billsportsmaps.com

July 24, 2022

2022-23 EFL League Two [4th division] – Location-map, with 2021-22 attendance./+The 2 clubs promoted to the Football League in 2022…Stockport County: promoted back to the League after 11 years; Grimsby Town: promoted back to the League after 1 year.

Filed under: 2022-23 English football,Eng-4th Level/League Two — admin @ 7:15 pm

2022-23_efl-league-two_map_w-attendance-chart_post_e.gif
2022-23 EFL League Two [4th division] – Location-map, with 2021-22 attendance chart




By Bill Turianski on the 24th of July 2022; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.
Links…
-2022-23 EFL League Two (en.wikipedia.org).
-Table, fixtures, results, stats, attendances, etc…Summary – EFL League Two [2022-23] (soccerway.com).
-League Two 2022-23 preview: the contenders, hopefuls and strugglers (by Ben Fisher at theguardian.com/football).

Quick clicks to the 2 promoted teams illustrations
-Stockport County – promoted in 2022.
-Grimsby Town – promoted in 2022.

2022-23 EFL League Two [4th division] – Location-map, with 2021-22 attendance.
The map here is a new template, one which I will have for the top 4 divisions in England this year. The map is a basic location-map, with inset maps of both Greater London and Greater Manchester. Also shown are small labels which point out the two promoted clubs (Stockport County, and Grimsby Town). And here is the part that makes this a new template: there is an attendance chart.

The attendance chart shows 5 things for each of the 24 current League Two clubs…A) 2021-22 finish (with relegations and promotions noted). B) 2021-22 average attendance [from home league matches]. C) Stadium capacity [2021-22]. D) Percent-capacity [2021-22]. E) Last time club had higher attendance [than 2021-22]. I added that last column (last time club had higher attendance), because last season there were a lot of clubs in the lower Football League and in non-League football that saw notable attendance increases. As far as current League Two sides go, 3 clubs saw all-time-best average attendances last season: AFC Wimbledon (at 7.7-K-per-game, in their new ground, and despite being relegated); Harrogate Town (at 2.3-K-per-game, in their 3rd season in the Football League); and Sutton United (at 3.0-K-per-game, in their first-ever season in the Football League). And a few clubs saw their best crowds in many years: Barrow AFC had their best attendance since 1969-70 (at 3.2-K-per-game); Newport County had their best attendance since 1983-84 (at 3.9-K-per-game); Stockport County had their best attendance since 1999-2000 [when they were a 2nd-division club], at 7.0-K-per-game; and Grimsby Town had their best attendance since 2002-03 [when they were a 2nd-division club], at 5.7-K-per-game. The last two clubs, as mentioned, were the two clubs promoted to the 4th division last season, and illustrations for them both can be seen below.

Stockport County – promoted back to the Football League after 11 years…
-Stockport County 2-0 FC Halifax Town (bbc.com/sport/football on 15 May 2022).
-It’s a Stockport County thing (by Holly Hunt at efl.com on 15 June 2022).
-Stockport seal National League title and EFL return after 11 years (by PA Media at theguardian.com/football on 15 May 2022).
stockport-county_promoted-back-to-football-league_edgeley-park_dave-challinor_p-madden_w-collar_b-hinchliffe_f_.gif
Photo and Image credits above – Coat of arms of the Town of Stockport, image from heraldry-wiki.com. Stockport County 2021-22 home jersey, photo from clubfootballshirts.com. St Petersgate bridge over Little Underbank, in the Underbank aka Stockports’s Soho, photo unattributed at britainallover.com. Drone-photo of Edgeley Park, by Stockport County at twitter.com/[@StockportCounty]. -Dave Challinor, screenshot from video uploaded by Stockport County at youtube.com. -Paddy Madden, screenshot from video uploaded by Stockport County at youtube.com. -Will Collar, screenshot from video uploaded by Stockport County at youtube.com. -Ben Hinchliffe, photo by Stockport County at stockportcounty.com/hinchliffes-county-journey-continues. -Stockport fans pitch invasion 15th May 2020, screenshot from video uploaded by Stockport County at youtube.com.




Grimsby Town – promoted back to the Football League after 1 year…
-Solihull Moors 1-2 Grimsby Town (AET) – Jordan Maguire-Drew winner sends Mariners back to EFL (by Chris Peddy at bbc.com/sport on 5 June 2022).
-Relegation, promotion and unbelievable drama – welcome to the Grimsby way (by Jason Stockwood at theguardian.com/football/blog on 25 July 2022).
-From @Official GTFC – [Winning goal, by Jordan Maguire-Drew, that sent Grimsby Town back to the League: 1:00 video.] (twitter.com/[@officialgtfc] on 3 July 2022).
grimsby-town_promoted-straight-back-to-football-league-2022_blundell-park_cleethorpes_paul-hurst_j-mcatee_j-maguire-drew_h_.gif
Photo and Image credits above – Coat of arms of Great Grimsby, from heraldry-wiki.com. Grimsby Town 2021-22 home jersey, photo by Lee Blease via grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/sport. Drone-photo of Blundell Park in Cleethorpes, photo by Joshua Adam via grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/news. Aerial shot of Blundell Park from gtfc.co.uk. -Paul Hurst, photo by Getty Images via lincolnshireworld.com/sport[Gallery]. -Kyle Hudlin, photo by Getty Images via bbc.com/sport/live. -John McAtee, and Jordan Maguire-Drew, photos by Getty Images via dailymail.co.uk/sport. -Grimsby Town fans at London Stadium, photo by Getty Images via lincolnshireworld.com/sport[Gallery].



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Thanks to all at the following links…
-Blank map of English Metropolitan and Non-Metropolitan Counties, by Nilfanion, at File:English metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties 2010.svg (commons.wikimedia.org).
-Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England (en.wikipedia.org).
-Blank relief map of Greater London, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:Greater London UK relief location map.jpg (en.wikipedia.org).
-Blank relief map of Greater Manchester, by Nilfanion (using Ordnance Survey data), at File:Greater Manchester UK relief location map.jpg (commons.wikimedia.org).
-Blank relief map of West Midlands, by Nilfanion (using Ordnance Survey data), at File:West Midlands UK relief location map.jpg (commons.wikimedia.org).
-PFA League Two Team of the Year [2021].
-Historical attendance figures, european-football-statistics.co.uk.
-2021-22 attendance figures from worldfootball.net/attendance/eng-league-two-2021-2022
-Seasons in Football League by Club: Club League Divisional History Summary 1888-89 to 2020-21 (myfootballfacts.com);
fchd.info (Football Club History Database);
England – First Level All-Time Tables 1888/89-2018/19 (rsssf.com).
-Player-positions: transfermarkt.us.
-Distances: mapdevelopers.com/distance_from_to.php (mapdevelopers.com).
-2022 National League team of the year, twitter.com/[@TheVanaramaNL].

June 29, 2021

The 2 clubs promoted to the Football League in 2021…Sutton United: promoted to the League after 123 years; Hartlepool United: promoted back to the League after 4 years.

Filed under: Eng-4th Level/League Two,Eng-5th level — admin @ 6:35 pm

By Bill Turianski on the 29th of June 2021; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.
Links…
-2021-22 National League (en.wikipedia.org).
-2021-22 EFL League Two (en.wikipedia.org).
-Isaac Olaofe seals Sutton United’s historic promotion to Football League (by PA Media on 23 May 2021, at theguardian.com/football).
-Hartlepool United 1-1 Torquay United, Hartlepool wins 5-4 on penalties (by Brent Pilnick on 20 June 2021, at bbc.com/sport).



