HEART-STOPPING drama, tear-jerking exits, heart-warming scenes of jubilation and even high comedy.

The play-offs have provided all these and more since their inception 21 years ago with the full range of emotions being keenly felt by the 11 Yorkshire clubs who have competed in the Football League promotion deciders.

Doncaster Rovers, whose previous experience of the play-offs came as a Conference club, will take that tally to a dozen this Friday when they travel to Southend United's Roots Hall for a semi-final first leg tie.

Two days later, Hull City will be in action at Watford before Leeds become the last of the trio of White Rose clubs to try to take a giant step towards Wembley on Monday night at home to Carlisle United.

As history shows, few things can be predicted other than there will be drama. And lots of it.

One man who knows more than most what awaits the players of Hull, Doncaster and Leeds in the coming few weeks is Paul Heckingbottom.

The Bradford City defender, who has also sported the colours of three other Yorkshire clubs, has been involved in four play-off campaigns. Two ended in winning promotion at the Millennium Stadium, another with a heart-breaking defeat at Wembley while his first taste of the promotion deciders climaxed with the double whammy of a heavy defeat and a broken foot.

Despite that, the 30-year-old defender remains a firm fan of the play-offs. He said: "It is the best way to go up, it really is. "Winning at Wembley – or the Millennium Stadium as it was in my case with Barnsley and Sheffield Wednesday – is what every professional dreams about.

"There is nothing better in football than winning what is effectively a cup final in front of a huge crowd to seal promotion. I was lucky enough to do it in consecutive seasons and they were definitely the highlight of my career."

Heckingbottom's promotion double came in two of the more dramatic play-off finals with Wednesday being within eight minutes of losing the 2005 League One final to Hartlepool before equalising and going on to win 4-2 after extra time.

Then, a year later, Barnsley and Swansea could not be split after 120 minutes of captivating football in Cardiff so the game went to penalties. Heckingbottom was one of four Tykes players to score from the spot, while both Adebayo Akinfenwa and Alan Tate missed to ensure it was the Yorkshire club who won a place in the Championship.

He recalls: "I didn't feel nervous at all, none of our boys did. We just stepped up and took them calmly, like we were playing in a park game rather than deciding how the whole season would end."

The flipside to the joy felt by Barnsley and Wednesday fans after winning promotion in the Millennium Stadium is the misery that comes with falling just short.

This is a feeling that Yorkshire clubs know all about with Leeds, the county's first representatives in 1986-87, setting the tone for much of what has followed by suffering a heart-breaking defeat to Charlton Athletic in a replayed final when the London club scored twice late in the second period of extra time to win 2-1.

Plenty more heartache has followed with just seven of the 21 subsequent play-off challenges by White Rose clubs ending in promotion.

Heckingbottom said: "The play-offs can be horrible for anyone who misses out. I have been involved four times and because I lost with Scarborough (in 1998) and Darlington (in 2000), I know both sides of it.

"I started my career at Sunderland and was loaned out to Scarborough for experience. We got to the play-offs at the end of that season but lost the home leg to Torquay (3-1).

"We still fancied our chances in the return but, unfortunately, I broke my foot in the warm-up at Torquay and had to watch us lose heavily. It was not nice at all.

"My second time in the play-offs was with Darlington when we got to the final at Wembley only to lose 1-0 against Peterborough.

"That was another horrible feeling."

Despite that crushing disappointment, Heckingbottom remains a big fan of the play-offs and admits to being slightly envious of those taking part in the coming weeks.

However, when asked if he fancied a fifth taste of the emotional rollercoaster of the play-offs this time next year with League Two Bradford, he replied quickly: "No thanks! I would much rather go straight up and let the others suffer all that tension."