The ‘unjust’ play-offs were introduced in 1987 as a temporary measure to help the First Division lose two clubs but they are now more popular than ever

On the evening of Thursday 14 May 1987, six matches kicked off across the country that would determine which three clubs would snap up the last available places in each division of English football. A combined attendance of 77,452 witnessed the very first series of play-off matches in the Football League, with as few as 4,164 gathered at the Recreation Ground in Aldershot and as many as 29,472 assembled at Elland Road. There was no great fanfare, with the media pretty much shunning the games. It would have been feasible to blink and miss the arrival of the play-offs.

Television coverage was almost non-existent, apart from the odd local news clip tucked away in the sports bulletin. The written press paid scant attention to the arrival of this new-fangled competition, with newspapers reports perfunctory at best. The Times summed up the Division Four semi-final first leg in a single sentence: “Gary Johnson raised Aldershot’s hopes of Third Division football next season with a goal 13 minutes from the end.” A Minor Counties versus Glamorgan cricket match was given more coverage than any of the semi-finals. Oh, how the Times and times have changed.

When the two-legged finals kicked off at the end of May there was a marginal increase in media interest, but this only stretched to a few paragraphs in the national press rather than a few sentences. There were no live broadcasts in those days and it was expected that the play-offs would only last for a few years. They were introduced purely as a mechanism to phase in the reduction of the old First Division from 22 clubs down to 20.

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As the Football League was restructured through the so-called Heathrow Agreement the man responsible for their introduction, Martin Lange, who was chairman of Brentford at the time, admitted that there was not much consideration of the consequences among the chairmen who voted for them. “We threw in the play-offs at the end and as all the guys were interested in was the money side,” said Lange. “They were not too concerned about the play-offs. I couldn’t see them lasting for 20 years, 10 years, probably not even five years.”

Lange’s pessimism proved unfounded and 30 years later the play-offs are thriving, having become firmly established as the pinnacle of the 72 Football League clubs’ season and with the finals providing the EFL with their showpiece occasions, their jewels in the crown. Over the next few weeks, Sky Sports will show all 15 play-off games live and there will be well in excess of 50 hours of airtime dedicated to a competition. When Exeter City qualified for the League Two play-offs at the weekend, they became the 97th club to have done so. By the time the Championship play-offs final has been decided on 29 May, there will have been a total of 477 play-off matches since that tentative start in 1987.

The format has not changed much in the last 30 years. The biggest difference is that, in the first two years there was a relegation slot, with one club from a higher division battling it out with three clubs from the division below. Of the six clubs involved from higher divisions in those first two years, five ended up being relegated, including Chelsea, who dropped out of the First Division after losing 2-1 on aggregate to Middlesbrough. So Charlton Athletic can lay claim to being the only club to avoid relegation through the play-offs, having eventually overcome Leeds in extra-time in a replay at St Andrews in 1987. After John Sheridan had given Leeds the lead in the 99th minute, centre-back Peter Shirtliff was the unlikeliest of goalscoring heroes with a brace in the space of four minutes. Considering the Barnsley-born Shirtliff managed a total of 15 goals in his 18-year career, this was a purple patch his fellow Yorkshiremen could have done without.

The inaugural Second Division play-off final also went to a replay after Swindon Town drew 2-2 with Gillingham on aggregate. Swindon won the replay 2-0 at Selhurst Park but Lou Macari, their victorious manager, was clearly not an early adopter and was not getting carried away on a wave of euphoria. “I never want to go through a night like that again,” said Macari. “The play-offs are unfair and should be scrapped.” Fortunately, for the majority of us who relish these end-of-season shenanigans, Macari’s damning words fell on deaf ears.

The play-offs have always divided opinion, with some arguing they are unfair and even a little cruel to clubs that finish streets ahead of their rivals only to be denied promotion after the regular league season. That argument was given more credence in 2016, when none of the top-placed teams in the play-offs – Brighton, Walsall and Accrington Stanley – even qualified for the finals and were beaten by teams who were collectively 35 points behind them. Joe Royle was Oldham manager when they faced Leeds in the 1987 semi-final and he joined Macari in railing against the injustice of it all: “We finished seven points clear of Leeds. So to go out on away goals to them means there is something unjust. I welcomed the play-offs but possibly hadn’t considered the long-term ramifications.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Manchester City pack into Wembley to watch them secure promotion to the First Division in May 1999. Photograph: Colorsport/Rex/Shutterstock

Despite Royle’s warnings about long-term ramifications, the play-offs have gone on to become a popular, enduring feature of the football calendar. Their ability to create drama and tension was perfectly illustrated in Royle’s next managerial tilt at the play-offs a dozen years on, when he was in charge of Manchester City. May 1999 proved to be quite a month for both Manchester clubs. United completed their treble with that stunning last-gasp victory over Bayern Munich at Camp Nou and, four days later, City met Gillingham at Wembley as they attempted to escape from the third tier, which they had dropped into for the first time in their history the previous season.

