Relegation is a process used in sports leagues where teams can move up and down between multiple divisions arranged in a hierarchical structure, based on their performance over a season. In a system of promotion and relegation, the best-ranked team(s) in the lower division are promoted to the higher division for the next season, and the worst-ranked team(s) in the higher division are relegated to the lower division for the next season. This process can continue through several levels of divisions, with teams being exchanged between adjacent divisions. During the season, teams that are high enough in the league table that they would qualify for promotion are sometimes said to be in the promotion zone, and those at the bottom are in the relegation zone.
Relegation is often used in soccer leagues, where teams that finish at the bottom of the league are forced down to the division below, enabling those at the top to get promoted to a higher level if they are not already at the top. In the English Premier League, for example, the three teams with the lowest amount of points at the end of the season drop down from England’s top flight to the second-tier division before a new season begins. Ultimately, relegation is a pejorative state that no team ever wants to find itself in, as it means a squad is knocked out of the top tier of the league and can hurt a club’s reputation.
