Football League play-offs

The Football League play-offs are an annual series of football matches to determine the final promotion places within each division of The Football League. In each division they involve the four teams that finish directly below the automatic promotion places. These teams meet in a series of play-off matches to determine the final team that will be promoted.

The play-offs were first introduced in 1987 and have been staged at the conclusion of every season since. Since 1990 the winners of each division's play-off competition have been determined in a one-off final.

Format
The four teams finishing directly below the automatic promotion places in each of the three Football League divisions enter the play-offs in a chance to win promotion to the division above. In the Championship and League One these are the teams finishing third, fourth, fifth and sixth, while in League Two (with its greater number of teams automatically promoted), it is the teams finishing fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh that enter the play-offs.

In the semi-finals, the team finishing highest of the four plays the team that finished lowest, with the first leg being held at the home of the team that finished lowest and the second leg being held at the home of the team that finished highest. This is designed to give the team that finished highest an advantage. This is the same for the teams that finished second highest and second lowest, with the advantage being with the team that finished the highest of the two.

The winner of a semi-finals is decided by the tie's aggregate score after the two legs. If the aggregate score is tied at the end of the 90 minutes of the second leg, then an additional 30 minutes of extra time is played to try and create a winning team. If the score at the end of extra time is still level then the tie is decided by penalty kicks.

The two winners from the semi-finals meet at a neutral venue in the final. The final must be decided on the day, so extra time and penalties may be carried out if the scores are level. The winner of the tie gains promotion to the league above.

Changes to format
During the first two stagings of the play-offs in 1987 and 1988, the four teams involved were the three clubs that finished directly below the automatic promotions positions, plus the club which finished directly above the automatic relegation places in the division above.

This was part of the league's two-season-long restructuring that would reduce the number of teams in the top tier (from 22 to 20) while increasing them in the lower divisions (creating three divisions of 24 clubs); during these seasons, only one club (Charlton Athletic in 1987) that entered the play-offs in a relegation place managed to win the play-offs and therefore retain their divisional status.

In the seasons prior to the 1990 play-offs, the finals were two-legged ties with both teams hosting the other once. If the two teams could not be separated, a tie-breaker was then staged at a neutral venue. This was only used in three occasions: the 1987 Second Division final was decided at Birmingham City's St. Andrews; the 1987 Third Division final was played at Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park; and the 1988 Third Division final was played at Walsall's Fellows Park (though this was not strictly a neutral venue, as Walsall was one of the clubs involved in the finals).

Since 1990 a one-off final match has been used to determine the play-off winners, which has traditionally been staged at Wembley Stadium. Between 2001 to 2006 the final was instead moved to Cardiff's Millennium Stadium while the new Wembley Stadium was being constructed. In 2011 the Football League was forced to use Old Trafford for the League One and League Two play-off finals because Wembley was unavailable, being used instead for the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final.

Before the 1999-2000 season away goals were used as a tie-breaker after extra time had been played, however, this was abolished following a club initiative launched by then-Ipswich Town chairman David Sheepshanks, after his club had twice lost on away goals in 1997 and 1999. Since then away goals have played no part in the play-off system.

Proposed changes
A change to the format of the play-offs was proposed by Crystal Palace chief executive Phil Alexander in 2003. Alexander recommended expanding the number of teams in each play-off series from four to six, providing more clubs with a chance at promotion. Additionally, the two-legged semi-finals would have been replaced by one-off quarter-final and semi-final games, both of which would give home advantage to the team that finished higher during the league season. The two highest placed clubs in the play-off series would advance directly to the semi-final, while the other four clubs would contest the quarter-final.

The proposed changes were narrowly approved by Football League chairmen and were set to be voted upon at the league's annual general meeting. The motion was withdrawn however, due to objections received from the Premier League and The Football Association.

Past winners
1: Due to financial irregularities, Swindon were prevented from taking their place in the top division, which was awarded to the losing finalists, Sunderland.

Records

 * Most play-off promotions: 4 – Blackpool (1992, 2001, 2007, 2010), Crystal Palace (1989, 1997, 2004, 2013)
 * Most play-off finals: 6 – Blackpool (1991, 1992, 2001, 2007, 2010, 2012)
 * Most play-off final defeats: 4 – Sheffield United (1997, 2003, 2009, 2012)
 * Most play-off participations: 9 – Preston North End
 * Most unsuccessful play-off participations: 9 – Preston North End (from 9 participations)
 * Most play-off participations without making the Play-off final: 4 – Nottingham Forest, MK Dons
 * Teams without any unsuccessful play-off participations: Dagenham & Redbridge (1 time), Doncaster Rovers (1), Fleetwood Town (1), Manchester City (1), Sheffield Wednesday (1)
 * Biggest aggregate win: Crewe Alexandra 9–3 Walsall (Fourth Division, 1993)
 * Biggest home win: Dagenham & Redbridge 6–0 Morecambe (League Two Semi-final, 2010)
 * Biggest away win: Fulham 0–4 Bristol Rovers (Third Division Semi-final, 1989); Birmingham City 0–4 Barnsley (First Division Semi-final, 2000)
 * Biggest win in a final: Bournemouth 5–2 Lincoln City (Third Division, 2003)
 * Highest scoring final: 8 goals – Charlton Athletic 4–4 Sunderland (First Division, 1998)
 * Highest scoring play-off match: 8 goals – Charlton Athletic 4–4 Sunderland (First Division Final, 1998); Ipswich Town 5–3 Bolton Wanderers (First Division Semi-final, 2000); Lincoln City 5–3 Scunthorpe United (Third Division Semi-final, 2003); and Lincoln City 3–5 Bristol Rovers (League Two Semi-final, 2007)
 * Highest scoring tie (aggregate): 12 goals – Sunderland 6–6 Gillingham (Third Division, 1987); Crewe Alexandra 9–3 Walsall (Fourth Division, 1993); and Ipswich Town 7–5 Bolton Wanderers (First Division, 2000)
 * Highest attendance: 87,347 – Derby County vs QPR (Championship Final, 2014)
 * Lowest attendance: 3,606 – Torquay United vs Cheltenham Town (League Two Semi-final, 2012)
 * Blackpool are the only club to have won all three divisional play-offs.
 * Reading, Brentford F.C Bristol City and Sheffield United are the only clubs to have lost play-off finals at three different venues.
 * Crystal Palace are the only team to win play-off finals at 4 different venues (Selhurst Park 1989, Old Wembley 1997, Millennium Stadium 2004 and New Wembley 2013).