EFL League Two

EFL League Two
Founded	2004; 20 years ago; 1992–2004 (as Division Three); 1958–1992 (as Division Four);
Country	England
Other club(s) from	Wales
Number of teams	24
Level on pyramid	4
Promotion to	EFL 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 Conference League (via EFL Cup);
Current champions	Stockport County (1st title; 2nd Fourth tier title) ; (2023–24)
Most championships	Chesterfield (4 Fourth tier titles and 2 EFL League Two titles); Swindon Town (2 EFL League Two titles each)
TV partners	List of broadcasters
Website	efl.com/league-two
	Current: 2024–25 EFL League Two

The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two in England and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet League Two, is the third and lowest division of the English Football League (EFL) and fourth-highest tier overall in the English football league system.

Introduced for the 2004–05 English football season as Football League Two, it is a rebrand of the former Football League Third Division,^[1] which itself is a rebrand of the now-defunct Football League Fourth Division prior to the 1992 launch of the Premier League.

As of the 2024–25 season, Newport County hold the longest tenure in this division following their promotion in the 2012–13 season. There are currently two former Premier League clubs competing in this division: Bradford City (1999–2001) and Swindon Town (1993–94).

The current holders are Stockport County.

Structure

There are 24 clubs in this division. Each club plays each of the other clubs twice (once at home and once away) for a total of 46 matches per season 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 55% of club turnover.

Current members

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Accrington Stanley	Accrington	Crown Ground	5,450
AFC Wimbledon	London (Wimbledon)	Plough Lane	9,369
Barrow	Barrow-in-Furness	Holker Street	6,500
Bradford City	Bradford	Valley Parade	24,840
Bromley	London (Bromley)	Hayes Lane	5,300
Carlisle United	Carlisle	Brunton Park	17,949
Cheltenham Town	Cheltenham	Whaddon Road	7,066
Chesterfield	Chesterfield	SMH Group Stadium	10,504
Colchester United	Colchester	Colchester Community Stadium	10,105
Crewe Alexandra	Crewe	Gresty Road	10,153
Doncaster Rovers	Doncaster	Eco-Power Stadium	15,231
Fleetwood Town	Fleetwood	Highbury Stadium	5,327
Gillingham	Gillingham	Priestfield Stadium	11,582
Grimsby Town	Cleethorpes	Blundell Park	9,052
Harrogate Town	Harrogate	Wetherby Road	5,000
Milton Keynes Dons	Milton Keynes	Stadium MK	30,500
Morecambe	Morecambe	Mazuma Mobile Stadium	6,476
Newport County	Newport	Rodney Parade	7,850
Notts County	Nottingham	Meadow Lane	19,841
Port Vale	Burslem	Vale Park	15,036
Salford City	Salford	Moor Lane	5,108
Swindon Town	Swindon	County Ground	15,728
Tranmere Rovers	Birkenhead	Prenton Park	16,789
Walsall	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	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^{[n 1]}	Swindon Town	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	4th	78
2021–22	Forest Green Rovers	84	Exeter City	84	Bristol Rovers	80	Port Vale	5th	78
2022–23	Leyton Orient	91	Stevenage	85	Northampton Town	83	Carlisle United	5th	76
2023–24	Stockport County	92	Wrexham	88	Mansfield Town	86	Crawley Town	7th	70

^ 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.

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
2021–22	Mansfield Town 2–1 Northampton Town Swindon Town 2–1 Port Vale	Northampton Town 0-1 Mansfield Town Port Vale 1–1 Swindon Town (Port Vale won 6–5 on penalties, a.e.t.)	Mansfield Town 0–3 Port Vale
2022–23	Salford City 1–0 Stockport County Bradford City 1–0 Carlisle United	Stockport County 2–1 Salford City (Stockport County won 3–1 on penalties, a.e.t.) Carlisle United 3–1 (a.e.t.) Bradford City	Stockport County 1–1 Carlisle United (Carlisle won 5–4 on penalties, a.e.t.)
2023–24	Crawley Town 3–0 Milton Keynes Dons Crewe Alexandra 0–2 Doncaster Rovers	Milton Keynes Dons 1–5 Crawley Town Doncaster Rovers 0–2 Crewe Alexandra (Crewe Alexadra won 4-3 on penalties, a.e.t.)	Crawley Town 2–0 Crewe Alexandra

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
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^[a]
2020–21	Southend United, Grimsby Town
2021–22	Oldham Athletic, Scunthorpe United
2022–23	Hartlepool United, Rochdale
2023–24	Sutton United, Forest Green Rovers

^ As a result of Bury's expulsion from League One, only one team was relegated to maintain League Two at 24 teams.^[3]

