Determining Promotion & Relegation from 2021 season onwards

At the end of 2021 season and beyond up to 6 clubs could be promoted / relegated between divisions or there may be none.

This is dependent on clubs engagement with the league on ground development and improvement so if every club meets the requirements of the Grounds & Facilities document it will be 3 (or the allocated number for the respective divisions)

To determine who is promoted and who is relegated we will now use promotion pots and relegation pots and use the following template

The lowest ranked team in the relegation pot from the higher division will be replaced by the highest ranked team in the promotion pot from lower division.
The second lowest ranked team in the relegation pot will be replaced by the second highest ranked team in the promotion pot.
The third lowest ranked team in the relegation pot will be replaced by the third highest ranked team in the promotion pot.
The fourth lowest ranked team in the relegation pot will be replaced by the fourth highest ranked team in the promotion pot.
The fifth lowest ranked team in the relegation pot will be replaced by the fifth highest ranked team in the promotion pot.
The sixth lowest ranked team in the relegation pot will be replaced by the sixth highest ranked team in the promotion pot.

In order to help determine this we have provided examples below

EXAMPLE 1:

Higher Division Finishing Places

Team / Club	At Standard of this Division?	Improvements Made?	Relegation or Promotion Pot/Rank?	Reason
1 Team A	Y
2 Team B	Y
3 Team C	N	Y
4 Team D	N	N	Relegation Pot Rank 3	no improvement in standards, 3rd lowest place
5 Team E	Y
6 Team F	N	Y
7 Team G	N	N	Relegation Pot Rank 2	no improvement in standards, 2nd lowest place
8 Team H	Y
9 Team I	Y
10 Team J	Y		Relegation Pot Rank 5	2nd lowest in Relegation place after no improvements clubs
11 Team K	N	N	Relegation Pot Rank 1	no improvement in standards, lowest place
12 Team L	N	Y	Relegation Pot Rank 4	lowest in Relegation place after no improvements clubs

Lower Division Finishing Places

Team / Club	At Standard of Division Above?	Improvements Made?	Relegation or Promotion Pot/Rank?	Reason
1 Team M	Y		Promotion Pot Rank 1	Highest Club in Promotion Places meeting or improving to standard of Div above
2 Team N	N	N
3 Team O	N	Y	Promotion Pot Rank 2	2nd Highest Club in Promotion Places meeting or improving to standard of Div above
4 Team P	N	N
5 Team Q	Y		Promotion Pot Rank 3	Highest Club in "next 3" at standard of Division above
6 Team R	Y		Promotion Pot Rank 4	2nd Highest Club in "next 3" at standard of Division above

In this example, traditionally Teams J, K & L would be replaced by Teams M, N & O but this system is now replaced by Promotion & Relegation Pots, below

The new Relegation Pot	The new Promotion pot	The Result
The priority 1 relegation place is occupied by Team K who are the lowest placed club not to make the improvements needed	The priority 1 promotion place is occupied by Team M who are guaranteed promotion as a team in the top 3 with their club at the standard of the division above	Team M are promoted to replace Team K who have not made the required improvements
The priority 2 relegation place is occupied by Team G who are the next lowest placed club not to make the improvements needed	then, with Team N not making the necessary improvements towards the standard of the division above The priority 2 promotion place is occupied by Team O who are guaranteed promotion as a team in the top 3 and their club making improvements toward the standard of the division above	Team O replace Team G who have not made the required improvements
The priority 3 relegation place is occupied by Team D who are the next lowest placed club not to make the improvements needed	then, the ranking moves to the "next 3" and the clubs who are already at the standard of the division above who can replace teams in the higher division who are not at standard and have not made improvements. The priority 3 promotion place is occupied by Team Q who are in the "next 3" and already meet the standard of the Division above	Team Q replace Team D who have not made the required improvements
then, with all other clubs at Standard or meeting improvements The priority 4 relegation place is occupied by Team L who are in the lowest placed pre-arranged relegation slot	The priority 4 promotion place is occupied by Team R who are in the "next 3" and meet the standard of the Division above but because they were not in the "promotion places" they can only replace clubs who are not at standard and not making improvements.	because Team L have met improvement requirements Team R cannot be promoted.
The priority 5 relegation place is occupied by Team J who are in the next lowest placed pre-arranged relegation slot not already in the pot		because there are no other teams in the promotion pot Teams L and J are not relegated.