    Sutton United: winners of the 2020-21 National League, and promoted to the Football League after 123 years…

[Note: you can click on the image below to view in a separate, scrollable screen.]
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Photo and Image credits above -
2020-22 Sutton Utd jersey, from suttonunited.net. Sutton High Street, photo by Padmak/Shutterstock via thecrazytourist.com. Gander Green Lane, photo by Steve Parsons/PA via theguardian.com/football. Matt Gray (manager), photo from suttonunited.net. Isaac Olaofe (FW) (top scorer), photo by Paul Loughlin via bbc.com/sport. Craig Eastmond (CMF) (Captain), photo by thegrassrootstourist.com/2021/05/09/sutton-united. Ben Goodliffe (CB), photo from suttonunited.net. David Ajiboye (RW), photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images via gettyimages.com. Harry Beautyman (LMF), photo by grassrootstourist.com via at twitter.com/[@16beautyman]. 23 May 2021 at Gander Green Lane: Sutton 3-0 Hartlepool – Captain Craig Eastmond lifts the trophy and the squad and staff celebrate, photo by Paul Loughlin via suttonunited.net.




    Hartlepool United: winners of the 2021 National League Play-off Final, and promoted back to the Football League after 4 years…

[Note: you can click on the image below to view in a separate, scrollable screen.]
 hartlepool-united_promoted-2021_victoria-park_dave-challinor_r-oates_d-ferguson_l-armstrong_b-james_win-over-torquay-in-play-offs-final_d_.gif
Photo and Image credits above -
2020-21 Hartlepool Utd jersey, from footballkitarchive.com. Headland, Hartlepool, photo unattributed at boutiquehotelier.com. Aerial shot of Victoria Park, by PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo via footballtripper.com. Dave Challinor (manager), photo unattributed at sportsbeezer.com. Rhys Oates (LW/FW/RW) (top scorer), photo unattributed at bbc.co.uk/programmes. David Ferguson (LB/LMF), photo by Christopher Booth/MI News/Nurphoto via gettyimages.fi. Luke Armstrong (CF) scoring 1st goal in National League play-off final 23 May 2021 at Ashton Gate, photo by Rex Features via bbc.com/sport. Torquay GK Lucas Covolan equalises at 90+5′, photo by PA via minutegoal.com. Hartlepool keeper Brad James makes the winning save in penalties, photo unattributed at minutegoal.com. Hartlepool supporters’ pitch invasion, screenshot of image from video uploaded by Hartlepool United at youtube.com.



___
Thanks to all at the following links…
-2021 National League team of the year, twitter.com/[@TheVanaramaNL].
-Historical attendance figures, european-football-statistics.co.uk.
-Seasons: Football Club History Database, fchd.info.

November 13, 2019

2019-20 EFL League Two (4th division England, incl Wales): map w/ 18/19-crowds-&-finish + titles-&-seasons-in-1st-division./+ Top of the table chart (showing each of the 7 top teams’ managers & their leading scorer).

Filed under: 2019-20 English Football,Eng-4th Level/League Two — admin @ 8:36 am

2019-20_football-league-two_map_w-2019-crowds_titles_seasons-in-1st-division_post_b_.gif
2019-20 EFL League Two (4th division England, incl Wales): map w/ 18/19-crowds-&-finish + titles-&-seasons-in-1st-division





By Bill Turianski on 13 November 2019; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.

Links…
-2019-20 EFL League Two (en.wikipedia.org).
-Table, fixtures, results, attendance, stats…LEAGUE TWO [Summary] (soccerway.com).
-Sky Bet League Two 2019 – 2020 [kits] (historicalkits.co.uk).

    EFL League Two – Top of the table as of 15 November 2019 (15-to-17 games played / ~one-third of the season played):
    Shown below are each of the 7 top teams’ manager & their leading scorer…

2019-20_football-league-two_top-7-teams_as-of-15-nov-2019_manager-and-top-scorer_forest-green_bradford_swindon_crewe_exeter_cheltenham_newport_d_.gif
Photo and Image credits above -
Table (screenshot) from worldfootball.net/competition/eng-league-two.
FGR: Mark Cooper, photo by Ben Hoskins/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com. Joseph Mills, photo unattributed at publicinsta.com/hashtag/GreenDevils.
Bradford City: Gary Bowyer, photo from bradfordcityfc.co.uk. James Vaughan, photo from bradfordcityfc.co.uk.
Swindon Town: Richie Wellens, photo from swindontownfc.co.uk. Eoin Doyle, photo by Dave Evans at swindonadvertiser.co.uk/sport.
Crewe: David Artell, photo by Kevin Warburton – A Moment in Sport via cheshire-live.co.uk/sport. Chris Porter, photo by Nicola Cooper at crewechronicle.co.uk/sport.
Exeter City: Matt Taylor, photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com. Nicky Law, photo by Micah Crook/PPAUK via devonlive.com/sport.
Cheltenham Town: Michael Duff, photo by Shane Healey/Pro Sports Images via stroudnewsandjournal.co.uk/sport. Luke Varney, photo by Dan Westwood at nottinghampost.com/sport. Ryan Broom, photo unattributed at twitter.com/[@ryanbroom10].
Newport County: Michael Flynn, photo by Dave Evans at swindonadvertiser.co.uk/sport. , photo from newport-county.co.uk.
___
Thanks to the following…
-Blank map of UK historic counties, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:United Kingdom police areas map.svg (commons.wikimedia.org).
-Blank relief map of Greater London, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:Greater London UK relief location map.jpg.

-Attendances from E-F-S site, european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn.htm.
-5th division attendances from nonleaguematters.co.uk.
-Thanks to the contributors at en.wikipedia, at 2019-20 EFL League Two.

October 4, 2018

2018-19 Football League Two (4th division England, incl Wales): map w/ 17/18-crowds-&-finish + titles-&-seasons-in-1st-division./+ 2 promoted clubs for the 2018-19 4th division (Macclesfield Town, Tranmere Rovers).

Filed under: 2018-19 English football,Eng-4th Level/League Two — admin @ 11:37 am

2018-19_football-league-two_map_w-2018-crowds_titles_seasons-in-1st-division_post_b_.gif"
2018-19 Football League Two (4th division England, incl Wales): map w/ 17/18-crowds-&-finish + titles-&-seasons-in-1st-division



By Bill Turianski on 4 October 2018; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.

Links…
-2018-19 EFL League Two (en.wikipedia.org).
-Table, fixtures, results, attendance, stats…LEAGUE TWO [Summary] (soccerway.com).
-Sky Bet League Two 2018 – 2019 [kits] (historicalkits.co.uk).


A brief re-cap of 2017-18 League Two [the 4th division]…
Promoted to the 3rd division…Accrington Stanley, Luton Town, Wycombe Wanderers, Coventry City {see this post: http://billsportsmaps.com/?p=45230}.
Relegated from the 3rd division down to the 4th division are…Oldham Athletic, Northampton Town, Milton Keynes, Bury.
Relegated from the 4th division down to the non-League 5th division are…Barnet, Chesterfield.
Promoted up from the 5th division [non-League], and into the 4th division are the two clubs profiled below…

    Below: the 2 promoted clubs for the 2017-18 fourth division (Macclesfield Town, Tranmere Rovers)…
    •Macclesfield Town FC.

Est. 1876 (as Macclesfield FC). Nickname: the Silkmen. Colours: Blue-and-White. Location: Macclesfield, Cheshire. Population of Macclesfield: around 52,000 {2011 figure}. Macclesfield is situated (by road) 21 miles (30 km) S of Manchester. Macclesfield is situated (by road) 181 miles (290 km) NW of London.

