2008–09 Football League

The 2008–09 Football League (known as the Coca-Cola Football League for sponsorship reasons) was the 110th completed season of the Football League. It began in August 2008 and concluded in May 2009, with the promotion play-off finals.

The Football League
Season2008–09
ChampionsWolverhampton Wanderers
PromotedWolverhampton Wanderers
Birmingham City
Burnley
RelegatedChester City
Luton Town
New Clubs in LeagueAldershot Town
Exeter City

The Football League is contested through three Divisions: the Championship, League One and League Two. The winner and the runner up of the League Championship are automatically promoted to the Premier League and they will are joined by the winner of the Championship playoff. The bottom two teams in League Two are relegated to the Conference Premier.

Promotion and relegation

As a consequence of results in the 2008–09 English football season, the following promotions and relegations involving teams within, or entering or exiting the Football League occurred. These changes take effect for the 2009–10 season.

From Premier League

Relegated to Championship

From Championship

Promoted to Premier League

Relegated to League One

From Football League One

Promoted to Championship

Relegated to League Two

From Football League Two

Promoted to League One

Relegated to Conference Premier

From Conference Premier

Promoted to League Two

Championship

Table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Wolverhampton Wanderers (C, P) 46 27 9 10 80 52 +28 90 Promotion to the Premier League
2 Birmingham City (P) 46 23 14 9 54 37 +17 83
3 Sheffield United 46 22 14 10 64 39 +25 80 Qualification for Championship play-offs
4 Reading 46 21 14 11 72 40 +32 77
5 Burnley (O, P) 46 21 13 12 72 60 +12 76
6 Preston North End 46 21 11 14 66 54 +12 74
7 Cardiff City 46 19 17 10 65 53 +12 74
8 Swansea City 46 16 20 10 63 50 +13 68
9 Ipswich Town 46 17 15 14 62 53 +9 66
10 Bristol City 46 15 16 15 54 54 0 61
11 Queens Park Rangers 46 15 16 15 42 44 −2 61
12 Sheffield Wednesday 46 16 13 17 51 58 −7 61
13 Watford 46 16 10 20 68 72 −4 58
14 Doncaster Rovers 46 17 7 22 42 53 −11 58
15 Crystal Palace 46 15 12 19 52 55 −3 56[lower-alpha 1]
16 Blackpool 46 13 17 16 47 58 −11 56
17 Coventry City 46 13 15 18 47 58 −11 54
18 Derby County 46 14 12 20 55 67 −12 54
19 Nottingham Forest 46 13 14 19 50 65 −15 53
20 Barnsley 46 13 13 20 45 58 −13 52
21 Plymouth Argyle 46 13 12 21 44 57 −13 51
22 Norwich City (R) 46 12 10 24 57 70 −13 46 Relegation to Football League One
23 Southampton (R) 46 10 15 21 46 69 −23 45[lower-alpha 2]
24 Charlton Athletic (R) 46 8 15 23 52 74 −22 39
Updated to match(es) played on 3 May 2009. Source: The Football League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. Crystal Palace were give a one-point deduction for using an ineligible player during a match against Sheffield United on 3 May 2009.[1]
  2. Southampton were given a ten-point deduction for breaching insolvency regulations, regarding their holding company. As they finished in the bottom three in the 2008–09 season, the points deduction was applied during the 2009–10 season in League One.[2]

Play-offs
Main article: 2009 Football League play-offs
  Semi-finals Final
                     
3 Sheffield United 1 1 2  
6 Preston North End 1 0 1  
    3 Sheffield United 0
  5 Burnley 1
4 Reading 0 0 0
5 Burnley 1 2 3  

