League Two play-offs 2025: Fixtures, dates and teams in contention
- 2024/25 League Two season is nearing conclusion
- 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
It feels like the 2024/25 League Two season only just opened its doors, but we already find ourselves in the closing stages of the campaign.
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, with the final League Two matches this term played on Saturday 3 May 2025.
There will be a short break between the end of the season and the start of the League Two play-offs, with the first legs of the two semi-finals being staged on Sunday 11 May. The second legs will then be played on 16-17 May.
The final itself will occur over a week after the second legs have concluded, with Wembley Stadium hosting the showpiece event on Monday 26 May - the second bank holiday of the month. .
Which teams are in contention for the 2025 League Two play-offs?
Port Vale are closing in on an instant return to League One but are still not guaranteed to be promoted despite leading the division. The same applies to Bradford City and Walsall, who occupy the other two automatic spots.
Doncaster Rovers, who have been stuck in League Two for the past three seasons, are still in the hunt for a top three finish. If they fail in their bid to crash the party at the summit, they will almost certainly feature in the play-offs.
Grimsby Town don't tend to do draws but their high win-rate has placed them among the play-off hopefuls. They are joined by AFC Wimbledon and Notts County in the top seven, with Colchester United, Chesterfield and Salford City on their tail.
2024/25 League Two table
Pos | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | +/- | Goal difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Port Vale | 42 | 21 | 13 | 8 | 59:40 | +19 | 76 |
2. | Bradford | 42 | 21 | 10 | 11 | 58:39 | +19 | 73 |
3. | Walsall | 42 | 20 | 12 | 10 | 72:51 | +21 | 72 |
4. | Doncaster | 41 | 20 | 11 | 10 | 62:47 | +15 | 71 |
5. | Wimbledon | 42 | 19 | 12 | 11 | 55:32 | +23 | 69 |
6. | Notts County | 42 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 62:43 | +19 | 68 |
7. | Grimsby | 42 | 20 | 6 | 16 | 59:60 | -1 | 66 |
8. | Colchester | 42 | 16 | 17 | 9 | 51:40 | +11 | 65 |
9. | Chesterfield | 42 | 17 | 11 | 14 | 65:50 | +15 | 62 |
10. | Salford | 41 | 16 | 13 | 12 | 53:47 | +6 | 61 |
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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