Football in England is among the most competitive in the world, with anything possible happening.
Promotion and relegation are significant aspects of the English game’s competitiveness, which is not prevalent in other sports or in certain other countries’ sports.
They certainly keep things interesting in the English leagues. However, how many teams are relegated and promoted each season from the top five leagues in England?
| League | Teams promoted | Teams relegated |
|---|---|---|
| The Premier League | 0 | 3 |
| The Championship | 3 (Two automatic and one through the play-offs) | 3 |
| League One | 3 (Two automatic and one through the play-offs) | 4 |
| League Two | 4 (Three automatic and one through the play-offs) | 2 |
| The National League | 2 (One automatic and one through the play-offs) | 4 |
The Premier League
As the Premier League is the top tier of the English game, there isn’t promotion. However, the teams who finish in the league’s top four earn a place in the Champions League.
However, the league could be rewarded with a fifth spot in the competition if England finishes in the top two of the FIFA co-efficient for how well clubs from each country teams have performed in Europe.
Teams who finish up to seventh can earn European football in other European competitions such as the Europa League or the Europa Conference League.
The number of European places available via the league depends on who wins the domestic cup competitions. If a team that has already qualified for a European competition via their league placing wins a cup, then seventh place is enough to earn European football.
Relegation to the second tier is a much simpler affair, as the three teams who finish from 18th to 20th in the 20-team league table are relegated to the Championship.
The Championship
The second tier of the English game is considered one of the toughest in Europe. Teams are desperate to reach the promised land of the Premier League and the financial rewards it offers.
There are just three promotion positions available in the 24-team Championship. The first two promotion positions go to the teams that finish in first and second place in the table, and they earn automatic promotion.
The other promotion spot to the Premier League will be decided in a four-team play-off between the teams that finish third to sixth in the table.
The team that finishes third faces off against the fifth-place team over a two-legged game while fourth-place plays sixth-place.
The teams that win on aggregate over the two-legged ties face each other in the final. The winners of the final earn the final promotion spot in the English top-flight for the following season.
Relegation from the English second tier works the same way as the top flight. Teams that finish in the bottom three, 22nd to 24th in the table, are relegated to the third tier.
League One
The third tier of English football is very much like the second tier when it comes to how many teams win promotion and how it is achieved. The teams who finish in the league’s top two at the end of the 46-game league campaign are promoted to the second tier automatically.
The teams who finish from third to sixth place then compete in a four-team play-off round to decide who will gain the last promotion berth.
The way the play-offs are structured is slightly different to the Championship in the fact that the team that finishes third and sixth face each other in a two-legged semi-final, while the teams that finish fourth and fifth go head-to-head to decide who will qualify for the play-off finals.
The winners on aggregate of the two semi-finals met in the final, which decides who takes the final promotion spot to the second tier.
Relegation is also slightly different in League One to the Championship, as the teams who finish in the league’s bottom four from 21st to 24th suffer relegation to the fourth tier of the English game.
League Two
Like the other English divisions, League Two has slight differences when it comes to relegation and promotion. One of the main differences is that the teams that finish from first to third position in the table over the 46-game campaign are promoted automatically to League One.
Two-legged four-team semi-final play-offs decide the last promotion spot. The team that finishes fourth place in the table faces the team that finished seventh place over two legs, while the fifth and sixth finishers face off in the other semi-final.
Whichever team wins on aggregate over the two legs qualifies for the play-off final. The winners of the play-off final earn the right to play in the third tier in the next campaign.
Relegation in League Two also slightly differs from in the other leagues, as only the two teams that finish in 23rd and 24th place in the table suffer relegation to the National League.
The National League
Although the National League is the fifth tier of the English pyramid overall, it’s the first tier of the National League System, which operates outside of the Football League.
However, the club that finishes first over the 46-game National League campaign earns automatic promotion to League Two. Like the three divisions above the National League, play-offs decide who earns the second promotion spot.
The play-offs work slightly differently in the National League, as teams that finish from second to seventh place qualify for the play-offs.
The team that finishes fourth plays the team that finishes seventh, while the teams that finish fifth place and sixth face off in one-off eliminators. These eliminators do not include the second and third-place finishers.
The winners of the eliminators then face the teams who finished second and third teams in the semi-finals of the play-offs. Unlike in other leagues, these games are one-off play-offs, rather than two-legged ties. The winners of each semi-final meet in the final to decide the second promotion spot.
On rare occasions, teams are denied the right to promotion or a place in the play-offs. This happened in season 2023/24 when Gateshead were denied a place in the play-offs due to an issue with their stadium.
At the bottom of the table, the four teams that finish from 21st to 24th are relegated to the sixth tier, either to the National League North or the National League South, depending on their location.
Occasionally, clubs are placed in a division that is not local to them because there is a lack of room in the league that is geographically closest to them.