Results
Home \ Away BAR BIR BLP BRI BUR CAR CHA COV CRY DER DON IPS NWC NOT PLY PNE QPR REA SHU SHW SOU SWA WAT WOL
Barnsley 1–1 0–1 0–0 3–2 0–1 0–0 1–2 3–1 2–0 4–1 1–2 0–0 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–1 0–1 1–2 2–1 0–1 1–3 2–1 1–1
Birmingham City 2–0 0–1 1–0 1–1 1–1 3–2 0–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–2 1–0 1–3 1–0 3–1 1–0 0–0 3–2 2–0
Blackpool 1–0 2–0 0–1 0–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–2 3–2 2–3 0–1 2–0 1–1 0–1 1–3 0–3 2–2 1–3 0–2 1–1 1–1 0–2 2–2
Bristol City 2–0 1–2 0–0 1–2 1–1 2–1 2–0 1–0 1–1 4–1 1–1 1–0 2–2 2–2 1–1 1–1 1–4 0–0 1–1 2–0 0–0 1–1 2–2
Burnley 1–2 1–1 2–0 4–0 2–2 2–1 1–1 4–2 3–0 0–0 0–3 2–0 5–0 0–0 3–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–4 3–2 0–2 3–2 1–0
Cardiff City 3–1 1–2 2–0 0–0 3–1 2–0 2–1 2–1 4–1 3–0 0–3 2–2 2–0 1–0 2–0 0–0 2–2 0–3 2–0 2–1 2–2 2–1 1–2
Charlton Athletic 1–3 0–0 2–2 0–2 1–1 2–2 1–2 1–0 2–2 1–2 2–1 4–2 0–2 2–0 0–0 2–2 4–2 2–5 1–2 0–0 2–0 2–3 1–3
Coventry City 1–1 1–0 2–1 0–3 1–3 0–2 0–0 0–2 1–1 1–0 2–2 2–0 2–2 0–1 0–0 1–0 0–0 1–2 2–0 4–1 1–1 2–3 2–1
Crystal Palace 3–0 0–0 0–1 4–2 0–0 0–2 1–0 1–1 1–0 2–1 1–4 3–1 1–2 1–2 2–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 3–0 2–0 0–0 0–1
Derby County 0–0 1–1 4–1 2–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 2–1 1–2 0–1 0–1 3–1 1–1 2–1 2–2 0–2 0–2 2–1 3–0 0–1 2–2 1–0 2–3
Doncaster Rovers 0–1 0–2 0–0 1–0 2–1 1–1 0–1 1–0 2–0 2–1 1–0 1–1 0–0 1–0 0–2 2–0 0–1 0–2 1–0 0–2 0–0 1–2 0–1
Ipswich Town 3–0 0–1 1–1 3–1 1–1 1–2 1–1 2–1 1–1 2–0 1–3 3–2 2–1 0–0 1–2 2–0 2–0 1–1 1–1 0–3 2–2 0–0 0–2
Norwich City 4–0 1–1 1–1 1–2 1–1 2–0 1–0 1–2 1–2 1–2 2–1 2–0 2–3 1–0 2–2 0–1 0–2 1–0 0–1 2–2 2–3 2–0 5–2
Nottingham Forest 1–0 1–1 0–0 3–2 1–2 0–1 0–0 1–0 0–2 1–3 2–4 1–1 1–2 2–0 2–1 2–2 0–0 0–1 2–1 3–1 1–1 3–2 0–1
Plymouth Argyle 1–2 0–1 1–2 0–2 1–2 2–1 2–2 4–0 1–3 0–3 0–3 1–3 1–2 1–0 1–0 1–1 2–2 2–2 4–0 2–0 0–1 2–1 2–2
Preston North End 2–1 1–0 0–1 2–0 2–1 6–0 2–1 2–1 2–0 2–0 1–0 3–2 1–0 2–1 1–1 2–1 2–1 0–0 1–1 2–3 0–2 2–0 1–3