Manager of Macclesfield Town, Mark Yates (age 48; b. Birmingham, West Midlands). Yates, the former Kidderminster, Cheltenham, Crawley, and Solihull manager, was hired by Macclesfield in June 2018. He replaced longtime former Macclesfield player and manager John Askey {see photos and captions below}. Askey had just unexpectadly guided Macclesfield back into the Football League, so his stock was up. And he took the opportunity to take on the manager’s role at a larger club, so he signed on with 3rd-division-side Shrewsbury Town. Askey replaced Paul Hurst at Shrewsbury (Hurst is now manager of 2nd-tier side Ipswich Town). As John Brewin tweeted earlier this week…‘Summer EFL managerial moves: Paul Hurst from Shrewsbury to Ipswich, John Askey from Macclesfield to Shrewsbury, Mark Yates to Macclesfield. The three clubs have one win between them all season.’ {twitter.com/JohnBrewin_/status/1047384525179895808.}

A key player in Macclesfield Town’s unlikely 5th division title was 37-year-old MF Danny Whitaker, who was born only a few miles from Macclesfield, in Wimslow, Cheshire {see photos and captions below}. Whitaker was one of three Macclesfield players who made the 2018 National League Team of the Year. The other two were the Kurdish Iraqi-born-/-Hastings-E Sussex-raised GK Shwan Jalal (age 35), and Shrewsbury-born MF/RW Elliott Durrell {Silkmen Trio In National League Team Of The Year (starlaneend.com)}. Jalal has moved on, remaining in the 5th division, now as GK for the just-relegated Chesterfield. Durrell and Whitaker are still with Macclesfield, and Whitaker has scored twice this season, but Durrell has not been playing and is battling a groin injury.

As of the 4th of October, Macclesfield Town, now under Mark Yates, have had a tough time of it back in the 4th division, and are currently without a win, and are at the foot of the table. Although in Macclesfield’s last two matches, they drew against two teams that are currently in the play-off places (1-1 v Forest Green Rovers, and 3-3 away v Newport County). Macclesfield are drawing 2.1 K (22nd-highest in the 4th tier; Crawley Town and Morecambe are drawing lower).

Below: Macclesfield Town makes a surprise return to the Football League, after a 6-season spell in non-League…
macclesfield-town_promoted-2018_moss-rose_john-askey_scott-wilson_tyrone-marsh_mitch-hancox_danny-whitaker_shwan-jalal_elliott-durrell_t_.gif
Photo and Image credits above -
Macclesfield 17/18 jersey, photo from umbro.co.uk/macclesfield-town. Macclesfield Borough coat of arms, photo by Bernt Rostad at File:Macclesfield Borough coat of arms.jpg (commons.wikimedia.org). Macclesfield town centre, photo by Daniel Case at File:View of Macclesfield from Macclesfield train station 2014.jpg (commons.wikimedia.org). Aerial image of Moss Rose, from bing.com/maps [Bird's Eye View]. Main Stand at Moss Rose, photo by John Campion at allroadsleadsomewhere.blogspot.com. John Askey as manager of Macclesfield [photo from 2014], photo by Dave Thompson/PA Images via gettyimages.com. John Askey as a player for Macclesfield [photo circa 2001], photo unattributed at thenonleaguefootballpaper.com. Shwan Jalal, photo by Chelsie Wilson via starlaneend.com. Elliott Durrell, photo by Chelsie Wilson via starlaneend.com. Danny Whitaker, photo from mtfc.co.uk. Scott Wilson, photo from Macclesfield Town at twitter.com/@thesilkmen [27 Oct 2017]. Some of the 494 traveling Macclesfield fans celebrate, after Tyrone Marsh scores v Eastleigh, photo by Warren Little/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com. 17/18 Macclesfield Town away jersey, photo from mtfcdirect.co.uk. Tyrone Marsh celebrates goal v Eastleigh, photo by Warren Little/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com. Mitch Hancox scores 2nd goal v Eastleigh, photo by Action Images via thes*n.co.uk. Danny Whittaker is carried off the field by Macclesfield fans after the promotion-clinching win, photo by Warren Little/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.

    •Tranmere Rovers FC.

Est. 1884 (as Belmont FC). Nicknames: Super White Army; Rovers. Colours: White with Blue trim. Location: Tranmere, Birkenhead, Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside [along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool]. Population of Birkenhead: around 88,000 {2011 figure}. Birkenhead is situated (by road) 2 miles (3 km) W of Liverpool. Birkenhead is situated (by road) 219 miles (352 km) NW of London.

Manager of Tranmere Rovers, Micky Mellon (age 46; b. Paisley, Scotland). Micky Mellon was a DMF  who made 173 league appearances for Tranmere Rovers (1997-99; 2001-04); Mellon also made 125 appearances for Blackpool, and 85 appearances for Burnley. After retiring from the playing field in 2006, Mellon got into coaching: first with Northern League side Lancaster City, then with Burnley as an assistant. Then in 2009, Mellon became the coastal Lancashire-based Fleetwood Town’s first full-time manager. Fleetwood, now a 3rd division side, were back then a well-funded 6th-tier-team that was on the rise. Mellon led Fleetwood to promotion to the Conference [the 5th division], by winning the 2010 Conference North play-off final over Alfreton Town. Two seasons later, in 2011-12, Mellon led Fleetwood to promotion again, by winning the Conference title (beating out 2nd-place Wrexham by 5 points), thus sending Fleetwood Town up to the Football League for the first time. But a bad run of form half a year later, in December 2012, saw Mellon sacked. Mellon was then caretaker manager of then-2nd-division-side Barnsley, from Nov 2013 to March 2014.

After that, Micky Mellon was hired by then-4th-division-side (and just-relegated) Shrewsbury Town, in May 2014. Mellon led Shrewsbury to an immediate return to the 3rd tier, by winning the 2014-15 League Two title. But, a year-and-a-half later, a run of  just 2 wins in the first 11 matches of the 2016-17 season led to Mellon’s dismissal from Shrewsbury, on 6 October 2016. That same day, Mellon, as manager, returned to the club he had played for the longest – Tranmere Rovers.

Tranmere Rovers were a longtime Football League club (with a 86-consecutive-season stint in the League). But the Merseyside-based club had fallen into the bottleneck that is the non-League Wilderness the previous season, and had become the highest-drawing club in non-League football (drawing 5.1 K). That Tranmere were a rather large club to be stuck in non-League was shown by the fact that, despite their diminished standing, the Rovers were still drawing better than over two-dozen Football League clubs {source: european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn}. Mellon almost got Tranmere back to the League in 2016-17, finishing in 2nd place, 4 points behind Lincoln City, but then lost in the 2017 National League play-off final to Forest Green Rovers, 3-1.

In 2017-18, Tranmere Rovers again finished in 2nd place in the 5th division, this time ending up 10 points behind the surprise team of the season, Macclesfield Town. But the second time around, Mellon’s Tranmere navigated the tricky 5th tier play-offs successfully. Tranmere beat Ebbsfleet 4-2 (aet) in the semifinals, then beat Boreham Wood 2-1 in the 2018 National League play-off final, despite being a man down for 89 minutes; the winning goal was scored by James Norwood in the 81st minute, on a header from a deftly chipped cross from substitute AMF Connor Jennings {see illustration below}.

