The English Football League structure is now organised into four divisions, the foremost being the Premiership, the lowest being the Third Division. At the end of the season, a few teams in each division are either promoted or relegated dependant upon their proximity to the top or the foot of the table.
As a further incentive to teams to avoid the comfort zone of mid-table mediocrity, play-offs have been instituted for teams from Divisions 1, 2, and 3 finishing within 4 positions of the automatic qualifiers in their respective divisions. The winner of each set of play-offs is also promoted.
The rewards for Premiership teams are places in European competitions such as [The European Champions League]?, and represent a considerable financial incentive for teams.
In addition, if the topmost team from the [Vauxhall Conference]? has a ground which is satisfactory for League football, the lowest team from the Third Division is relegated to the Vauxhall Conference and the promoted team acquires full league status as happened in the season 2000/01 with the promotion of [Rushden and Diamonds F.C.]? and the relegation of [Barnet F.C.]?
There is no system of play-offs for the top teams in a division; the league winner is determined solely based on the best record. The record is evaluation primarily on wins and losses, with three points for a win and one point for a draw, goal differential serving as a tie-breaker, however if the teams are entirely equal there would be a play-off at a neutral venue. There are also two League-wide competitions, the Worthington Cup and F.A. (Football Association) Cup, that use a single-elimination format to determine a champion.
Former Structures of the English Football League
Prior to the inception of the Premiership in the early 1990s, the League was purely four divisions: Divisions One, Two, Three and Four.
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