Unfair Playoffs

[sparksy]

Last nights results in the Midlands Division playoffs just go to show how unfair the playoffs are in my view! Surely a teams like Hitchin and Totton who finish so far ahead of the others over 42 games in a season should be promoted! I'm not having a dig at Slough Town as i hope they win the final and get the local derby back on track but it does seem so unfair. Just a thought but couldn't the league state in the rules before the season starts that the teams who finish 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th will go into a playoff situation unless the team which finishes 2nd finishes say more than 8 or 10 pionts above the team which finishes 3rd in which case the 2nd team will be promoted. It would still keep the interest for playoffs going till towards the end of the season. As i have said good luck to Slough Town in the final and maybe we will see them next season depending on which league we enter!

[Mark44]

This is utter garbage sparksy.

 

You cannot decide on a points system like that.

 

I agree the playoffs are harsh but that is the rules. If they werent there then whoever finishes second goes up end of, no points system.

[mattwefc]

This is utter garbage sparksy.

 

You cannot decide on a points system like that.

 

I agree the playoffs are harsh but that is the rules. If they werent there then whoever finishes second goes up end of, no points system.

 

 

 

alternatively it's a 3 up 3 down scenario, top 2 go up automatically and the 3rd 4th 5th and 6th teams play off, that way theres a lot more to fight for right up until the end of the season.

it pains me to say it, but fair play to slough, i was pleasantly surprised to see hitchen lose, especially considering the 23 point gap between the sides!

everything is laid out in writing at the start so each team knows what their aims are. we were in the same boat last year, finishing comfortably second but losing out to the team in 5th, but each club just has to get on with it

[Rother]

It has been said many many times before but, even at this level, it is all about money and by keeping the interest levels up for more teams until the end of the season it undoubtedly increases revenues for the clubs.

 

Guessing, but if it had been 1st and 2nd auto-promo in the 2 Divs, the gates for the likes of Bridgwater, VTFC, Frome, Paulton, Cirencester, Slough, Burnham etc. might have been 40% lower in the last month (or more) of the season. How boring would our league have been for the last 3 months without some teams having the play-offs to aim for?

 

And then there's the bumper crowds for the play-offs themselves.

 

Unfair yes, but money dictates.

[Staines-upon-Thames Rebel]

The odds are in favour of the teams finishing in 2nd and 3rd places as they will have home advantage.

 

The other twist to the current format is that you play a leauge format all year long and then it changes to a knockout format for the final place!

[AndyB]

AFC Totton 0 Cirencester 2 latest, as if to confirm the unpredictability of the play offs.

 

 

[chris sliski]

I have to agree ... the top 2 should be promoted and the bottom two relegated ... however a play off could be as follows : the third & fourth bottom in the league above ..play off to

decide who plays the team in third place in the league below for either a repreive or a promotion ... or something like that ....but the present play off's is what is the rules at the moment

and all teams were aware at the start of the season and now for a number of years...but a review needs to be done...I would agree...

 

chris s from slough