EFL League Two

EFL League Two
Founded 2004
1992–2004 (as Division Three)
1958–1992 (as Division Four)
Country  England (23 teams)
Other club(s) from  Wales (1 team)
Number of teams 24
Level on pyramid 4
Promotion to League One
Relegation to National League
Domestic cup(s) FA Cup
League cup(s) EFL Cup
EFL Trophy
International cup(s) Europa League
(via FA Cup or EFL Cup)
Current champions Accrington Stanley
(2017–18)
TV partners Sky Sports
Quest (highlights only)
Website League Two
2018–19 EFL League Two

The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship reasons) is the third and lowest division of the English Football League (EFL) 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 (2018–19 season), Morecambe hold the longest tenure in League Two, last being outside the division in the 2006–07 season when they were promoted from the league then known as the Conference National (now the National League). There are currently two former Premier League clubs competing in League Two, namely Oldham Athletic and Swindon Town.

Structure

There are 24 clubs in 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 the fourth to seventh positions, are promoted to EFL League One and are replaced by the four teams that finished at the bottom of that division.

Similarly, the two teams that finished at the bottom of League Two are relegated to the National League and are replaced by the team that finished first and the team that won the second through seventh 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 EFL.

Final league position is determined, in 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.

Current members

The following 24 clubs are competing in League Two during the 2018-19 season.

Club Finishing position last season Location Stadium Capacity[2]
Bury24th In EFL League 1

(Relegated)

BuryGigg Lane11,840
Cambridge United12thCambridgeAbbey Stadium8,127
Carlisle United10thCarlisleBrunton Park17,949
Cheltenham Town17thCheltenhamWhaddon Road7,066
Colchester United13thColchesterColchester Community Stadium10,105
Crawley Town14thCrawleyBroadfield Stadium5,996
Crewe Alexandra15thCreweGresty Road10,180
Exeter City4thExeterSt James Park8,830
Forest Green Rovers21stNailsworthThe New Lawn5,147
Grimsby Town18thCleethorpesBlundell Park9,052
Lincoln City7thLincolnSincil Bank10,120
Macclesfield Town1st In National League

(Promoted)

MacclesfieldMoss Rose6,355
Mansfield Town8thMansfieldField Mill10,000
Milton Keynes Dons23rd In EFL League 1

(Relegated)

Milton KeynesStadium MK30,500
Morecambe22ndMorecambeGlobe Arena6,476
Newport County11thNewportRodney Parade7,850
Northampton Town22nd In EFL League 1

(Relegated)

NorthamptonSixfields Stadium7,653
Notts County5thNottinghamMeadow Lane19,588
Oldham Athletic21st In EFL League 1

(Relegated)

OldhamBoundary Park13,512
Port Vale20thBurslemVale Park19,052
Stevenage16thStevenageBroadhall Way6,722
Swindon Town9thSwindonCounty Ground15,728
Tranmere Rovers2nd In National League

(Promoted)

BirkenheadPrenton Park16,789
Yeovil Town19thYeovilHuish Park9,566

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 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
2015–16 Northampton Town 99 Oxford United 86 Bristol Rovers 85 AFC Wimbledon 7th 75
2016–17 Portsmouth 87 Plymouth Argyle 87 Doncaster Rovers 85 Blackpool 7th 70
2017–18 Accrington Stanley 93 Luton Town 88 Wycombe Wanderers 84 Coventry City 6th 75

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)
2015–16 Portsmouth 2–2 Plymouth Argyle
AFC Wimbledon 1–0 Accrington Stanley
Plymouth Argyle 1–0 Portsmouth
Accrington Stanley 2–2 AFC Wimbledon
(AET)
AFC Wimbledon 2–0 Plymouth Argyle
2016–17 Blackpool 3–2 Luton
Carlisle 3–3 Exeter
Luton 3–3 Blackpool
Exeter 3–2 Carlisle
Blackpool 2–1 Exeter
2017–18 Lincoln City 0–0 Exeter

Coventry City 1–1 Notts County

Exeter 3–1 Lincoln City

Notts County 1–4 Coventry City

Coventry City 3–1 Exeter


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[3]
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
2015–16 York City, Dagenham & Redbridge
2016-17 Hartlepool United, Leyton Orient
2017-18 Barnet, Chesterfield

Top scorers

Season Top scorer Club Goals
2004–05 England Phil Jevons Yeovil Town 27
2005–06 England Karl Hawley Carlisle United 23
2006–07 England Richard Barker Hartlepool United 21
England Izale McLeod Milton Keynes Dons
2007–08 England Aaron McLean Peterborough United 29
2008–09 England Grant Holt Shrewsbury Town 20
England Jack Lester Chesterfield
2009–10 England Lee Hughes Notts County 30
2010–11 Jamaica Clayton Donaldson Crewe Alexandra 28
2011–12 England Izale McLeod Barnet 18
England Jack Midson AFC Wimbledon
2012–13 England Tom Pope Port Vale 31
2013–14 England Sam Winnall Scunthorpe United 23
2014–15 England Matt Tubbs Portsmouth 21
2015–16 England Matty Taylor Bristol Rovers 27
2016–17 England John Marquis Doncaster Rovers 26
2017–18 Scotland Marc McNulty Coventry City 25
England Billy Kee Accrington Stanley

Broadcasting rights

Sky have broadcasting rights for EFL football league including League Two, Quest will show highlights in 2018–19.[4]

See also

References and notes

  1. "The Football League - About Us - History - Timeline - TIMELINE". Archived from the original on 28 September 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  2. "Football Ground Guide". Football Ground Guide. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  3. Luton were deducted 30 points for financial irregularities
  4. "EFL TV Games". www.efl.com.
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