The Second Division play-offs final may not have the glamour of the Champions League final but this match was arguably just as significant for City. Nearly 77,000 people watched agog as, in an eerie parallel with the events in Barcelona, the match was won by two improbably late goals with the added spice of some friendly rivalry. When Gillingham goalkeeper Vince Bartram agreed to be Paul Dickov’s best man he probably did not envisage what the groom would do to him a few months later.

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After scoring two late goals – in the 81st and 86th minutes – to take a seemingly unassailable 2-0 lead, Tony Pulis’ team could taste second-tier football for the first time in their history. Kevin Horlock’s 89th-minute goal had the whiff of consolation on it and did not stem the flow of City fans leaving the stadium for a disconsolate trek back north as they contemplated having to face taunts from United fans. But nobody, including his close friend Bartram, had factored in Dickov’s capacity to engineer a miraculous rescue with his 95th-minute equaliser that in many senses laid the foundations for City’s rise to the Premier League title just over a decade later. City won the match on penalties, with Gillingham only scoring one of their four kicks.

Despite this pivotal moment for City, one central character was still not convinced by the play-offs. Undoubtedly still scarred by his experiences with Oldham in 1987, Royle was forthright in his criticism: “They deserved this,” he said of the City fans, “But I still hate the play-offs. They are a lottery and a joke. We played 46 games and finished third and that should have been enough to take us up without three extra cup finals.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The agony and the ecstasy: AFC Wimbledon players celebrate after winning the League Two play-off final in 2016 Photograph: Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images

Royle’s objection ignores the stimulating effect on a whole raft of teams who would have been immersed in mid-table torpor but for the hope of making the play-offs. Without them, two of last season’s most memorable stories would not have materialised. The continuing rise of AFC Wimbledon from their 2002 rebirth to their sixth promotion in 13 seasons courtesy of the League Two play-offs final victory against Plymouth Argyle is an inspiration to clubs in the lower leagues.

The man primarily responsible for this 21st-century fairytale was a loyal devotee of the club who made 301 appearances for the original Wimbledon FC between 1991 and 2002 and took over as manager in 2012. Neal Ardley was understandably euphoric after the match as he reflected on his journey with the club. “It’s what you dream of,” he said. “To stand there in front of 20,000 people who 14 years ago had their club ripped away from them, and stand there as one of their own who came through the ranks at the age of 11, it doesn’t get any better than that. You can write any story you want.” Hollywood scriptwriters had been suitably alerted.

Matching Ardley’s achievement in 2016 was the remarkable renaissance of Barnsley, who were bottom of League One in early December but triumphed over Millwall at Wembley only six months later in the unlikeliest of promotions. Barnsley’s recovery was even more impressive considering that, just as they were gaining momentum in February having reached the top half of the table, their manager Lee Johnson suddenly left to join Bristol City.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ashley Fletcher celebrates after scoring for Barnsley against Millwall in the League One play-off final in 2016. Photograph: Matthew Ashton/Getty Images

Stepping into the breach was Barnsley-born Paul Heckingbottom, who was taking over as caretaker manager for the second time in the space of a year. Like Ardley, 39-year-old Heckingbottom had played for the club he was managing, making the success all the sweeter. The manager’s future was not secure right up until the end of the season. “The message was always that we would start speaking after our last game,” Heckingbottom said. “Now we can sort everyone’s future out. Everyone knows I want to stay. If I hadn’t been on the bench I’d have been here watching.”

The captivating stories of Barnsley and AFC Wimbledon from last year reinforce the uplifting spirit that characterises the play-offs over the last 30 years and their positive impact on English football. Surely not even Royle or Macari would want to turn back the clock 30 years to those days of automatic promotion and deny us all the delights of what former Leyton Orient chairman Barry Hearn once described as “the best invention ever” even though his team had just lost the 2001 Third Division final.

Richard’s updated book on the play-offs, The Agony and the Ecstasy, is out next week