Promotion is one of the biggest prizes in world football, not only for the club’s success higher up the English football pyramid but also their financial standing. However, even with a stellar season, the cruel mistress that is the Play-offs can ruin a season.
In this article, we take a look at the top five highest points tallies by teams who had failed to win promotion.
Sheffield United’s League One campaign for the 2011/12 season was a strong one that looked like Championship football was on the cards for The Blades. Sheffield United finished third in League One, securing a Play-off place by 17 points.
Charlton topped League One this season, winning with 101 points with Sheffield Wednesday rounding out the automatic promotion places finishing with 93 points.
The Blades had 27 wins, nine draws and only ten losses, but fell victim to the Play-offs. Sheffield United dispatched Stevenage 1 - 0 in the second leg after a goalless draw in the first. However, after losing 8 - 7 penalties to Huddersfield Town, Sheffield United were condemned to another season in the third tier.
The Blades have the unfortunate pleasure of appearing on this list twice, and conveniently with the same points tally as the side from the 2011/12 season when the Blades were in League One. Chris Wilder had led his side into a three-way battle for the title race between them, Leeds United and Burnley last season, but ultimately fell short, finishing 10 points adrift of both clubs.
The Baldes route back to the Premier League led them through the playoffs, as a comfortable 6-0 aggregate victory against Bristol City placed them in the finals against Sunderland. However, at Wembley, despite Tyrese Campbell's first-half opener, late goals from Eliezer Mayenda and a heartbreaking dagger from Brighton and Hove Albion bound Tommy Watson ended the Blades' dream of a return to the top flight.
Leeds United returned to the Premier League following their excellent league campaign last season, where they won the Championship title ahead of Burnley on goal difference, with both finishing on 100 points.
The previous season, however, Leeds United was embroiled in a three-way battle for promotion with Leicester City and Ipswich Town, which saw the Peacocks lose out to Ipswich Town's miraculous promotion attempt on the final day. Leeds United had one of the best defensive records that season, conceding 43 in 46 matches - a record only bettered by Leicester City, who won the league title.
Leeds United would go through the playoffs to meet Southampton in the final, where a single goal by Adam Armstrong was enough to condemn Leeds United to another season in the Championship.
Upon their return to League One for the 2019/20 season, MK Dons looked even further up, hoping for a return to the Championship after relegation in 2016. This looked like a likely feat after a strong 2021/22 campaign, but MK Dons fell just at the last hurdle.
League One was extremely tight at the top of the table this season. Wigan Athletic finished top with 92 points with Rotherham United taking up the last automatic promotion place on 80 points. The Dons finished their season on 89 points, making them one win from the League One title.
26 wins, 11 draws and nine losses was one of the best records in the league but still condemned MK Dons to the pot-luck that is Play-offs. The Dons drew Wycombe Wanderers who had finished sixth, six points behind them.
Wycombe won in front of a home crowd 2 - 0 in the first leg but a Troy Parrott goal and a 1 - 0 win in the second leg wasn’t enough to turn the tide, leaving MK Dons in League One despite their stellar season.
Before their eventual promotion to the Premier League in 2017, Brighton’s closest brush with promotion came back in the 2015/16 season. The season before had been a nightmare, The Seagulls finishing 20th with only 47 points, but clearly served as motivation.
In the 46 games of the Championship season, Brighton won 24, drew 17 and lost just five - the joint least amount of losses with top-of-the-table Burnley. The Seagulls finished on equal points with second-place Middlesbrough on 89 points, an impressive four-point gap to Burnley. However, this does also mean that Brighton missed out on automatic promotion due to goal difference, where Middlesbrough had a two-point margin.
Brighton did draw Sheffield Wednesday in the Semi-finals, a draw that on paper should’ve favoured Brighton. The Seagulls finished 15 points ahead of Wednesday but lost the first leg 2 - 0 and could only reply with a 1 - 1 draw in the second leg, meaning two goal-difference points were the reason Brighton were prevented from top-flight football for another season.
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