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Live Commentary: Championship final day - as it happened

Read how one of the craziest final days in recent memory happened in the Championship on Saturday.
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There was plenty to play for at both ends of the table as the Championship headed into its final day this afternoon.

It turned out to be one of the craziest climaxes to a season as the table changed and changed between 12.45 and 2.55pm.

Read how it memorably unfolded in our minute-by-minute updates below.


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Afternoon all! So here we are, after 45 games the Championship season comes down to today. Who will go up, down and make the playoffs? You're in the right place to find out.

As mentioned above, today's matches have an effect on automatic promotion, the playoff places and two places in the relegation zone. Here's a summary of the picture going into today's matches...

AT THE BOTTOM! Wolverhampton Wanderers are very likely to go down for a second-straight season today. They will be relegated unless they beat Brighton, Peterborough and Barnsley lose and Wolves make up a four-goal swing over Posh.

Barnsley will go down if they lose to Huddersfield, or if they draw and Peterborough avoid defeat and Sheffield Wednesday avoid defeat by four or more goals. A win would keep them up.

Peterborough United are down if they lose and either Barnsley win or Wolves win and make up a four-goal swing. A draw won't be enough if Posh avoid defeat and Sheffield Wednesday avoid defeat by more goals. A win would seal safety.

Sheffield Wednesday need to beat Middlesbrough to guarantee safety

Millwall and Huddersfield need a point to secure their status.

PLAYOFF RACE! Crystal Palace will seal their place with a win at home to Peterborough. A draw would be enough if Nottingham Forest fail to beat Leicester by six goals. If Bolton or Forest fail to win, Palace will also be OK.

Bolton will finish in the top six with a win at home to Blackpool, as long as Forest don't win by four more goals than they do, or if they and Forest draw.

Forest will qualify if they beat Leicester and either Palace lose or Bolton fail to win, or if they draw and Bolton lose

Leicester need to beat Forest, and hope Bolton fail to win.

AT THE TOP! Hull City, at home to already-promoted Cardiff, just need to match Watford's result at home to Leeds to secure second place. Watford will steal second spot if they better the Tigers' result.

Plenty to keep on top of then. We also have detailed live updates on the match at the KC Stadium where Hull welcome Cardiff. Join Liam Apicella here.

Hull's stuttering end to the season has really cost them dearly. They have failed to score in their last three games, losing two of those to allow Watford back into the frame. They will be confident of beating Cardiff though as their place in the Premier League is secure.

Here are the two games that matter at the top then:

Hull vs. Cardiff
Watford vs. Leeds

And the three that could affect the playoff spots:

Bolton vs. Blackpool
Palace vs. Peterborough
Forest vs. Leicester

Four games can change the relegation places and they are:

Brighton vs. Wolves
Derby vs. Millwall
Huddersfield vs. Barnsley
Wednesday vs. Middlesbrough

MEANINGLESS! We'll be focussing heavily on the nine below but that means there are three games that don't affect relegation, promotion or the playoffs and they are:

Birmingham vs. Blackburn
Burnley vs. Ipswich
Charlton vs. Bristol

We'll bring you goal updates from those games though, fear not. Just two minutes from kickoff now and atmospheres are bubbling up nicely up and down the country. Hull have just given champions Cardiff a guard of honour in Humberside.

KICKOFF! We're underway on the final day of the Championship! Best of luck to whoever you're rooting for. Where will the first goal come?

By the way, you can follow all the live scores with the red box on the right of this page and check how the table looks in-play by scrolling a little further down. It's right there, it's purple. Do you see it?

Bolton almost make a horrible start to their push for the playoffs as Marcos Alonso almost puts into his own net before Matt Phillips drags a shot wide.

GOAL for Forest at home to Leicester! Simon Cox the scorer and that moves them into sixth spot and the playoffs.

Wolves have hit the post at Brighton! They really need those sort of chances to go in if they're to have any chance of miraculously escaping the drop.

GOAL for Brighton against Wolves! It's the hosts' first attack and Kazenga Lua Lua scores. Wolves almost certainly down now.

As it stands, Watford will play Forest in the playoffs, with Brighton facing Palace in the other semi.

GOAL at Hillsborough! Wednesday take the lead against Middlesbrough through big Steve Howard and that moves the Owls up to the safety of 18th.

Couple of incidents in two matches at the top. At Vicarage Road, Leeds striker Steve Morison has been forced off because of an injury while George Boyd has seen a goal ruled out for offside for Hull.

