THE Football Association have moved to reintroduce four-team play-offs at Step 5 of non-league football from next season.

The current system involved inter-step play-offs between sides in Step 4 and Step 5, where sides finishing third and fourth bottom in the league above (Step 4) played the runners-up in the league below (Step 5).

But now the FA will bring back the old format, where those finishing in the top five of the league will play in a four-team play-off, as it is at Step 6.

This will mean that the likes of Worcester City, Malvern Town, Worcester Raiders and (probably) Pershore Town, will stand a better chance of promotion from Step 5 and into the Southern League.

At the end of the 2023-24 season, two clubs will be relegated from each of the eight Step 4 divisions in order to increase league sizes to 22 clubs. There will be one relegation spot from each Step 5 division.

An FA statement read: “Subject to FA Council approval, the Inter-Step Play-Offs currently in place at Steps 4 and 5 of the National League System (NLS) are to be replaced after the 2022/23 season.

"The change will see the introduction of a traditional four-team Play-Off in each of the sixteen Step 5 divisions – thus guaranteeing a second promotion place from Step 5 to Step 4, subject to Clubs meeting the eligibility criteria which includes an independent ground grading assessment. 

“At the end of the 2023/24 season, this will mean that an additional 16 Clubs will be guaranteed promotion from Step 5 to Step 4 (32 Clubs in total), with the number of Clubs automatically relegated from each of the eight Step 4 divisions to remain as two in order to increase the divisional size at Step 4 to 22 Clubs per division. The resulting 16 vacancies at Step 5 will be filled by only relegating one Club per Step 5 division, as opposed to two.

“From the 2024/25 season, it is intended that the number of Clubs automatically relegated from each of the eight Step 4 divisions to Step 5 will increase from two to four, two Clubs from each of the sixteen Step 5 divisions will continue to be promoted to Step 4 (one automatic and one via the Play-Off) and the number of clubs automatically relegated from each Step 5 division will revert to two.

“These changes reflect a long-term aim of The FA to create consistency at each Step level of the NLS pyramid.”