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

Season	2008–09
Champions	Wolverhampton Wanderers
Promoted	Wolverhampton Wanderers Birmingham City Burnley
Relegated	Chester City Luton Town
New Clubs in League	Aldershot Town Exeter City
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

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

• West Bromwich Albion
• Middlesbrough
• Newcastle United

From Championship

Promoted to Premier League

• Wolverhampton Wanderers
• Birmingham City
• Burnley

Relegated to League One

• Norwich City
• Southampton
• Charlton Athletic

From Football League One

Promoted to Championship

• Leicester City
• Peterborough United
• Scunthorpe United

Relegated to League Two

• Northampton Town
• Crewe Alexandra
• Cheltenham Town
• Hereford United

From Football League Two

Promoted to League One

• Brentford
• Exeter City
• Wycombe Wanderers
• Gillingham

Relegated to Conference Premier

• Chester City
• Luton Town

From Conference Premier

Promoted to League Two

• Burton Albion
• Torquay United

Championship

This section is transcluded from 2008–09 Football League Championship. (edit | history)

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[a]
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[b]
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) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (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

Pos	Player	Team	Goals
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

This section is transcluded from 2008–09 Football League One. (edit | history)

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[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

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) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Stockport County deducted 10 points for entering administration.^[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

Pos	Player	Club	Goals
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

This section is transcluded from 2008–09 Football League Two. (edit | history)

Table

Pos	Team v t e	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]

Source: The Football League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (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
AFC 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
AFC Bournemouth	Jimmy Quinn	Contract terminated	31 December 2008[61]	Eddie Howe	31 December 2008[62]	23rd

Top scorers

Pos	Player	Team	Goals
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	AFC 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.