According to today's Non-League Paper, the National League are considering some changes to the play-offs. Proposals are as follows:
(I) Moving next season's Conference North and South play-off finals to Wembley Stadium. This would replace the existing format which guarantees the highest placed team a home tie in the final.
(II) Playing all three Conference play-off finals (Conference Premier, North and South) on the same day - one game after another - in a similar format to how this season's FA Vase and FA Trophy operated.
(III) Removing extra time from the play-off finals to allow three matches to be fitted into one day. Any ties level after 90 minutes would go straight into a penalty shoot-out.
(IV) For the season after next, having six play-off places in each league instead of four. The teams finishing fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh in the table would play-off in a knock-out format whilst the teams finishing second and third receive a "bye" into the semi-finals.
Any views? My own opinions:
Moving the finals to Wembley will only work if all three ties are staged on the same dates. Would supporters stay to watch all three matches? Whilst the combined FA Vase and FA Trophy finals were well supported, what percentage of Hereford fans stuck around to watch Grimsby versus Halifax? If fans only stay for their own sides' match, wouldn't Wembley have been looking a bit empty for AFC Fylde versus North Ferriby?
The play-offs have largely led to the demise of the FA Trophy. The Conference sides don't seem to take the competition as seriously as they used to - prioritising play-offs as these give a route to the Football League as well as to Wembley. Would a Wembley final also diminish the competition in the eyes of Conference North and Conference South clubs.
What would be the kick-off times for the three finals? Presumably the Conference Premier final would be the showcase final and would take place last - I'm guessing a 5pm kick-off. That could mean 11am and 2pm kick offs for the Conference North and South finals. But if Truro (say) reached the Conference South final and Darlington the Conference North, would either of their sets of supporters be able to get to Wembley for 11? Equally, if Barrow were in the Conference Premier final, would their fans be able to get back to Cumbria afterwards?
Removing extra-time? This would mean more matches being settled by penalty shoot-outs - which are a lottery at the best of times. Why not have an option whereby the lower placed team had to win a play-off match to progress? If matches remain drawn, the side with the higher placed league position goes through / up. This option isn't on the table, but I'd rather do something like this than have games go straight from 90-minutes to a penalty shootout.
Let's not consider the idea of six teams in the play-offs. For the season just gone and using Conference South as an example, it would have meant that Maidenhead United could have sneaked promotion ahead of second placed Ebbsfleet. But Ebbsfleet ended the regular season with 25 more points than Maidenhead! Extending to six clubs wouldn't be right - keep it at four.