Football League test matches were a series of post-season football play off matches, organised by the Football League, to determine the membership of each division, between the worst finishers of the First Division and the best of the Second Division. These matches were first contested at the end of the 1892-3 season following the inaugural season of the Second Division, and were replaced with automatic promotion and relegation from 1898-9.
Unlike the modern-day England Football League SKY BET Play-offs, contested since 1987, which are only contested between the four teams below the automatic promotion places in each division, test matches involved the bottom teams of the First Division and the top teams of the Second Division going head-to-head. This meant that the Second Division champions were not guaranteed top-flight football, as was the case with Small Heath (now Birmingham City) in 1893. On no occasion have all of the Second Division and First Division sides been either respectively promoted and relegated or remained in the same division in any season through this system.
From 1893 to 1895, six teams competed for three places in the top division.
Below is the 1893 English Test Match Series. Each team played one match against the corresponding team from the other division (Second Division champions versus the bottom First Division side, and so on) at a neutral venue, usually close to the designated home team. The winners of each game were considered for election for First Division membership for the following season, whilst the losers were invited to the Second Division. SO Newton Heath (now Manchester Utd) beat Small Heath 5-2 after 1-1, Darwen (now AFC Darwen in Non-League) beat Notts County 3-2 and Sheffield Utd beat Accrington Stanley 1-0.
Motto: Without Work Nothing!From 1896 until 1898, the series was revamped into a mini-league format, with four teams competing for two First Division places. The Second Division sides played both First Division teams on a home-and-away basis. When the proceedings have concluded, the top two finishers were elected into the First Division and the bottom two were invited to the Second Division for the following season. As the 1898–99 First Division was expanded to include two more teams, the 1898 test match series was ultimately a dead rubber as all four competing teams were elected into the top tier.
These days, the English Football League play-offs are a series of play off matches contested by the four clubs finishing immediately below the automatic promotion places in the second, third and fourth tiers of the EFL.
As of 2022, the play-offs comprise two semi-finals, each conducted as a two legged tie with games played at each side's home ground. The winners of the semi-finals progress to the final which is contested at Wembley, where the victorious side is promoted to the league above, and the runners-up remain in the same division. In the event of drawn ties or finals, extra time followed by a penaltyy shoot out are employed as necessary
Last night's Sky Bet Championship Semi-Final 2nd Leg: Luton beat Sunderland 2-3 and so won 3-2 on aggregate: 10,000+ attended. So The Hatters await Middlesbrough or Coventry, presently 0-0 after First Leg tonight at 8pm.
No comments:
Post a Comment