Top scorers

Season	Top scorer(s)	Club(s)	Goals
2004–05	Phil Jevons	Yeovil Town	27
2005–06	Karl Hawley	Carlisle United	22
2006–07	Richie Barker	Hartlepool United	21
2006–07	Izale McLeod	Milton Keynes Dons	21
2007–08	Aaron McLean	Peterborough United	29
2008–09	Grant Holt	Shrewsbury Town	20
2008–09	Jack Lester	Chesterfield	20
2009–10	Lee Hughes	Notts County	30
2010–11	Clayton Donaldson	Crewe Alexandra	28
2011–12	Adebayo Akinfenwa	Northampton Town	18
	Jack Midson	AFC Wimbledon
	Izale McLeod	Barnet
	Lewis Grabban	Rotherham United
2012–13	Tom Pope	Port Vale	31
2013–14	Sam Winnall	Scunthorpe United	23
2014–15	Matt Tubbs	Portsmouth	21
2015–16	Matty Taylor	Bristol Rovers	27
2016–17	John Akinde	Barnet	26
2016–17	John Marquis	Doncaster Rovers	26
2017–18	Billy Kee	Accrington Stanley	25
2018–19	James Norwood	Tranmere Rovers	29
2019–20	Eoin Doyle	Bradford City, Swindon Town	25
2020–21	Paul Mullin	Cambridge United	32
2021–22	Dom Telford	Newport County	25
2022–23	Andy Cook	Bradford City	28
2023–24	Macaulay Langstaff	Notts County	28

Attendances

League Two is the most watched fourth-tier domestic sports league in the world, and the 14th most watched football league in Europe of any tier.^[4] The total number of spectators who watched a League Two game in the 2022–23 season was 3,191,719.

Since the restructuring into League Two in 2004, the average attendance across all seasons is 4,602. The highest average attendance was 6,274 in the 2023–24 season. The highest average attendance for an individual club was achieved in the 2022–23; 17,967 for Bradford City. The lowest average attendance was 3,856 in the 2009–10 season.

Season	League average attendance	Highest average
Season	League average attendance	Club	Attendance
2004–05	4,499	Swansea City	8,458^[5]
2005–06	4,194	Carlisle United	7,218^[6]
2006–07	4,130	Swindon Town	7,419^[7]
2007–08	4,346	Bradford City	13,659^[8]
2008–09	4,185	Bradford City	12,704^[9]
2009–10	3,856	Bradford City	11,423^[10]
2010–11	4,166	Bradford City	11,128^[11]
2011–12	4,407	Bradford City	10,170^[12]
2012–13	4,390	Bradford City	11,999^[13]
2013–14	4,352	Portsmouth	15,460^[14]
2014–15	4,676	Portsmouth	15,241^[15]
2015–16	4,881	Portsmouth	16,442^[16]
2016–17	4,751	Portsmouth	16,822^[17]
2017–18	4,491	Coventry City	11,218^[18]
2018–19	4,467	Lincoln City	9,005^[19]
2019–20	4,687	Bradford City	14,253^[20]
2020–21	No attendances due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021–22	4,907	Bradford City	15,450^[21]
2022–23	5,786	Bradford City	17,967^[22]
2023–24	6,274	Bradford City	17,547^[23]

Historic performance

Since the restructuring into League Two in 2004, 69 teams have spent at least one season in the division, including 2 of the 20 teams in the 2024–25 Premier League.

Morecambe have spent the longest in League Two; 16 seasons in total, as well as having had the longest spell in the division, 13 consecutive seasons between 2005 and 2019. Newport County have the current longest tenure, with 12 consecutive seasons.

Northampton Town and Bristol Rovers have each been promoted four times from League Two. There have been 18 different champions, with Swindon Town and Chesterfield champions on two occasions. 19 teams have been both promoted and relegated from League Two.

Key

† Teams with this background and symbol in the "Club" column will be competing in the 2024–25 EFL League Two
‡ Team will be competing in the 2024–25 Premier League
The club competed in League Two during that season (the number is the club's final league position)

