2008–09 Football League Two


The Football League 2008–09, known as the Coca-Cola Football League for sponsorship reasons, is 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.
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

From League Two

Promoted to League One
Relegated to Conference National
Relegated from League One
Promoted from Conference National

Play-offs

Stadia and locations

TeamStadiumCapacity
DarlingtonThe Darlington Arena25,294*
Bradford CityValley Parade25,136
Rotherham UnitedDon Valley Stadium25,000
Port ValeVale Park22,356
Notts CountyMeadow Lane19,588
BrentfordGriffin Park12,763
BuryGigg Lane11,840
GillinghamPriestfield Stadium11,582
BournemouthDean Court10,700
Luton TownKenilworth Road10,260
RochdaleSpotland Stadium10,249
Lincoln CitySincil Bank10,127
Wycombe WanderersAdams Park10,000
Shrewsbury TownNew Meadow9,875
Grimsby TownBlundell Park9,106
Exeter CitySt James Park9,036
ChesterfieldSaltergate8,504
Aldershot TownRecreation Ground7,100
MorecambeChristie Park6,400
Macclesfield TownMoss Rose6,335
Dagenham & RedbridgeVictoria Road6,000
BarnetUnderhill Stadium5,568
Chester CityDeva Stadium5,376
Accrington StanleyCrown Ground5,057

*Capacity limited to 6,000 because of planning regulations

Results

Top scorers

Monthly awards

Key events

25 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