by Gulliball » 22 May 2017, 13:49
The play-offs are great, and I'm quite surprised that support for them isn't higher. They keep the season alive for a lot of teams for a lot longer, and for that reason alone are worthwhile. If you are mid table at Christmas, as by definition the most teams are, you aim to scrape into the play-offs. This keeps interest (and so crowds + gate receipts) up in the later half of the season. I can't think of anything worse than being in the bottom half after 10 games and knowing your season is over by October as you're not going to make the top 2 or 3. Football is ultimately an entertainment, and the play-offs help to keep this alive.
You might not think it is fair that you get 10 or whatever points more than another side, but don't get an advantage, but the rules are in place before the season starts. If the top 2 go up automatically and you finish 3rd then it's not unfair that you go into the play-offs against the sides finishing 4th-6th. Personally, I like the current format as well, with a two-legged semi and then the final. You can't have it weighted too heavily in favour of the highest place finishers - if finishing 7th in the Conference as proposed means that you're unlikely to get promoted then you might as well just keep it as the top 5 and give all four sides an equal chance.
They also give fans some of the best experiences they'll ever get. Imagine being a Torquay fan without the Blackpool penalty shootout, or the Tim Sills header, or Rodney Jack destroying Scarborough.
Had they been around in say 1959/60, you wouldn't have had Torquay finishing 2nd to Ipswich on the final day and that's that, 60 years later and fans are still taking about what might have been. That side, possibly the best ever Torquay United side, would have had a chance to enter the play-offs, possibly get to Wembley and get into the 2nd tier, giving thousands of fans the best day of their lives rather than grumbling about how close we came.
The play-offs are great, and I'm quite surprised that support for them isn't higher. They keep the season alive for a lot of teams for a lot longer, and for that reason alone are worthwhile. If you are mid table at Christmas, as by definition the most teams are, you aim to scrape into the play-offs. This keeps interest (and so crowds + gate receipts) up in the later half of the season. I can't think of anything worse than being in the bottom half after 10 games and knowing your season is over by October as you're not going to make the top 2 or 3. Football is ultimately an entertainment, and the play-offs help to keep this alive.
You might not think it is fair that you get 10 or whatever points more than another side, but don't get an advantage, but the rules are in place before the season starts. If the top 2 go up automatically and you finish 3rd then it's not unfair that you go into the play-offs against the sides finishing 4th-6th. Personally, I like the current format as well, with a two-legged semi and then the final. You can't have it weighted too heavily in favour of the highest place finishers - if finishing 7th in the Conference as proposed means that you're unlikely to get promoted then you might as well just keep it as the top 5 and give all four sides an equal chance.
They also give fans some of the best experiences they'll ever get. Imagine being a Torquay fan without the Blackpool penalty shootout, or the Tim Sills header, or Rodney Jack destroying Scarborough.
Had they been around in say 1959/60, you wouldn't have had Torquay finishing 2nd to Ipswich on the final day and that's that, 60 years later and fans are still taking about what might have been. That side, possibly the best ever Torquay United side, would have had a chance to enter the play-offs, possibly get to Wembley and get into the 2nd tier, giving thousands of fans the best day of their lives rather than grumbling about how close we came.
