U-18 AND U-16 PLAY-OFF FORMAT, 2006

08/02/06

The basic format of the Age Group Leagues is the same throughout, with teams playing in regional leagues.

The wide variation in the number of participating teams, however, results in differences of detail. For instance, the Under-18 and Under-16 Men's Leagues have two Premier Divisions (North and South), with four regional Conferences (North, South, Midlands and West), while the U-18 Women have just two regional divisions, and the U-16 Women have four.

This results in differences in the number of teams qualifying for the play-offs, and thus differences in the detailed format of the post-season competitions.

What I shall try to do below is to explain not only how each play-off series works, but also the basic principles behind the format. The two main principles, in order of priority, are:

  • Teams from the same League should only meet in an early round if one of them beats a higher seed in an earlier round;

  • Travel is kept to a minimum, while keeping apart teams from the same League.

With eight Divisions in the Under-18 Men's league a number of rounds are required, as there are twenty qualifiers for the post-season competition:

Top four from North Premier

Top four from South Premier

Top two from North-East Conference

Top two from North-West Conference

Top two from South Conference

Top two from South-East Conference

Top two from Midlands Conference

Top two from West Conference

 

The principle, of separating teams from the same league until the final is applied in this competition, and so the Conference qualifiers play their first round matches against the Premier division qualifiers, and if the seeded teams (from the Premier divisions) go through then the quarter finals will match teams from the North with those from the South (i.e. 1 North v 4 South and so on).

 

In the eighth-final, the top two teams in the Premier divisions each play at home against one of the second-placed Conference teams.

The four Conference winners have home advantage over a third or fourth placed team from a Premier Division.

To keep travel at this stage to a minimum, the North premier teams are paired with those from the North and Midlands Conferences, while the South Premier match up with the South and West Conferences:

 

 

Qualifying Round First Round   Quarter Final   Semi Final   FINAL  
1/2 April   8/9 April   22/23 April   @RAF Cosford; 6 or 7 May  
  North Premier 1 }            
North-West 1 } North Qualifier 2 } NP1 or NC2 }        
North-East 2 }     v } ___________ }    
  West Conference 1 } WC1 or SP 4 }   }    
  South Premier 4 }       }    
            } ___________ }
  South Premier 2 }       }   }
  West Conference 2 } SP2 or WC2 }   }   }
North-East 1 }     v } ___________ }   }
North-West 2 } North Qualifier 1 } NC1 or NP3 }       }
  North Premier 3 }           }
                }
  South Premier 1 }           }
South 1 } South Qualifier 1 } SP1 or SC2 }       }
South-East 2 }     v } ___________ }   }
  Midlands Conference 1 } MC1 or NP4 }   }   }
  North Premier 4 }       }   }
            } ___________ }
  North Premier 2 }       }    
  Midlands Conference 2 } NP2 or MC2 }   }    
South-East 1 }     v } ___________ }    
South 2 } South Qualifier 2 } SC1 or SP3 }        
  South Premier 3 }            

Due to the number of original league entries, both of the  North and South Conferences were further divided (into North-East and North-West, and South and South-East).

So, an additional round is required to determine which teams are classified first and second in these regions. The top two in North-East and North-West will thus play a straight cross-over knock out, as will the top two in South and South-East.

This will produce two Northern Conference qualifiers and two Midlands/Central qualifiers to fit into the same draw-pattern as for the Under-18s.

 

That could have left teams unsure who was playing where until after those preliminary matches were completed. To reduce the uncertainty it's been decided in advance that the winner of NW1 v NE2 will be deemed "North Conference 2" while the winner of NE1 v NW2 will be "North Conference 1", and they thus slot into the draw in the relevant places.

A similar procedure determines where the Midlands/Central qualifiers fit (see table to left).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The same format applies to the Under-16 Men, although with just two Preliminary Round matches, as only the North Conference is split (into North-East and North-West),

 

 

By comparison, the Women's Under-18 play-offs are simplicity itself, as there are just two divisions, so we're back to the tried and tested top four crossover format:

Quarter Finals   Semi Finals   Final  
   @ RAF Cosford; 6 or 7 May  
N1 }        
S4 } N1 or S4 }    
  v } ______________ }
S2 } S2 or N3 }   }
N3 }       }
        }
S1 }       }
N4 } S1 or N4 }   }
  v } ______________ }
N2 } N2 or S3 }    
S3 }        

 

The Under-16 Women's draw looks, at first sight, more complicated, but is actually relatively straightforward.

The sixteen qualifiers are the top four from each of the four Regional Leagues.

First Round   Quarter Final   Semi Final   FINAL  
8/9 April   22/23 April   @RAF Cosford; 6 or 7 May  
North 1 }            
Midlands 4 } N1 or M4 }        
  v } ___________ }    
Midlands 2 } M2 or N3 }   }    
North 3 }