Weekend Review: Domestic season ends with bookmaker-friendly play-off bonanza
The bookies stayed in the black despite play-off favourites Aston Villa reaching the promised lands of the Premier League
The domestic football season came to a close this weekend as all three Football League play-off finals concluded at Wembley.
The worst result for the bookies over the bank holiday saw much-fancied Aston Villa beat a young Derby County team 2-1 to reach the promised land of the Premier League.
Villa’s fine form caught the eye of Betway punters towards the end of the season, while Kindred claimed to take just enough money on a Derby victory to soften the blow.
Elsewhere, Charlton defeated favourites Sunderland in the League 1 play-off final on Sunday, after Tranmere had beaten Newport in the League 2 finale on Saturday.
What dreams are made of.. thank you everyone for the messages! We are going up ??? pic.twitter.com/XktmPIfVkq
— John McGinn (@jmcginn7) May 28, 2019
Kindred Group sportsbook analyst Alistair Gill said the operator just about enjoyed a clean sweep of positive results over the whole weekend.
“It was a Kindred-fest in the Championship play-off with both Villa and Derby sponsored by 32Red, and the game itself didn’t disappoint,” said Gill.
“Villa went in as favourites but we did manage to end up just in the black overall, as punters gave Derby more than a chance of winning.
“Tranmere’s win in the League 2 play-off left us substantially ahead and Charlton’s last gasp win in the League 1 Playoff meant we squeezed the smallest of positive margins there too.”
Betway’s Chad Yeomans added: “Charlton was a good result for us as Sunderland were backed into favouritism.
“Aston Villa was a bad result though after most punters latched on to their end of season form.
“They were 13th in The Championship on 2 March and went on a 10-game winning streak from then to get into the play-offs,” he added.
I wanna say Thank you to all the people that supported me , The team , through the all season till this 94’ min . It’s been a long journey but what a journey . You all deserve this ?? proud of us . #Thankyou #CAFC ?⚪️ pic.twitter.com/8rfic6hMHk
— Naby Sarr (@nabysarr) May 27, 2019