The Football League Play-Offs are used as a means of determining the final promotion place

from each of the league's three divisions. This is a way of keeping the possibility of promotion
open for more clubs towards the end of the season.

The format was first introduced in 1987, after the decision was made to reduce the top flight
from 22 to 20 clubs over the next two seasons; initially, the play-offs involved the team finishing
immediately above the relegation places in a given division and the three teams who finished
immediately below the promotion places in the division below - essentially one team was
fighting to keep their place in the higher division while the other three teams were attempting to
take it from them. In 1989, this was changed—instead of teams from different divisions playing
each other, the four teams below the automatic promotion places contested the play-offs. The
first season of this arrangement saw the final being contested in home and away legs. The four
teams play off in two semi-finals and a final, with the team winning the final being promoted.
Originally the semi-finals and the final were all two-legged home-and-away affairs, but from
1990 onwards the final was a one-off match (usually at Wembley or, during its rebuilding, the
Millennium Stadium). It is in this format that the play-offs continue today. A proposal to have
six teams rather than four competing for the final place was defeated at the league's AGM in
2003.[21]

[edit] Play-off winners

Season Division Two Division Three Division Four

1986-
Charlton Athletic Swindon Town Aldershot
87
1987-
Middlesbrough Walsall Swansea City
88
1988-
Crystal Palace Port Vale Leyton Orient
89
1989-
Swindon Town1 Notts County Cambridge United
90
1990-
Notts County Tranmere Rovers Torquay United
91
1991-
Blackburn Rovers Peterborough United Blackpool
92
Season Division One Division Two Division Three
1992-
Swindon Town West Bromwich Albion York City
93
1993-
Leicester City Burnley Wycombe Wanderers
94
1994-
Bolton Wanderers Huddersfield Town Chesterfield
95
1995-
Leicester City Bradford City Plymouth Argyle
96
1996-
Crystal Palace Crewe Alexandra Northampton Town
97
1997-
Charlton Athletic Grimsby Town Colchester United
98
1998-
Watford Manchester City Scunthorpe United
99
1999-
Ipswich Town Gillingham Peterborough United
00
2000-
Bolton Wanderers Walsall Blackpool
01
2001-
Birmingham City Stoke City Cheltenham Town
02
2002-
Wolverhampton Wanderers Cardiff City Bournemouth
03
2003- Brighton & Hove
Crystal Palace Huddersfield Town
04 Albion
Season Championship League One League Two
2004-
West Ham United Sheffield Wednesday Southend United
05
2005-
Watford Barnsley Cheltenham Town
06
2006-
Derby County Blackpool Bristol Rovers
07
2007-
Hull City Doncaster Rovers Stockport County
08
2008-
Burnley Scunthorpe United Gillingham
09
2009-
Blackpool Millwall Dagenham & Redbridge
10

1: Due to financial irregularities, Swindon were prevented from taking their place in the top division, which was
awarded to the losing finalists, Sunderland.

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