2017 EFL Championship play-off final

The 2017 EFL Championship play-off final was an association football match that was played on 29 May 2017 at Wembley Stadium, London, between Huddersfield Town and Reading. The match determined the third and final team to gain promotion from the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football, to the Premier League. The top two teams of the 2016–17 EFL Championship season gained automatic promotion to the Premier League, while the teams placed from third to sixth place in the table partook in play-off semi-finals; Reading finished in third place while Huddersfield ended the season in fifth position. The winners of these ties competed for the final place for the 2017–18 season in the Premier League. Sheffield Wednesday and Fulham were the losing semi-finalists. Winning the play-off final was estimated to be worth £170 million through sponsorship and television deals to the successful team.

The game, which was refereed by Neil Swarbrick, was played in front of a crowd of 76,682. It ended goalless in regular time and the deadlock was not broken by the end of extra time. A penalty shootout was required to determine the winner for the third time in the history of the second tier play-off final. Although Michael Hefele was the first to miss, Reading's Liam Moore's shot was wayward and Jordan Obita's attempt was saved by Danny Ward, leaving Christopher Schindler to score the winning penalty for the Terriers. Huddersfield won the final 4–3 on penalties, and their midfielder Aaron Mooy was selected as the man of the match.

The following season, Huddersfield's first back in the top tier of English football since 1972, saw them finish 16th in the Premier League. Reading ended the 2017–18 EFL Championship season in 20th position, three points above the relegation zone.

Reading F.C. finished the regular 2016–17 season in third place in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system, two places ahead of Huddersfield Town. Both therefore missed out on the two automatic places for promotion to the Premier League and instead took part in the play-offs to determine the third promoted team. Reading finished four points behind Brighton & Hove Albion (who were promoted in second place) and nine behind league winners Newcastle United. Huddersfield ended the season four points behind Reading, and were the only club in the top eleven to have a negative goal difference.

Reading faced Fulham in their play-off semi-final and the first leg was played away at Craven Cottage. The match ended 1–1, with goals from Jordan Obita for Reading and Fulham's Tom Cairney. With ten minutes of the game remaining, Reading's defender Paul McShane was shown a straight red for a foul on Kevin McDonald. In the second leg, Reading won 1–0 at their home ground, the Madejski Stadium, with a penalty scored by Yann Kermorgant after Fulham's Tomáš Kalas had handled the ball. This gave them a 2–1 aggregate victory and qualification for the play-off final. Ali Al-Habsi, the Reading goalkeeper, made a number of saves to keep a clean sheet and was praised by his manager Jaap Stam: "It was a terrific performance. That's why he's paid to be in goal and be our last line of defence".

Huddersfield Town went into their first leg match against Sheffield Wednesday having failed to beat them in their last seven encounters. The game ended in a draw at Huddersfield's home ground, the Kirklees Stadium, despite Huddersfield's domination in possession and shots. The second leg finished 1–1 after extra time, as Wednesday scored first through Steven Fletcher only for Tom Lees to score an own goal to equalise for Huddersfield Town. The resulting penalty shoot-out finished 4–3 in Huddersfield's favour with their goalkeeper, Danny Ward saving two Wednesday penalties, from Sam Hutchinson and Fernando Forestieri. Prior to the game, Hudderfield's German manager David Wagner had joked: "everyone knows Germans are able to win penalties".

Reading's last appearance in the play-off final had been in 2011 when they lost 4–2 to Swansea City. Reading had never won a play-off competition, having previously lost to Bolton Wanderers in the 1995 First Division play-off final and to Walsall in the 2001 Second Division play-off final. Reading had also lost in the second-tier play-off semi-finals in 2003 and 2009. Huddersfield had an extensive history in the play-offs, including four appearances in the finals: promotions from the second tier in 1995 and from the third tier in 2004 and 2012, having lost the previous season. Prior to the 2017 final, Huddersfield had played twenty-two matches in league play-offs, winning eight, drawing eight and losing six. During the regular season, both teams had won their home fixtures against one another, with a 1–0 win for Reading in September and a win by the same scoreline in February for Huddersfield. The German-born Elias Kachunga was Huddersfield's top scorer for the season with 12 goals, while Reading's Kermorgant was his team's most prolific striker having scored 18 times prior to the semi-finals. Reading had last been in the top flight of English football in 2013 while Huddersfield had last experienced football at the highest domestic tier in the 1971–72 season.

Reading were without captain Paul McShane who was shown a straight red card in their play-off semi-final first leg game at Fulham. Other than Jordan Obita being named among the substitutes, Reading named the same team as for their previous match. Huddersfield's starting line up was unchanged from their semi-final second leg, including Elias Kachunga who had recovered from a hamstring injury suffered in the second leg of the semi-final.