National League play-offs: Confirmed teams & dates for playoff quarter-finals and semi-finals
One of the wildest and most widely watched regular seasons in the history of the National League has come to a breathless finish. Let the drama of the playoffs commence.
After nine months, 1,656 games and 4,480 goals, the six teams that finished below the single automatic promotion spot set to enter the early summer mini-tournament have been decided.
Five more matches remain to decide which side will escape the clutches of non-League and breathe the sweet air of England's fourth tier.
Here's everything you need to know about the 2022/23 National League playoffs.
Promoted teams from 2022/23 National League
Read more about Wrexham's Hollywood story
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Wrexham cemented top spot in the National League with one game to spare. The north Wales club infamously backed by actors Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds racked up a record-breaking haul of 111 points. Phil Parkinson's side also plundered 116 goals, more than any other fifth-tier side had ever previously amassed.
The Red Dragons have the financial might to mix it with League Two clubs after ending a 15-year absence from the Football League. But which other clubs can join them this summer?
Teams qualified for 2022/23 National League playoff quarter-finals
The six teams that finish between second and seventh book a place in the National League playoffs. Those that just missed out on top spot, teams hovering in second and third, do not have to compete in the playoff quarter-finals, skipping straight to the semis where they await the winning of each knockout tie.
Woking (who finished fourth), Barnet (fifth), Boreham Wood (sixth) and Bromley (seventh) will duke out the first round of eliminators in the National League post-season.
Fifth-placed Barnet host north London rivals Boreham Wood in the first quarter-final - or Eliminator A as the National League insists on calling it - on Tuesday 2 May at 19:45 BST. When the capital sides met at the Hive on Boxing Day, there were three goals and as many red cards.
Woking welcome seventh-placed Bromley to Surrey for the second quarter-final, Eliminator B, on the following evening, Wednesday 3 May at 19:45 BST. The Cardinals defeated their upcoming opponents home and away during the regular season, scoring two goals on each outing against Bromley.
Both quarter-finals will be decided over one game on the day, with the possibility of extra time if neither side can be separated after 90 minutes and the daunting prospect of a penalty shootout to act as the final tiebreaker.
2022/23 National League playoff quarter-final dates
Date/Kick-off time | Fixture |
|---|---|
02/05/23 - 19:45 | Barnet vs Boreham Wood |
03/05/23 - 19:45 | Woking vs Bromley |
Teams qualified for 2022/23 National League playoff semi-finals
Notts County scored the most goals and conceded the fewest while collecting more points than all but one side in the history of England's fifth-tier. Yet, a centurion season was only enough to earn the Magpies second place - four points behind Wrexham - and a spot in the National League playoff semi-finals.
Chesterfield collected 23 fewer points than Notts County but advanced to the exact same stage of the playoffs courtesy of their third-placed finish. Each side will host the winner of one of the quarter-finals with a place in the Wembley final at stake.
Both semi-finals will be contested on Sunday 7 May. Notts County will welcome one of Barnet or Boreham Wood to Meadow Lane at 12:30 BST before Chesterfield duke it out against Woking or Bromley in the afternoon at 15:30 BST.
Just as at the quarter-final stage, the semi-finals are a one-legged knockout match - unlike their equivalent in the Championship, League One or League Two.
2022/23 National League playoff semi-final dates
Date/Kick-off time | Fixture |
|---|---|
07/05/23 - 12:30 | Notts County vs Barnet/Boreham Wood |
07/05/23 - 15:30 | Chesterfield vs Woking/Bromley |
When is 2022/23 National League playoff final?
The winners of each semi-final meet at Wembley Stadium to finally decide which side will join Wrexham in League Two next season. The showpiece event of the post-season in England's fifth hasn't been held at the national stadium since 2020 - when the COVID-19 pandemic prevented any spectators from witnessing Harrogate Town's triumph over Notts County.
Hartlepool United needed a penalty shootout to squeak past Torquay United at Bristol City's Ashton Gate in 2021 before Grimsby Town crushed the promotion dreams of Solihull Moors at West Ham's London Stadium last summer.
The two victorious semi-finalists face off on Saturday 13 May, with kick-off scheduled for 15:30 BST.