So once again, Mickey Mellon got a team promoted. That makes 4 teams that Mellon has gotten promoted as manager. The English record for most teams led to promotion as a manager is 8, by Cardiff City’s Neil Warnock {see this post [2018-19 Premier League map/post], in the Cardiff section there}.

The 4 teams that manager Mickey Mellon has led to promotion:
Fleetwood Town promoted to the 5th Div (2010).
Fleetwood Town promoted to the 4th Div (2012).
Shrewsbury Town promoted to the 3rd Div (2015).
Tranmere Rovers promoted to the 4th Div (2018).

Two Tranmere Rovers players made the 2018 National League Team of the Year: the Liverpool-born 35-year-old DF Steve McNulty [captain], and FW Andy Cook (age 28) {see photos and captions below}. Andy Cook scored 27 for Tranmere last season, and the County Durham-born Cook was top-scorer in the 5th division. Cook has moved on (to 3rd-tier side Walsall), but the solid rock that is Steve McNulty remains, as does crowd-favourite James Norwood (who netted 23 last season, including that promotion-winner at Wembley). This is the 4th team that Steve McNulty has played on which has won promotion (McNulty has won promotion with Barrow in 2008 as captain; with Fleetwood Town in 2010 as captain; with Luton Town in 2014; and now with Tranmere Rovers in 2018 as captain).

Tranmere Rovers’ return to the 4th division has gone well so far.…as of 4th October they sit 10th and, on Tuesday the 2nd of October, Tranmere beat League Two leaders Lincoln City 1-0, on a goal by current league top scorer James Norwood (with 8 goals). Tranmere Rovers are drawing 6.0 K so far this season, which is 5th-highest in the 4th division. (Lincoln City are drawing best in League two, at 8.6 K {source: us.soccerway.com/national/england/league-two/20182019}.)

-The story of Tranmere Rovers: How one club survive and prosper in the shadow of such powerful neighbours (by Simon Hughes at independent.co.uk/sport/football).

Below: Tranmere Rovers return to the Football League after a 3-season spell in non-League…
tranmere-rovers_promoted-2018_2018-national-league-playoff-final_prenton-park_mickey-mellon_andy-cook_steve-mcnulty_james-norwood_n_.gif
Photo and Image credits above – 17/18 Tranmere jersey, from trfcshop.co.uk. Aerial shot of Prenton Park, photo from liverpoolecho.co.uk/football . Steve NcNulty, photo unattributed at roversrearguard.com. Andy Cook, photo unattributed at leaderlive.co.uk/sport. Tranmere supporters with informative banner, outside Wembley [2018 National League playoff Final], photo by Lorna Hughes at twitter.com/@lorna-hughes via liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/tranmere-rovers-v-boreham-wood. Liam Ridehalge tackle/red card (1′), screenshot from Captura/BT Sport via besoccer.com; photo by Richard Ault/talru.com via roversrearguard.com. Andy Cook scores (6′), photo by PA via sport.net. Andy Cook celebrates his goal, screenshot from video uploaded by Tranmere Fan TV at youtube.com. (45+8′), Bruno Andrade’s goal evens the score, photo by PA via dailymail.co.uk. (81′), James Norwood scores on a far-post header from a chipped cross by substitute AMF Connor Jennings, screenshot from video uploaded by Official Tranmere Rovers at youtube.com. Norwood’s goal, photo unattributed at sport.bt.com. James Norwood, photo unattributed at pinterest.com. Tranmere players celebrate winning goal with fans, screenshot from video uploaded by Official Tranmere Rovers at youtube.com. Mickey Mellon celebrating right after final whistle, photo from twitter.com/[@TranmereRovers].

___
Thanks to the following…
-Blank map of UK historic counties, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:United Kingdom police areas map.svg (commons.wikimedia.org).
-Blank relief map of Greater London, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:Greater London UK relief location map.jpg.

-Attendances from E-F-S site, european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn.htm.
-5th division attendances from us.soccerway.com.
-Thanks to the contributors at en.wikipedia, at 2018-19 EFL League Two.

September 3, 2017

2017-18 Football League Two (4th division England, incl Wales): map w/ 16/17-crowds-&-finish + titles-&-seasons-in-1st-division./+ 2 promoted clubs for the 2017-18 4th division (Lincoln City, Forest Green Rovers).

Filed under: 2017-18 English football,Eng-4th Level/League Two — admin @ 6:20 pm

2017-18_football-league-two_map_w-2017-crowds_titles_seasons-in-1st-division_post_b_.gif
2017-18 Football League Two (4th division England, incl Wales): map w/ 16/17-crowds-&-finish + titles-&-seasons-in-1st-division




By Bill Turianski on 2 September 2017; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.

Links…
-2017–18 EFL League Two (en.wikipedia.org).
-Table, fixtures, results, attendance, stats…LEAGUE TWO [Summary] (soccerway.com).
-Sky Bet League Two 2017 – 2018 [kits] (historicalkits.co.uk).
-League Two 2017-18 season preview (by Ben Fisher at theguardian.com/football).

A brief re-cap of 2016-17 League Two [the 4th division]…
Promoted to 3rd Div…Portsmouth, Plymouth Argyle, Doncaster Rovers, Blackpool {see this post: 17/18 EFL League One, featuring: Portsmouth, Plymouth Argyle, Doncaster Rovers, Blackpool}.

Relegated from the 3rd division down to the 4th division are…Port Vale, Swindon Town, Coventry City, Chesterfield.

Promoted up from the non-League 5th division and into the 4th division are the two clubs profiled below…

    Below: the 2 promoted clubs for the 2017-18 fourth division (Lincoln City, Forest Green Rovers)
    • Lincoln City FC.

Est. 1884. Nickname: the Imps (or Red Imps). Colours: Red-and-White [vertically-striped jerseys]. Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire, situated (by road) 39 miles (63 km) NE of Nottingham; and situated (by road) 156 miles (261 km) N of London. Population of Lincoln: city population of around 97,000; built-up-area-population of around 114,000 {2015 estimate}. Lincoln, Lincolnshire is the 69nd-largest Urban Area in the UK {en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_urban_areas_in_the_United_Kingdom}.

Manager of Lincoln City: Danny Cowley (age 38; born in Havering, East London). Danny Cowley has absolutely revitalised Lincoln City. Cowley is a 38-year-old who was formerly the manager of two small-and-overachieving Essex-based clubs. First, with the now-6th-tier-side Concord Rangers (from 2007 to 2015, which included 3 promotions, from the 9th level to the 6th level). And then Cowley had one year at the helm of the then-5th-tier-side Braintree Town (two seasons ago in 2015-16, when Braintree punched above their weight and finished in 3rd place in the 5th division; Braintree has since been relegated to the 6th tier). Then Lincoln City signed Cowley in the summer of 2016. Then Cowley led Lincoln City to both FA Cup glory (first non-League team into the 6th round in over a century), and Cowley also guided Lincoln City back into the Football League by winning the 2016-17 Natinal League title.

Counting 2017-18, Lincoln City have played 105 seasons in the Football League (previously in 2010-11). {Source.} Lincoln City have the unenviable distinction of being the club with the all-time-most demotions/relegations into Non-League Football – the Red Imps have been sent down into the non-League Wilderness 5 times. Lincoln were voted out of the Football League in 1908, in 1911, and in 1920; and Lincoln were relegated out of the Football League in 1987, and in 2011. In all but the last of these (2011), Lincoln City had bounced back to the Football League the following season. But for the 5 seasons after their most-recent drop (from 2011-12 to 2015-16), the club had been mired in the lower-half of the Conference/National League table, with no real hope in sight of getting back into the League. And Lincoln City’s attendances had dropped off from 5.1 K ten years ago, to just 2.5 K in 2015-16.

