Play Off Format

[Pollingtonblade]

Before we kick a ball in our 10th Play off campaign I think the format could do with a rejig so there is some benefit given to finishing higher and over the season been the 3rd most attractive side in the league, if we win next week we will have won 94 points (6 off my prediction of 100) and yet have to share the same lottery as the shit that finishes 6th 20 points behind.

My suggestion to the EFL.

3rd Place - Direct to Wembley.

4th v 7th 1 off match
5th v 6th 1 off match

Winner of said ties play over to legs to face 3rd at Wembley

 

[Gimli]

Of course if this was ever implemented we would find a way to mess it up anyway.

 

[Nick Jansky]

Before we kick a ball in our 10th Play off campaign I think the format could do with a rejig so there is some benefit given to finishing higher and over the season been the 3rd most attractive side in the league, if we win next week we will have won 94 points (6 off my prediction of 100) and yet have to share the same lottery as the shit that finishes 6th 20 points behind.

My suggestion to the EFL.

3rd Place - Direct to Wembley.

4th v 7th 1 off match
5th v 6th 1 off match

Winner of said ties play over to legs to face 3rd at Wembley

I wouldn’t mind a broadly similar format to the Scottish one. Bottom two in PL down automatically. 3rd from bottom in a playoff final against the Championship playoff winners. 4th-7th in Championship play off as you’ve said above to determine who plays 3rd, then the winner of that plays the PL team at Wembley. It would give one promoted PL team more chance than they have now of surviving for a season & building.

 

[ChipButtyBlade]

 

[Selly]

Yeah, it needs a rejig, but I just don't see it happening due to £££££

For me I'd make it

5th plays 6 at 5th ground
4th plays winner at 4th ground
3rd plays winner at 3rd ground

All ties 1 match, ET and if still level the home team goes through.

Give some actual benefit to finishing higher. And if the 6th place team goes up they've done it by winning 3 away games.

 

[Revolution]

I’ve been saying for years the formula used in Aussie Rules when they had 4 in the finals is perfect:

Game 1 - 3rd at home to 4th - winner to Wembley

Game 2 - 5th at home to 6th - loser eliminated

Game 3 - loser game 1 at home to winner of game 2

Game 4 - winner of game 1 v winner of game 3 at Wembley.

Each place therefore means something and 3rd and 4th get a double chance.

A clear and fair system.

 

[Revolution]

There is also the old Italian system whereby if you finished more than a certain number of points ahead there was no playoff, as it was deemed unfair to give the lower placed team finishing so far behind a chance.

 

[Nick Jansky]

There is also the old Italian system whereby if you finished more than a certain number of points ahead there was no playoff, as it was deemed unfair to give the lower placed team finishing so far behind a chance.

I wouldn’t mind that, but would still like a playoff against 3rd from bottom in PL to give a promoted side more chance of staying up.

 

[Millhousesblade1889]

I don’t agree going direct to Wembley, I do think one game prior at home would be fair though for the 3rd place team.

 

[Revolution]

I wouldn’t mind that, but would still like a playoff against 3rd from bottom in PL to give a promoted side more chance of staying up.

This happens in Germany and the team in the Bundesliga almost always stays up. I think only Union Berlin have been promoted from that playoff in about the last 15 years. The result is less divisional movement which I'm against.

 

[Jimmy Fleck]

I wouldn’t mind that, but would still like a playoff against 3rd from bottom in PL to give a promoted side more chance of staying up.

I reckon the prem side would win 90% of the time if not more

 

[Blades1971]

Let's keep this simple. Forget play offs. First three past the post are promoted. Someone in third finishes 20 points in front of sixth.
So that seven more wins in a season than 6th.
Obviously the better team, so should be promoted.
This is all to do with EFL and money.
Yes I know we have finished 3rd, but that should be the format
Simple isn't it.??

