Football League Two

This article is about the English football league. For the Scottish football league with the same name, see Scottish League Two.
Football League Two
Country  England (23 teams)
Other club(s) from  Wales (1 team)
Founded 2004
1992–2004 (as Division Three)
1958–1992 (as Division Four)
Number of teams 24
Level on pyramid 4
Promotion to League One
Relegation to National League
Domestic cup(s) FA Cup
League cup(s) Football League Cup
Football League Trophy
Current champions Burton Albion
(2014–15)
TV partners Sky Sports
Channel 5 (Highlights Only)
Website League Two
2015–16 Football League Two

Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet 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] Before the advent of the Premier League, the fourth-highest division was known as the Football League Fourth Division.

At present (2014–15 season), Accrington Stanley hold the longest tenure in League Two, last being outside the division in the 2005–06 season when they were promoted from the Conference Premier.

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 no points 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 which finished in fourth–seventh 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 National League and are replaced by the team that finished first and the team that won the second–fifth 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 National League has a ground that meets the League criteria (and even if they did not, a ground-sharing arrangement with another team could be made until their stadium was upgraded). The other way that a team can be spared relegation is if another 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 100% of club turnover.

Football League Two clubs 2015–16

Club Finishing position last season
Accrington Stanley17th
AFC Wimbledon15th
Barnet1st (promoted from Conference Premier)
Bristol Rovers2nd (promoted via Conference Premier Play-offs)
Cambridge United19th
Carlisle United20th
Crawley Town22nd (relegated from League One)
Dagenham & Redbridge14th
Exeter City10th
Hartlepool United22nd
Leyton Orient23rd (relegated from League One)
Luton Town8th
Mansfield Town21st
Morecambe11th
Newport County9th
Northampton Town12th
Notts County21st (relegated from League One)
Oxford United13th
Plymouth Argyle7th
Portsmouth16th
Stevenage6th
Wycombe Wanderers4th
Yeovil Town24th (relegated from League One)
York City18th

Teams promoted from League Two

Season Winner Points Runner-up Points 3rd Place Points Promoted via play-off League position Points
2004–05 Yeovil Town 83 Scunthorpe United 80 Swansea City 80 Southend United 4th 78
2005–06 Carlisle United 86 Northampton Town 83 Leyton Orient 81 Cheltenham Town 5th 72
2006–07 Walsall 89 Hartlepool United 88 Swindon Town 85 Bristol Rovers 6th 72
2007–08 Milton Keynes Dons 97 Peterborough United 92 Hereford United 88 Stockport County 4th 82
2008–09 Brentford 85 Exeter City 79 Wycombe Wanderers 78 Gillingham 5th 75
2009–10 Notts County 93 AFC Bournemouth 83 Rochdale 82 Dagenham & Redbridge 7th 72
2010–11 Chesterfield 86 Bury 81 Wycombe Wanderers 81 Stevenage 6th 69
2011–12 Swindon Town 93 Shrewsbury Town 88 Crawley Town 84 Crewe Alexandra 7th 72
2012–13 Gillingham 83 Rotherham United 79 Port Vale 78 Bradford City 7th 69
2013–14 Chesterfield 84 Scunthorpe United 81 Rochdale 81 Fleetwood Town 4th 76
2014–15 Burton Albion 94 Shrewsbury Town 89 Bury 85 Southend United 5th 84

Play-off results

Season Semi-final (1st Leg) Semi-final (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
2011–12 Crewe Alexandra 1–0 Southend United
Cheltenham Town 2–0 Torquay United		 Southend United 2–2 Crewe Alexandra
Torquay United 1–2 Cheltenham Town		 Cheltenham Town 0–2 Crewe Alexandra
2012–13 Bradford City 2–3 Burton Albion
Northampton Town 1–0 Cheltenham Town		 Burton Albion 1–3 Bradford City
Cheltenham Town 0–1 Northampton Town		 Bradford City 3–0 Northampton Town
2013–14 Burton Albion 1–0 Southend United
York City 0–1 Fleetwood Town		 Southend United 2–2 Burton Albion
Fleetwood Town 0–0 York City		 Burton Albion 0–1 Fleetwood Town
2014–15 Stevenage 1–1 Southend United
Plymouth Argyle 2–3 Wycombe Wanderers		 Southend United 3–1 Stevenage
(AET)
Wycombe Wanderers 2–1 Plymouth Argyle		 Southend United 1–1 Wycombe Wanderers
(Southend won 7–6 on penalties)

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 Town
2010–11 Lincoln City, Stockport County
2011–12 Macclesfield Town, Hereford United
2012–13 Aldershot Town, Barnet
2013–14 Bristol Rovers, Torquay United
2014–15 Cheltenham Town, Tranmere Rovers

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
2011–12 Izale McLeod Barnet 18
Jack Midson AFC Wimbledon
2012–13 Tom Pope Port Vale 31
2013–14 Sam Winnall Scunthorpe United 23
2014–15 Matt Tubbs Portsmouth 21

Football League Two stadiums 2015–16

Home Club Stadium Name Capacity
PortsmouthFratton Park20,688
Notts CountyMeadow Lane20,211
Carlisle UnitedBrunton Park118,500
Plymouth ArgyleHome Park17,776
Oxford UnitedKassam Stadium12,500
Bristol RoversMemorial Stadium111,917
Luton TownKenilworth Road10,356
Wycombe WanderersAdams Park110,284
Yeovil TownHuish Park19,565
Leyton OrientMatchroom Stadium9,271
Exeter CitySt James Park18,541
York CityBootham Crescent18,256
Mansfield TownOne Call Stadium8,186
Cambridge UnitedAbbey Stadium18,127
Hartlepool UnitedVictoria Park17,856
Newport CountyRodney Parade17,850
Northampton TownSixfields Stadium7,653
StevenageLamex Stadium16,722
MorecambeGlobe Arena16,476
Dagenham & RedbridgeVictoria Road16,078
Crawley TownBroadfield Stadium15,996
BarnetThe Hive Stadium15,100
Accrington StanleyWham Stadium15,057
AFC WimbledonKingsmeadow14,850

1This ground contains terracing

Broadcasting rights

Setanta Sports Australia broadcasts live League 2 matches in Australia. beIN Sport also show Football League Championship and Football League One games and highlights as well as Football League Two games.

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

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