The Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two. In 2006 the league was renamed Football League One.
Most of these clubs were drawn from what was then the top division of the Southern Football League, in an expansion of the Football League south of Birmingham. As Cardiff City was long considered a potential entrant for the Second Division due to their FA Cup exploits and Southern League dominance, they were sent directly into the Second Division and Grimsby Town, last place in the Second Division for 1919–20, was relegated.
This league continued as Football League Third Division South; Football League Third Division North is formed with Northern clubs; geographical separation is abolished in 1958.
The original members in 1958–59 were:
Of these, Bradford, Hull, Norwich, Notts, QPR, Reading, Southampton, and Swindon made the top flight. Stockport, Doncaster, Notts County and Rochdale were the first to be relegated into the Fourth Division the following season (1959–60), starting the bottom-four-team turnover tradition for the third tier. As with the Second Division, the champion and runner-up were automatically promoted; the third place was also promoted automatically beginning in 1974. Play-offs for the third promotion place were introduced in 1987. AFC Bournemouth, formerly Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic, hold the record as the club to have spent most time in this Division.
In 1992 the FA Premier League started and the Football League was reduced in numbers, leading to the third tier being renamed the Football League Second Division. See Football League One for subsequent third-tier history.
See List of winners of English Football League One and predecessors for winners before 1992 and List of winners of English Football League Two and predecessors for winners afterwards.
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