Then, in May 2016, Danny Cowley was hired as Lincoln City’s manager, and the hard-working Cowley, along with his brother-and-assistant-manager Nicky, invigorated the Red Imps. The Lincoln City gig was the Cowley brothers’ first full-time job in football: the two were previously PE teachers in Essex, when both were also part-time employees of Concord Rangers and then Braintree Town. The Cowley brothers introduced novel training techniques…“…‘The benefit of having been PE teachers is we can transfer little bits of other sports into football,’ Nicky, 34, the Lincoln assistant manager, says while sitting in their modest office a few hours before kick-off. ‘Game calls, for example: they’re used in rugby and basketball — there’s never a lineout taken in rugby without a game call. It amazes me that there’s never any in football. He proceeds to flick through a book of set pieces (corners and free kicks), with names such as Cluster, Stagger, Box, Shoehorn . . . ‘On a Friday in training, I’ll shout, ‘Shoehorn!’ and the players all have to run and show me their starting positions. Then from there, they have to show me their runs’…An app called Hudl, which allows clips to be sent to each player’s mobile or tablet after a game, is a tool they used at Braintree as well as with the Lincoln players and, an average of 45 minutes is spent on team video analysis every day before training”…{-excerpts from From playground to dugout: PE teaching brothers schooling Lincoln in ‘Moneyball’, on 19 Sept. 2016 by Gregor Robertson at thetimes.co.uk / link to article at a Braintree-Town-fans’-forum site, here).

The thorough preparation that the Cowley brothers introduced to the Lincoln squad showed, and Lincoln were in 1st place by late November 2016. And then the Imps continued their great FA Cup-run, holding their own – and then some – against upper-League opposition. Meanwhile, Lincoln remained atop the 5th division table despite strong pursuit by Tranmere and Forest Green. Lincoln City ended a dreary 6-season-stint in non-League football by winning the 2016-17 National League title, four points ahead of Tranmere Rovers, clinching the title and automatic promotion with 2 games to spare. As the 16/17 season progressed, they saw large crowds at their 10.1-K ground, Sincil Bank, with consecutive 9-K-plus crowds in January and February FA Cup matches, and then a full-capacity crowd of 10,031 at their promotion-clinching game on 22 April 2017 {see screenshot below}. Lincoln City’s average attendance (for their National League matches) very nearly doubled – it went up 98%: from 2,594 two seasons ago, to 5,162 (which was the second-best best average attendance in non-League football last season, marginally behind only Tranmere [11 less per game than Tranmere]).

And Lincoln City became the first non-League side to reach the FA Cup Quarter-finals in 103 years (since 1914, when a then-non-League Queens Park Rangers did it). Lincoln beat two 2nd-division sides: Ipswich Town 1-0 in the 3rd round replay, before 9.0 K at Sincil Bank {see photo below}, and then they beat Brighton 3-1 in the 4th round, before 9.4 K at Sincil Bank. And then they beat Premier League side Burnley 0-1 in the 5th round, away at Turf Moor. In the 6th round, occupying one of the last 8 spots in the competition, Lincoln City then bowed out to the eventual FA Cup champions, Arsenal.

Lincoln City’s two runs – their successful promotion-run and their historic Cup-run – fed off each other. In 2016-17, Lincoln City, under Danny Cowley, showed that a team can try for a good FA Cup-run AND conduct a successful league campaign. And can make a town fall back in love with its football club. And the love affair continues…as of the 2nd of September 2017, Lincoln City is drawing second-best in the 4th tier (behind only Coventry City), averaging 8.5-K-per-game at Sincil Bank, after 3 home matches.

lincoln-city_promoted-2017_sincil-bank_danny-cowley_matt-rhead_nathan-arnold_h_.gif
Photo and Image credits above -
Lincoln City 2016-17 home and away jerseys, photos unattributed at uksoccershop.com/blog. Steep street in Lincoln with Lincoln Cathedral in background, photo by Barry Samuels at beenthere-donethat.org.uk/lincolnshire. Photo of Lincoln Cathedral, photo by Richard Croft via geograph.org.uk. Photo of street in Lincoln by a canal, with Lincoln Cathedral in background, photo by YTFC independent site ciderspace.co.uk/[match gallery 23 May 2004, Lincoln City 2-3 Yeovil Town (3rd Div match)]. Photo from June 2015: Lincoln Cathedral (in background) seen from a stream adjacent to the Sincil Bank ground, photo by clivecatton.co.uk; also see clivecatton.co.uk/tag/lincoln-city-football-club/. Aerial shot of Sincil Bank, photo unattributed at 68.media.tumblr.com. Exterior shot looking in to Sincil Bank, photo by Andrew Scott at thelincolnite.co.uk. Danny Cowley and Nicky Cowley, photo by Ben Queenborough/BPI via dailymail.co.uk/football. Nathan Arnold, photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com. Matt Rhead, photo by Andrew Vaughan/CameraSport via gettyimages.com. Lincoln fans’ pitch-invasion-/-celebration for clinching promotion, screenshot from video uploaded by TwistedxLion at Lincoln v Macclesfield! – Vlog – All Goals + Highlights – CHAMPIONS AT LAST! – ABSOLUTE SCENES (youtube.com). Danny Cowley and Nicky Cowley with National League title-winners’ trophy, photo by CameraSport/Getty Images via dailymail.co.uk/football.

    • Forest Green Rovers FC.

Est. 1889. Nicknames: the Rovers; the Little Club on the Hill; the Green Devils. Colours: Lime-Green-and-Black [hoop-striped jerseys]; away kit: White-and-Black [hoop-striped jerseys]. Location: Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, situated (by road) 29 miles (47 km) N of Bristol, and is situated (by road) 106 miles (171 km) W of London. Population of Nailsworth: around 5,794 {2011 census}. Population of Stroud, which is 4 miles (7 km) to the south of Nailsworth, and which is the nearest larger town to Nailsworth: around 13,200 {2011 census}.

Manager of Forest Green Rovers: Mark Cooper (age 48, born in Wakefield, West Yorkshire). ‘We’ve had a lot of animosity towards Forest Green. When I played for them, they were a friendly little club, part-time. Everyone loved them because they weren’t a threat.’ -{quote by Mark Cooper from article linked to at second link below [South Wales Argus]…}

-From Guardian/football, Forest Green: the eco-friendly club with a robot mower and big ambitions (by Stuart James on 31 July at theguardian.com/football).
-From the South Wales Argus, Forest Green Rovers should ignore the critics and keep dreaming big (by Andrew Penham on 16 May 2017 at southwalesargus.co.uk/sport/columnists).
-Forest Green Rovers shake up league with big dreams — and a vegan menu (by Ian Chadband on 3 Aug. 2017 at espnfc.com).
-From the UN Climate Action twitter feed, [Video]…exclusive interview w/ @DaleVince owner of the #greenest #football club on Earth @FGRFC_Official! (twitter.com/UNFCCC).
-So where is Forest Green? [infographic from dailymail.co.uk/sport/football].

