Football League Two

Football League Two
Countries  England
Founded 2004
1992–2004 (as Division Three)
1958–1992 (as Division Four)
Number of teams 24
Levels on pyramid 4
Promotion to League One
Relegation to Conference National
Domestic cup(s) FA Cup
Football League Cup
Football League Trophy
Current champions Chesterfield F.C.
(2010-11)
TV partners Sky Sports
BBC (Highlights Only)
Website League Two
2011–12 Football League Two

Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Npower League 2 for sponsorship reasons) is the third-highest division of The Football League and fourth-highest division overall in the English football league system.

Football League Two was introduced for the 2004–05 season. It was previously known as the Football League Third Division. [1] Prior to the advent of the Premier League, the fourth-highest division was known as the Football League Fourth Division. It is the most profitable fourth-tier football league in the world.

Contents

Structure

There are 24 clubs in Football League Two. Each club plays each of the other clubs twice (once at home, once away) and is awarded three points for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. From these points a league table is constructed.

At the end of each season the top three teams, together with the winner of the play-offs between the teams that finished in 4th–7th position, are promoted to Football League One and are replaced by the four teams that finished bottom of that division.

Similarly the two teams that finished at the bottom of Football League Two are relegated to the Conference National and are replaced by the team that finished 1st and the team that won the 2nd–5th place play-off in that division. Technically a team can be reprieved from relegation if the team replacing them does not have a ground suitable for League football, but in practice this is a non-factor because every team currently in the Conference National has a ground that meets the League criteria (and even if they did not, a ground-sharing arrangement with another team can be made until their stadium is upgraded). The other way that a team can be spared relegation is if some other team either resigns or is expelled from the Football League.

Final League position is determined, in this order, by points obtained, goal difference, goals scored, a mini-league of the results between two or more teams ranked using the previous three criteria and finally a series of one or more play off matches.

There is a mandatory wage cap in this division that limits spending on players' wages to 60% of club turnover.

Football League Two clubs 2011–12

Club Finishing position last season
Accrington Stanley 5th
AFC Wimbledon 2nd in Conference National (play-off winner)
Aldershot Town 14th
Barnet 22nd
Bradford City 18th
Bristol Rovers 22nd in League One
Burton Albion 19th
Cheltenham Town 17th
Crawley Town 1st in Conference National
Crewe Alexandra 10th
Dagenham & Redbridge 21st in League One
Gillingham 8th
Hereford United 21st
Macclesfield Town 15th
Morecambe 20th
Northampton Town 16th
Oxford United 12th
Plymouth Argyle 23rd in League One
Port Vale 11th
Rotherham United 9th
Shrewsbury Town 4th
Southend United 13th
Swindon Town 24th in League One
Torquay United 7th

Winners of Football League Two

Season Winner Runner-Up 3rd Place Promoted via play-off
2004–05 Yeovil Town Scunthorpe United Swansea City Southend United
2005–06 Carlisle United Northampton Town Leyton Orient Cheltenham Town
2006–07 Walsall Hartlepool United Swindon Town Bristol Rovers
2007–08 Milton Keynes Dons Peterborough United Hereford United Stockport County
2008–09 Brentford Exeter City Wycombe Wanderers Gillingham
2009–10 Notts County A.F.C. Bournemouth Rochdale Dagenham & Redbridge
2010–11 Chesterfield Bury Wycombe Wanderers Stevenage

Play-off results

Season Semifinal (1st Leg) Semifinal (2nd Leg) Final
2004–05 Lincoln City 1–0 Macclesfield Town

