How does National League promotion work? Race to the English Football League explained

The National League is the fifth division of the English football league structure.

The winner of the National League gets promoted to EFL League Two, which is the fourth division in the pyramid.

But there's also one more team which gains promotion through the playoffs. But how does that work?

GOAL tells you everything you need to know about the promotion system in National League.

How many teams are automatically promoted from the National League?

The National League champions gain automatic promotion to EFL League Two. No other team from this division is eligible for automatic promotion.

How do National League playoffs work?

Teams ranked second to the seventh position still have a chance for promotion through a playoff round.

The seventh-placed team face the fourth-placed side (Eliminator 1), whereas, teams ranked fifth and sixth (Eliminator 2) lock horns in two respective eliminators.

Teams which finish second and third do not participate in this round as they are awarded a direct semifinal berth.

The winner of Eliminator 1 faces the second-placed team and the victors of Eliminator 2 are pitched against the third-placed team

The two winners of the semifinal face each other in the final and the team which triumph gains qualification to EFL League Two.

Each playoff match is a knockout game. If the two teams are level at the end of regulation time, extra time is played. If the scoreline fails to separate the two teams, a penalty shootout will take place to determine the winner.

How much is promotion from the National League worth?

A club can reap huge financial benefits after getting promoted to League Two.

The two teams which gain promotion are entitled to basic prize money from EFL. Moreover, the Premier League rewards them with a solidarity payment and the two payments combined generally amount to close to £1m ($1.25m). Moreover, once promoted tickets sales are likely to increase and broadcast revenue for matches shown on television also begins to pour in.