The benefits of accruing points are always obvious but ever more so this season because of the FA's ongoing laughably inept reorganisation of the semi pro game. Points per game dictate play off positions at season's end as there only 5 playoff promotion slots from the seven step 4 divisions. Every win is an insurance premium cos, love em or hate em, we need to know we are in the 5 promotion play offs group at the very least.
Does anyone know how the play offs will actually work this year with 12 clubs being relegated from step 3 and 7 clubs promoted as league champions from step 4, it leaves as SS correctly says only 5 play off places out of 7 divisions up for grabs. Will there be any play off games actually played or will it be the 5 best teams promoted on a points per game basis who finish in the play off positions? I Can't seem to find any information on this.
Well the way I see it is the teams with the worst 2 records that make the playoffs, won’t be able to go up whatever happens, so why bother playing, then when you get to the playoffs finals the 2 teams with the worse records won’t be able to go up, this could be 3 teams if the 2 worse records are playing each other. It’s a complete shambles.
Agreed Chris. I cannot say with confidence that I fully understand how the rules will operate, but it does seem to me that a club in our league could reach the play-off final knowing that it has absolutely no chance of promotion if it has a lower points per game ratio than the other clubs entering the finals of the equivalent leagues. It would seem to me that not only is there no incentive for that club to win its play off final; there is arguably an actual incentive for it to lose if it perceives that next season's league will be the weaker if its opponent in the final gets promoted!
I cannot readily think of a situation in sport where the authorities have engineered - doubtless with the best of intentions - such a bizarre situation.
Totally clueless. They wouldn't remotely contemplate doing something like this with the full time pro game. The incompetence of these people is staggering.