Queens Park Rangers 2–1 1–0 1–1 2–1 1–2 1–0 2–1 1–1 0–0 0–2 2–0 1–3 0–1 2–1 0–0 3–2 0–0 0–0 3–2 4–1 1–0 0–0 1–0
Reading 0–0 1–2 1–0 0–2 3–1 1–1 2–2 3–1 4–2 3–0 2–1 0–1 2–0 0–1 2–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 6–0 1–2 4–0 4–0 1–0
Sheffield United 2–1 2–1 2–2 3–0 2–3 0–0 3–1 1–1 2–2 4–2 0–1 2–0 1–0 0–0 2–0 1–0 3–0 0–2 1–2 0–0 1–0 2–1 1–3
Sheffield Wednesday 0–1 1–1 1–1 0–0 4–1 1–0 4–1 0–1 2–0 0–1 1–0 0–0 3–2 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–0 1–2 1–0 2–0 0–0 2–0 0–1
Southampton 0–0 1–2 0–1 0–1 2–2 1–0 2–3 1–1 1–0 1–1 1–2 2–2 2–0 0–2 0–0 3–1 0–0 1–1 1–2 1–1 2–2 0–3 1–2
Swansea City 2–2 2–3 0–1 1–0 1–1 2–2 1–1 0–0 1–3 1–1 3–1 3–0 2–1 3–1 1–0 4–1 0–0 2–0 1–1 1–1 3–0 3–1 3–1
Watford 1–1 0–1 3–4 2–4 3–0 2–2 1–0 2–1 2–0 3–1 1–1 2–1 2–1 2–1 1–2 2–1 3–0 2–2 0–2 2–2 2–2 2–0 2–3
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2–0 1–1 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–2 2–1 2–1 2–1 3–0 1–0 0–0 3–3 5–1 0–1 1–3 1–0 0–3 1–1 4–1 3–0 2–1 3–1
Source: The Football League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
Queens Park Rangers Iain Dowie Contract terminated 24 October 2008[3] Paulo Sousa 19 November 2008[4] 9th
Watford Aidy Boothroyd Mutual consent 3 November 2008[5] Brendan Rodgers 24 November 2008[6] 21st
Charlton Athletic Alan Pardew Mutual Consent 22 November 2008[3] Phil Parkinson 31 December 2008[7] 22nd
Blackpool Simon Grayson Signed by Leeds United (Mutual Consent) 23 December 2008[8] Ian Holloway 21 May 2009[9] 16th
Nottingham Forest Colin Calderwood Contract terminated 26 December 2008[10] Billy Davies 1 January 2009[11] 22nd
Derby County Paul Jewell Resigned 28 December 2008[12] Nigel Clough 6 January 2009[13] 18th
Norwich City Glenn Roeder Contract terminated 14 January 2009[14] Bryan Gunn 21 January 2009[15] 21st
Southampton Jan Poortvliet Resigned 23 January 2009[16] Mark Wotte 23 January 2009[16] 23rd
Queens Park Rangers Paulo Sousa Contract terminated 9 April 2009[17] 10th
Ipswich Town Jim Magilton Contract terminated 22 April 2009[18] Roy Keane 23 April 2009[19] 9th
Reading Steve Coppell Resigned 13 May 2009[20] 4th

