With most teams having only four matches to play after the conclusion of this week’s action, the fixtures that took place had significant impacts on many teams’ season.
The Championship had two rounds of matches, whilst Birmingham City secured the League One title and Peterborough United won the Vertu trophy.
The Championship
The race for the Premier League took an interesting turn during this week’s action, as Sheffield United suffered defeats in both their matches.
The Blades lost 1-0 at home to Millwall, before Plymouth Argyle scored two late goals to come from behind and beat them 2-1.
Those defeats opened the door for Burnley and Leeds United to capitalise and create a gap at the top of the table.
Both sides promptly took their opportunity, as Leeds beat Middlesborough 1-0 and Preston North End 2-1, whilst Burnley responded from being held to a 0-0 draw by Derby County by beating Norwich City 2-1 and extending their unbeaten run to 29 league games.
Those results mean that Leeds and Burnley are both five points clear of Sheffield United with only four matches remaining.
There were some crucial late goals in the race to make the playoffs. Coventry City moved back into the top six as a 94th minute goal from Jamie Paterson was enough to see them beat Portsmouth 1-0, whilst Bristol City beat playoff rivals West Brom 2-1 thanks to an injury time winner from Hayden Roberts.
Those victories leave those teams in the driving seat to secure playoff places, as Middlesborough followed up from their defeat to Leeds by losing 1-0 to Millwall.
That victory was The Lions’ third win in a row, bringing them within contention. West Brom also stayed in the race as they ended a five-match winless run by defeating Watford 2-1.
In the relegation battle, Stoke City were held to a 1-1 draw by Luton Town, but they responded by beating Cardiff City 1-0 to create some breathing room above the relegation zone.
Derby County followed up their draw against Burnley with a 2-2 draw against Portsmouth, in which Pompey defender Ron Atkinson scored two goals and an own goal, leaving both sides on the verge of the drop zone.
QPR eased their relegation concerns with a 3-1 victory over Oxford United, and the U’s followed that game up by easing their fears with a 1-0 win at Sheffield Wednesday.
These results mean that Luton and Plymouth are level on 40 points at the foot of the table, with Cardiff on 42 in the final relegation place.
Derby are a point ahead of The Bluebirds, with Hull City a point above them with a game in hand against Coventry on Monday. Portsmouth and Stoke have a bit of breathing room compared to their rivals, as they are four and five points clear of safety respectively with four matches to play.
League One
The big story from League One this week is that Birmingham City secured the title. The Blues secured promotion with a 2-1 victory over Peterborough United in a preview of their Vertu Trophy final clash, and the title followed as Wrexham were held to a 0-0 draw with Wigan Athletic.
The Red Dragon’s dropping points allowed Wycombe Wanderers to close the gap in the race for automatic promotion.
The Chairboy’s beat Huddersfield Town 1-0 in their game in hand, before Caleb Taylor scored an injury time winner to earn another 1-0 victory, this time against Stevenage. Those results mean the gap to Wrexham and second place has decreased from six points this time last week to just one.
Stockport County and Charlton Athletic all but secured their playoff places with victories against Rotherham United and Cambridge United respectively.
In the fight to secure the final place, Reading beat Shrewsbury Town 3-1 in midweek, meaning a 0-0 draw with Northampton Town ensured they remained in the top six.
Their rivals Bolton Wanderers were resoundingly defeated 4-1 by Barnsley, whilst Leyton Orient propelled themselves back into contention with victories at Mansfield Town and Crawley Town. These results mean both Orient and Bolton end the week three points behind Reading in sixth place.
At the foot of the table, Shrewsbury delayed their seemingly inevitable relegation to League Two with a 1-1 draw against Lincoln City, whilst Cambridge’s defeat to Charlton and Crawley’s loss against Leighton Orient saw those sides edge closer to the drop.
In the battle to avoid relegation, Burton Albion’s 3-0 win over Huddersfield Town was enough to lift the Brewers out of the relegation zone for the first time since September.
They displaced Bristol Rovers, who suffered a sixth defeat in a row with a 2-1 loss to Exeter City, on goal difference, although Burton have a game in hand on their rivals in what promises to be a fascinating battle to retain their League One status.
League Two
Port Vale returned to the top of the League Two table thanks to a 5-0 thrashing of Bromley in front of a packed Vale Park.
They overtook Bradford City, who conceded two goals after the 90th minute to lose 5-4 to Swindon Town in an enthralling encounter. Walsall remain in the automatic promotion places for now, although the Saddlers made it 10 games without a win as they lost 2-0 to Barrow, as Doncaster Rovers were held to a 1-1 draw by AFC Wimbledon.
Notts County were defeated 3-1 by Salford City, and the dropped points likely condemns both the Magpies and Wimbledon to playoff campaigns at the end of the season.
Grimsby Town will hope to join them, although their grip on the final playoff spot was weakened by a 2-2 draw at Harrogate Town, whilst Colchester United moved to within one point of the top seven as they beat Newport County 2-0.
At the bottom of the league, Carlisle overtook Morecambe thanks to a 2-0 win against their rivals. That result means that Carlisle won two consecutive matches for the first time since March 2023, and they kept their slim hopes of staying in the Football League alive.
They were aided in their quest to do so by former player Omari Patrick, who scored a late equaliser to see his new team Tranmere Rovers come from 3-0 down to earn a 3-3 draw against Accrington Stanley. Those scores mean that Accrington are six points ahead of Carlisle, and seven above Morecambe, with four matches remaining.
EFL Trophy
Peterborough United became the first team to retain the EFL Trophy, as they defeated Birmingham City 2-0 in the final.
First half strikes from Harley Mills and Hector Kyprianou secured victory for the Posh over the League One champions, as Peterborough won their third title in this competition.
