How much money Charlton Athletic or Leyton Orient will earn if they win the League One play-off final | OneFootball

The League One play-off final is on the horizon

The exciting and well-anticipated finale to yet another EFL season is on the horizon, with the three play-off finals at Wembley taking place this weekend.

For Sheffield United and Sunderland in the Championship edition, it is always described as the 'richest game' in world football, as the winners out of the Blades and Black Cats are set to bank at least £220m in extra revenue from being successful under the Wembley arch, as well as ending their respective exiles from the Premier League.

Meanwhile, in the division below, the financial rewards are still a key facet when it comes to earning promotion out of League One and into the second-tier for one of Charlton Athletic and Leyton Orient, but as a result of the aforementioned backdrop which surrounds the first final of the weekend, as well as the stature of both clubs, it isn't spoken about anywhere near as much in the lower reaches of the EFL.

The Addicks are looking to end a five-year hiatus from the Championship after being relegated on the final day of the 2019/20 season - the club's only season at second-tier level since 2015/16, whilst Orient haven't featured in the top two divisions of English football since 1982, but find themselves back at Wembley for the first time since suffering penalty shootout heartbreak at the hands of Rotherham United in this very game back in May 2014.

With that being said, FLW looks at how much money either of the London clubs could bank if they are successful.

It is reported that in the season after promotion from the third-tier, those successful in North London are £12m wealthier in the months that follow, which is still a hefty amount of cash, although next-to-nothing in comparison to some of the clubs they will face off against, as Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton will all benefit from the first of three seasons of parachute payments.

Clubs in the Championship receive £11m, which is a sum in which prized money and solidarity payments from the Premier League are combined, and it has been boosted this season by the new EFL TV deal which saw much more live coverage take place.

At present, Charlton and Orient are said to earn just £2m for the same reasons in League One over the course of the gruelling 46-game season and beyond, so aside from shaping the future careers of those on the pitch and in the dugout, the fine margins of success and failure at Wembley can have huge ramifications on what occurs in the following seasons, as supporters of both clubs can testify to based on recent experiences.

League One play-off final is extremely hard to call

As is so often the case, this play-off final is extremely hard to split, with both sides coming into the post-season campaign with great momentum which also carried them through the semi-finals, although the neutral would have been more hooked by Orient's eventual shootout success against Stockport County than the Addicks' narrow two-legged passage against Wycombe Wanderers.

Nathan Jones and Richie Wellens have an array of difference-makers and experienced heads throughout their squad, although having the division's top scorer, Charlie Kelman, in their ranks will be a huge boost to the East London side's prospects, and it will be intriguing to see how the QPR loanee fares against the imperious Lloyd Jones.

Form and past results often go out of the window on big occasions such as this, but if Charlton supporters were looking for an omen, their side did the league double over the O's in the regular season, although Wellens' side will be hoping to make it third time lucky on the biggest stage of all.