Top scorers
PosPlayerTeamGoals
1 Sylvan Ebanks-Blake Wolverhampton Wanderers 25
2 Jason Scotland Swansea City 21
Ross McCormack Cardiff City
4 Kevin Doyle Reading 18
5 Tommy Smith Watford 17
6 Rob Hulse Derby County 15
7 Chris Iwelumo Wolverhampton Wanderers 14
Kevin Phillips Birmingham City
Marcus Tudgay Sheffield Wednesday
10 Dexter Blackstock Nottingham Forest 13
Nicky Bailey Charlton Athletic
Paul Gallagher Plymouth Argyle

League One

Table
Pos 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[lower-alpha 1]
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
Updated to match(es) played on 2 May 2009. Source: The Football League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. Stockport County deducted 10 points;[21]

Play-offs
  Semi-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
Home \ Away B&HA BRR CRL CHL COL CRE HAR HER HUD LEE LEI LEY MIL MKD NOR OLD PET SCU STD STP SWI TRA WAL YEO
Brighton & Hove Albion 1–1 0–2 3–3 1–2 0–4 2–1 0–0 0–1 0–2 3–2 0–0 4–1 2–4 1–1 3–1 2–4 1–4 1–3 1–0 2–3 0–0 0–1 5–0
Bristol Rovers 1–2 2–3 3–2 0–0 0–0 4–1 6–1 1–2 2–2 0–1 2–1 4–2 1–2 1–0 2–0 0–1 1–2 4–2 2–0 2–2 2–0 1–3 3–0
Carlisle United 3–1 1–1 1–0 0–2 4–2 0–1 1–2 3–0 0–2 1–2 1–3 2–0 3–2 1–1 1–1 3–3 1–1 2–1 1–2 1–1 1–2 1–1 4–1
Cheltenham Town 2–2 2–1 1–1 4–3 1–0 2–0 2–3 1–2 0–1 0–4 0–1 1–3 3–5 0–1 1–1 3–6 1–2 0–0 2–2 2–0 1–0 0–0 1–0
Colchester United 0–1 0–1 5–0 3–1 0–1 1–1 1–2 0–0 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–2 0–3 2–1 2–2 0–1 0–0 0–1 1–0 3–2 0–1 0–2 1–0
Crewe Alexandra 1–2 1–1 1–2 1–2 2–0 0–0 2–1 3–1 2–3 0–3 0–2 0–1 2–2 1–3 0–3 1–1 3–2 3–4 0–3 1–0 2–1 2–1 2–0
Hartlepool United 1–0 1–1 2–2 4–1 4–2 1–4 4–2 5–3 0–1 2–2 0–1 2–3 1–3 2–0 3–3 1–2 2–3 3–0 0–1 3–3 2–1 2–2 0–0
Hereford United 1–2 0–3 1–0 3–0 0–2 2–0 1–1 0–1 2–0 1–3 2–1 0–2 0–1 0–2 5–0 0–1 1–2 0–1 0–1 1–1 2–2 0–0 1–2
Huddersfield Town 2–2 1–1 1–0 2–2 2–2 3–2 1–1 2–0 1–0 2–3 0–1 1–2 1–3 3–2 1–1 1–0 2–0 0–1 1–1 2–1 1–2 2–1 0–0
Leeds United 3–1 2–2 0–2 2–0 1–2 5–2 4–1 1–0 1–2 1–1 2–1 2–0 2–0 3–0 0–2 3–1 3–2 2–0 1–0 1–0 3–1 3–0 4–0
Leicester City 0–0 2–1 2–2 4–0 1–1 2–1 1–0 2–1 4–2 1–0 3–0 0–1 2–0 0–0 0–0 4–0 2–2 3–0 1–1 1–1 3–1 2–2 1–0
Leyton Orient 2–1 1–2 0–0 1–2 2–1 1–0 1–0 2–1 1–1 2–2 1–3 0–0 1–2 1–3 2–1 2–3 2–2 1–1 0–3 1–2 0–1 0–1 0–1
Millwall 0–1 3–2 1–0 2–0 0–1 0–0 2–0 1–0 2–1 3–1 0–1 2–1 0–4 1–0 2–3 2–0 1–2 1–1 1–0 1–1 1–0 3–1 1–1
Milton Keynes Dons 2–0 2–1 3–1 3–1 1–1 2–2 3–1 3–0 1–1 3–1 2–2 1–2 0–1 1–0 6–2 1–2 0–2 2–0 1–2 1–2 1–0 0–1 3–0
Northampton Town 2–2 0–0 1–0 4–2 1–2 5–1 1–0 2–1 1–1 2–1 1–2 1–1 0–0 0–1 0–1 1–1 3–3 2–3 4–0 3–4 1–1 0–2 3–0
