 The match took place at Wembley Stadium | |||||||
| Event | 2018–19 EFL Championship | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Date | 27 May 2019 | ||||||
| Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
| Man of the Match | John McGinn (Aston Villa)[1] | ||||||
| Referee | Paul Tierney (Lancashire) | ||||||
| Attendance | 85,826 | ||||||
The 2019 EFL Championship play-off final was an association football match which was played on 27 May 2019 at Wembley Stadium, London, between Aston Villa and Derby County to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from the EFL Championship to the Premier League. The top two teams of the 2018–19 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; the winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the 2019–20 season in the Premier League. Winning the game was estimated to be worth £170 million to the successful team.
Aston Villa had lost in the play-off final the previous season while Derby had failed to progress through the play-offs three times in the last five seasons. The 2019 final was watched by a crowd of almost 86,000 people and refereed by Paul Tierney. Villa took the lead through Anwar El Ghazi late in the first half, and doubled their advantage with a goal from man of the match John McGinn. Despite a late consolation goal from Derby's Jack Marriott, Villa won the match 2–1 to return to the Premier League for the first time since the 2015–16 season.
Derby's next season, in the 2019–20 EFL Championship, was their twelfth consecutive in the second tier of English football. The season was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, and concluded in July 2020 with Derby in tenth position in the table, six points outside the playoffs. Villa's next season, in the Premier League, was also interrupted by the pandemic. They finished the season in 17th position, avoiding relegation by one place and one point.