Sky Bet Championship: How a dramatic final day played out with promotion and relegation

Perhaps the drama of it all was best described by the Charlton bench during the final ten minutes of their contest with Leeds. 4-0 down and completely outplayed, all eyes were on the feed of Barnsley's clash with Brentford coming through a laptop.

That game stood at 1-1 in the closing stages. The same scoreline in Wigan's game against Fulham had Charlton safe. As much as Lee Bowyer tried to remain focused on the contest he was involved in, the attention between him and his two coaches in the technical area were firmly on results elsewhere.

Time ticked away and the nerves became more evident. They were desperate for the situation to remain the same for another few minutes until disaster struck; Barnsley, against all the odds, had scored in the 92nd minute. Nine minutes of added time came but an equaliser didn't. With Leeds preparing to lift the trophy, Charlton, who had anxiously waited on the Elland Road pitch, realised it was all over.

With one game remaining, promotion and three relegation spots had yet to be decided. West Brom, Brentford and Fulham all stood a chance of snatching second while a handful of teams were battling to avoid the drop. In the play-offs, Cardiff, Nottingham Forest and Swansea were in a three-team battle for two places.

At the top, all three looking for automatic promotion failed to secure victory while Barnsley, who had been in the relegation zone every single week from October 5 onwards, managed to survive at the expense of Charlton with that late winner. By contrast, Charlton had been in the bottom-three for a total of one week prior to the 92nd minute of the last fixtures.

That was the theme of the evening; constant change. Hull, Charlton, Wigan, Luton and Barnsley had all been in the relegation zone at one point while Brentford held second spot before a combination of West Brom's equaliser and Barnsley's win snatched it away from them. Nobody could keep their eyes off the standings as we passed the 80th minute of all 12 contests.

The biggest drama came in the race for the play-offs. Nottingham Forest looked certain to do it. To lose their spot they would have had to have been beaten by Stoke, Swansea then win against Reading and a six-goal swing go in the Swans' favour.

All expectations were that Forest would be there and the real battle for the top-six would be found between rivals Cardiff and Swansea. Sky Bet had Forest at 1/66 to make the play-offs prior to kick-off; Swansea were huge 9/1 outsiders.

And yet, as the full-time whistle blew, it was Steve Cooper and his Swansea side who were running around the pitch of the Madejski Stadium. They'd won 4-1 with the same scoreline in Stoke's favour at the City Ground. Forest had collapsed. The top-six spot they'd held for 21 consecutive gameweeks had gone. They were sentenced to another season in the Championship.

Speaking to the media after the game, Forest boss Sabri Lamouchi said: "Honestly, I don’t have any words. I can’t explain what has happened tonight, what has happened in the last five or six games. How it is possible not to secure the play-offs – I can’t explain.

"Looking back at the game I can’t explain what has happened. For 20 minutes before the end we have lost control.

"I don’t have the words in my mind now, it is just a disaster. It is unacceptable. I am just so sorry for the fans and the Forest community. For them to follow us all season and us to lose it today like this is just unacceptable. It is unacceptable."

The news had reached their East Midlands rivals Derby, who netted a 97th minute equaliser when the two sides met a few weeks ago. Those extra two points would have seen Forest involved.

"That would have hurt them now, if you take a look at the table," Phillip Cocu said after they beat Birmingham on Wednesday. "They had it in their own hands because they were in fifth position, I believe, so I think they have to blame themselves."

Pressure. That was on display for those three teams looking for automatic promotion. West Brom held the advantage going into final day and a win would see them home. Brentford needed a West Brom slip-up; Fulham needed a huge helping hand from both of those above.

Scott Parker's side nearly had it. West Brom and Brentford failed to win. The Baggies' point enough in the end while the Bees go into the play-offs on the back of two defeats. Fulham were held away at Wigan.

West Brom boss Slaven Bilic clearly knew the situation. At 2-2, he was pushing his side to try and find the winner past a QPR team with nothing to play for. When Barnsley scored, the mentality switched to preserving what they had. Even with the pre-match advantage, West Brom wanted to know what was going on elsewhere.

“I managed my country (Croatia) for six years and I said no matter which club I manage nothing will compare when you are manager of your national team," he said. "I can’t say it’s the same but I feel as proud as I felt then.

"We’ve got work to do but I haven’t thought about it because of this crazy situation. We did a bit of work during the lockdown. Now, not today, not tomorrow or the day after and we’ll see next week.

"What a season – what a league. I know you asked me that and I was very vocal when I said I would always like to manage in the Championship because it’s especially difficult."

Relegation is a tough situation for any club. Hull, Charlton and Wigan will play their football in the Sky Bet League One next season - that is subject to an appeal from the latter in regards to a points deduction.

But on the flip side, the survival of Barnsley gave us the night's real feel-good moment. Gerhard Struber, the Austrian coach brought in to try and save them from the drop, couldn't find the words after full-time.

“This is so, it’s the best feeling right now," Struber told Sky Sports before needing a moment to hold back the tears.

"I have so big heart for my boys. Sorry, at the moment I have no words. We worked so hard for this, the last few months, and always believing that we can stay in the league. Now it’s reality. I am so happy, I am so proud of my boys. We will have a big party.

"We were so clear with the ball, so clear without the ball. We played Brentford and they had no chances against us in the first half. My team is a role model for football."

Sky Bet Championship play-off dates

Semi-finals

• Swansea v Brentford (18:30 - Sunday July 26)
• Cardiff v Fulham (19:45 - Monday July 27)
• Brentford v Swansea (19:45 - Wednesday July 29)
• Fulham v Cardiff (19:45 - Thursday July 30)

Final

• Wembley Stadium (19:45 - Tuesday August 4)

Now all eyes focus on the play-offs, with the quick turnaround seeing the semi-finals kick-off on Sunday before the final at Wembley on August 4.

Brentford will be hoping to put their recent poor form behind them when they face Swansea, while Cardiff's reward for finishing in fifth is two games against Fulham.

This Sky Bet Championship season has been one of the most remarkable yet. We can expect the drama to continue across the remaining five fixtures.

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