Oldham Athletic 1–1 0–2 0–0 4–0 0–1 1–1 2–1 4–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 4–3 2–0 2–1 1–2 3–0 1–1 3–1 0–0 0–2 3–2 0–2
Peterborough United 0–0 5–4 1–0 1–1 2–1 4–2 1–2 2–0 4–0 2–0 2–0 3–0 1–0 0–0 1–0 2–2 2–1 1–2 1–0 2–2 2–2 1–0 1–3
Scunthorpe United 2–0 0–2 2–1 3–0 3–0 3–0 3–0 3–0 1–2 1–2 1–2 2–1 3–2 0–1 4–4 2–0 1–0 1–1 2–1 3–3 1–1 1–1 2–0
Southend United 0–2 1–0 3–0 2–0 3–3 0–1 3–2 1–0 0–1 1–0 0–2 3–0 0–1 0–2 1–0 1–2 1–0 2–0 1–1 2–1 2–1 2–0 0–1
Stockport County 2–0 3–1 3–0 1–0 1–2 4–3 2–1 4–1 1–1 1–3 0–0 0–1 2–2 0–1 1–1 3–1 1–3 0–3 3–1 1–1 0–0 1–2 0–0
Swindon Town 0–2 2–1 1–1 2–2 1–3 0–0 0–1 3–0 1–3 1–3 2–2 0–1 1–2 1–1 2–1 2–0 2–2 4–2 3–0 1–1 3–1 3–2 2–3
Tranmere Rovers 1–0 2–0 4–1 2–0 3–4 2–0 1–0 2–1 3–1 2–1 2–0 0–0 1–3 1–1 4–1 0–1 1–1 2–0 2–2 2–1 1–0 2–1 1–1
Walsall 3–0 0–5 2–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–3 1–1 2–3 1–0 1–4 0–2 1–2 0–3 3–1 1–2 1–2 2–1 5–2 1–0 2–1 0–1 2–0
Yeovil Town 1–1 2–2 1–1 1–1 0–2 3–2 2–3 2–2 1–0 1–1 0–2 0–0 2–0 0–0 1–0 2–2 0–1 1–2 1–2 2–4 1–0 1–0 1–1
Source: The Football League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Managerial changes
Team 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[22] Roberto Di Matteo 2 July 2008[23] Pre-season
Cheltenham Town Keith Downing Mutual consent 13 September 2008[24] Martin Allen 15 September 2008[25] 24th
Colchester United Geraint Williams Mutual consent 22 September 2008[26] Paul Lambert 9 October 2008[27] 23rd
Carlisle United John Ward Mutual consent 3 November 2008[28] Greg Abbott 5 December 2008[29] 20th
Huddersfield Town Stan Ternent Contract terminated 4 November 2008[30] Lee Clark 11 December 2008[31] 16th
Swindon Town Maurice Malpas Mutual consent 14 November 2008[32] Danny Wilson 26 December 2008[33] 17th
Crewe Alexandra Steve Holland 18 November 2008[34] Guðjón Thórðarson 24 December 2008[35] 24th
Hartlepool United Danny Wilson Contract terminated 15 December 2008[36] 13th
Leeds United Gary McAllister Contract terminated 21 December 2008[37] Simon Grayson 23 December 2008[8] 9th
Walsall Jimmy Mullen Contract terminated 10 January 2009[38] Chris Hutchings 20 January 2009[39] 12th
Leyton Orient Martin Ling Mutual Consent 18 January 2009[40] Geraint Williams 5 February 2009[41] 21st
Yeovil Town Russell Slade Mutual Consent 16 February 2009[42] Terry Skiverton 18 February 2009[43] 16th
Brighton & Hove Albion Micky Adams Mutual Consent 21 February 2009[44] Russell Slade 6 March 2009[45] 21st
Oldham Athletic John Sheridan Mutual Consent 15 March 2009[46] Joe Royle 15 March 2009[47] 8th

