Italian series B play off rules

[jimmyisgod]

The top two teams are automatically promoted as is the 3rd-placed team if they are 10 or more points ahead of the 4th-placed team, else there is a playoff ...

Is this a good idea for National League playoffs

[SmiffyPie]

The top two teams are automatically promoted as is the 3rd-placed team if they are 10 or more points ahead of the 4th-placed team, else there is a playoff ...

Is this a good idea for National League playoffs

Sounds very fair to me however us EFL members would never vote for another relegation spot into the NL (I presume it would be put to a general vote?)

[countygump]

Sounds very fair to me however us EFL members would never vote for another relegation spot into the NL (I presume it would be put to a general vote?)

Couldn't the NL themselves enforce this 10 point lead malarky?

Not a bad idea at all.

[upthemaggies]

I think it's the one thing the NL have got right, a single game with the higher placed team at home. The only improvement I'd make is the final which should be held at the home of the highest placed club also and rather than any play off game go to pens, if it's level after AET the highest placed club wins. Then there's a clear advantage for the team with more points but everybody else still has a chance.
Wembley should be for cup finals only and then the FL Trophy and the FA Trophy would be worth bothering with.

[drillerpie]

I agree with pretty much all of that.

I think there are also countries that have other systems to reward high performing teams in the play offs. I'm sure I've heard of the top teams going into a mini league where regular season points are transformed into bonus points in the mini league.

I think the Italian system is also aimed at stopping match fixing, which is why the play off spots go a really long way down, especially in Serie C.

[jimmyisgod]

I should have added that if the 3rd place team are not within 10 points then the playoffs will consit of the 3rd place team plus any teams within 14 points of the 3rd place team up to a maximum of 6 teams.

[CamPie]

I think it's the one thing the NL have got right, a single game with the higher placed team at home. The only improvement I'd make is the final which should be held at the home of the highest placed club also and rather than any play off game go to pens, if it's level after AET the highest placed club wins. Then there's a clear advantage for the team with more points but everybody else still has a chance.
Wembley should be for cup finals only and then the FL Trophy and the FA Trophy would be worth bothering with.

Did you go Saturday? How would we fit 38,000 into Meadow Lane if we had that scenario. Sorry but Wembley is a great venue for play-off finals even down at NL level when a lot of the clubs now can attract a huge following for the final. Yes I agree with the advantage to the higher club bit but I disagree with not playing the final at Wembley. I wouldn't swap Saturday for a Play-Off final win at Meadow Lane (but per another thread I may have been healthier is we'd won the title in the last home game of the regular reason).

[nw6pie]

Did you go Saturday? How would we fit 38,000 into Meadow Lane if we had that scenario. Sorry but Wembley is a great venue for play-off finals even down at NL level when a lot of the clubs now can attract a huge following for the final. Yes I agree with the advantage to the higher club bit but I disagree with not playing the final at Wembley. I wouldn't swap Saturday for a Play-Off final win at Meadow Lane (but per another thread I may have been healthier is we'd won the title in the last home game of the regular reason).

I'm just happy that all these playoff questions are now hypotheticals.

I notice that the two National League regional finals were played on the grounds of the teams who finished highest of the two finalists. Not that it did Brackley Town much good against Kidderminster Harriers, though.

Personally, I think the greatest thing about a playoff final is the day out at Wembley - there really is no better place to secure promotion. And at least now we've got a 3-2 winning record in Wembley finals (3-1 if you include spectators).

[upthemaggies]

Did you go Saturday? How would we fit 38,000 into Meadow Lane if we had that scenario. Sorry but Wembley is a great venue for play-off finals even down at NL level when a lot of the clubs now can attract a huge following for the final. Yes I agree with the advantage to the higher club bit but I disagree with not playing the final at Wembley. I wouldn't swap Saturday for a Play-Off final win at Meadow Lane (but per another thread I may have been healthier is we'd won the title in the last home game of the regular reason).

I think we're talking about the fairest system as to who goes up, rather than who gets to see it.

You could justify moving league fixtures like the North London derby, the Merseyside derby, effective title deciders etc, to Wembley if what matters the most is how many people you can get into the ground. If it's about as many clubs' fans as possible getting to enjoy the Wembley experience then we may as well just invent some more tin pot cup competitions.

The 6th tier finals are played at the home ground of the highest placed club. They could probably get bigger crowds playing at the likes of Stoke or Bristol City's ground, but it's less about the money at that level so that's probably why they settle for what seems the most obvious and fair system.

[CamPie]

I think we're talking about the fairest system as to who goes up, rather than who gets to see it.

You could justify moving league fixtures like the North London derby, the Merseyside derby, effective title deciders etc, to Wembley if what matters the most is how many people you can get into the ground. If it's about as many clubs' fans as possible getting to enjoy the Wembley experience then we may as well just invent some more tin pot cup competitions.

The 6th tier finals are played at the home ground of the highest placed club. They could probably get bigger crowds playing at the likes of Stoke or Bristol City's ground, but it's less about the money at that level so that's probably why they settle for what seems the most obvious and fair system.

I think the analogy is wrong to compare to a regular season game, where’s there’s one home game and one away against everyone. The playoff final is a final! That’s the difference and why it should be played at Wembley as a showcase game. I also think that the NLN and NLS finals should be played at a larger neutral venue - if not Wembley why not a Premier League ground in the North and South respectively - great for fans and players alike. If the calendar allows they could even try to emulate non-league day where both the Vase and
Trophy finals are at Wembley.