The 46-game National League season has drawn to a close and the play-offs will now determine who joins York City in League Two.
A 103rd minute equaliser from York's Josh Stones prevented Rochdale from making an automatic return to League Two, but they will enter the play-offs and remain just two victories away from the EFL.
The remarkable standard of England's fifth tier meant that Mark Hughes' Carlisle didn't come close to automatic promotion with 95 points, but they too will get a second bite of the cherry after being relegated from the football league in the 2024/25 term.
Read on as we tell you how an initial six teams are narrowed down to one in the National League play-offs.
How do the National League play-offs work?
In the existing English football pyramid structure, there are two teams who are relegated from League Two to the National League and two teams promoted in their place.
The team that finishes top of the National League are promoted to League Two as champions, while the second promoted team is determined via the National League play-offs.
In the play-offs, the teams placed second and third in the National League standings are fast-tracked through to the semi-finals, where both sides will have the home advantage in their one-legged tie.
The first stage of the play-offs sees the fourth-placed team take on the seventh-placed team and fifth-placed team face the sixth-placed team in one-off eliminator encounters.
Second placed will then face the winner of fifth v sixth, while third placed will play the winner of fourth v seventh in the semi-finals.
The winners of the two semi-final contests will then lock horns in the National League play-off final at Wembley Stadium.
National League play-offs previous winners
Since the National League's establishment under its current name in 2015/16, the following teams have been promoted as play-off winners:
- 2024/25 - Oldham Athletic
- 2023/24 - Bromley
- 2022/23 - Notts County
- 2021/22 - Grimsby Town
- 2020/21 - Hartlepool United
- 2019/20 - Harrogate Town
- 2018/19 - Salford City
- 2017/18 - Tranmere Rovers
- 2016/17 - Forest Green Rovers
- 2015/16 - Grimsby Town