Top scorers
PosPlayerClubGoals
1 Rickie Lambert Bristol Rovers 29
Simon Cox Swindon Town
3 Jermaine Beckford Leeds United 27
Matty Fryatt Leicester City
5 Gary Hooper Scunthorpe United 24
6 Craig Mackail-Smith Peterborough United 23
7 Aaron McLean Peterborough United 18
Joel Porter Hartlepool United
9 Paul Hayes Scunthorpe United 17
10 Aaron Wilbraham Milton Keynes Dons 16

League Two

Table
Pos 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[lower-alpha 1]
13 Lincoln City 46 14 17 15 53 52 +1 59
14 Rotherham United 46 21 12 13 60 46 +14 58[lower-alpha 2]
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[lower-alpha 3]
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[lower-alpha 4]
Source: The Football League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. Darlington deducted 10 points for entering administration.[48]
  2. Rotherham United deducted 17 points for leaving administration without a Company Voluntary Agreement.[49]
  3. Bournemouth deducted 17 points for leaving administration without a Company Voluntary Agreement.[50]
  4. Luton Town deducted 30 points; 20 points for leaving administration without a Company Voluntary Agreement, and 10 points for making illegal payments to agents.[51]

Play-offs
  Semifinals 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  

Results
Home \ Away ACC ALD BAR BOU BRA BRE BRY CHE CHF D&R DAR EXE GIL GRI LIN LUT MAC MOR NTC PTV ROC ROT SHR WYC
Accrington Stanley 0–1 1–1 3–0 2–3 1–1 1–2 0–1 1–0 0–0 1–0 2–1 0–2 3–1 0–2 0–0 2–0 1–0 1–1 2–0 1–3 1–3 2–1 0–1
Aldershot Town 3–1 1–1 1–1 3–2 1–1 3–3 2–2 1–1 1–2 2–1 1–0 2–1 2–2 2–0 2–1 1–1 0–2 2–2 1–0 2–4 0–1 0–0 3–2
Barnet 2–1 0–3 1–0 4–1 0–1 1–2 3–1 1–3 1–1 0–1 0–1 2–2 3–3 3–2 1–1 1–3 1–1 0–4 1–2 2–1 2–0 0–0 1–1
Bournemouth 1–0 2–0 0–2 4–1 0–1 2–0 1–0 1–1 2–1 3–1 0–1 1–1 2–1 0–1 1–1 0–1 0–0 0–1 0–0 4–0 0–0 1–0 3–1
Bradford City 1–1 5–0 3–3 1–3 1–1 1–0 0–0 3–2 1–1 0–0 4–1 2–2 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 4–0 2–1 0–1 2–0 3–0 0–0 1–0
Brentford 3–0 3–0 1–0 2–0 2–1 1–0 3–0 0–1 2–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 4–0 1–1 2–0 1–0 3–1 1–1 2–0 1–2 0–0 1–1 3–3
Bury 1–0 2–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–2 2–2 2–2 0–1 4–0 0–2 3–1 1–2 3–0 2–1 2–0 3–0 2–1 1–2 2–1 0–0
Chester City 2–0 0–1 5–1 0–2 0–0 3–0 1–1 1–3 2–2 1–2 0–0 0–1 1–1 0–2 2–2 0–2 1–2 2–0 1–2 0–2 1–5 1–1 0–2
Chesterfield 1–1 5–1 1–1 1–0 0–2 0–1 1–3 1–1 1–1 0–0 2–1 0–1 2–1 1–1 2–2 2–4 1–2 3–1 2–1 3–0 1–0 2–2 0–1
Dagenham & Redbridge 0–0 3–1 2–0 0–1 3–0 3–1 1–3 6–0 3–0 0–1 1–2 2–0 4–0 0–3 2–1 2–1 0–2 6–1 1–1 3–2 1–1 1–2 0–1
Darlington 3–0 2–0 2–2 2–1 2–1 1–3 2–2 1–2 0–0 3–0 1–1 1–2 1–0 2–0 5–1 1–2 0–0 1–0 2–1 1–2 1–0 1–1 1–2
