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EFL clubs to vote on major change to Championship play-offs

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EFL clubs are poised to vote next month on a significant proposal to expand the Championship play-offs to include six teams.

An extraordinary general meeting has been scheduled for March 5, where all 72 EFL clubs will convene to discuss the plans. The Football Association’s board has already given its approval to the proposed changes.

Should the motion pass, the new format could be introduced as early as next season, incorporating an eliminator round similar to the system currently used in the National League.

Under the proposed structure, the team finishing fifth in the league would face the eighth-placed side, while the sixth and seventh-placed teams would also compete.

The FA board gave its backing despite reservations which have previously come from the Premier League

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The FA board gave its backing despite reservations which have previously come from the Premier League (Getty)

These initial encounters would be one-off ties, hosted at the home ground of the higher-ranked club.

The winners would then advance to a two-legged semi-final against the teams that finished third and fourth, culminating in the traditional Wembley final.

The FA board gave its backing despite reservations which have previously come from the Premier League, concerned over the possibility of declining standards if sides that finish eighth in the second tier make it to the top flight.

The regulation change which was approved by the EFL’s board last week must receive a simple majority backing from the the 72 clubs as a whole, and also within that the majority of the 24 Championship clubs.

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Clubs have been consulted on the plans and they are expected to go through with a high level of support within the Championship, not only because it would keep the door open for more clubs in the promotion fight, but also reduce the number of dead-rubber league fixtures late in the season.

While the expansion plans are limited to the Championship play-offs for now, there is some interest in this being expanded to League One and League Two in the future.

Both the EFL and the FA declined to comment.

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Terence Crawford predicts Errol Spence Jr’s reported comeback fight against Tim Tszyu

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It has been almost three years since Errol Spence Jr stepped through the ropes, but a summer return against Australia’s Tim Tszyu seems to be gathering pace.

Spence was handed the first defeat of his career back in 2023 by Terence Crawford, who became the undisputed welterweight world champion that night. Despite many feeling that it was a pick ’em fight beforehand, Crawford won handily, dropping Spence three times before scoring a TKO in the ninth.

After a lengthy lay-off and persistent rumours of a return, Spence reportedly has ‘a done deal’ with Tszyu provided the Aussie comes through Denis Nurja this weekend in Wollongong.

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Speaking to Fight Hub TV, Crawford praised Tszyu’s campaign so far.

“Tim Tszyu [has] had a great career, it’s still going. He’s accomplished a lot for what his experience entails. His fight this weekend – I don’t know too much about the opponent other than he’s undefeated. Will he be back on top and become a champion again? I can’t say he won’t, I can’t say he will. We just got to wait and see.”

However, the recently retired five-division world champion backs his former foe to win should all go to plan and the fight take place.

“I think Spence beats him. At this point in both of their careers, I think he beats him.”

Fans will hope to see a reinvigorated Spence, particularly since he will be returning at 154lbs after cutting to the welterweight limit of 147 for so long. However, questions remain over what he has left in the tank following various injuries – not least a serious car accident.

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Women’s Champions League: Arsenal beat Chelsea 3-2 on aggregate to reach semi-finals – Kim Little reaction

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Arsenal captain Kim Little says she believes her side are “getting better and better” as they reach the semi-finals of the Women’s Champions League, after beating Chelsea 3-2 on aggregate to close in on successfully defending their title.

READ MORE: Arsenal hold off Chelsea to reach Champions League last four

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J.T. Brown’s wife Lexi LaFleur demands “lifetime ban” after Stars fans’ Nazi salute incident

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Former NHL player J.T. Brown’s wife Lexi LaFleur is calling for immediate action after a video surfaced online showing a group of Dallas Stars fans performing Nazi salutes during a game.

The incident reportedly happened on Dec. 21, 2025, when the Stars faced the Toronto Maple Leafs at American Airlines Center in Dallas, ultimately winning 5-1. According to a Reddit post that has since gone viral, a fan who attended the game recorded a group of young men sitting in front of them doing a Nazi salute “every time the stars scored.”

“I was at the Stars game on December 21 and these boys were sitting in front of us doing a Nazi salute every time the stars scored,” the original poster wrote. “I’ve been to several games and never seen anything like this before. I recorded them and sent it to arena management, but they said they couldn’t find the boys despite me giving them their exact seat numbers.”

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LaFleur Brown quote-tweeted the post reshared on X with a strong message:

“Lifetime ban from all NHL arenas immediately. It’s literally in the NHL Fan Code of Conduct. If you ever see behavior like this at a game, alert staff. Unacceptable.”

In her follow-up comments, she attached a link to the NHL Fan Code of Conduct which explicitly prohibits such behavior.


Lexi LaFleur looks back on her days of playing on the boys’ team as a child

Lexi LaFleur herself has played junior hockey throughout school. Last week, LaFleur posted a photo from her elementary school yearbook on X revealing a childhood dream that has taken on new meaning in light of recent success of the PWHL.

“Crying over my elementary school yearbook in which I wrote ‘when I grow up I want to play in the NHL’ because now little girls get to dream of playing in the PWHL,” she wrote.

But her path to hockey wasn’t without obstacles. In a viral TikTok video that has garnered over 1 million views, LaFleur Brown shared her first experience with toxic masculinity in hockey at just 10 years old when several boys on her youth peewee hockey team voted to have her removed with the help of a parent.

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“It lit a fire under my ass that has fueled me for the rest of my life,” Brown said in the video. “My love for hockey is bigger and greater than anybody’s ability to hate me.” [H/T Glamour magazine]

Following the recent controversy involving President Donald Trump’s phone call to the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team, she has been among those calling for greater respect for women in sports.

“It’s sad that fans are new to this and that was kind of their first hockey heartbreak,” LaFleur Brown said in response to the controversy. “I have seen people say, ‘That’s it, I’m just gonna support the PWHL.’ I think that’s great too. There are other ways to love hockey than to just support the NHL.”

The incident occurred when Trump called the men’s gold medal-winning team and joked that he would “have to” invite the women’s team to the State of the Union or risk being impeached. The comment drew rancorous laughter from players in the locker room.