Sport Post- The Football League Play-Offs

The football league play-offs; drama, excitement, passion, commitment, hope but yet often criticised.  

At the end of each season the teams occupying the 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 6^th positions in The Championship and League 1, and 4^th, 5^th, 6^thand 7^th in League 2, play out a set of 2 legged knock out games which ultimately end with a trip to Wembley or Old Trafford for the two sides which progress from the first round of matches. 

The winner of the final is then promoted to the division above the one which they are currently in.

These games not only provide massive entertainment for all connected with football, but create a lot of revenue for the football league, and for the individual clubs themselves. Clubs receive the highest attendances at these end of season games and therefore in some cases it can prove much more profitable for clubs than automatic promotion, as a result of the crowds they attract and the money from these games being shown on TV.  They also give a chance for smaller teams which would never otherwise get promoted, to have a go at playing the best teams in the league for their chance of moving forward; making the leagues more competitive and more enjoyable overall.

Millions of viewers watch these games on TV, purely for the fact that they do contain some of the best football action seen in the Football league. In these games, teams work harder, score more goals, defend better, play quicker football and attack harder than ever before; a recipe for a very good game.  Taking this year’s games as examples; the play-offs without even coming to their conclusion have seen sides such as Swansea City, fended off Nottingham Forrest despite only having 10 men for an entire leg, Reading beat Cardiff despite finishing below them, and looking like they wouldn’t even make the play-offs at one stage in the season, and Bournemouth, who came so close to beating Huddersfield, but lost out on penalties at the end of over 3 hours of football.

However there is still a strong argument that despite the obvious positives to having play-offs at the end of a season, it is unfair and that they are only around to make profit for the Football league. It is also argued that surely it is only fair that the teams which finish in the top promotion spots should go up after a long season, only to miss out by a knock out tournament after the season has finished. 

Huddersfield Town finished 8 points ahead of their nearest rivals in 4^th position and went on an amazing unbeaten run, but still might not make promotion to the Championship. The play-offs, as well as causing excitement, joy and some of the most entertaining games of football, also cause pain and suffering for the teams which lose these games.  Some teams never look the same after a play-off defeat and often go on a ‘season slump’ the year after; Swindon Town in League 1 are an obvious example of this; relegated to league 2 the year after narrowly losing in the play-off final at Wembley.

However despite the negatives, I still feel that the play-offs provide some of the most entertaining games of football, and although the game is also a business, I feel that the entertainment side of the game is much more important, and that is what makes it the Nations, if the the worlds favourite sport.