Exeter City 2–1 3–2 2–1 1–3 1–0 0–2 0–0 2–0 1–6 2–1 2–0 3–0 0–0 2–1 0–1 4–0 2–2 2–2 1–0 4–1 1–1 0–1 1–0
Gillingham 1–0 4–4 0–2 1–0 0–2 1–1 0–0 2–0 2–1 2–1 1–0 1–0 3–0 1–2 0–1 3–1 5–0 2–2 1–0 1–1 4–0 2–2 1–1
Grimsby Town 0–1 1–0 0–1 3–3 1–3 0–1 1–2 1–3 0–1 1–1 1–2 2–2 3–0 5–1 2–2 0–0 2–3 0–1 3–0 0–0 3–0 1–0 1–1
Lincoln City 5–1 0–2 2–0 3–3 0–0 2–2 1–1 1–1 3–1 1–3 0–1 0–1 2–0 1–1 0–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–1 0–1 0–0 1–0
Luton Town 1–2 3–1 3–1 3–3 3–3 0–1 1–2 1–1 0–0 2–1 1–2 1–2 0–0 2–1 3–2 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–3 1–1 2–4 3–1 0–1
Macclesfield Town 0–2 4–2 2–1 0–2 0–2 2–0 1–1 3–1 1–1 0–4 0–6 1–4 0–1 1–0 1–2 2–1 0–1 1–1 0–2 0–1 1–2 3–0 0–0
Morecambe 1–1 2–0 2–1 0–4 2–1 2–0 0–0 3–1 2–2 1–2 1–0 1–1 0–1 1–1 1–1 1–2 4–1 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–3 1–0 0–0
Notts County 1–1 2–1 2–0 1–1 3–1 1–1 0–1 1–2 0–1 0–3 0–0 2–1 0–1 0–2 0–1 0–2 1–1 1–0 4–2 1–2 0–3 2–2 0–2
Port Vale 0–2 0–0 0–0 3–1 0–2 0–3 1–1 3–0 0–1 0–1 3–1 1–3 1–3 2–1 0–1 1–3 1–4 2–1 1–2 2–1 0–0 1–1 1–1
Rochdale 3–1 3–1 3–1 1–1 3–0 1–2 1–1 6–1 2–1 0–2 0–2 2–2 0–1 2–0 2–2 2–0 1–1 1–1 3–0 1–0 1–2 2–1 0–1
Rotherham United 0–0 1–2 3–4 1–0 0–2 0–0 1–1 3–1 3–0 1–1 0–1 0–1 2–0 4–1 1–0 1–0 2–0 3–2 2–1 1–0 2–2 1–2 0–0
Shrewsbury Town 2–0 1–0 2–2 4–1 2–0 1–3 1–0 1–0 2–1 2–1 1–0 1–1 7–0 1–1 0–0 3–0 4–0 0–0 3–2 1–2 1–1 1–0 0–1
Wycombe Wanderers 2–1 3–0 1–1 3–1 1–0 0–0 2–1 2–0 1–1 2–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 0–1 1–0 0–0 4–0 1–1 1–2 4–2 0–1 0–0 1–1
Source: The Football League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
Bournemouth Kevin Bond Contract terminated 1 September 2008[52] Jimmy Quinn 2 September 2008[53] 23rd
Grimsby Town Alan Buckley Contract terminated 15 September 2008[54] Mike Newell 6 October 2008[55] 20th
Port Vale Lee Sinnott Mutual consent 22 September 2008[56] Dean Glover 6 October 2008[57] 16th
Chester City Simon Davies Contract terminated 11 November 2008[58] Mark Wright 14 November 2008[59] 19th
Barnet Paul Fairclough Resigned 28 December 2008[60] 21st
Bournemouth Jimmy Quinn Contract terminated 31 December 2008[61] Eddie Howe 31 December 2008[62] 23rd

Top scorers
PosPlayerTeamGoals
1 Simeon Jackson Gillingham 21
2 Grant Holt Shrewsbury Town 20
Jack Lester Chesterfield
4 Reuben Reid Rotherham United 18
5 Paul Benson Dagenham & Redbridge 17
John O'Flynn Barnet
Adam le Fondre Rochdale
Peter Thorne Bradford City
Brett Pitman Bournemouth
10 Andy Bishop Bury 16
Ryan Lowe Chester City
Charlie MacDonald Brentford

Notes
  • Luton (−30), Bournemouth (−17) and Rotherham (−17) began the League Two season on negative points.

References
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