Notts County meet Boreham Wood in a play-off tie with a difference on Sunday. Never before has an end-of-season knockout clash in one of England’s top five divisions involved two sides who finished the regular season 35 points apart.
County’s stunning run of form would have seen their 107 points take them sailing into the Football League in any other year, but Wrexham’s incredible 111-point tally ensured that Luke Williams’ side would be consigned to the play-offs. And the nature of the top two’s dominance meant that even third-place Chesterfield ended up coming a distant 23 points behind County when all was said and done.
While Notts’ supremacy over their visitors at Meadow Lane on Sunday is exacerbated by the fact that National League play-offs include six teams rather than the standard four, a similar scenario could be set to develop in League One.
Third-placed Sheffield Wednesday host Derby County this weekend knowing that a victory would take them to 96 points, 20 clear of their opponents who will in all likelihood finish sixth and face Wednesday again next Friday in the play-offs. That would equal a Football League record by pitting together teams finishing 20 points apart, repeating the League One clash between Preston North End and Chesterfield in 2015 after North End’s 89 points had dwarfed the Spireites’ 69.
Here's the full run-down of play-off matches in the top five divisions coming after teams had finished 15 or more points apart.
1990 Third Divison: 18-point gap
3rd: Notts County – 87 points
6th: Bolton Wanderers – 69 points
Notts County won the play-offs
1993 Division Two: 17-point gap
3rd: Port Vale – 89 points
6th: Stockport County – 72 points
Port Vale won the play-offs
1995 Division Three: 16-point gap
3rd: Chesterfield – 81 points
6th – Mansfield Town – 65 points
Chesterfield won the play-offs
1998 Division One: 16-point gap
3rd: Sunderland – 90 points
6th: Sheffield United – 74 points
Sunderland won the semi-final but lost the final to Charlton Athletic
2004 Football Conference: 21-point gap
2nd: Hereford United – 91 points
5th: Aldershot Town – 70 points
Hereford United lost the semi-final, with Shrewsbury Town promoted
2012 League One: 17-point gap
3rd: Sheffield United – 90 points
6th: Stevenage – 73 points
Sheffield United won the semi-final but lost the final to Huddersfield Town
2012 Football Conference: 17-point gap
2nd: Wrexham – 98 points
5th: Luton Town – 81 points
Wrexham lost the semi-final, with York City promoted
2015 League One: 20-point gap
3rd: Preston North End – 89 points
6th: Chesterfield – 69 points
Preston North End won the play-offs
2016 Championship: 15-point gap
3rd: Brighton & Hove Albion – 89 points
6th: Sheffield Wednesday – 74 points
Brighton lost the semi-final, with Hull City promoted
2018 League One: 16-point gap
3rd: Shrewsbury Town – 87 points
6th: Charlton Athletic – 71 points
Shrewsbury Town won the semi-final but lost the final to Rotherham United
2019 League One: 15-point gap
3rd: Charlton Athletic – 88 points
6th: Doncaster Rovers – 73 points
Charlton Athletic won the play-offs
OUTCOMES:
Of the 11 previous such encounters, five of the higher-placed teams have been promoted, with three winning the tie but losing in the final and the other three losing at the semi-final stage.
*18+ | BeGambleAware
