When Charlton Athletic can confirm League One play-off spot as Reading and Leyton Orient chase

Charlton Athletic have now lost just one of their last 11 League One outings with a 1-0 win over Cambridge United the latest boost in the London side’s hopes of cementing a place in the play-offs this season.

The Addicks have enjoyed a superb end to the season under Nathan Jones and are still in with an outside chance of automatic promotion with huge clashes against Wycombe Wanderers and Wrexham still to come before the end of the season.

Jones has labelled Friday’s meeting with Northampton Town as the club’s biggest game in nearly five years. He told CharltonTV: “It’s as an important a game as Charlton have had in many a year, probably since the final game of Covid when they got relegated. It’s probably that important. We’ve put ourselves in a wonderful position, we’ve got to keep hammering home.

“It’s going to be a real tough game, we saw against Lincoln that if we’re not at it, we don’t make the right decisions before, during and after games then we come unstuck. We’ve a week to prepare, then it’s going to be three season-defining days.”

When can Charlton Athletic confirm a League One play-off place?

Charlton Athletic sit fifth in League One on 76 points with four fixtures left to play. Reading are sixth on 69 points and Leyton Orient are seventh on 66 points.

The gap between the O’s and the Addicks is currently 10 points with both teams having played 42 matches. All clubs between second and ninth have played the same number of fixtures.

If Charlton Athletic continue winning games, the gap between Leyton Orient and Charlton Athletic will become too large for Richie Wellens’ side to close when there are three matches left to play. Therefore, if Charlton beat Northampton Town on Friday, their play-off place will be confirmed.

When is the League One play-off semi-final and final?

Should Charlton Athletic book a place in the play-offs, Nathan Jones’ side will have to win two legs of a semi-final and then the final at Wembley Stadium to book a place in the Championship next season.

The side that finishes third in the division plays the side finishing sixth in the semi-finals. That leaves the fourth and fifth places playing the other fixture. These matches are held over two legs, one home and one away. The EFL has booked the first leg in for Saturday, May 10 with the second leg taking place on either Wednesday, May 14 or Thursday, May 15.

The League One play-off final will be held at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, May 25, over the Spring Bank Holiday Weekend.

League One promotion prize money

As per 90min last season, the winner of the League One play offs do not receive any extra payments but that success can be lucrative with the financial injection that comes from playing in the Championship. There’s some debate over the actual sum that gets offered, with plenty discussion over the New Deal with the Premier League, but it is around as follows.

When basic awards are combined with solidarity payments from the Premier League, League One clubs receive around £1.4 million at the start of the season. That figure rises to in between £6 million and £7 million for Championship sides, which could represent an immediate £5 million boost for Charlton Athletic or any rival winning promotion.

The Athletic breaks those figures down to League One clubs receiving £780,000 in solidarity payments and £950,000 from the EFL central income - which would come to more like £1.7 million. For the Championship sides, it’s £5.19 million in solidarity money and £3.92 million in central income - coming to £9.1 million.

Even if Charlton Athletic, Leyton Orient or rivals were to achieve promotion to the Championship and then come straight back down to League One, they would benefit from a parachute payment too. The clubs relegated from the Championship receive around £3.2 million, which is partly what helped to fund the Birmingham City summer of spending last year.

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