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)	UEFA Europa League (via FA Cup) ; UEFA Europa Conference League (via EFL Cup)
Current champions	Cheltenham Town ; (2020–21)
Most championships	Chesterfield; Swindon Town; (2 titles each)
TV partners	List of Broadcasters
Website	League Two
	Current: 2021–22 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 fourth 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 in 1992, the fourth-highest division was known as the Football League Fourth Division.

As of the 2021–22 season, Exeter City hold the longest tenure in League Two, having last being outside the division in the 2011–12 season when they were relegated from League One. There are currently three former Premier League clubs competing in League Two: Bradford City, 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[]

Greater Manchester

Barrow

Bradford City

Bristol Rovers

Hartlepool United

Leyton Orient

Mansfield Town

Newport County

Northampton Town

Port Vale

Scunthorpe United

Stevenage

Sutton United

Swindon Town

Tranmere Rovers

Walsall

Greater Manchester teams
Oldham Athletic
Rochdale
Salford City

Locations of the 2021–22 EFL League Two teams

Rochdale

Oldham Athletic

Salford City

Greater Manchester League Two football clubs

The following 24 clubs are competing in League Two during the 2021–22 season.^[2]

Club	Finishing position last season	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Barrow	21st	Barrow-in-Furness	Holker Street	5,045
Bradford City	15th	Bradford	Valley Parade	25,136
Bristol Rovers	24th in League One (relegated)	Bristol	Memorial Stadium	12,300
Carlisle United	10th	Carlisle	Brunton Park	18,202
Colchester United	20th	Colchester	Colchester Community Stadium	10,105
Crawley Town	12th	Crawley	Broadfield Stadium	6,134
Exeter City	9th	Exeter	St. James Park	8,696
Forest Green Rovers	6th	Nailsworth	The New Lawn	5,147
Harrogate Town	17th	Harrogate	Wetherby Road	5,000
Hartlepool United	4th in National League (promoted via play-offs)	Hartlepool	Victoria Park	7,856
Leyton Orient	11th	London (Leyton)	Brisbane Road	9,271
Mansfield Town	16th	Mansfield	Field Mill	10,000
Newport County	5th	Newport	Rodney Parade	7,850
Northampton Town	22nd in League One (relegated)	Northampton	PTS Academy Stadium	6,476
Oldham Athletic	18th	Oldham	Boundary Park	13,512
Rochdale	21st in League One (relegated)	Rochdale	Spotland Stadium	10,249
Port Vale	13th	Burslem	Vale Park	20,552
Salford City	8th	Salford	Moor Lane	5,108
Scunthorpe United	22nd	Scunthorpe	Glanford Park	9,088
Sutton United	1st in National League (promoted)	London (Sutton)	Borough Sports Ground	7,032
Stevenage	14th	Stevenage	Broadhall Way	6,722
Swindon Town	22nd in League One (relegated)	Swindon	County Ground	15,728
Tranmere Rovers	7th	Birkenhead	Prenton Park	16,789
Walsall	19th	Walsall	Bescot Stadium	11,300

Teams promoted from League Two[]

Season	Winner	Points	Runner-up	Points	Third 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 (2nd titles)	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
2018–19	Lincoln City	85	Bury	79	Milton Keynes Dons	79	Tranmere Rovers	6th	73
2019–20^[3]	Swindon Town (2nd titles)	88.32	Crewe Alexandra	85.56	Plymouth Argyle	84.64	Northampton Town	7th	72.22
2020–21	Cheltenham Town	82	Cambridge United	80	Bolton Wanderers	79	Morecambe FC	4th	78