forest-green-rovers_promoted-2017_mark-cooper_christian-doidge_kainye-woolery_wembley_fgr_3-1_tranmere_d_.gif
Photo and Image credits -
FGR 17/18 jerseys, photos from shop.forestgreenroversfc.com. Road to Nailsworth, photo from nailsworthtowncouncil.gov.uk. Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, photo from stroudnewsandjournal.co.uk. The New Lawn, aerial shot unattributed at Forest Green Rovers – the little club on the hill! (by Stuart Ward on 13 Sept. 2013 at pitchcare.com [Pitchcare Magazine #50]) jpg. Solar panels on roof of New Lawn, image from screenshot of video by UN Climate Council at twitter.com/ [UN Climate Action]. Robotic lawn mower at New Lawn, photo by ITV West Country at itv.com/news/westcountry/2017-08-01/meet-the-vegans-forest-green-rovers-prepare-for-life-in-the-football-league/. Exterior shot of New Lawn, with electric-car-spots in lot, photo by Martin Godwin for the Guardian at theguardian.com/football. Christian Doidge, photo from Forest Green Rovers FC at twitter.com/fgrfc_official jpg jpg. Mark Cooper, photo unattributed at sport.co.uk. Kainye Woolery 1st goal, photo by Getty Images via dailymail.co.uk/football. Chris Jennings (Tranmere) goal celebration (with Tranmere fans), photo by Ben Hoskins/Getty Images via liverpoolecho.co.uk/football. C Doidge goal (2nd FGR goal), photo unattributed at walesonline.co.uk/football. Kainye Woolery, photo of celebration after his 2nd goal by Ben Hoskins/Getty Images via guardian.com/football. Kainye Woolery celebrates with FGR fans at Wembley (3rd goal/winning goal), photo by Press Association via dailymail.co.uk/wires.

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Thanks to the following…
-Blank map of UK historic counties, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:United Kingdom police areas map.svg (commons.wikimedia.org).
-Blank relief map of Greater London, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:Greater London UK relief location map.jpg.

-Attendances from E-F-S site, european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn.htm.
-5th division attendances from us.soccerway.com/[conference-national/2016-17].
Thanks to the contributors at en.wikipedia, at 2017-18 EFL League Two.

September 10, 2016

2016–17 Football League Two (4th division England), map w/ 15/16-crowds-&-finish + titles-&-seasons-in-1st-division./Plus the 2 promoted sides (Cheltenham Town, Grimsby Town).

Filed under: 2016-17 English football,Eng-4th Level/League Two — admin @ 4:41 pm

2016-17_football-league-two_map_w-2016-crowds_titles_seasons-in-1st-division_post_f_.gif
2016–17 Football League Two (4th division England), map w/ 15/16-crowds-&-finish + titles-&-seasons-in-1st-division



By Bill Turianski on 10 September 2016; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.

Links…
-2016–17 Football League Two (en.wikipedia.org).
-Table, fixtures, results, attendance, stats…League Two [Summary] (soccerway.com).
-New font and logos for Football League…2016-17 English Football League [new logos and new font, with branding info] (switchimageproject.blogspot.com).
-Kits…Sky Bet League Two 2016 – 2017 [Kits of teams in 16/17 League Two] (historicalkits.co.uk).
-Predictions, from a favorite blog…TTU Go Predicting: A Club-by-Club League 2 Preview 2016-17 (from 4 August 2016 by Lloyd at thetwounfortunates.com).

    The 2 promoted clubs from Non-League/5th division into the Football League Two for 2016-17
    (Cheltenham Town & Grimsby Town)

Cheltenham Town bounce straight back to League Two; while Grimsby Town are back in the Football League for the first time in 7 seasons.

Cheltenham Town FC
The well-traveled and West-Country-fixture Gary Johnson stepped in as manager of Cheltenham Town in March of 2015, when the Robins were in the League Two/4th division relegation-zone. Cheltenham were relegated to the National League a few weeks later. Johnson stayed on and did a huge house-cleaning, releasing over a dozen players and signing on 18 players, many of whom were added to the Robins’ roster thanks to “…a windfall of £200,000. It was the lion’s share of the estate of a long-standing Cheltenham fan, Bryan Jacob, who passed away in 2013 and generously bequeathed his life savings to the Robins Trust. Last April they voted to invest the money in the club and Johnson embarked on a recruitment drive…” {quote by Barry Glendenning at Gary Johnson has mapped Cheltenham Town’s clear course to promotion (guardian.com/football)}.

Cheltenham Town started slow, but stormed to the top of the 5th-division-table in late-December 2015, and never looked back, coasting to the 15/16 National League title by 12 points over nearby rivals Forest Green Rovers. The Robins began to put distance from the rest during a mid-winter 22-game-unbeaten run. The Gloucestershire side scored the most (87 goals), conceded the least (30), and finished with a whopping +57 goal difference. Cheltenham clinched promotion with two games to spare, in front of 5,245 at Whaddon Road on 16 April 2016 (see the fans’ pitch invasion below). In 2015-16, Gary Johnson did what no Non-League manager had done in 27 years…Cheltenham Town’s automatic promotion back to the Football League was the first time a just-relegated team had won the 5th division title since 1988-89 (when the original Maidstone United (I) had first accomplished the feat). Gary Johnson told the BBC, “[After last season) we had to change our thoughts, we had to change our attitude and we had to change our players and when we did that and when we got the right characters in, this is what happens."

Many of the players Johnson brought in last summer had never played in the Football League, and many of those 18 that Johnson recruited before last season have stayed on for 2016-17. Those staying include the top 7 goals scorers from last season (Wright, Holman, Waters, Munns, Pell, Downes, Morgan-Smith). In the illustration below, you can see photos of the 3 top scorers for Cheltenham Town last season: Danny Wright (age 31), who scored 23 goals; Dan Holman (age 26), who was joint-top-scorer in the 5th division in 15/16; and Billy Waters (age 21), who scored 11 goals. Holman was signed in January 2016, from Colchester United, after a successful loan spell at Woking. Dan Holman ended up scoring a National-League-leading 30 goals last season (14 for Woking, and then 16 for Cheltenham), (Holman was joint-top-scorer, with Pádraig Amond [then of Grimsby Town; now playing for Hartlepool United]). Below, you can see a photo of Holman scoring what ended up being the promotion-clinching goal for the Robins.

I added two more Cheltenham Town players to the graphic below, both defensive standouts and both centre-backs: Danny Parslow and squad captain Aaron Downes. Downes, who is Australian-born (from the New South Wales interior), does have League experience (captain at Chesterfield, Torquay Utd). I pictured Downes below after one of his 5 goals last campaign [away to Kidderminster], when the squad were wearing their fan-voted-upon and weird-in-a-nice-way away kits of purple-and-yellow-with-the-red-robin-badge. (Downes suffered an ACL leg injury in January, was out for the remainder of the 15/16 campaign, and finally made it back into the squad with a game appearance on 10 September as a late sub in Town’s 2-2 draw with Newport County.) The Welsh-born Danny Parslow, who also has had League tenure (with York City), was selected to a 5th-division-Team of the Year (by pitchero.com, here: Pitchero’s non-league teams of the season [2015-16/Non-League]). Also selected to that Team-of-the-Year was the aforementioned Dan Holman.
cheltenham-town_whaddon-road_promoted-2016_national-league-winners_danny-wright_dan-holman_danny-parslow_billy-waters_aaron-downes_2016-pitch-invasion_r_.gif
Photo and Image credits above -
Small illlustration of 15/16 & 16/17 CTFC kits, from en.wikipedia.org. CTFC 16/17 jersey, photo by CTFC at cheltenhamtownfc.9drw.uk/home-shirt-2016-17. Aerial shot of Cheltenham, photo by Arpingstone at File:Cheltenham.from.leckhampton.arp.jpg. Aerial shot of Whaddon Road, photo unattributed at punchline-gloucester.com. Whaddon Road, photo unattributed at skysports.com. Exterior shot of Whaddon Road, photo by Owen Pavey at footballgroundguide.com. Danny Wright, photo by ctfc.com. Dan Holman, photo by ProSports/Rex/Shutterstock via theguardian.com/football/cheltenham-town-promotion-halifax. Billy Waters, photo by ctfc.com. Danny Parslow, photo by Mike Ripley via lusoweb.co.uk/altrincham15-16 w. Aaron Downes, photo of him and teammates celebrating after scoring, photo by ctfc.com. Cheltenham Town fans’ pitch invasion [16 April 2016] at Whaddon Road, 1st image from screenshot of video uploaded by Elliot Richmond at youtube.com, Cheltenham town FC league champions 2016 (youtube.com). 2nd image of pitch invasion, screenshot from video by bbc.com/football. 15/16 & 16/17 CTFC away jersey, segment of illustration by CTFC at ctfc.com/news/article [fan-vote-on-purple-kit].

