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The ambience of any stadium will depend on the number of seats available. Many teams in topflight football in England attest to their home fans, helping them win crucial games. In this post, we look at the English Football League (EFL) stadiums with the largest capacities. Read on.

1. Hillsborough -39,859

Sheffield Wednesday is a team with an enormous past in English football. Since its relegation to the EFL, Sheffield Wednesday continues to gain respect as one of the teams with home stadiums with the largest capacity. Their Hillsborough stadium comfortably sits 39,859 fans at a go. This capacity makes this stadium one of the toughest for visiting teams because of the effect that fans have on deciding a match.

2. Elland Road – 37,890

Elland Road, home to Leeds United, comes in second on our list. The home stadium to the current EFL leaders comfortably sits 37,890 fans. While Leeds United might have lost its status as one of the fiercest teams in English football, this season is different. The team sits comfortably at the league summit and is well in line for a promotion. The home fans continue to play a significant role in their team’s success this season.

3. Riverside Stadium – 35,100

Not long ago, The Riverside Stadium, home to Middlesbrough, would play host to premier league matches. That dynamic changed, and now the team plays in the EFL. It has the third-largest stadium of teams currently in the league. It can accommodate 35,100 fans.

4. Pride Park – 33,597

At Pride Park, you can expect to see England’s all-time top scorer, Wayne Rooney score some of those amazing free kicks we know him for. Nevertheless, aside from Rooney’s amazing presence at this stadium, Derby County’s home ground also marvels because of its capacity. The stadium is the fourth largest of teams currently in the EFL. It comfortably sits 33,597 fans during home matches.

The English Football League (EFL) playoffs are interesting to watch. The teams play with the knowledge that promotion to the English Premier League is at stake. In recent times, there have been some upsets that the footballing world could not believe. In this post, we look at some recent playoff upsets that some people cannot let go of.

1. Derby County – 2018/19

Derby County FC under Frank Lampard as the head coach looked primed for promotion during the entire 2018/19 season. While this was Lampard’s first senior managerial job, he was doing impressively. His team’s style of play and his focus on young talent won him love among the fans.

It would, however, be one of his former teammates, John Terry’s team, which would end their bid for promotion. In the 2018/2019 playoff final at Wembley, Aston Villa, under Dean Smith and Terry as a coach, beat Derby 2 – 1 to gain promotion to the EPL as the third team. That playoff defeat for Derby serves as one of the greatest EFL playoff upsets in recent times.

2. Aston Villa – 2017/18

While Aston may have had the final say in the 2018/ 2019 playoff final, a year earlier, that was not the case. After an impressive season under Steve Bruce as manager and John Terry as captain, the team looked set for promotion.

Their dreams would, however, come crashing after a 1 – 0 defeat by bitter rivals Fulham at Wembley. A 23rd-minute goal by Tom Cairney ensured that Fulham’s impressive run that season ended with promotion to the Premier League.

The Playoff defeat resulted in the sacking of Steve Bruce as manager and the appointment of Dean Smith. Additionally, a squad overhaul followed. These drastic measures eventually paid off with Aston Villa gaining promotion the following season after defeating Derby in the Playoff final.

The English Football League (EFL) is always viewed by many as a less classy football league. It is no wonder when a player makes the switch to the EFL from the premier league, and many people receive this news with a lot of scepticism. In this post, we look at some world-class players who made shocking moves to teams in the EFL.

1. Wayne Rooney – Derby County

Not many people expected that Wayne Rooney would make the switch to Derby County. The England and Manchester United top scorer and the former captain made the switch after a stint in the MLS. Rooney left Manchester United at the end of the 2017/2018 season. He then had a stint at Everton before moving to the MLS with DC United and finally making the switch back to English football with Derby County.

2. John Terry

Many expected that John Terry would end his career at Chelsea where he had become a legend during his playing days. However, things would not work out as planned, and he made the switch to Aston Villa at the end of the 2017/2018 season. He stayed on as player-coach for that season before becoming part of the coaching staff a season later. He is now a coach under Dean Smith with Aston Villa playing in the Premier League.

3. John Mikel Obi

This Nigerian midfielder is synonymous with the Jose Mourinho reign at Chelsea. Mikel left Chelsea at the end of the 2017/2018 season to join Tianjin Teda in China. A year later, he made his return to English football this time with EFL side Middlesbrough. Mikel was a regular starter for Chelsea, and he even won a Champions League medal with them. He left Middlesbrough to join Turkish side Trabzonspor. He, however, remains one of the most surprising former EPL player signings by an EFL club.