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, a.e.t.) 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, a.e.t.) 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 (a.e.t.) Wycombe Wanderers 2–1 Plymouth Argyle	Southend United 1–1 Wycombe Wanderers (Southend won 7–6 on penalties, a.e.t.)
2015–16	Portsmouth 2–2 Plymouth Argyle AFC Wimbledon 1–0 Accrington Stanley	Plymouth Argyle 1–0 Portsmouth Accrington Stanley 2–2 AFC Wimbledon (a.e.t.)	AFC Wimbledon 2–0 Plymouth Argyle
2016–17	Blackpool 3–2 Luton Town Carlisle United 3–3 Exeter City	Luton Town 3–3 Blackpool Exeter City 3–2 Carlisle United	Blackpool 2–1 Exeter City
2017–18	Lincoln City 0–0 Exeter City Coventry City 1–1 Notts County	Exeter City 3–1 Lincoln City Notts County 1–4 Coventry City	Coventry City 3–1 Exeter City
2018–19	Newport County 1–1 Mansfield Town Tranmere Rovers 1–0 Forest Green Rovers	Mansfield Town 0–0 Newport County (Newport won 5–3 on penalties, a.e.t.) Forest Green Rovers 1–1 Tranmere Rovers	Newport County 0–1 Tranmere Rovers (a.e.t.)
2019–20	Colchester United 1–0 Exeter City Northampton Town 0–2 Cheltenham Town	Exeter City 3–1 Colchester United Cheltenham Town 0–3 Northampton Town	Exeter City 0–4 Northampton Town
2020–21	Newport County 2–0 Forest Green Rovers Tranmere Rovers 1-2 Morecambe	Forest Green Rovers 4–3 Newport County (a.e.t.) Morecambe 1–1 Tranmere Rovers	Morecambe 1–0 Newport County

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^[4]
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
2018–19	Notts County, Yeovil Town
2019–20	Macclesfield Town
2020–21	Southend United, Grimsby Town

References and notes[]

^ "The Football League - About Us - History - Timeline - TIMELINE". Archived from the original on 28 September 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2011.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^ "Sky Bet League Two Clubs".
^ The teams listed for this season were ranked using points per game following the curtailment of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.
^ Luton were deducted 30 points for financial irregularities

External links[]

Football League Two official site

[1] "The Football League - About Us - History - Timeline - TIMELINE". Archived from the original on 28 September 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2011.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

[2] "Sky Bet League Two Clubs".

[3] The teams listed for this season were ranked using points per game following the curtailment of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.

[4] Luton were deducted 30 points for financial irregularities

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

show v t EFL League Two
Seasons	2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22
2021–22 clubs	Barrow Bradford City Bristol Rovers Carlisle United Colchester United Crawley Town Exeter City Forest Green Rovers Harrogate Town Hartlepool United Leyton Orient Mansfield Town Newport County Northampton Town Oldham Athletic Port Vale Rochdale Salford City Scunthorpe United Stevenage Sutton United Swindon Town Tranmere Rovers Walsall
Former clubs	Accrington Stanley AFC Bournemouth AFC Wimbledon Aldershot Town Barnet Blackpool Bolton Wanderers Boston United Brentford Burton Albion Bury Cambridge United Cheltenham Town Chester City Coventry City Crewe Alexandra Dagenham & Redbridge Darlington Doncaster Rovers Fleetwood Town Gillingham Grimsby Town Hereford United Kidderminster Harriers Lincoln City Luton Town Macclesfield Town Milton Keynes Dons Notts County Oxford United Peterborough United Plymouth Argyle Portsmouth Rotherham United Rushden & Diamonds Shrewsbury Town Southend United Stockport County Swansea City Torquay United Wrexham Wycombe Wanderers Yeovil Town York City
Competition	Teams (winners) Managers Referees Stadia
Statistics and awards	Records EFL Awards Golden Boot Golden Glove Manager of the Month Player of the Month Hat-tricks Young Player of the Month
Finances	Club Owners Premier League–Football League gulf Parachute and solidarity payments
Sponsors	Coca-Cola (2004–10) Npower (2010–13) Sky Bet (2013–2018)
Associated competitions	FA Cup EFL Cup Play-offs
Prospects	Promotion to EFL League One Relegation to National League

show v t Fourth level English football league seasons
Football League Fourth Division	1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92
Football League Third Division	1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04
Football League Two	2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16
EFL League Two	2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22

show v t EFL League Two play-offs
Play-offs	1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Finals	1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

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