The Football League 2008–09 (named Coca-Cola Football League for sponsorship reasons), was the seventeenth 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 | Leicester City |
Promoted | Leicester City Peterborough United Scunthorpe United |
Relegated | Northampton Town Crewe Alexandra Cheltenham Town Hereford United |
← 2007–08 2009–10 → |
The Football League is contested through three Divisions. The second division of these is League One. The winner and the runner up of League One will be automatically promoted to the Football League Championship and they will be joined by the winner of the League One playoff. The bottom four teams in the league will be relegated to the third division, League Two.
Leicester City played at this level for the first time in their history having spent all their time in the top two divisions. In the opposite direction, Hereford United made their first appearance in the third tier since 1978, after many seasons in non-league and lower-league football.
Changes from last season
editFrom League One
editPromoted to Championship
Relegated to League Two
To League One
editRelegated from Championship
Promoted from League Two
League table
editPos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Leicester City (C, P) | 46 | 27 | 15 | 4 | 84 | 39 | +45 | 96 | Promotion to Football League Championship |
2 | Peterborough United (P) | 46 | 26 | 11 | 9 | 78 | 54 | +24 | 89 | |
3 | Milton Keynes Dons | 46 | 26 | 9 | 11 | 83 | 47 | +36 | 87 | Qualification for League One play-offs |
4 | Leeds United | 46 | 26 | 6 | 14 | 77 | 49 | +28 | 84 | |
5 | Millwall | 46 | 25 | 7 | 14 | 63 | 53 | +10 | 82 | |
6 | Scunthorpe United (O, P) | 46 | 22 | 10 | 14 | 82 | 63 | +19 | 76 | |
7 | Tranmere Rovers | 46 | 21 | 11 | 14 | 62 | 49 | +13 | 74 | |
8 | Southend United | 46 | 21 | 8 | 17 | 58 | 61 | −3 | 71 | |
9 | Huddersfield Town | 46 | 18 | 14 | 14 | 62 | 65 | −3 | 68 | |
10 | Oldham Athletic | 46 | 16 | 17 | 13 | 66 | 65 | +1 | 65 | |
11 | Bristol Rovers | 46 | 17 | 12 | 17 | 79 | 61 | +18 | 63 | |
12 | Colchester United | 46 | 18 | 9 | 19 | 58 | 58 | 0 | 63 | |
13 | Walsall | 46 | 17 | 10 | 19 | 61 | 66 | −5 | 61 | |
14 | Leyton Orient | 46 | 15 | 11 | 20 | 45 | 57 | −12 | 56 | |
15 | Swindon Town | 46 | 12 | 17 | 17 | 68 | 71 | −3 | 53 | |
16 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 46 | 13 | 13 | 20 | 55 | 70 | −15 | 52 | |
17 | Yeovil Town | 46 | 12 | 15 | 19 | 41 | 66 | −25 | 51 | |
18 | Stockport County | 46 | 16 | 12 | 18 | 59 | 57 | +2 | 50[a] | |
19 | Hartlepool United | 46 | 13 | 11 | 22 | 66 | 79 | −13 | 50 | |
20 | Carlisle United | 46 | 12 | 14 | 20 | 56 | 69 | −13 | 50 | |
21 | Northampton Town (R) | 46 | 12 | 13 | 21 | 61 | 65 | −4 | 49 | Relegation to Football League Two |
22 | Crewe Alexandra (R) | 46 | 12 | 10 | 24 | 59 | 82 | −23 | 46 | |
23 | Cheltenham Town (R) | 46 | 9 | 12 | 25 | 51 | 91 | −40 | 39 | |
24 | Hereford United (R) | 46 | 9 | 7 | 30 | 42 | 79 | −37 | 34 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:
Play-offs
editSemi-finals | Final | ||||||||||
6 | Scunthorpe United | 1 | 0 (7) | 1 | |||||||
3 | Milton Keynes Dons | 1 | 0 (6) | 1 | |||||||
6 | Scunthorpe United | 3 | |||||||||
5 | Millwall | 2 | |||||||||
5 | Millwall | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
4 | Leeds United | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Results
editTop scorers
editCorrect as of 8 May 2009[2]
Pos | Player | Club | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Rickie Lambert | Bristol Rovers | 29 |
Simon Cox | Swindon Town | ||
3 | Matty Fryatt | Leicester City | 27 |
Jermaine Beckford | Leeds United | ||
5 | Gary Hooper | Scunthorpe United | 24 |
6 | Craig Mackail-Smith | Peterborough United | 23 |
7 | Lee Hughes | Oldham Athletic | 18 |
Aaron McLean | Peterborough United | ||
Joel Porter | Hartlepool United | ||
10 | Paul Hayes | Scunthorpe United | 17 |
Dubious goals panel
edit- On 30 August 2008 Leeds drew 2–2 with Bristol Rovers. The first goal was a Jermaine Beckford shot which deflected off Steven Elliot. The goal was originally an Elliot own goal, but was later awarded to Beckford.
