The Football League 2008–09, known as the Coca-Cola Football League for sponsorship reasons, was the 17th season under its current league division format. It began in August 2008 and concluded in May 2009, with the promotion play-off finals.
Season | 2008–09 |
---|---|
Champions | Brentford |
Promoted | Brentford Exeter City Wycombe Wanderers Gillingham |
Relegated | Chester City Luton Town |
Matches played | 557 |
Top goalscorer | Grant Holt Simeon Jackson (20) |
Longest winning run | 7 games |
← 2007–08 2009–10 → |
The Football League is contested through three Divisions. The third division of these is League Two. The winner, runner up and third-placed team of League Two will be automatically promoted to Football League One and they will be joined by the winner of the League Two playoff. The bottom two teams in the league will be relegated from the Football League to the Conference National for the 2009–10 season.
Before the season started, Luton Town, Rotherham United and AFC Bournemouth were all docked points for the League Two season for, in all cases, financial problems and additionally, in the case of Luton, for criminal matters regarding transfers of players. Bournemouth and Rotherham both started on −17 points while Luton had to begin on −30 points. On 25 January, Darlington were docked ten points after going into administration.
Changes from last season
editFrom League Two
editPromoted to League One
Relegated to Conference National
To League Two
editRelegated from League One
Promoted from Conference National
League table
editPos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Brentford (C, P) | 46 | 23 | 16 | 7 | 65 | 36 | +29 | 85 | Promotion to Football League One |
2 | Exeter City (P) | 46 | 22 | 13 | 11 | 65 | 50 | +15 | 79 | |
3 | Wycombe Wanderers (P) | 46 | 20 | 18 | 8 | 54 | 33 | +21 | 78 | |
4 | Bury | 46 | 21 | 15 | 10 | 63 | 43 | +20 | 78 | Qualification for League Two play-offs |
5 | Gillingham (O, P) | 46 | 21 | 12 | 13 | 58 | 55 | +3 | 75 | |
6 | Rochdale | 46 | 19 | 13 | 14 | 70 | 59 | +11 | 70 | |
7 | Shrewsbury Town | 46 | 17 | 18 | 11 | 61 | 44 | +17 | 69 | |
8 | Dagenham & Redbridge | 46 | 19 | 11 | 16 | 77 | 53 | +24 | 68 | |
9 | Bradford City | 46 | 18 | 13 | 15 | 66 | 55 | +11 | 67 | |
10 | Chesterfield | 46 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 62 | 57 | +5 | 63 | |
11 | Morecambe | 46 | 15 | 18 | 13 | 53 | 56 | −3 | 63 | |
12 | Darlington | 46 | 20 | 12 | 14 | 61 | 44 | +17 | 62[a] | |
13 | Lincoln City | 46 | 14 | 17 | 15 | 53 | 52 | +1 | 59 | |
14 | Rotherham United | 46 | 21 | 12 | 13 | 60 | 46 | +14 | 58[b] | |
15 | Aldershot Town | 46 | 14 | 12 | 20 | 59 | 80 | −21 | 54 | |
16 | Accrington Stanley | 46 | 13 | 11 | 22 | 42 | 59 | −17 | 50 | |
17 | Barnet | 46 | 11 | 15 | 20 | 56 | 74 | −18 | 48 | |
18 | Port Vale | 46 | 13 | 9 | 24 | 44 | 66 | −22 | 48 | |
19 | Notts County | 46 | 11 | 14 | 21 | 49 | 69 | −20 | 47 | |
20 | Macclesfield Town | 46 | 13 | 8 | 25 | 45 | 77 | −32 | 47 | |
21 | Bournemouth | 46 | 17 | 12 | 17 | 59 | 51 | +8 | 46[c] | |
22 | Grimsby Town | 46 | 9 | 14 | 23 | 51 | 69 | −18 | 41 | |
23 | Chester City (R) | 46 | 8 | 13 | 25 | 43 | 81 | −38 | 37 | Relegated to Conference National |
24 | Luton Town (R) | 46 | 13 | 17 | 16 | 58 | 65 | −7 | 26[d] |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:
- ^ Darlington deducted 10 points for entering administration.[1]
- ^ Rotherham United deducted 17 points for leaving administration without a Company Voluntary Agreement.[2]
- ^ Bournemouth deducted 17 points for leaving administration without a Company Voluntary Agreement.[3]