Palace come ever so close to taking the lead as Delaney's header comes close before Grant McCann clears Glenn Murray's shot off the line, somehow.

Watford want a penalty at Vicarage Road as Michael Brown goes in hard and I've definitely seen those given before. The Hornets aren't happy!

GOAL for Barnsley! The Tykes take the lead at Hull through Chris O'Grady and that's enough to lift them out of the bottom three. Peterborough drop in.

Leicester come close to an equaliser against Forest as Anthony Knockaert clips the top of the crossbar. The hosts started blisteringly but Leicester have come back into it well at the City Ground.

20 mins gone: AS IT STANDS: PROMOTED Cardiff, Hull PLAYOFFS Watford, Brighton, Palace, Forest RELEGATED Peterborough, Wolves, Bristol C

GOAL for Blackpool against Bolton! Wanderers' push for the playoffs is going horribly wrong.

Matt Phillips squandered a pair of early chances but he's just curled home the opener at the Reebok Stadium for the Tangerines. That gives Palace and Forest a bit of a cushion in the playoffs.

GOAL and an equaliser for Leicester at Forest. It had been coming but it doesn't change the positions of sixth, seventh and eighth yet.

Matty James with the goal at the City Ground, by the way, curling home from the edge of the box.

There's been another injury delay at Vicarage Road and that could mean that Watford finishes after Hull. As Independent journalist Jack Pitt-Brooke puts it: "So Watford will probably finish 10 minutes after Hull, which could be fun." Indeed.

GOAL for Peterborough! This is a huge goal at Selhurst Park! Posh have moved out of the bottom three thanks to Lee Tomlin and that moves Huddersfield into the drop zone. They started the day seventh from bottom!

Remember, you can keep up to date with the live table by scrolling down and finding it on the right of this commentary.

The delay at Vicarage Road is still going on. Telegraph journalist Oliver Brown tells us: "Alarming at Watford. Home goalkeeper Jonathan Bond now down for almost 10 minutes with what seems a neck injury. Medics look very concerned." That will mean that third-choice Jack Bonham will have to come on.

GOAL for Wednesday and they are now two-up on Middlesbrough. Big Steve Howard with another and the Owls look set for safety.

Listen to this. As it stands, there are four teams on 57 points and Huddersfield are the ones in the drop zone because of their inferior goal difference. Fifty seven points! Last season you needed 41 for safety. Incredible.

GOAL and it's a second for Blackpool at Bolton. Ludovic Sylvestre with the goal and the Trotters aren't going to make the playoffs at this rate.

Play has just finally resumed at Vicarage Road following an 11-minute delay because of what appears to be a neck injury to goalkeeper Bond. Best wishes to him.

AS IT STANDS! Here's how we're looking as the first halves near their end:

PROMOTED: Cardiff, Hull

PLAYOFFS: Watford, Brighton, Palace, Forest

RELEGATED: Huddersfield, Wolves, Bristol

Jeers at Vicarage Road as Michael Brown is booked at last. He really does love a challenge that boy.

GOAL for Brighton! Wolves will be playing football in League One next season as Brighton open up a two-goal lead thanks, again, to Kazenga Lua Lua.

Peterborough almost double their surprise lead at Palace as Pritchard somehow misses from close range.

GOAL for Leicester! Huge, huge goal in the East Midlands as Leicester turn it around against Forest and they've now replaced their rivals in the top six. Amazing stuff.

GOAL for Leeds! Watford's chances of automatic promotion suffer a huge blow as Leeds snatch the lead at Vicarage Road through Dominic Poleon.

AS IT STANDS! Here's how we're looking now:

PROMOTED: Cardiff, Hull

PLAYOFFS: Watford, Brighton, Palace, Leicester

RELEGATED: Huddersfield, Wolves, Bristol

GOAL for Bolton! The Trotters pull one back against Blackpool just before the break through Chris Eagles. That could be massive. They're 2-1 down.

The first half-time score comes from Turf Moor where it's Burnley 0-0 Ipswich. Over in South London, Palace have just won a penalty against Peterborough!

GOAL! Glenn Murray scores his 30th Championship goal by smashing it down the middle. Peterborough move into the bottom three.

ANOTHER for Bolton! Incredible scenes at the Reebok as Bolton equalise against Blackpool. Craig Davies is the goalscorer and now Bolton are level on points with Leicester but the Foxes are in the playoffs because of their superior goal difference.

Frantic stuff at the City Ground as Forest somehow fail to equalise from multiple chances. Half-time scores are coming in thick and fast now.

