PL2 final date confirmed – a day before the game
Written by
Ian Westbrook
May 21, 2025
This season’s Premier League 2 play-off final between Manchester City and Southampton will take place at 7.15pm tomorrow (22 May) – with the date and time confirmed only today.
On April 24th, the Premier League had announced that the final, at City’s Joie Stadium, would be played between 16th and 19th May. We have contacted them to find out why the match has been scheduled outside of this window and arranged at such short notice, but are yet to receive a response.
Responding on X, Southampton fan Will wrote: “24 hours notice? Living up north would have been a rare chance to watch Saints, but short notice scuppers that chance.”
Another follower, Cam Melling, wrote: “A day’s notice is insane.”
For the second successive season, the competition has been played under the Swiss-style format, with 26 Category One teams in a single division.
The top 16 went into a play-off competition, with City and the Saints reaching the final. As they finished higher in the league, in top place, City will play the final at home.
In the knock-out stages, City beat Liverpool 2-1 and Arsenal 3-2, both after extra-time, before overcoming local rivals Manchester United 2-0 in the semi-final.
Southampton saw off Leicester 5-3 after extra-time, Fulham 5-2 and Crystal Palace 2-1, in another tie which needed the extra 30 minutes.
City topped the table at the end of the regular league season with 47 points from their 20 games, while the Saints were seventh on 34 points.
Under the competition rules, the teams are seeded into different pots based on their performance in the competition over the previous three seasons. During the campaign, each side plays all the others in their pot once as well as three to five teams from all the other pots either home or away.
The play-off draw is based on league position, with the team finishing first playing the one which finished 16th and so on. The higher-placed team is at home.
The top 12 clubs are also invited to take part in the following season’s Premier League International Cup.
Tottenham Hotspur were the first winners of the new-style competition last season.
Before the change, Premier League 2 was split into two divisions and Manchester City won the Division 1 title in each of its last three seasons, while Southampton were the final Division 2 champions.
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