Northampton Town 0–0 Southend United

Macclesfield Town 1–1 Lincoln City

Southend United 1–0 Northampton Town

Lincoln City 0–2 Southend United
2005–06 Lincoln City 0–1 Grimsby Town

Wycombe Wanderers 1–2 Cheltenham Town

Grimsby Town 2–1 Lincoln City

Cheltenham Town 0–0 Wycombe Wanderers

Grimsby Town 0–1 Cheltenham Town
2006–07 Bristol Rovers 2–1 Lincoln City

Shrewsbury Town 0–0 Milton Keynes Dons

Lincoln City 3–5 Bristol Rovers

Milton Keynes Dons 1–2 Shrewsbury Town

Bristol Rovers 3–1 Shrewsbury Town
2007–08 Darlington 2–1 Rochdale
Wycombe Wanderers 1–1 Stockport County
Rochdale 2–1 Darlington
(Rochdale won 5-4 on penalties, AET)
Stockport County 1–0 Wycombe Wanderers
Rochdale 2–3 Stockport County
2008–09 Shrewsbury Town 0–1 Bury
Rochdale 0–0 Gillingham
Bury 0–1 Shrewsbury Town
(Shrewsbury won 4 - 3 on penalties, AET)
Gillingham 2–1 Rochdale
Gillingham 1–0 Shrewsbury Town
2009–10 Dagenham & Redbridge 6-0 Morecambe
Aldershot Town 0-1 Rotherham United
Morecambe 2-1 Dagenham & Redbridge
Rotherham United 2-0 Aldershot Town
Dagenham & Redbridge 3-2 Rotherham United
2010–11 Torquay United 2-0 Shrewsbury Town
Stevenage 2-0 Accrington Stanley
Shrewsbury Town 0-0 Torquay United
Accrington Stanley 0-1 Stevenage
Stevenage 1-0 Torquay United

Relegated teams

Season Clubs
2004–05 Kidderminster Harriers, Cambridge United
2005–06 Oxford United, Rushden & Diamonds
2006–07 Boston United, Torquay United
2007–08 Mansfield Town, Wrexham
2008–09 Chester City, Luton Town[2]
2009–10 Darlington, Grimsby
2010–11 Lincoln City, Stockport County

Top scorers

Season Top scorer Club Goals
2004–05 Phil Jevons Yeovil Town 27
2005–06 Karl Hawley Carlisle United 23
2006–07 Richard Barker Hartlepool United 21
Izale McLeod Milton Keynes Dons
2007–08 Aaron McLean Peterborough United 29
2008–09 Grant Holt Shrewsbury Town 20
Jack Lester Chesterfield
2009–10 Lee Hughes Notts County 30
2010–11 Clayton Donaldson Crewe Alexandra 28

League Two stadia 2011–12

Home Club Stadium Name Capacity
Bradford City Valley Parade 25,136
Rotherham United Don Valley Stadium 25,000
Plymouth Argyle Home Park 19,500
Port Vale Vale Park 19,052
Swindon Town F.C. County Ground, Swindon 14,700
Oxford United Kassam Stadium 12,500
Southend United Roots Hall 12,306
Bristol Rovers F.C. Memorial Stadium* 12,011
Gillingham Priestfield Stadium 11,582
Crewe Alexandra Alexandra Stadium 10,118
Shrewsbury Town Greenhous Meadow 9,875
Northampton Town Sixfields Stadium 7,653
Aldershot Town Recreation Ground* 7,100
Cheltenham Town Whaddon Road* 7,066
Crawley Town Broadfield Stadium* 4,996
Burton Albion Pirelli Stadium* 6,912
Morecambe Globe Arena* 6,476
Macclesfield Town Moss Rose* 6,335
Barnet Underhill Stadium* 6,200
Torquay United Plainmoor* 6,104
Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. Victoria Road* 6,078
Hereford United Edgar Street* 5,300
AFC Wimbledon Kingsmeadow* 5,194
Accrington Stanley Crown Ground* 5,057

See also

References and Notes

  1. ^ http://www.football-league.co.uk/page/Timeline/0,,10794~1357286,00.html "The Football League - Timeline" Retrieved 18 August 2011
  2. ^ Luton were deducted 30 points for financial irregularities

External links