 

[Pollingtonblade]

Let's keep this simple. Forget play offs. First three past the post are promoted. Someone in third finishes 20 points in front of sixth.
So that seven more wins in a season than 6th.
Obviously the better team, so should be promoted.
This is all to do with EFL and money.
Yes I know we have finished 3rd, but that should be the format
Simple isn't it.??

I remember the seasons before the play offs (first ones 86/87) format changed in 91/92, matches after February were pretty much all dead rubbers.

 

[Nick Jansky]

I remember the seasons before the play offs (first ones 86/87) format changed in 91/92, matches after February were pretty much all dead rubbers.

Yes, the main reason was to keep the season alive for longer for more clubs and they have succeeded in that. I would support a revamp at this stage though, mainly aimed at giving promoted clubs a better chance of staying up.

 

[Kozzy_is_my_Dad]

I’ve been saying for years the formula used in Aussie Rules when they had 4 in the finals is perfect:

Game 1 - 3rd at home to 4th - winner to Wembley

Game 2 - 5th at home to 6th - loser eliminated

Game 3 - loser game 1 at home to winner of game 2

Game 4 - winner of game 1 v winner of game 3 at Wembley.

Each place therefore means something and 3rd and 4th get a double chance.

A clear and fair system.

 

[programmechap]

Yeah, it needs a rejig, but I just don't see it happening due to £££££

For me I'd make it

5th plays 6 at 5th ground
4th plays winner at 4th ground
3rd plays winner at 3rd ground

All ties 1 match, ET and if still level the home team goes through.

Give some actual benefit to finishing higher. And if the 6th place team goes up they've done it by winning 3 away games.

On a similar basis,you keep the present format (thus keeping the £££) but if it's level AET you don't have penalties, the team that finished higher wins.

 

[programmechap]

There is also the old Italian system whereby if you finished more than a certain number of points ahead there was no playoff, as it was deemed unfair to give the lower placed team finishing so far behind a chance.

We are likely to finish at least 20 points ahead of 6th, which I think would be a record, so I'm well up for that.

 

[Grey Blade]

Let's keep this simple. Forget play offs. First three past the post are promoted. Someone in third finishes 20 points in front of sixth.
So that seven more wins in a season than 6th.
Obviously the better team, so should be promoted.
This is all to do with EFL and money.
Yes I know we have finished 3rd, but that should be the format
Simple isn't it.??

I agree. It's a league competition so why turn it into a knockout?

 

[Revolution]

View attachment 209509

That system is not complex.

We know this because Australians used it.

 

[bakeblade]

Let's keep this simple. Forget play offs. First three past the post are promoted. Someone in third finishes 20 points in front of sixth.
So that seven more wins in a season than 6th.
Obviously the better team, so should be promoted.
This is all to do with EFL and money.
Yes I know we have finished 3rd, but that should be the format
Simple isn't it.??

You can't get rid of the playoffs, they're a fantastic end to the season.
The added benefit is that it adds interest to the last stages of season for quite a few teams.

 

[programmechap]

Another idea. Play offs done on a points basis with 1/10 (to the nearest round number) of the season points carrying over.

So this season, we'd go into the play off semis with 9 points and 6th place with 7. That would mean 6th place would need a win and a draw or 2 wins to get through (thus giving them 11 or 10 points to our 10 or 9). Any other combination of results and whatever the aggregate score, we go through.

If we them met Sunderland in the final we'd both be on 9 points and thus start equal. If we meet 5th , it's 9 against 7 again and we would only need a draw.

 

[bladesince64]

There is a different format in the National League (level below L2) play-offs which favours the team(s) finishing below auto place(s)

Needs a revamp to make it fairer.

Think about all the blood, sweat and tears that went into all the additional points gained in all those games and it counts for nothing.

 

[ATL Recs]

Let's keep this simple. Forget play offs. First three past the post are promoted. Someone in third finishes 20 points in front of sixth.
So that seven more wins in a season than 6th.
Obviously the better team, so should be promoted.
This is all to do with EFL and money.
Yes I know we have finished 3rd, but that should be the format
Simple isn't it.??

