Relegation

In the sports leagues — especially soccer leagues — of many countries, relegation (or demotion) means the mandated transfer of the worst team(s) (usually the bottom three) of a higher league into a lower league at the end of the season. An equal number of best team(s) from the lower league enjoy the opposite procedure, promotion.

Related Topics:
Sports - League - Soccer - Promotion

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Promotion and relegation have the effect of regularly rearranging the leagues according to the teams' playing strength, and also prevents the games of the not-so-good teams of each league from becoming boring towards the end of the season. Relegation can potentially mean severe hardship or even bankruptcy for demoted clubs. Relegation can be a heart-wringing melodrama for the fans, but just avoiding it can also be a source of pure bliss and continuing legends, sometimes even more so than winning the title.

Related Topics:
Bankruptcy - Melodrama - Fan - Legend

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The following are the promotion and relegation rules for the English Premier League and Football League, to serve as an example:

Related Topics:
Premier League - Football League

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• English Premier League (level 1): Bottom three teams relegated.
• Football League Championship (level 2): Top two automatically promoted; next four teams play off, with the winner gaining the third promotion spot. Bottom three relegated.
• Football League One (level 3): Top two automatically promoted; next four teams play off, with the winner gaining the third promotion spot. Bottom four relegated.
• Football League Two (level 4): Top three automatically promoted; next four teams play off, with the winner gaining the fourth promotion spot. Bottom two relegated.
• Conference National (level 5): Top team promoted, subject to stadium being of required standard; next four teams play off, with the winner gaining the second promotion spot (again with the same stadium requirement). If stadia are not of the required quality, teams from League Two are not relegated. Note that Conference National is not part of The Football League, but is instead the top level of the National League System, a comprehensive system of lower-level leagues which itself has promotion and relegation between its levels.
 
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