutes, with the complexion of the table transformed again when McBurnie grabbed his and Hull's second goal of the day to edge them ahead in their game against Norwich and above the Red Dragons in what had whittled down to a tug-of-war for sixth between two sides playing 150 miles apart from one another. Image source, ShutterstockImage caption, Oli McBurnie scoring the goal that sealed Hull's spot in the play-offs 14:26: We were into nerve-jangling territory as Wrexham's draw with Middlesbrough was confirmed. With a lengthy amount of stoppage time being played out at Hull, the Welsh side had to wait to see if Norwich would do them a favour and peg the Tigers back. 14:30: Hull City, a side that had failed to win in six games leading up to their final match of the season, held on for victory and booked a play-off date with Millwall. They end up two points clear of Wrexham in seventh. Derby's defeat consigned them to an eighth-placed finish. Image caption, How the final Championship table l

'I've never been part of a game like it' - how the play-off shootout unfolded

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