Football play-offs are a competition played after the regular season to determine a variety of different outcomes. In American football, play-offs have been a tradition since 1919 but in football play-offs are a more recent addition,\u00a0 introduced in some leagues a few decades ago. Let\u2019s have a look at some of the more peculiar football play-off systems implemented in European football.<\/p>\n
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The use of football play-offs to decide promotion was introduced to England in 1986 and has been around ever since. Since 1990 the winners of each lower division’s play-off competition have been determined in a one-off final.<\/p>\n
Blackpool are the most successful club in play-off history, winning five times – 1992, 2001, 2007, 2010, and 2017 across the Championship, League One and League Two. However, Crystal Palace have been the most successful side in the Championship Playoffs, winning promotion to the Premier League via the ‘richest game in football’ on four occasions, twice more than anyone else.<\/p>\n
How does the play-off system work in England? The four teams finishing directly below the automatic promotion places in each of the three Football League divisions enter the play-offs with the objective of winning promotion to the division above. The sides who triumph in the two-legged semi-finals meet at Wembley in the all important final.<\/p>\n
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The Netherlands introduced football play-offs for the teams which narrowly missed the championship title, these playoffs determine the second Champions League slot and Europa League places. The play-off system was introduced in the 2005\u20132006 season.<\/p>\n
Under the original playoff format, it was possible, though unlikely, that the runner-up would not qualify for European football. The fans perceived this as nonsensical and the following year the format was changed so that the second-place team was always assured of European football, even if only in the Europa League.<\/p>\n
Starting in 2008\u201309, the format was changed once again with the system remaining complicated. The champion now goes directly to the Champions League group stage, the runner-up enters the second qualification round, third place enters the fourth qualification round of the Europa League with fourth entering the third qualification round of the Europa League. The play-offs include the clubs placed 5th through 8th with the winner entering the second qualification round of the Europa League.<\/p>\n
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In 2007\/08, the Superleague Greece introduced football play-offs system to determine all of its places in the European competition for the following season. The play-off takes the form of a home-and-away mini-league involving the second- through fifth-place teams. The championship winner and cup winner are exempt from the play-offs. At the end of the play-offs, the winner receives the second Champions League entry.<\/p>\n
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The Royal Belgian Football Association took inspiration from their neighbors and introduced their own version of the play-offs in 2009\/10. They are also fairly complex and many foreign players in the Jupiler Pro League don\u2019t fully understand how it works.<\/p>\n
The Belgians copied the play-off system of the Netherlands, with the key difference that play-offs determine the league champion, entries for the Champions League and Europa League. So even if a club finishes in first place after the regular season is over, they are not sure of the championship title.<\/p>\n
With the six highest ranked teams playing home-and-away matches against each other; each team plays 10 matches in total. The six participating teams start with the points accumulated during the regular competition divided by two. So, if a team accumulated 70 points by the end of the regular season, the team would start the play-offs with 35 points. The first 3 teams after the play-offs earn European qualification. The fourth ranked team (or fifth, when the cup holder is already qualified for European football) plays a knock-out match against the winner of play-off 2.<\/p>\n