Play-offs memories - from those who were there

Millwall won promotion to the Championship in 2017, while Sheffield Wednesday eventually returned to the second tier in 2023 after an amazing comeback in the semi-finals [Getty Images/Shutterstock] To celebrate 40 years of the English Football League (EFL) play-offs, we asked you to choose your favourite moment from our poll of 15 legendary games. The three that were selected most frequently in the poll were Clive Mendonca's hat-trick for Charlton Athletic against Sunderland in 1998, Troy Deeney's breathtaking late goal as Watford beat Leicester City in 2013, and Sheffield Wednesday's magnificent second-leg comeback against Peterborough United in 2023. They are all worthy of reliving time and time again, but what was it like to actually take part in the play-offs?

The 72+ podcast asked those who have lived it to share the moments that are special to them. The work behind a Hillsborough miracle Sheffield Wednesday won 5-3 on penalties to beat Peterborough United in the League One play-off semi-finals [Getty Images] When Sheffield Wednesday trailed Peterborough United 4-0 after the first leg of their League One play-off semi-final in 2023, it seemed like it was all over for the Owls. Boss Darren Moore was not convinced though, so much so that he had his team preparing for all possibilities in the second leg.

"When I came in on the Monday, we finished training and I started taking penalty kicks with the boys," he said. "The looks I got... but what I did was I got into them psychologically.

They were finishing the pens they were taking, but they were proving to me they could score. "The second day, I got all the academy staff out and I had them waving banners behind the goal. On the Wednesday, we went down to Hillsborough and this time I'd done it under a chorus of boos over the tannoy.