League Two play-offs 2025: Fixtures, dates and teams in contention
- 2024/25 League Two season is officially underway
- Play-offs will take place at the end of the campaign
- Crawley Town beat Crewe Alexandra in last season's play-off final at Wembley
The 2024/25 season may have only just opened its doors, yet there will be some already thinking about the campaign's conclusion.
Unlike the National League, League Two presents competing teams with ample opportunity to climb up to the third tier of English football. Four teams will earn promotion to League One come season's end, with one of these four climbers being decided via the League Two play-offs.
It's always a wild and thrilling time. The May sunshine gleams over humble English stadia while passionate local fans will on homegrown heroes and loan players they've unabashedly fallen in love with.
Here's all you need to know about the 2025 League Two play-offs.
League Two play-offs 2025
How do the League Two play-offs work?
The League Two play-offs will include the four teams that finish directly below the three automatic promotion places.
Thus, the teams that finish between fourth and seventh qualify for the League Two play-offs with two semi-finals and a final at Wembley deciding the fourth team to earn promotion into League One from the fourth tier.
Fourth faces seventh and fifth takes on sixth in the two two-legged semi-finals, with the winners on aggregate progressing into the final. Away goals is not a factor, so if the scores are tied at the end of the two legs, extra time and penalties will decide the victor.
When are the 2025 League Two play-offs?
The League Two play-offs will commence following the conclusion of the season in May. The English Football League (EFL) have confirmed the final League Two matches this term will be played on 3 May 2025.
There will be a short break at the end of the season and the start of the League Two play-offs, with the first legs of the two semi-finals typically being played around a week after the campaign's conclusion.
While there is no confirmed date for when the 2025 League Two play-off final will take place, the contest is usually held over the second Bank Holiday in May. The 2024 final between Crawley and Crewe took place on 19 May.
Which teams are in contention for the 2025 League Two play-offs?
There's plenty of football yet to be played before the League Two table starts to take shape and, as is to be expected, there will more than just a few surprises.
It is, however, hard to ignore the teams who have dropped down from League One in regards to the play-off hunt. Cheltenham, Port Vale, Fleetwood and Carlisle will all be looking to compete towards the top of the League Two table in 2024/25.
Gillingham are the very early league leaders with Walsall, Barrow, Newport County, Doncaster and AFC Wimbledon among those to enjoy bright starts to the new season.
Crewe may struggle to repeat their stellar 2023/24 campaign given the departures they oversaw during the summer, while MK Dons, beaten in the play-offs last time out, have made a poor start despite harbouring hopes of automatic promotion.
Chesterfield could carry their unwavering momentum from an emphatic National League victory last term into 2024/25 and stage an impressive League Two campaign, while Karl Robinson's Salford shouldn't be overlooked. Is this the year the Class of '92 finally break into the play-offs?
2024/25 League Two table
Pos | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | +/- | Goal difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Gillingham | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6:1 | +5 | 10 |
2. | Walsall | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7:2 | +5 | 9 |
3. | Barrow | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6:1 | +5 | 9 |
4. | Newport County | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9:5 | +4 | 9 |
5. | Doncaster | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9:6 | +3 | 9 |
6. | AFC Wimbledon | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6:4 | +2 | 9 |
7. | Notts County | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8:4 | +4 | 8 |
8. | Tranmere | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3:1 | +2 | 8 |
9. | Bradford | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6:4 | +2 | 7 |
10. | Bromley | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6:5 | +1 | 6 |
How much is winning the League Two play-off final worth?
There's an absence of riches involved here. The victors of this one-off match earn no big bonus.
The Premier League instead hands a £430,000 payment to each League Two club on top of their base £472,000 fee from the EFL for merely competing in the division. There's no superior fee based on where teams finish.
Of course, these base fees rise upon promotion to League One. In the third tier, clubs earn a £677,000 base fee and a £642,000 payment from the Premier League.
Who has the best record in the League Two play-offs?
No team has had more success in the League Two play-offs than Blackpool, who have been promoted from the fourth tier via this route three times. Their last triumph came in 2017.
Cheltenham, Northampton and Southend have each won two finals. On the contrary, Exeter and Torquay, now of the National League South, are three-time losers of the League Two play-off final.
READ MORE ON THE PLAY-OFF HUNT ACROSS THE EFL
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