History
The origins of the EFL League Two come from the original Football League Fourth Division. The division was launched in 1959, to extend the three league system into four. Up until then, there were three divisions of English league football: the First Division, the Second Division and the Third Division, which was split into a North league and South league. The Third Division clubs from the North and South leagues could achieve promotion to the Second Division by winning the league, and the two teams that finished at the bottom of the Second Division went to either the Third Division North or Third Division South, depending on their geographical location. The two teams that finished at the bottom of both the Third Division North and Third Division South had to be re-elected to the league by the FA, and if they were denied re-election then they had to play outside the English League Football structure. In 1958, it was decided that the Third Division should be unified, with the top clubs staying in the division and the clubs at the bottom of the table being sent to the newly formed Fourth Division.
The Fourth Division was a single league and had a more flexible structure when it came to promotion and relegation. The teams that finished in the top four of the Fourth Division would achieve automatic promotion to the Third Division, whilst the bottom four of the Third Division went the other way. At the other side of the table, the bottom four placing teams had to be re-elected. If a team did not receive enough votes to stay in the league, they would be relegated to a regional league.
The inaugural Fourth Division league was launched in 1958-59 and featured 24 teams from the Third Division North and Third Division South. The founding members of the league were:
Aldershot, Barrow, Bradford, Carlisle United, Coventry City, Chester City, Crewe Alexandra, Crystal Palace, Darlington, Exeter City, Gateshead, Gillingham, Hartlepool United, Millwall, Oldham Athletic, Northampton Town, Port Vale, Shrewsbury Town, Southport, Torquay United, Walsall, Watford, Workington and York City.
The first winner of the Fourth Division was Port Vale, with Coventry City in second, York City in third and Shrewsbury Town in fourth. Oldham Athletic, Aldershot, Barrow and Southport all finished in the bottom four, but all clubs were re-elected to stay in the league.
In the following year, Gateshead finished in the bottom four and were not re-elected, despite having not finished in the relegation zone before. They were replaced in the league by Peterborough United, who came up from the Midland Football League.
In 1962, Accrington Stanley resigned from the Fourth Division when they went under administration. They were replaced with Oxford United who had come from the Southern Football League.
In 1969, Doncaster Rovers became the first team to win the Fourth Division twice. They had won their first title in 1966 but only played one season in the Third Division where they were relegated back after finishing 23rd in the league.
In the following season, Bradford Park Avenue was relegated from the Fourth Division after having a poor season and were sent to the Northern Premier League. They sold their stadium and would later go into liquidation and reform as a Sunday league football club. Bradford Park Avenue was replaced with Cambridge United, who came up from the Southern Football League.
Barrow, one of the founder clubs in the Fourth Division, was not re-elected after they finished 22nd in the league in the 1972 season. They had spent 51 years in the Football League, but they did not receive enough votes to stay in the league. They were replaced by Hereford United, who had beaten the First Division team Newcastle United in the FA Cup third round.
Up until 1985, two more clubs were relegated from the league: Workington and Southport, to be replaced with Wimbledon and Wigan Athletic.
In 1986, the football league system was restructured, a Football Conference League was introduced, which became the fifth tier league, and the promotion in the fourth league was changed to have the first three teams achieve promotion, and then the following three to qualify for a playoffs with the team that finished fourth from the bottom in the Third Division.
This structure was later changed to have the top three promoted and then the next four placing teams in the league to compete in playoffs for the fourth promotion place.
In 1992, the teams in the top flight of English football decided to leave the EFL and form the Premier League. This league was connected to the English league football system through the promotion/relegation system, but would have its own media and commercial rights.
The EFL was restructured, with the Second Division becoming the new First Division, the Third Division becoming the Second Division, and the Fourth Division becoming the Third Division. The leagues were only rebranded, their level in the English league football system remained the same.
In 2004, the EFL decided to rebrand the leagues once more: The First Division became the EFL Championship, the Second Division became the English League One, and the Third Division became the English League Two.
Season Structure
The League comprises 24 teams that play in a double robin round that lasts from August until May. The structure of the league has not changed since 1989, where the first teams achieve promotion and the following four in the league qualify for the playoffs. The winner of the playoffs becomes the fourth team to be promoted. At the bottom of the league, the bottom two clubs are relegated to the National League, the fifth tier of English League football.
Fun Facts
Despite being three levels below the Premier League, there are teams that have proved that it is possible to come up from the fourth tier and reach the top flight. Crystal Palace, Coventry City, Wigan Athletic, Wimbledon, Watford, Oldham Athletic and Millwall have all reached the top flight after having come up from the fourth level.
In 1961, Crystal Palace set a record for the highest league attendance in the Fourth Division. Their average attendance in the season was 19,092. The record for the highest attendance was also set in the same year, when Crystal Palace faced Millwall at home in Selhurst Park. They played to a crowd of 37,774 people in a match that ended 0-2 to Millwall.
Popular Bets
Match Result
Match results are three way bets where punters can wager on the outcome of a game. There will be bets for the home team to win, the away team to win, or for the two teams to draw.
Handicaps
Punters can bet on a team with a handicap, which will either increase their chances of winning, or make it more difficult. There are ranges of both positive and negative handicaps, which are basically numbers that are added to or subtracted from a chosen team’s score at the end of a match.
Total Goals
These are bets on how many goals may or may not be scored in a game. A betting line is presented and punters simply bet whether the total number of goals scored will be above or below that figure. Often, there will be several betting lines to choose from.
Game Props
There are many more bets that can be made on matches, which can relate to how a team may win a game, or to finer details in the game. These will include bets such as correct score, winning margin, will a team win both of the halves, and many more. Other more detailed oriented bets may include a certain player to score during the game, total corners in the game, will there be a red card, and other bets that relate to game statistics.
Live Bets
Live bets include all of the bets listed above as well as some bets that may pop up at certain points during a game. These may include bets such as which team will score next, will either team score in the current half, a team to score the next two goals, and many more.