Grimsby Town FC

From Cod Almighty site [Grimsby Town fansite],
-A brief history of [Grimsby] Town (from 2005, at codalmighty.com).
-Under the flyover: Town’s Conference years (from 2 August 2016, by Rod Counte, at codalmighty.com).

After being relegated from the Football League in May 2010, Grimsby Town had an awful time of it stuck in Non-League football. Grimsby, who drew between 3.0 K and 4.3 K in the 6 seasons they spent out of the League, were one of the biggest clubs there in the 5th division during this time period (2010-16). But it still took the Mariners three seasons to even qualify for the 5th division play-offs. There then followed three consecutive play-off disappointments, losing to Newport County in the 12/13 play-offs 1st round, then losing to Gateshead in the 13/14 play-offs 1st round, then losing to Bristol Rovers in the 14/15 play-offs Final, in penalties.

Grimsby Town wins promotion after 6 seasons in Non-League…
However, in 2015-16, the fourth time in the play-offs was the charm, as manager Paul Hurst finally led Grimsby out of Non-League, beating Forest Green Rovers 3-1 at Wembley, on 15 May 2016. {See screenshots of highlights below; and see video highlights here, Forest Green 1-3 Grimsby Town (youtube.com).} The crucial point in the game was a two-minute span late in the first half, when Grimsby striker Omar Bogle scored twice. As Trevor Green of the the Grimsby Telegraph wrote, “six years of non-league hurt is finally over.” {See this, Grimsby Town PROMOTED! Mariners 3-1 Forest Green (from 15 May 2016, by Trevor Green at grimsbytelegraph.co.uk).}

grimsby-town_2016-promotion_2016-national-league-play-off-final_wembley_omar-bogle_nathan-arnold_n_.gif
Photo and Image credits -
Photo of Omar Bogle scoring, photo by Getty Images via dailymail.co.uk/football. Screenshots of video uploaded by dids99 at youtube.com, Forest Green 1-3 Grimsby Town (youtube.com). Photo of Omar Bogle and his Grimsby teammates celebrating 2-0 lead, photo by Grimsby Telegraph at grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/grimsby-town-forest-green-result... Photo of 16/17 jersey, photo by GTFC at grimsby-townfc.co.uk/new-201617-kit-unveiled Photo of cheering Grimsby fans at Wembley, photo by Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images at gettyimages.ch. Aerial photo of Blundell Park, photo by GTFC at grimsby-townfc.co.uk/club/contact_us.

___
Thanks to the following…
-Blank map of UK historic counties, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:United Kingdom police areas map.svg (commons.wikimedia.org).
-Blank relief map of Greater London, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:Greater London UK relief location map.jpg.
-Attendances from E-F-S site, european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn.htm;
Non-League attendances from soccerway.com.
-Thanks to the contributors at RSSSF page, England – First Level All-Time Tables 1888/89-2015/16 (rsssf.com_.
-Thanks to the contributors at en.wikipedia, at 2016–17 Football League Two.

June 15, 2015

England: 2015-16 League Two [4th division], location-map with 14/15 attendances, all-time seasons in 1st division + major titles listed.

Filed under: 2015-16 English football,Eng-4th Level/League Two — admin @ 7:34 pm

Note: to see my most recent post on the English 4th division, click on the following: category: Eng-4th Level/League 2.
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2015-16_football-league-two_map_crowd-sizes_seasons-in-1st-div_titles_post_f_.gif
England: 2015-16 League Two [4th division], location-map with 14/15 attendances




Links…
Teams…2015–16 Football League Two (en.wikipedia.org).
News, fixtures, results, table, etc…Football League Two page at BBC.com (bbc.com/football).
Kits…Sky Bet League Two 2015 – 2016 [home, away & alternate kits] (historicalkits.co.uk).

    England: 2015-16 League Two [4th division]
    Location-map with 14/15 attendances, all-time seasons in 1st division + major titles listed

By Bill Turianski on 15 June 2015; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.com.

New template for English Football League & Premier League maps, for the category ’2015-16 English Football’…
Map…
The map is a basic location-map which includes the traditional counties of England and Wales, and I have also listed the 9 largest metro-areas which emanate from a single city (London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle, Sheffield, Nottingham, Bristol). I have included regional names like the East and West Midlands, East Anglia, the West Country, the Black Country, etc. There is also an enlarged inset map of Greater London, at the lower-right-center of the map page. I have included a few extra details for the Greater London inset map – the City of London’s small confines are noted, as are the locations of the following: Regent’s Park; Hyde Park, Parliament [Westminster]; Wembley Stadium; the Royal Observatory, Greenwich [home of 0 degrees longitude (the Prime Meridian), and Greenwich Mean Time]; and the Dartford Crossing. (The Dartford Crossing is a vital and heavily-traveled dual-tunnel/bridge crossing located on the River Thames just east of Greater London, which connects Dartford, Kent to Thurrock, Essex, and is the only fixed-road crossing of the Thames east of Greater London; the busiest estuarial crossing in the UK, it services around 130,000 vehicles daily). The four largest municipalities adjacent to Greater London are also noted (the Medway Towns [incl. Gillingham] in Kent, Southend-on-Sea in Essex, Slough in Berkshire, and Watford in Hertfordshire).
Chart…
As for the chart, that will always be on the right-hand-side of the map page. The chart template is a bit different from ones I have used in the past. For the first time, I have included the last two seasons of league placement data – for all the clubs in the league – as well as the last two seasons of attendance data. Basically, the chart shows, from left to right, the following seven items…
1). light-grey column…league placement and average home attendance from 2 years ago (2013-14 season);
2). Club name/crest;
3). darker-grey column…league placement and average home attendance from last season (2014-15 season);
4). change in home average crowd size (2014-15 avg attendance subtracted from 2013-14 avg attendance);
5). percent-capacity (avg attendance figure divided by stadium capacity);
6). blue column…all-time seasons spent in the English first division (with date of last 1st div appearance listed);
7). major domestic titles listed…English titles [aka Football League First Division titles to 1992/Premier League titles], FA Cup titles, League Cup titles (with dates of last titles listed).
___
Thanks to all at the links below…
-Blank map of UK traditional counties, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:United Kingdom police areas map.svg (commons.wikimedia.org).
-Blank relief map of Greater London, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:Greater London UK relief location map.jpg.
-Attendance, at soccerway.com, us.soccerway.com/national/england/league-two/20142015/regular-season/r25245.
One crest on the map is partially from a photo [Leyton Orient crest], at leytonorient.com/news/article/new-kit-290714-1789322.aspx.

August 11, 2014

England & Wales: the highest-drawing football clubs within the English football leagues system (all clubs [74 clubs] that drew above 4 K per game in the 2013-14 season) / Plus a short illustrated article comparing English and German attendances last season, by division.

