Welsh agony and ecstasy in the promotion play-offs

The Championship play-off final takes centre stage this Sunday as Leeds United and Southampton battle it out in what is known as the richest game in club football.

The play-offs have been a fixed edition to the regular season since 1987.

Since 1990, the winners of each division's play-off competition have been determined in a one-off final.

Cardiff City, Swansea City, Newport County and Wrexham have had their share of success and failure in the competition in years gone by.

Here we recall some of the four Welsh clubs' most memorable moments, both good and bad.

Final delight for Swansea, Cardiff and Newport

Reading 2-4 Swansea City, 30 May, 2011.

Swansea City became the first Welsh side to reach the Premier League after beating Reading in the 2011 Championship play-off final.

Scott Sinclair hit a hat-trick as the Swans held off a brave Royals fightback in a pulsating encounter.

Swansea cruised into a 3-0 lead at half-time, before two Reading goals in eight minutes left the game on a knife edge.

Reading's Jem Karacan struck the Swansea post before Sinclair converted his second penalty of the afternoon 10 minutes from time, enough for the Welsh side to hold on and secure promotion.

The victory sealed a meteoric rise for the Swans as they had gone from the Fourth Division all the way to the Premier League in just seven seasons.

Cardiff City 1-0 Queens Park Rangers, 25 May, 2003.

Cardiff City secured promotion to the old First Division after beating Ian Holloway's Queens Park Rangers at the then Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, hosting the play-offs while Wembley underwent renovation.

With six minutes of extra time remaining and penalties looming, Cardiff substitute Andy Campbell's left-footed lob changed everything and secured the Bluebirds a famous promotion.

Celebrating victory in a play-off final is something not every manager, player and fan gets to enjoy, but even fewer have done so in the club's own city.

For 20 seasons since then, Cardiff City have operated in the top two flights of English football, spending two years in the Premier League.

Newport County 2-0 Wrexham, 5 May, 2013

In an all-Welsh encounter, it was Newport who secured a return to the Football League for the first time in 25 years after beating Wrexham 2-0 at Wembley.

Wrexham had dominated most of the opening period but were unable to capitalise. They were made to pay when Christian Jolley handed the Exiles the lead, before Aaron O'Connor added a second in time added on.

Since then County have enjoyed 11 consecutive seasons in League Two and are now backed by former Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins.

Jenkins was Swansea City chairman at the time of their Championship play-off final victory against Reading.

Wrexham have suffered four successive failures in the play-offs and had to wait until the 2022-23 campaign to secure a return to the English Football League (EFL) after an absence of 15 years, claiming automatic promotion.

So close, yet so far

Blackpool 3-2 Cardiff City, 22 May, 2010.

Blackpool twice came from behind to defeat Cardiff City and reach the Premier League for the first time in a breath-taking final.

With all the goals coming in the opening half of the game, Michael Chopra put the Bluebirds in front before Charlie Adam levelled with a fantastic free-kick.

Cardiff-born Joe Ledley re-established the lead before two goals in five minutes turned the game on its head.

Brett Ormerod struck the winner just before the interval, securing Blackpool's return to the top flight for the first time since the 1970-71 season.

Since beating Barnsley in the 2008 FA Cup semi-final, the Bluebirds have not won at Wembley - suffering three consecutive defeats, including the 2012 League Cup final against Liverpool.

Brentford 2-0 Swansea City, 29 May, 2021.

Brentford reached the Premier League for the first time by beating the Swans 2-0 in the 2021 Championship play-off final.

Ivan Toney's coolly taken penalty handed the Bees the advantage, before Emiliano Marcondes doubled the lead with a crisp finish.

Swansea ended the game with 10 men after midfielder Jay Fulton was sent off for a foul on Mathias Jensen.

It was a disappointing day for the Swans, in what turned out to be Steve Cooper's final competitive game in charge.

The Swans have managed only one top-10 finish since the defeat that day at Wembley.

Newport County 0-1 Tranmere Rovers, 25 May, 2019.

For the second time in three years the Exiles found themselves on the losing side at Wembley, when Connor Jenning's last-gasp header earned Tranmere Rovers a spot in League One.

An evenly fought contest swung decisively in Tranmere's favour when Newport captain Mark O'Brien was sent off for a second bookable offence.

Rovers pushed and pushed, but seemed destined to fail to find a winner until Jennings' vital touch with just a minute of extra time remaining.

It was a goal that sealed back-to-back play-off wins for Tranmere.

Morecambe 1-0 Newport County (aet), 31 May, 2021.

The game was a tale of two penalties, the one not awarded to Newport and the one awarded to Morecambe in the second half of extra time.

Carlos Mendes Gomes calmly converted from the spot as Morecambe reached League One for the first time in their history.

The Shrimps controversial victory led then County boss Michael Flynn to call for VAR to be used in the play-offs, after Shrimps goalkeeper Kyle Letheren had missed the ball and instead clattered Newport's Scot Bennett - only for referee Bobby Madley to wave play on.

It was not until the 2022 edition of the EFL play-offs that VAR was adopted for the finals.

Wrexham 1-2 Leyton Orient, 3 June, 1989.

Before 1990, the play-off final was decided over two legs played home and away.

Wrexham met Leyton Orient twice in five days and after a stalemate at the Racecourse, it was the O's who came out on top - winning the second leg 2-1 at Brisbane Road.

Lee Harvey put Orient ahead on the stroke of half-time but Jon Bowden had Wrexham level within moments of the restart, only for Mark Cooper to settle the tie in the 77th minute.

The Dragons - managed by Dixie McNeill - had legends such as Brian Flynn and Joey Jones in their ranks, with Jones previously playing for Liverpool and Chelsea.

Orient secured promotion to the old Third Division, a feat which took Wrexham another 14 years to achieve.

The Welsh connection

The play-offs have a strong connection to Wales, from famous moments produced by its clubs and players, to hosting the competition finals from 2001-2006.

31 May, 1993 - A Paul Bodin penalty fired Swindon Town to the Premier League as they beat Leicester City 4-3.

29 May, 1995 - Lee Nogan opened the scoring in the First Division play-off final for Reading.

26 May, 2001 - Ian Hughes scored for Blackpool in a 4-2 win over Leyton Orient in Cardiff.

12 May 2002 - Iwan Roberts' header gave Norwich City an extra-time lead against Birmingham City. However, it was the Blues who would be promoted after winning a penalty shoot-out 4-2.

26 May, 2003 - Nathan Blake added the second of three first-half goals as Wolverhampton Wanderers beat a Sheffield United team captained by current Wales manager Rob Page.

29 May, 2022 - Former Swansea manager Steve Cooper guided Nottingham Forest back to the Premier League after beating Huddersfield Town 1-0, one year to the day after suffering defeat with the Swans.

27 May, 2023 - Rob Edwards' Luton Town defeated Coventry City on penalties to send the Hatters back to the top flight after a 31-year absence.

Will it be Leeds United's Joe Rodon, Daniel James or Ethan Ampadu, or Southampton's David Brooks who will be the latest Welshman to make his mark and add their name to play-off history come Sunday?