- ^ Luton Town deducted 30 points; 20 points for leaving administration without a Company Voluntary Agreement, and 10 points for making illegal payments to agents.[4]
Play-offs
editSemifinals | Final at Wembley | ||||||||||
7 | Shrewsbury Town | 0 | 1 (4) | 1 | |||||||
4 | Bury | 1 | 0 (3) | 1 | |||||||
Shrewsbury Town | 0 | ||||||||||
Gillingham | 1 | ||||||||||
6 | Rochdale | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||||
5 | Gillingham | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Stadia and locations
editTeam | Stadium | Capacity |
---|---|---|
Darlington | The Darlington Arena | 25,294* |
Bradford City | Valley Parade | 25,136 |
Rotherham United | Don Valley Stadium | 25,000 |
Port Vale | Vale Park | 22,356 |
Notts County | Meadow Lane | 19,588 |
Brentford | Griffin Park | 12,763 |
Bury | Gigg Lane | 11,840 |
Gillingham | Priestfield Stadium | 11,582 |
Bournemouth | Dean Court | 10,700 |
Luton Town | Kenilworth Road | 10,260 |
Rochdale | Spotland Stadium | 10,249 |
Lincoln City | Sincil Bank | 10,127 |
Wycombe Wanderers | Adams Park | 10,000 |
Shrewsbury Town | New Meadow | 9,875 |
Grimsby Town | Blundell Park | 9,106 |
Exeter City | St James Park | 9,036 |
Chesterfield | Saltergate | 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 |
Barnet | Underhill Stadium | 5,568 |
Chester City | Deva Stadium | 5,376 |
Accrington Stanley | Crown Ground | 5,057 |
*Capacity limited to 6,000 because of planning regulations[5]
Results
editTop scorers
editMonthly awards
editMonth | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | Notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Manager | Club | Player | Club | ||
August | Mark Robins | Rotherham United | Solomon Taiwo | Dagenham & Redbridge | [6][7] |
September | Alan Knill | Bury | Matthew Gill | Exeter City | [8][9] |
October | Peter Jackson | Lincoln City | Jamie Ward | Chesterfield | [10][11] |
November | Peter Taylor | Wycombe Wanderers | Grant Holt | Shrewsbury Town | [12][13] |
December | John Still | Dagenham & Redbridge | Marcus Bean | Brentford | [14][15] |
January | Alan Knill | Bury | Dany N'Guessan | Lincoln City | [16][17] |
February | Sammy McIlroy | Morecambe | Charlie MacDonald | Brentford | [18][19] |
March | Lee Richardson | Chesterfield | Reuben Reid | Rotherham United | [20][21] |
April | Andy Scott | Brentford | Sam Saunders | Dagenham & Redbridge | [22][23] |
Key events
edit25 February 2009 – Darlington are docked 10 points by the FA for entering administration
2 May 2009 – Brentford crowned Champions of League 2 after 3–1 win at Darlington.
Managerial changes
editTeam | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bournemouth | Kevin Bond | Contract terminated | 1 September 2008[24] | Jimmy Quinn | 2 September 2008[25] | 23rd |
Grimsby Town | Alan Buckley | Contract terminated | 15 September 2008[26] | Mike Newell | 6 October 2008[27] | 20th |
Port Vale | Lee Sinnott | Mutual consent | 22 September 2008[28] | Dean Glover | 6 October 2008[29] | 16th |
Chester City | Simon Davies | Contract terminated | 11 November 2008[30] | Mark Wright | 14 November 2008[31] | 19th |
Barnet | Paul Fairclough | Resigned | 28 December 2008[32] | Ian Hendon | 21 April 2009[33] | 16th |
Bournemouth | Jimmy Quinn | Contract terminated | 31 December 2008[34] | Eddie Howe | 31 December 2008[35] | 23rd |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Darlington in administration". The Football League. 25 February 2009. Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
- ^ "Rotherham set to lose 17 points". BBC Sport. 6 August 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
- ^ "Bournemouth face 17-point penalty". BBC Sport. 7 August 2008. Retrieved 7 August 2008.