No it’s convenient for us I’m sure you’d be pissed if we finish 4th one point behind 3rd

The play off system can be tweaked but it does add competition and yes does generate finance which helps every club - even clubs in 7 8 9 could be in the hunt up to the last day

 

[Fjortoft's Aeroplane]

Before we kick a ball in our 10th Play off campaign I think the format could do with a rejig so there is some benefit given to finishing higher and over the season been the 3rd most attractive side in the league, if we win next week we will have won 94 points (6 off my prediction of 100) and yet have to share the same lottery as the shit that finishes 6th 20 points behind.

My suggestion to the EFL.

3rd Place - Direct to Wembley.

4th v 7th 1 off match
5th v 6th 1 off match

Winner of said ties play over to legs to face 3rd at Wembley

You predicted 100 points? Bit optimistic with the tiny squad of "proper" players we had last summer but hey you weren't too far off!

I get where the idea is coming from but not sure 7th deserves any crack at promotion. What I'd consider is sack 6th off. 3rd straight to Wembley.. 4th and 5th play off over 2 legs for a shot at Wembley.

 

[Radders]

I've often thought that 3rd should automatically qualify for the final, but it would mean they'd have no game time while the other clubs were playing the knock out games. That should help on the injury front but maybe the team in 3rd lose momentum while waiting for the final to come around?

 

[bakeblade]

Another idea. Play offs done on a points basis with 1/10 (to the nearest round number) of the season points carrying over.

So this season, we'd go into the play off semis with 9 points and 6th place with 7. That would mean 6th place would need a win and a draw or 2 wins to get through (thus giving them 11 or 10 points to our 10 or 9). Any other combination of results and whatever the aggregate score, we go through.

If we them met Sunderland in the final we'd both be on 9 points and thus start equal. If we meet 5th , it's 9 against 7 again and we would only need a draw.

Could you try and complicate a bit more?

 

[Revolution]

Yes, the main reason was to keep the season alive for longer for more clubs and they have succeeded in that. I would support a revamp at this stage though, mainly aimed at giving promoted clubs a better chance of staying up.

The main reason given for bringing them in at the time was to change the size of the top two divisions from 22 each: having teams above the relegation zone involved helped in this. The idea was a 20-24-24-24 structure. After the first season you had odd teams in the first and second divisions (21 and 23).

Everyone said that the playoffs were here to stay regardless, and they were, though they dropped the relegation bit after the second season. They were popular and meant less dead rubber games. Crowds started to rise too.

I think they’ve been great for the game, but awful for us.

Incidentally, the league then changed its mind and wanted to expand to 94 teams: 22-24-24-24. This lead to one season when four went up to the first division and only two down, in 1990-1: of course Wednesday were the jammy bastards who finished third and went up in that one off season without playoffs for the third place side. That system did not stick because Aldershot and then Maidstone collapsed in quick succession and the league was left with 92 clubs, and reverted to a 20 team top division in 1994-5 when 4 came down but only two went up to the PL.

 

[ISZA ⚔️]

It’ll be revamped at some point, 100%. They don’t leave stuff alone. It is exciting but it probably ought to slightly favour the team in third.

 

[PeterNdlovu081]

It is exciting but it probably ought to slightly favour the team in third.

It already does.

Leave it as it is for me.

 

[Booker4]

Before we kick a ball in our 10th Play off campaign I think the format could do with a rejig so there is some benefit given to finishing higher and over the season been the 3rd most attractive side in the league, if we win next week we will have won 94 points (6 off my prediction of 100) and yet have to share the same lottery as the shit that finishes 6th 20 points behind.

My suggestion to the EFL.

3rd Place - Direct to Wembley.

4th v 7th 1 off match
5th v 6th 1 off match

Winner of said ties play over to legs to face 3rd at Wembley

I fully agree on direct to Wembley. There's not enough advantage to finishing third at present.