- On 7 April 2009 Leyton Orient drew 2–2 with Leeds United. Leyton Orient's first goal was from a Sean Thornton Free Kick but it took a slight deflection from Simon Church on its way in. BBC Sport awarded the goal to Sean Thornton but it is still unclear what the final decision will be regarding the actual scorer. Church later claimed the goal and stated that he definitely got a vital touch on the ball.
- On 11 April 2009 Leyton Orient beat Colchester United 2–1. Leyton Orient's second goal was credited to Jimmy Smith, but it looked to have been put over the line by Scott McGleish, but it is unclear what the decision on the goalscorer will be at present.
Key events
edit30 April 2009 – Stockport County are docked 10 points by the FA for entering administration
Stadiums
editTeam | Stadium | Capacity |
---|---|---|
Leeds United | Elland Road | 39,460 |
Leicester City | Walkers Stadium | 32,500 |
Huddersfield Town | Galpharm Stadium | 24,500 |
Milton Keynes Dons | stadium:mk | 22,000 |
Millwall | The Den | 20,146 |
Carlisle United | Brunton Park Stadium | 16,981 |
Tranmere Rovers | Prenton Park | 16,567 |
Swindon Town | The County Ground | 15,728 |
Peterborough United | London Road Stadium | 15,460 |
Southend United | Roots Hall | 12,306 |
Bristol Rovers | Memorial Stadium | 11,916 |
Walsall | Bescot Stadium | 11,300 |
Stockport County | Edgeley Park | 10,651 |
Oldham Athletic | Boundary Park | 10,638 |
Crewe Alexandra | Alexandra Stadium | 10,046 |
Colchester United | Colchester Community Stadium | 10,000 |
Yeovil Town | Huish Park | 9,978 |
Leyton Orient | Brisbane Road | 9,271 |
Scunthorpe United | Glanford Park | 9,183 |
Brighton & Hove Albion | Withdean Stadium | 8,850 |
Hartlepool United | Victoria Park | 7,691 |
Northampton Town | Sixfields Stadium | 7,653 |
Cheltenham Town | Whaddon Road | 7,408 |
Hereford United | Edgar Street | 7,100 |
Managerial changes
editTeam | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Milton Keynes Dons | Paul Ince | Signed by Blackburn Rovers (mutual consent) | 22 June 2008[3] | Roberto Di Matteo | 2 July 2008[4] | Pre-season |
Cheltenham Town | Keith Downing | Mutual consent | 13 September 2008[5] | Martin Allen | 15 September 2008[6] | 24th |
Colchester United | Geraint Williams | Mutual consent | 22 September 2008[7] | Paul Lambert | 24 September 2008[8] | 23rd |
Carlisle United | John Ward | Mutual consent | 3 November 2008[9] | Greg Abbott | 5 December 2008[10] | 20th |
Huddersfield Town | Stan Ternent | Mutual consent | 4 November 2008[11] | Lee Clark | 11 December 2008[12] | 16th |
Swindon Town | Maurice Malpas | Mutual consent | 14 November 2008[13] | Danny Wilson | 26 December 2008[14] | 16th |
Crewe Alexandra | Steve Holland | Contract terminated[15] | 18 November 2008[16] | Guðjón Þórðarson | 24 December 2008[17] | 24th |
Hartlepool United | Danny Wilson | Contract terminated | 15 December 2008[18] | Chris Turner | 15 December 2008[18] | 13th |
Leeds United | Gary McAllister | Contract terminated | 21 December 2008[19] | Simon Grayson | 23 December 2008[20] | 9th |
Walsall | Jimmy Mullen | Contract terminated | 10 January 2009[21] | Chris Hutchings | 20 January 2009[22] | 12th |
Leyton Orient | Martin Ling | Mutual Consent | 18 January 2009[23] | Geraint Williams | 5 February 2009[24] | 21st |
Yeovil Town | Russell Slade | Contract terminated | 16 February 2009[25] | Terry Skiverton | 18 February 2009[26] | 16th |
Brighton & Hove Albion | Micky Adams | Contract terminated | 21 February 2009[27] | Russell Slade | 6 March 2009[28] | 21st |
Oldham Athletic | John Sheridan | Mutual Consent | 15 March 2009[29] | Joe Royle | 15 March 2009[30] | 8th |
References
edit- ^ "Stockport in Administration". The Football League. 30 April 2009. Archived from the original on 7 May 2009. Retrieved 30 April 2009.
