Last updated: 30 April 2006 17:41
Contenders' Run-ins
This table shows the remaining fixtures for the teams in contention for promotion from the Championship to the promised land - the top two teams go up automatically, and the next four teams into the play-offs.
The "Last six games" row shows the current form in League games. The most recent result is shown on the left, home results are in CAPITALS and away results in lower case.
Key: Green
cells show home games, red cells
show away games, blank yellow cells
show dates where a club has no fixture.
(^) - game is live on Sky Sports.
Reading |
Sheffield United |
Watford |
Cheating Dirty Preston North End |
Leeds United |
Crystal Palace |
|
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th |
| Games left | 0 (0H,0A) | 0 (0H,0A) | 0 (0H,0A) | 0 (0H,0A) | 0 (0H,0A) | 0 (0H,1A) |
| Points | 106 | 90 | 81 | 80 | 78 | 75 |
| Goal difference | +67 | +30 | +24 | +29 | +19 | +19 |
| Goals scored | 99 | 76 | 77 | 59 | 57 | 67 |
| Last six games | WdWdwW (14 points) |
WdDwWd (12 points) |
DwWdDl (9 points) |
WdWwWw (16 points) |
lWdDDl (6 points) |
lWdDlW (8 points) |
Notes:
The "1871 rule of thumb" is that if a team needs two points a game or less to achieve a particular target, and there are still six or more games to play, then only a total disaster will stop the team reaching that target (a total disaster would involve playing at worse than relegation form, which clearly you would not expect from a promotion challenger). An alternative way of looking at this is that over a period of six or more games, a team can only expect to catch up an average of one point per game. With less than six games to play the rule of thumb does not work.
The required points in this table are the same as the "magic numbers" you may have read about on messageboards.
| Team | To guarantee championship | To guarantee automatic promotion | To guarantee a play-off spot |
| Reading | Already guaranteed | Already guaranteed | Not needed |
| Sheffield United | Cannot win championship | Already guaranteed | Not needed |
| Watford | Cannot win championship | Cannnot gain automatic promotion | Already guaranteed |
| Preston North End | Cannot win championship | Cannnot gain automatic promotion | Already guaranteed |
| Leeds United | Cannot win championship | Cannnot gain automatic promotion | Already guaranteed |
| Crystal Palace | Cannot win championship | Cannnot gain automatic promotion | Already guaranteed |
A blank yellow cell indicates that the particular target is not in that team's hands, and that they will require teams with a better record to drop points, or that they will need to gain a better goal difference than a team with an equal record.
This obviously has no relevance at all for Reading, but fans of other clubs might want to visit The Play-off Page. I have updated most of the information for 2005/06, and the page indicates which parts are still out-of-date.
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