HT SCORES: Here is how things are at the break. It really hasn't disappointed today:

Birmingham 1-0 Blackburn
Bolton 2-2 Blackpool
Brighton 2-0 Wolves
Burnley 0-0 Ipswich
Charlton 0-0 Bristol
Palace 1-1 Posh
Derby 0-0 Millwall
Huddersfield 0-1 Barnsley
Hull 0-0 Cardiff
Forest 1-2 Leicester
Wednesday 2-0 Middlesbrough
Watford 1-1 Leeds (latest)

As you may have noticed, Watford have just equalised against Leeds! Almen Abdi the scorer in that game where there is an incredible 16 MINUTES of added time because of some injury problems for the hosts.

Here at SM we like to keep you as informed as possible so you can now read half-time reports on all 12 games in the Championship by clicking here.

TABLE! Click here to see how the full table stands at the moment.

The second halves are about to get underway but before the craziness starts once more, here's another reminder on how it looks right now:

PROMOTED: Cardiff, Hull

PLAYOFFS: Watford, Brighton, Palace, Leicester

RELEGATED: Peterborough, Wolves, Bristol

Finally the half-time whistle goes at Vicarage Road after a 63-minute first half. It's Watford 1-1 Leeds at the break. Again, best wishes must go to Watford keeper Jonathan Bond, who was stretchered off earlier on.

That means that Hull will have either extinguished any chance of Watford going up or opened the door for the Hornets when the full-time whistle goes at the KC Stadium. If Hull can't beat Cardiff then their is sure to be a monumental atmosphere at Vicarage Road as they will be 15 minutes or so behind.

A goal in one of our three 'meaningless' games this afternoon as Charlton take the lead against already-relegated Bristol City through Yann Kermorgant.

EQUALISER for Forest! Elliot Ward equalises for the hosts and that moves Bolton up into the playoff places!

GOAL FOR CARDIFF! Hull are behind and it's former player Fraizer Campbell who puts champions Cardiff ahead at the KC. That means Watford are going up as it stands, cue jubilant scenes at Watford.

EQUALISER FOR HUDDERSFIELD! The Terriers draw level against Barnsley through Jermaine Beckford and that drops Barnsley into the bottom three. It's all happening!

Hull almost draw back level instantly as substitute Nick Proschwitz somehow fluffs his lines.

AS IT STANDS! Here's how we're looking now:

PROMOTED: Cardiff, Watford

PLAYOFFS: Hull, Brighton, Palace, Bolton

RELEGATED: Barnsley, Wolves, Bristol

At The Valley it's now 2-0 Charlton against Bristol City as Yann Kermorgant doubles his and the Addicks' total.

Huddersfield now want a penalty against Barnsley but it's turned down by the ref.

Burnley take the lead against Ipswich in that mid-table clash. Junior Stanislas with a rocket from 25 yards.

Is this one of the most exciting final days in recent memory?

GOAL FOR HULL! Oh yes it is! Hull equalise and it's Proschwitz who makes up for his earlier miss by levelling against Cardiff. That moves the Tigers back above Watford and into second.

AS IT STANDS! Here's the latest:

PROMOTED: Cardiff, Hull

PLAYOFFS: Watford, Brighton, Palace, Bolton

RELEGATED: Barnsley, Wolves, Bristol

Blackburn equalise against Birmingham in one of our three nothing games. No surprise with the goalscorer for the visitors as Jordan Rhodes nets.

GOAL FOR BARNSLEY! Jason Scotland puts the Tykes back in front against Barnsley and that sends Huddersfield back into the bottom three.

AS IT STANDS! Fifteen minutes or so left in most games. Here's the latest:

PROMOTED: Cardiff, Hull

PLAYOFFS: Watford, Brighton, Palace, Bolton

RELEGATED: Huddersfield, Wolves, Bristol

Red card for Watford's Troy Deeney as he goes in hard on Michael Brown. Is that the Hornets' auto-promotion chances gone? Remember, they need to better Hull's result and they're currently beating Cardiff. Looks like Gianfranco Zola's men will have to go through the playoffs.

EQUALISER FOR HUDDERSFIELD! James Vaughan makes it 2-2 at the Galpharm and that means Huddersfield pop out of the bottom three and now opponents Barnsley go back in.

A third goal for Charlton against Bristol City as Jonathan Obika makes it 3-1 to the hosts. Chris Powell's side are on course for an impressive ninth-place finish.