Club	Total Seasons	Number of Spells	Longest Spell (Seasons)	Highest Position	Lowest Position	Season
						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	2022–23	2023–24	2024–25
						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	2022–23	2023–24	2024–25	Accrington Stanley †	14	2	12	1	20	20	17	16	15	5	14	18	15	17	4	13	1	17
AFC Bournemouth ‡	2	1	2	2	21					21	2
AFC Wimbledon †	8	2	5	7	21								16	20	20	15	7							21	10
Aldershot Town	5	1	5	6	24					15	6	14	11	24
Barnet	11	2	8	12	23		18	14	12	17	21	22	22	23			15	15	23
Barrow †	5	1	5	8	22																	21	22	9	8
Blackpool	1	1	1	7	7													7
Bolton Wanderers	1	1	1	3	3																	3
Boston United	3	1	3	11	23	16	11	23
Bradford City †	12	2	6	6	18				10	9	14	18	18	7							9	15	14	6	9
Brentford ‡	2	1	2	1	14				14	1
Bristol Rovers	8	4	3	3	23	12	12	6					13	14	23		3						3
Bromley †	1	1	1	–	–
Burton Albion	6	1	6	1	19						13	19	17	4	6	1
Bury	10	3	7	2	21	17	19	21	13	4	9	2			12	3				2
Cambridge United	8	2	7	2	24	24										19	9	11	12	21	16	2
Carlisle United †	11	3	9	1	20		1									20	10	6	10	11	18	10	20	5
Cheltenham Town †	14	4	6	1	23	14	5				22	17	6	5	17	23		21	17	16	4	1
Chester City	5	1	5	15	23	20	15	18	22	23
Chesterfield †	8	4	4	1	24				8	10	8	1		8	1				24
Colchester United †	9	1	8	6	22													8	13	8	6	20	15	20	22
Coventry City	1	1	1	6	6														6
Crawley Town	10	2	9	3	22								3				20	19	14	19	13	12	12	22	7
Crewe Alexandra †	10	3	4	2	17						18	10	7					17	15	12	2			13	6
Dagenham & Redbridge	8	2	5	7	23				20	8	7		19	22	9	14	23
Darlington	6	1	6	6	24	8	8	11	6	12	24
Doncaster Rovers †	4	2	3	3	18													3						18	5
Exeter City	11	2	10	2	16					2				10	16	10	14	5	4	9	5	9	2
Fleetwood Town †	3	2	2	4	13									13	4
Forest Green Rovers	6	2	5	1	24														21	5	10	6	1		24
Gillingham †	7	3	3	1	17					5		8	8	1										17	12
Grimsby Town †	14	3	6	4	24	18	4	15	16	22	23							14	18	17	15	24		11	21
Harrogate Town †	5	1	5	13	19																	17	19	19	13
Hartlepool United	7	3	4	2	23			2							19	22	16	23					17	23
Hereford United	5	2	3	3	23			16	3		16	21	23
Kidderminster Harriers	1	1	1	23	23	23
Leyton Orient	8	3	4	1	24	11	3										8	24			17	11	13	1
Lincoln City	9	2	7	1	23	6	7	5	15	13	20	23							7	1
Luton Town	5	2	4	2	24					24						8	11	4	2
Macclesfield Town	10	2	8	5	24	5	17	22	19	20	19	15	24							22	24
Mansfield Town	15	2	11	3	23	13	16	17	23						11	21	12	12	8	4	21	16	7	8	3
Milton Keynes Dons †	5	3	2	1	4			4	1											3					4
Morecambe †	16	2	14	4	22				11	11	4	20	15	16	18	11	21	18	22	18	22	4			15
Newport County †	12	1	12	5	22										14	9	22	22	11	7	14	5	11	15	18
Northampton Town	13	4	7	1	21	7	2				11	16	20	6	21	12	1			15	7		4	3
Notts County †	12	3	6	1	23	19	21	13	21	19	1						17	16	5	23					14
Oldham Athletic	4	1	4	14	23															14	19	18	23
Oxford United	8	2	6	2	23	15	23					12	9	9	8	13	2
Peterborough United	3	1	3	2	10		9	10	2
Plymouth Argyle	7	2	6	2	21								21	21	10	7	5	2			3
Port Vale †	11	3	5	3	20					18	10	11	12	3					20	20	8	13	5
Portsmouth	4	1	4	1	16										13	16	6	1
Rochdale	10	3	6	3	24	9	14	9	5	6	3			12	3								18	24
Rotherham United	6	1	6	2	14				9	14	5	9	10	2
Rushden & Diamonds	2	1	2	22	24	22	24
Salford City †	6	1	6	7	20																11	8	10	7	20
Scunthorpe United	5	3	3	2	24	2									2						20	22	24
Shrewsbury Town	9	2	8	2	21	21	10	7	18	7	12	4	2			2
Southend United	7	3	5	4	23	4						13	4	11	5	5						23
Stevenage	10	2	9	2	23							6				6	18	10	16	10	23	14	21	2
Stockport County	6	3	3	1	24		22	8	4			24												4	1
Sutton United	3	1	3	8	23																		8	14	23
Swansea City	1	1	1	3	3	3
Swindon Town †	9	4	4	1	19			3					1						9	13	1		6	10	19
Torquay United	7	2	5	5	24		20	24			17	7	5	19	24
Tranmere Rovers †	7	3	5	6	24											24				6		7	9	12	16
Walsall †	7	2	6	1	19			1													12	19	16	16	11
Wrexham	4	2	3	2	24		13	19	24																2
Wycombe Wanderers	12	3	6	3	22	10	6	12	7	3		3		15	22	4	13	9	3
Yeovil Town	5	2	4	1	24	1											19	20	19	24
York City	4	1	4	7	24									17	7	18	24