- ^ "Luton to face 30-point deduction". BBC Sport. 10 July 2008. Retrieved 10 July 2008.
- ^ Cook, Paul (2 May 2008). "Club nears backing for its first concert". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 10 August 2008.
- ^ "Millers boss nets monthly award". BBC Sport. 2 October 2008. Retrieved 2 October 2008.
- ^ "Player of the Month Awards announced". Setanta Sports. 8 September 2008. Retrieved 18 November 2008.[dead link ]
- ^ "Bury's Knill scoops monthly award". BBC Sport. 2 October 2008. Retrieved 2 October 2008.
- ^ "Gill is named Player of the Month". BBC Sport. 8 October 2008. Retrieved 18 November 2008.
- ^ "Jackson wins manager of the month". BBC Sport. 6 November 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
- ^ "Ward wins League 2 award". The Football League. Archived from the original on 24 March 2009. Retrieved 18 November 2008.
- ^ "November honour for Wycombe boss". BBC Sport. 4 December 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
- ^ "Team success won my award – Holt". BBC Sport. 9 December 2008. Retrieved 16 December 2008.
- ^ "Reading boss scoops monthly award". BBC Sport. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
- ^ "Reading's Hunt wins monthly award". BBC Sport. 13 January 2009. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
- ^ "Bury boss earns League Two honour". BBC Sport. 5 February 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
- ^ "N'Guessan is player of the month". BBC Sport. 10 February 2009. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
- ^ "Coventry boss wins monthly award". BBC Sport. 5 March 2009. Retrieved 7 March 2009.
- ^ "MacDonald the pick of League 2". Football League. 9 March 2009. Archived from the original on 27 April 2009. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
- ^ "WINNERS ANNOUNCED". The Football League. 2 April 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2009.[permanent dead link ]
- ^ "Powerade Player-of-the-Month awards". darlington-fc.net. 7 April 2009. Archived from the original on 4 July 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
- ^ "League Two – Bees boss Scott wins April award". Yahoo! Eurosport UK. 7 May 2009. Retrieved 22 May 2009. [dead link ]
- ^ "Powerade winners announced". Football League. 4 May 2009. Archived from the original on 26 May 2009. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
- ^ "Bond sacked as Bournemouth boss". BBC Sport. 1 September 2008. Retrieved 3 September 2008.
- ^ "Bournemouth name Quinn as manager". BBC Sport. 2 September 2008. Retrieved 3 September 2008.
- ^ "GTFC Statement". Grimsby Town official website. 15 September 2008. Archived from the original on 18 September 2008. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
- ^ "Newell takes over as Grimsby boss". BBC Sport. 6 October 2008. Retrieved 7 October 2008.
- ^ "Sinnott parts company with Vale". BBC Sport. 22 September 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
- ^ "Glover named new Port Vale boss". BBC Sport. 6 October 2008. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
- ^ "Chester part company with Davies". BBC Sport. 11 November 2008. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
- ^ "Chester reappoint Wright as boss". BBC Sport. 14 November 2008. Retrieved 15 November 2008.
- ^ "Fairclough stands down at Barnet". BBC Sport. 27 December 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2008.
- ^ "Barnet appoint Hendon as manager". BBC Sport. 22 April 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2009.
- ^ "Quinn parts company with Cherries". BBC Sport. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
- ^ "Cherries appoint Howe for season". BBC Sport. 19 January 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2009.