Football League Two

This article is about the English football league. For the Greek football league with the same name, see Football League 2 (Greece).

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.

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

For winners prior to 2004, see List of winners of English Football League Two and predecessors.

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

Main article: Football League Two play-offs

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*	6,996
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

• *ground contains terracing

See also

• Football League Fourth Division (1958–59 – 1991–92)
• Football League Third Division (1992–93 – 2003–04)

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

• Football League Two official site
• Football League Two clubs' locations
• League Two blogs by League Two fans