Championship play-off final: Coventry vs Luton – the £170m game to reach the Premier League | Football News
Coventry vs Luton: How to watch and follow
On TV: Live on Sky Sports Football from 4pm and Main Event from 4.30pm on Saturday.
Online: Sky Customers can also watch on Sky Go or the Sky Sports app from 4pm.
Get a NOW Sports Membership for £11.98 to watch the game
How to follow: You will be able to follow our live blog from 3.15pm right here across our website and app, where we will have free in-game clips of all the goals and key moments, and free highlights shortly after full-time.
How Coventry reached Wembley
How Luton reached Wembley
The £170m game
- Victory is worth at least £170m even if the winners finish bottom in the Premier League next season.
- Based on payments from previous seasons, the side that finishes bottom of the Premier League will receive around £95m in central revenue, though this figure can change depending on how often that team is shown live on UK TV.
- Should the play-off winners be relegated they will receive just under £76m as a parachute payment – clubs who spend one season in the Premier League are only eligible for two seasons’ worth of parachute payments, which come to about £75.6m spread over two years. Teams relegated after more than one season get an extra £15m in the third year.
- Premier League survival for one season would see this figure raise to over £285m – the side that finishes 17th will net around £100m in central payments and also qualify for the extra £15m in third year of parachute payments.
Robins: Overcoming pitch issues was ‘phenomenal’
Coventry manager Mark Robins says overcoming pitch issues at the beginning of the season was ‘phenomenal’ and he believes the Championship play-off final will be cagey.
Pre-match Opta stats
- This is Luton’s first ever appearance in a Football League play-off final, with their 2-0 win over Sunderland in the second leg of the semi-final their first ever victory in an EFL play-off game. They featured in two play-off finals in the non-league, failing to get promoted in either, losing on penalties to AFC Wimbledon in 2011 after a 0-0 draw and losing 2-1 to York City in 2012.
- Coventry have never lost an EFL play-off match before (W3 D2), winning their only previous final 3-1 against Exeter in 2017-18 (League Two).
- Luton are unbeaten in their last nine meetings with Coventry in all competitions (W4 D5) since a 3-0 home loss in October 2017 in League Two. Both Championship meetings between the sides this term ended in a draw.
- Coventry are looking to return to the Premier League for the first time since 2000-01, when they were relegated under Gordon Strachan. They had played in 34 consecutive top-flight campaigns before that.
The fall and rise of Coventry & Luton
As recently as 2018 this was a League Two fixture, but Saturday will see Luton and Coventry battle for a place in the Premier League. We track their fall and rise.
Combined final XI
WhoScored.com picked us out their combined Coventry-Luton XI from this season ahead of the final…
Pelly’s progress: How Mpanzu could make history
Sky Sports EFL Editor Simeon Gholam:
Luton Town could become the first club to go from the top flight to non-league and back again, and they’ve had one man with them on every step of their possible return to the Premier League.
Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu, signed initially on loan from West Ham, and helped the club towards the Conference Premier (now National League) title in 2014.
The midfielder, now 29, has been there ever since. He has clocked up more than 300 league appearances for Luton, and has three promotions to his name. He could make it four, and make history, on Saturday.
Why a Premier League return for Coventry matters
After damaging relegations, multiple homes and ownership issues, Coventry fan John McLaughlin explains what promotion to the Premier League would mean to the Sky Blues.