Country England (23 teams) Number of teams 24 Promotion to League One | Other club(s) from Wales (1 team) Level on pyramid 4 | |
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Founded 2004
1992–2004 (as Division Three)
1958–1992 (as Division Four) | ||
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship reasons) is the third-highest and lowest division of the English Football League (EFL) and fourth-highest division overall in the English football league system.
Contents
Football League Two was introduced for the 2004–05 season. It was previously known as the Football League Third Division. Before the advent of the Premier League, the fourth-highest division was known as the Football League Fourth Division.
At present (2016–17 season), Accrington Stanley hold the longest tenure in League Two, last being outside the division in the 2005–06 season when they were promoted from the league then known as the Conference National (now the National League).
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 fourth–seventh position, are promoted to EFL 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 League Two are relegated to the National League and are replaced by the team that finished first and the team that won the second–fifth 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 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 100% of club turnover.
Current members
The following 24 clubs are competing in League Two during the 2016–17 season.
Broadcasting rights
Currently no broadcasters for Football League Two.