Andy Mc wrote:

Can someone remind me of the relegation playoff format ?

Yep - bottom two teams get relegated, the two above those go into a playoff with a step 5 team.  So in step 4 two teams end up in the playoffs but only one step 5 team per division gets a playoff.

If the step 4 team wins, they get reprieved and everything stays as it is, if the step 5 team wins they get promoted and the step 4 team get relegated (which is what happened to Chalfont when they played Boldmere last year).

Just going to check on last years dates to get an idea….

Edit:  The Chalfont/Boldmere game was the Saturday a week after the last league game - 30th April.  This was on the same day as the SE division promotion playoff final.  Due to the Staines and Whyteleafe situation there was only one team that ended up in the relegation playoff with SCR being reprieved : 0

Last edited by BernieTheBolt (05/3/2023 1:23 pm)

As I understand it Andy, the two step 4 teams play each other.  The winner stays up and the loser plays the step 5 team to decide the remaking step 4 place.  If the step 5 team wins it gets promoted.  If the step 4 teams wins it remains where it is in step 4.

I think that’s it but I am quite happy to be put right on it.

evthedog wrote:

As I understand it Andy, the two step 4 teams play each other.  The winner stays up and the loser plays the step 5 team to decide the remaking step 4 place.  If the step 5 team wins it gets promoted.  If the step 4 teams wins it remains where it is in step 4.

I think that’s it but I am quite happy to be put right on it.

You’ve got me thinking there Ev!  My understanding was it was a straight game with two teams at step 4 and one team at step 5 to balance the higher 8 divisions to the lower 16 divisions. 

The FA reckons this:

The Clubs finishing in third and fourth from bottom in each of the eight divisions at Step 4 at the end of the Regular Season will take part in Inter-Step Play-Off Matches against the Clubs finishing in 2nd position in each of the sixteen divisions at Step 5 to determine whether they remain at Step 4 or are relegated to Step 5 for the following Playing Season.

And later:

Each Club at Step 4 which finishes the Regular Season in an Inter-Step Play Off Position will be drawn at home against a Club from Step 5 which finishes the Regular Season in an Inter-Step Play Off Position. The conditions of Inter-Step Play Off Matches (such as the criteria of how ties are drawn, associated financial matters, extra time, and player eligibility) will be confirmed by the Committee from time to time. Ties will be a one-off match with the winner being allocated to Step 4 for the following Playing Season and the defeated Club being allocated to Step 5 for the following Playing Season.

But what you’ve said looks right on paper, as (because of the pandemic) this arrangement has only been used for one season (last season) and from what I can see only one team per division ended up in the relegation playoff.  It’s a strange situation anyway, the old way was a lot more straightforward.  The general consensus seems to be to avoid fourth-from-bottom : 0

evthedog wrote:

To me, you can’t have a playoff with three teams.  There has to be an elimination process.  Playoffs can only be played in multiples of two.

I can see what you mean but I can see multiples of 2 as well - 16 step 4 teams (two from each division) and 16 step 5 teams (one from each division, their second place).  There wasn’t a playoff between SCR and Chalfont last year, Chalfont just went into the game with Boldmere.  The playoff thing has been tweaked since last year, on that system the teams with the highest points per game were reprieved but this year that was changed, just to muddy the waters a bit more.

Last edited by BernieTheBolt (05/3/2023 3:53 pm)

Andy Mc wrote:

Gawd blimey, I wish I hadn't asked now !  Seems unnecessarily complicated.

Not quite Andy.  Whoever wins the relegation playoff gets entered into the Champions League too!🤪