Points to Note

If Team D had made the required steps to improve then they would have not have been relegated and Team Q would not have been promoted

If all the teams in the higher division had been at Standard or made improvements as required then only Teams M and O would have been promoted to replace Teams L and K

If all the teams in both divisions had been at Standard or made improvements as required then Teams M, N and O would have been promoted to replace Teams L, K and J.

EXAMPLE 2: Teams moving from a dual tier

Higher Division Finishing Places

Team / Club	At Standard of this Division?	Improvements Made?	Relegation or Promotion Pot/Rank?
1 Team A	Y
2 Team B	Y
3 Team C	N	Y
4 Team D	N	Y
5 Team E	Y
6 Team F	N	Y
7 Team G	N	N	Relegation Pot Rank 3	no improvement in standards, 3rd lowest place
8 Team H	Y
9 Team I	Y
10 Team J	N	N	Relegation Pot Rank 2	no improvement in standards, 2nd lowest place
11 Team K	N	N	Relegation Pot Rank 1	no improvement in standards, lowest place
12 Team L	N	Y	Relegation Pot Rank 4	lowest in Relegation place after no improvements clubs

Lower Divisions Finishing Places (two divisions on equal footing)

Team / Club	At Standard of Division Above?	Improvements Made?	Relegation or Promotion Pot/Rank?	Team / Club	At Standard of Division Above?	Improvements Made?	Relegation or Promotion Pot/Rank?
1 Team M	Y		P1	1 Team S	Y		P2
2 Team N	N	N		2 Team T	N	N
3 Team O	N	Y		3 Team U	Y		P3
4 Team P	N	N		4 Team V	N	N
5 Team Q	Y			5 Team W	Y
6 Team R	Y			6 Team X	Y

In this example, normally Teams J, K & L would be replaced by Teams M, S & T (T as the highest point scoring 2nd place) but this system is now replaced by Promotion & Relegation Pots

The new Relegation Pot	The new Promotion Pot	The Result
The priority 1 relegation place is occupied by Team K who are the lowest placed club not to make the improvements needed	The pre-agreed promotion places here are the top of each division plus the highest point scoring 2nd place The priority 1 promotion place is occupied by Team M who are guaranteed promotion as a team in the pre-agreed places with their club at the standard of the division above	Team M are promoted to replace Team K who have not made the required improvements
The priority 2 relegation place is occupied by Team J who are the next lowest placed club not to make the improvements needed	The priority 2 promotion place is occupied by Team S who are guaranteed promotion as a team in the pre-agreed places with their club at the standard of the division above	Team S replace Team J who have not made the required improvements
The priority 3 relegation place is occupied by Team G who are the next lowest placed club not to make the improvements needed	Team T are the highest point scoring second place but do not qualify because they have not met the standard so then, the "next 3" are considered (places only down to 3rd place in each division) in this case that is Team U, N & O in point scoring order. The priority 3 promotion place is occupied by Team U who are in the "next 3" and meet the standard of the Division above	Team U replace Team G who have not made the required improvements
then, with all other clubs at Standard or meeting improvements The priority 4 relegation place is occupied by Team L who are in the lowest placed pre-arranged relegation slot	Teams N and O are not at the standard of the Division above so do not qualify.	because there are no other teams in the promotion pot Team L is not relegated.
so with all other teams meeting the requirements or outside the the relegation places no other clubs are in the relegation pot.

Points to Note

If Team T had made the required steps to improve then they would have been promoted over Team G and Team U could not have been promoted

If all the teams in the higher division had been at Standard or made improvements as required then Teams M and S would have been promoted to replace Teams L and K

If all the teams in both divisions had been at Standard or made improvements as required then Teams M, S and T would have been promoted to replace Teams L, K and J.