The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be either a single game, a series of games, or a tournament, and may use a single-elimination system or one of several other different playoff formats. Playoff, in regard to international fixtures, is to qualify or progress to the next round of a competition or tournament.
The J1 League, a.k.a. the J.League or the Meiji Yasuda J1 League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Japan Professional Football League system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian professional club football history. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the J2 League. It was known as the J.League from 1993 to 1998 before becoming a two-division league, and as J.League Division 1 from 1999 to 2014.
In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams can move up and down between multiple divisions arranged in a hierarchical structure, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. In a system of promotion and relegation, the best-ranked team(s) in a lower division are promoted to a higher division for the next season, and the worst-ranked team(s) in the higher division are relegated to the lower division for the next season. During the season, teams that are high enough in the league table that they would qualify for promotion are sometimes said to be in the promotion zone, and those at the bottom are in the relegation zone.
The National Provincial Championship, often simply called the NPC, is an annual round-robin rugby union competition in men's domestic New Zealand rugby. First played during the 2006 season, it is the second highest level of competition in New Zealand alongside the Ranfurly Shield. It is organised by New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and since 2021, it has been known as the Bunnings NPC after its headline sponsor. A concurrent women's tournament is also held, the Farah Palmer Cup.
Christchurch United Football Club is an association football club in Christchurch, New Zealand. They compete in various Mainland Football competitions at Junior and Senior level. The club has won six National League titles and seven Chatham Cup trophies. Christchurch United are the current Southern League champions, Chatham Cup champions and English Cup champions.
Professional sports leagues are organized in numerous ways. The two most significant types are one that developed in Europe, characterized by a tiered structure using promotion and relegation in order to determine participation in a hierarchy of leagues or divisions, and a North American originated model characterized by its use of franchises, closed memberships, and minor leagues. Both these systems remain most common in their area of origin, although both systems are used worldwide.
The Central League is an amateur status league run by Capital Football for association football clubs located in the southern and central parts of the North Island. It is a New Zealand top-tier competition during the winter season, and sits at step two overall under the summer National League.
The J2 League or simply J2 is the second division of the Japan Professional Football League and the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The top tier is represented by the J1 League. It is currently sponsored by Meiji Yasuda Life and it is thus officially known as the Meiji Yasuda J2 League. Until the 2014 season it was named the J.League Division 2.
The Maltese football leagues system of association football is made up of a set of leagues organised and controlled by the Malta Football Association. Malta has had a top level football division since 1909; it continues on today with the current system.
For association football in Botswana, the Botswana First Division South is the second-tier professional football league in Botswana. Founded in 1966 after Botswana was granted independence, it is administered by the Botswana Football Association and features teams from the southern part of the country.
The 2014 Football West season was the first season under the new competition format in Western Australia. The overall premier for the new structure qualified for the National Premier Leagues finals series, competing with the other state federation champions in a final knockout tournament to decide the National Premier Leagues Champion for 2014.
The 2016 Football Queensland season was the fourth season since NPL Queensland commenced as the top tier of Queensland men’s football. Below NPL Queensland is a regional structure of ten zones with their own leagues. The strongest of the zones is Football Brisbane with its senior men’s competition consisting of five divisions.
The 2016 Football Federation Victoria season was the third season under the new competition format for state-level football (soccer) in Victoria. The competition consisted of seven divisions across the state of Victoria.
The 2016 Football West season was the third season under the new competition format in Western Australia. The overall premier for the new structure – Perth – qualified for the National Premier Leagues finals series, competing with the other Federation champions in a final knockout tournament to decide the National Premier Leagues Champion for 2016.
The 2017 Football Queensland season was the fifth season since NPL Queensland commenced as the top tier of Queensland men’s football. Below NPL Queensland was a regional structure of ten zones with their own leagues. The strongest of the zones was Football Brisbane with its senior men’s competition consisting of five divisions.
The 2018 Football Federation Victoria season was the fifth season under the new competition format for state-level soccer in Victoria. The competition consists of seven divisions across the state of Victoria.
The 2019 Football Queensland season was the seventh season since NPL Queensland commenced as the top tier of Queensland men’s football. This season was also the second season of the Football Queensland Premier League which occupied the second tier in Queensland men’s football in 2019.
The 2021 New Zealand National League was the first scheduled season of the National League since its restructuring in 2021. 30 clubs competed in the competition, with four having been planned to qualify from the Northern League, three qualifying from the Central League and two qualifying from the Southern League for the National Championship phase along with the automatically qualified Wellington Phoenix Reserves. Each team was allowed to field a maximum of four foreign players as well as one additional foreign player who has Oceania Football Confederation nationality. Each team had to also have at least two players aged 20 or under in the starting eleven.
The 2021 season was the 131st competitive association football season in New Zealand.
The 2022–23 Scottish Women's Football Championship was the second completed season of the SWF Championship as the third-tier division of women's football in Scotland. Due to league restructuring by Scottish Women's Football (SWF) after the 2021–22 season, a national eight-club Championship division was formed and, one level below, a new fourth tier, Scottish Women's Football League One, with 12 clubs. The Scottish women's league last had four national divisions from 1999 to 2004.
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