2008–09 Football League One

Football league season

Football League One
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 →

Yeovil class=notpageimage| Locations of the League One 2008–09 teams

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.

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

From League One

Promoted to Championship

Relegated to League Two

To League One

Relegated from Championship

Promoted from League Two

League 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	Promotion to Football League Championship
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
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:

Stockport County deducted 10 points for entering administration.

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.

Top scorers

Correct as of 8 May 2009

Pos	Player	Club	Goals
1	Rickie Lambert	Bristol Rovers	29
1	Simon Cox	Swindon Town	29
3	Matty Fryatt	Leicester City	27
3	Jermaine Beckford	Leeds United	27
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

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

30 April 2009 – Stockport County are docked 10 points by the FA for entering administration

Stadiums

Team	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

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	Roberto Di Matteo	2 July 2008	Pre-season
Cheltenham Town	Keith Downing	Mutual consent	13 September 2008	Martin Allen	15 September 2008	24th
Colchester United	Geraint Williams	Mutual consent	22 September 2008	Paul Lambert	24 September 2008	23rd
Carlisle United	John Ward	Mutual consent	3 November 2008	Greg Abbott	5 December 2008	20th
Huddersfield Town	Stan Ternent	Mutual consent	4 November 2008	Lee Clark	11 December 2008	16th
Swindon Town	Maurice Malpas	Mutual consent	14 November 2008	Danny Wilson	26 December 2008	16th
Crewe Alexandra	Steve Holland	Contract terminated	18 November 2008	Guðjón Þórðarson	24 December 2008	24th
Hartlepool United	Danny Wilson	Contract terminated	15 December 2008	Chris Turner	15 December 2008	13th
Leeds United	Gary McAllister	Contract terminated	21 December 2008	Simon Grayson	23 December 2008	9th
Walsall	Jimmy Mullen	Contract terminated	10 January 2009	Chris Hutchings	20 January 2009	12th
Leyton Orient	Martin Ling	Mutual Consent	18 January 2009	Geraint Williams	5 February 2009	21st
Yeovil Town	Russell Slade	Contract terminated	16 February 2009	Terry Skiverton	18 February 2009	16th
Brighton & Hove Albion	Micky Adams	Contract terminated	21 February 2009	Russell Slade	6 March 2009	21st
Oldham Athletic	John Sheridan	Mutual Consent	15 March 2009	Joe Royle	15 March 2009	8th

References

"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.
^ "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.

EFL League One

Seasons

Clubs

2024–25 clubs

Former clubs

Competition

Statistics and awards

Finances

Sponsors

Coca-Cola (2004–10)
Npower (2010–13)
Sky Bet (2013–)

Associated competitions

Prospects

Promotion to EFL Championship
Relegation to EFL League Two

2008–09 in English football

« 2007–08 2009–10 »

National teams

League
competitions

Level 1	Premier League
Levels 2–4	Football League (Championship, League One, League Two, play-offs)
Levels 5–6	Football Conference (Premier, North, South)
Levels 7–8	Isthmian League (Premier, North, South) Northern Premier League (Premier, North, South) Southern Football League (Premier, Midlands, South & West)
Levels 9–10	Combined Counties League (Premier, One) East Midlands Counties League (level 10 only) Eastern Counties League (Premier, One) Essex Senior League (level 9 only) Hellenic League (Premier, One East, One West) Kent League (level 9 only) Midland Alliance (level 9 only) Midland Football Combination (level 10 only) North West Counties League (Premier, One) Northern Counties East League (Premier, One) Northern League (One, Two) South West Peninsula League (level 10 only) Spartan South Midlands League (Premier, One) Sussex County League (One, Two) United Counties League (Premier, One) Wessex League (Premier, One) West Midlands (Regional) League (level 10 only) Western League (Premier, One)

Cup competitions

FA cups	FA Cup (Qualifying rounds, Final) FA Community Shield FA Trophy (Final) FA Vase (Final)
Football League cups	Football League Cup (Final) Football League Trophy (Final)

Youth competitions

Club seasons
Premier League	Arsenal Aston Villa Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers Chelsea Everton Fulham Hull City Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Middlesbrough Newcastle United Portsmouth Stoke City Sunderland Tottenham Hotspur West Bromwich Albion West Ham United Wigan Athletic
Championship	Barnsley Birmingham City Blackpool Bristol City Burnley Cardiff City Charlton Athletic Coventry City Crystal Palace Derby County Doncaster Rovers Ipswich Town Norwich City Nottingham Forest Plymouth Argyle Preston North End Queens Park Rangers Reading Sheffield United Sheffield Wednesday Southampton Swansea City Watford Wolverhampton Wanderers
League One	Brighton & Hove Albion Bristol Rovers Carlisle United Cheltenham Town Colchester United Crewe Alexandra Hartlepool United Hereford United Huddersfield Town Leeds United Leicester City Leyton Orient Millwall Milton Keynes Dons Northampton Town Oldham Athletic Peterborough United Scunthorpe United Southend United Stockport County Swindon Town Tranmere Rovers Walsall Yeovil Town
League Two	Accrington Stanley Aldershot Town Barnet Bournemouth Bradford City Brentford Bury Chester City Chesterfield Dagenham & Redbridge Darlington Exeter City Gillingham Grimsby Town Lincoln City Luton Town Macclesfield Town Morecambe Notts County Port Vale Rochdale Rotherham United Shrewsbury Town Wycombe Wanderers
Non-League	Cambridge United Torquay United York City

v t e Third level English football league seasons
Football League Third Division	1920–21
Football League Third Division North	1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58
Football League Third Division South	1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58
Football League Third Division	1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92
Football League Second Division	1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04
Football League One	2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
See also	Southern Football League

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