- ^ "League One Top Scorers". Football-League.co.uk. 15 December 2008. Archived from the original on 26 March 2009. Retrieved 2 March 2009.
- ^ "Blackburn appoint Ince as manager". BBC Sport. 22 June 2008. Archived from the original on 10 December 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2008.
- ^ "Di Matteo appointed MK Dons coach". BBC Sport. 30 June 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2008.
- ^ "Manager Downing leaves Cheltenham". BBC Sport. 13 September 2008. Archived from the original on 14 September 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2008.
- ^ "Allen named new Cheltenham boss". BBC Sport. 15 September 2008. Archived from the original on 15 September 2008. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
- ^ "Boss Williams departs Colchester". BBC Sport. 22 September 2008. Archived from the original on 23 September 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
- ^ "Us appoint Lambert as manager". Colchester United website. 24 September 2008. Archived from the original on 12 October 2008. Retrieved 26 December 2008.
- ^ "Carlisle part company with Ward". BBC Sport. 3 November 2008. Retrieved 26 December 2008.
- ^ "Abbott appointed Carlisle manager". BBC Sport. 5 December 2008. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 5 December 2008.
- ^ "Ternent leaves Huddersfield post". BBC Sport. 4 November 2008. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 26 December 2008.
- ^ "Clark named new Huddersfield boss". BBC Sport. 11 December 2008. Archived from the original on 13 December 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2008.
- ^ "Swindon part company with Malpas". BBC Sport. 14 November 2008. Archived from the original on 28 December 2008. Retrieved 26 December 2008.
- ^ "Wilson appointed Swindon manager". BBC Sport. 26 December 2008. Archived from the original on 27 December 2008. Retrieved 26 December 2008.
- ^ "Crewe Board to meet over new boss". BBC Sport. 11 December 2008. Archived from the original on 15 December 2008. Retrieved 15 December 2008.
- ^ "Gradi replaces Holland at Crewe". BBC Sport. 18 November 2008. Archived from the original on 27 December 2008. Retrieved 19 November 2008.
- ^ "Thordarson appointed Crewe boss". BBC Sport. 24 December 2008. Archived from the original on 27 December 2008. Retrieved 26 December 2008.
- ^ a b "Hartlepool dismiss manager Wilson". BBC Sport. 15 December 2008. Archived from the original on 16 December 2008. Retrieved 15 December 2008.
- ^ "Leeds dismiss manager McAllister". BBC Sport. 21 December 2008. Archived from the original on 31 December 2008. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
- ^ "Grayson appointed Leeds manager". BBC Sport. 23 December 2008. Archived from the original on 23 December 2008. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
- ^ "Mullen sacked as Walsall manager". BBC Sport. 10 January 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2009.
- ^ "Walsall appoint Hutchings as boss". BBC Sport. 20 January 2009. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
- ^ "Leyton Orient manager Ling leaves". BBC Sport. 18 January 2009. Archived from the original on 19 January 2009. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
- ^ "Orient appoint Williams as boss". BBC Sport. 5 February 2009. Archived from the original on 8 February 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
- ^ "Yeovil split with manager Slade". BBC Sport. 16 February 2009. Archived from the original on 18 February 2009. Retrieved 16 February 2009.
- ^ "Skiverton appointed Yeovil boss". BBC Sport. 18 February 2009. Archived from the original on 20 February 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
- ^ "Brighton part company with Adams". BBC Sport. 21 February 2009. Archived from the original on 24 February 2009. Retrieved 21 February 2009.
- ^ "Slade appointed new Brighton boss". BBC Sport. 6 March 2009. Archived from the original on 9 March 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
- ^ "Oldham boss Sheridan leaves club". BBC Sport. 15 March 2009. Archived from the original on 21 March 2009. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
- ^ "Royle replaces Sheridan at Oldham". BBC Sport. 15 March 2009. Archived from the original on 20 March 2009. Retrieved 15 March 2009.