Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Coca-Cola Football 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. Prior to the advent of the Premiership, the fourth-highest division was known as the Football League Fourth Division. It is the most profitable and competitive 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 are 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 which finished in 4th–7th position, are promoted to Football 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 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. (Promotion from the Conference National has slightly stricter criteria; if Conference candidate team(s) do not fulfill stadium and other criteria, the League Two team(s) is/are reprieved).
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 2008–09
♦ — Will begin the 2008-09 campaign on -30 points after being found guilty of illegal agent payments and as punishment for being in administration.
↑ - Will begin the 2008-09 campaign on -17 points
Winners of Football League Two
Play-off results
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Relegated teams
Top scorers
League Two stadia 2008–09
| Home Club |
Stadium Name |
Capacity |
| Darlington |
The Darlington Arena |
25,294 |
| Bradford City |
Valley Parade |
25,136 |
| Rotherham United |
Don Valley Stadium |
25,000 |
| Notts County |
Meadow Lane |
20,300 |
| Port Vale |
Vale Park |
18,900 |
| Brentford |
Griffin Park* |
12,763 |
| Bury |
Gigg Lane |
11,669 |
| Gillingham |
Priestfield Stadium |
11,582 |
| AFC Bournemouth |
Dean Court |
10,700 |
| Rochdale |
Spotland* |
10,249 |
| Luton Town |
Kenilworth Road |
10,200 |
| Lincoln City |
Sincil Bank |
10,127 |
| Shrewsbury Town |
Prostar Stadium |
10,000 |
| Wycombe Wanderers |
Adams Park* |
10,000 |
| Grimsby Town |
Blundell Park |
9,546 |
| Exeter City |
St. James Park* |
8,830 |
| Chesterfield |
Recreation Ground* |
8,504 |
| Aldershot Town |
Recreation Ground* |
7,100 |
| Morecambe |
Christie Park* |
6,400 |
| Macclesfield Town |
Moss Rose* |
6,335 |
| Dagenham & Redbridge |
Victoria Road* |
6,000 |
| Chester City |
Deva Stadium* |
5,312 |
| Barnet |
Underhill Stadium* |
5,300 |
| Accrington Stanley |
Crown Ground* |
5,057 |
See also
External links
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| English football league system – Level 4 |
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| League competitions |
The FA |
Cup competitions |
| Premier League |
England (B) (C) |
FA Cup |
| The Football League (Champ, 1, 2) |
(U-21) (U-20) (U-19) |
Football League Cup |
| Football Conference (Nat, N, S) |
(U-18) (U-17) (U-16) |
FA Community Shield |
| Northern Premier (Prem, 1N, 1S) |
List of clubs |
Football League Trophy |
| Southern League (Prem, 1Mid, 1S&W) |
List of venues |
FA Trophy |
| Isthmian League (Prem, 1N, 1S) |
(by capacity) |
Conference League Cup |
| English football league system |
List of leagues |
FA Vase |
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Records |
FA NLS Cup |
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Foreign players |
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