If you've got a moment just look at how close the bottom half of the table is by clicking here. Crazy.

GOAL! It's an equaliser for Palace at Peterborough as wily veteran Kevin Phillips makes it a nervous last few minutes for Posh.

Hello, hello! Derby take the lead against Millwall and that means that the Lions are awfully close to relegation. Barnsley remain the side, alongside Wolves and Bristol, who will go down.

A second goal for Burnley against Ipswich as Martin Paterson flicks home. A timid end to what has been a great season for Ipswich since Mick McCarthy took over.

AS IT STANDS! Fifteen minutes or so left in most games. Here's the latest:

PROMOTED: Cardiff, Hull

PLAYOFFS: Watford, Brighton, Palace, Bolton

RELEGATED: Barnsley, Wolves, Bristol

Now 4-1 Charlton against Bristol as Barnsley have a shot cleared off the line at Huddersfield! A goal for the Tykes now would save them from relegation and send Peterborough down.

GOAL for Palace! Peterborough are going down as it stands! Oh my word!

Both sets of fans are singing "WE ARE STAYING UP!" at Huddersfield vs. Barnsley. Amazing.

LEICESTER! The Foxes take the lead against Forest and that moves them up above Bolton on goal difference into sixth! Anthony Knockaert with the goal.

AS IT STANDS! Almost done!

PROMOTED: Cardiff, Hull

PLAYOFFS: Watford, Brighton, Palace, Leicester

RELEGATED: Peterborough, Wolves, Bristol

Amazing scenes in Huddersfield as the Barnsley keeper simply holds onto the ball and no-one challenges him. The full-time whistle goes and fans spill onto the pitch. But if Peterborough equalise then they'll send Barnsley down.

And now there's unbelievable scenes at the KC Stadium as the home side are awarded a penalty but the fans think it's the final whistle. The game's not over though!

YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE THIS! Hull missed their penalty and now Cardiff have been given one at the other one as Faye handballs. Maynard scores it and that now means Watford can still go up!!!!!

Hull have a free kick on the edge of the area in the seventh minute of injury time and El Mohamady forces Marshall into a save before the full-time whistle goes.

Watford will now know that one goal against Leeds takes them up to the Premier League. Remember, they're a long way behind at Vicarage Road. THERE'S STILL SIX MINUTES PLUS STOPPAGE TIME LEFT!

LATEST SITUATION! Just Watford 1-1 Leeds left!

PROMOTED: Cardiff, Hull

PLAYOFFS: Watford, Brighton, Palace, Leicester

RELEGATED: Peterborough, Wolves, Bristol

Everyone's eyes are now on Vicarage Road as Watford chase that vital second goal. Can they do it?

GOAL FOR LEEDS! Oh my goodness me! Leeds streak down the other end through Ross McCormack and he chips young keeper Bonham, who made a hash of that. Hull's players are watching in the tunnel and they go wild!

I think any Hull fans walking past a tattoo parlour on their way home may get McCormack inked on their backside.

HULL CITY ARE PROMOTED TO THE PREMIER LEAGUE! Watford fall 2-1 at home to Leeds and they'll have to play Leicester in the playoffs.

Hull's players go wild at the KC Stadium. They join Cardiff in heading straight into the top flight. Watford could have miraculously broken their hearts but they conceded late on and never had quite enough to get the victory.

I've got to rush off as I'm covering Norwich vs. Villa in the Premier League but I won't leave without the final Championship table.

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Crystal Palace player Wilfried Zaha dribbles the ball during his sides Championship match on 5 January, 2013
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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd22155232112148
2Leeds UnitedLeeds22136341152645
3Burnley2212822891944
4Sunderland22127334181643
5Blackburn RoversBlackburn2111462518737
6Middlesbrough22105738281035
7West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom22811326161035
8Watford2110473028234
9Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds229582830-232
10Millwall217772118328
11Swansea CitySwansea227692424027
12Bristol City226972628-227
13Norwich CityNorwich226883734326
14Queens Park RangersQPR2251072328-525
15Luton TownLuton2274112538-1325
16Derby CountyDerby2266102728-124
17Coventry CityCoventry2266102834-624
18Preston North EndPreston2241172229-723
19Stoke CityStoke2257102330-722
20Portsmouth204882535-1020
21Hull City2247112131-1019
22Cardiff CityCardiff2146111934-1518
23Oxford UnitedOxford Utd2146112137-1618
24Plymouth ArgylePlymouth2146112245-2318


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