(Note – to see my latest map-&-post of the Premier League, click on the following: category: Eng>Premier League.)
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england_2014-attendance-map_74-clubs_all-drawing-above-4k_post_d_.gif
England attendance map 2014 (all English & Welsh clubs drawing above 4,000 per game in 2013-14 [74 teams])



This continues my new category of European football leagues attendance maps. This map is for England, including the Welsh clubs within the English football leagues system – of which there are 6, with 2 clubs from Wales on the map here/ {see this post I made from 2011 on Welsh clubs within the English system} [There are 2 Welsh clubs on this map - Premier League side Swansea City, and just-relegated Championship side Cardiff City]).

The map & chart here shows all football clubs in the English football leagues system which drew over 4,000 per game in the 2013-14 season (from home domestic league matches). The larger the club-crest is on the map, the higher the club’s attendance. The chart at the right-hand side of the map page shows 2013-14 average attendance, stadium capacity, and percent capacity. Also shown at the far right of the chart are: each club’s English titles (with year of last title), seasons spent in the English first division (with last year in the top flight listed if applicable), and FA Cup titles (with year of last title). [Some data found at Premier League/Clubs (en.wikipedia.org).]

In addition to the main map, there are 3 inset maps on the map page…for Greater London and Surrounding Area (12 clubs from Greater London on the map plus Watford in Hertfordshire); for the West Midlands including Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton (5 clubs on the map from the West Midlands [but not Coventry City]); and for a section of Northwest England, including Lancashire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester (4 Lancashire clubs, 3 Merseyside clubs and 5 Greater Manchester-based clubs on the map). I added an extra detail of listing the historic counties of England on the map(s).

    A brief comparison of English and German attendances by division (2013-14 figures)

england_and_germany_football-leagues_attendance_2013-14_by-division_c_.gif

{Note: 2013-14 English leagues football attendance [top 4 levels] can be seen at the following link, by clicking on “England” on the left-hand sidebar at: http://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn.htm}.

There were 74 clubs in the English system which drew over 4,000 [4 K] per game last season – all 20 Premier League clubs; all 24 Football League Championship clubs; 20 of the 24 Football League One clubs; 9 of the 24 Football League Two clubs; and 1 Non-League/Conference club. As far as clubs which draw over 4,000 go – that is the most in Europe (and in the world). Second-most is Germany, which had 52 clubs that drew over 4 K last season.

However, the German first division, the Bundesliga, draws much higher on average than the English Premier League does – over 6.5 K higher in 2013-14 (Bundesliga averaged 43,499 per game in 2013-14, versus 36,670 for the Premier League last season). Of course, the Bundesliga is the highest drawing association football league in the world. But Germany’s preeminence in crowd sizes changes as you go down the pyramid in their league system, especially below the second division. Before I get to that I should point out that while last season [2013-14], the second division in Germany outdrew the second division in England (by about 1.2 K), in the two seasons previous, the second division in England – the Championship – drew slightly higher than the second division in Germany – by about .2 K in 2012-13, and by about .5 K in 2011-12. That drop in League Championship attendance last season (down by about .8 K in 2013-14 compared to 2012-13) can mostly be attributed to the temporary inclusion of a rather small club into the second tier, the now-relegated Yeovil Town, combined with the temporary expulsion of a somewhat large club, the now-promoted-back-to-the-second-tier Wolves (switching Yeovil for Wolves in the second division was the equivalent to a -.63 K drop in Championship attendance, when you subtract 2013-14 Yeovil Town crowds [6.6 K] from 2012-13 Wolves’ crowds [21.2 K] and divide by 24).

The third division in England – League One – outdrew the third division in Germany – 3.Liga – by about 1.4 K in 2013-14, while two seasons ago [2012-13] England’s third tier outdrew the third tier in Germany by about .2 K, and three seasons ago [2011-12] England’s third level outdrew Germany’s third level by 1.7 K. So the average for the past three seasons is about +1.1 K more in England’s third division than in Germany’s. Below the third division, it is impossible to compare the two countries’ leagues on a like-for-like basis because Germany’s system is national for only the top 3 divisions and becomes regionalized from the 4th level on down, while the English system stays national all the way to the 5th division. Nevertheless, you can compare the two sets of lower leagues in this way… Germany’s 4th level (90 clubs within 5 regional leagues) could be compared with England’s 4th-through-6th levels (92 clubs in 3 levels [4th level /League Two/24 clubs + 5th level/Conference/24 clubs + 6th level/Conferences North & South/22 clubs in 2 regional leagues making 44 clubs]).

Generally, below the 3rd level, the German football system starts to be full of clubs drawing in the 1 to 2 K range (only 10 of the 90 clubs in the five German Regionalliga [4th level] drew above 2 K last season, and just 6 drew above 3 K, and a mere 4 of those 90 clubs drew above 4 K last season) {2013-14 German leagues football attendance can be seen at the following link, by clicking on “Germany” on the left-hand sidebar at: http://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn.htm}. Meanwhile, below the third tier, the English system has, usually, a plethora of clubs drawing above 2 K (there were 28 last season, with 21 League Two clubs drawing above 2 K last season, and a somewhat impressive 7 clubs in Non-League drawing above 2 K (all in the Conference/see these figures at soccerway.com}. Also, England’s fourth tier boasted a majority of clubs drawing above 3 K (16 clubs above 3 K in League Two last season). And, as alluded to two paragraphs above, last season those two divisions in England (4th and 5th levels) included 10 clubs drawing above 4 K (9 League Two clubs plus the now-promoted Luton Town).

So, Germany is king of big-league football attendance, but England’s league system has significantly more substantial support in the lower levels of the Football League and the in the top tier of Non-League football.


In case you are wondering, below are the clubs which came closest to being on this map…
(Below are all clubs in the English system that drew in the 3 thousands in 2013-14)…
York City (3.7 K per game in 2013-14 in League 2), Colchester United (3.7 K in League 1), Hartlepool United (3.7 K in League 2), Exeter City (3.7 K in League 2), Grimsby Town (3.5 K in 5th level/Conference), Wycombe Wanderers (3.4 K in League 2), Crawley Town (3.4 K in League 1), Mansfield Town (3.3 K in League 2), Bury (3.1 K in League 2), Cambridge United (3.0 K in 5th level/Conference).
-Attendance data sources – Premier League and Football League, European-Football-Statistics.co.uk; Non-League, http://us.soccerway.com/national/england/conference-national/20132014/regular-season/r21458/.

Finally, here are the winners of each of the top 5 divisions in England last season (with each club’s average crowd size).
1st division, 2013-14 Premier League, 36,670 per game (winner: Manchester City at 47.7 K).
2nd division, 2013-14 League Championship 16,609 per game (winner: Leicester City at 24.9 K).
3rd division, 2013-14 League One, 7,476 per game (winner: Wolves at 15.4 K).
4th division, 2013-14 League Two, 4,351 per game (winner: Chesterfield at 6.2 K).
5th division, 2013-14 Conference National, 1,864 per game (winner: Luton Town at 7.3 K).
___

Thanks to the contributors at ‘Premier League‘, ‘Football League Championship‘, ‘Football League One‘, ‘Football League Two‘, ‘Conference Premier‘ (en.wikipedia.org).

Thanks to European-Football-Statistics.co.uk, for attendance figures.

Thanks to the Footy-Mad sites [http://www.footymad.net/premier-league-news/], for club League Histories, such as http://www.derbycounty-mad.co.uk/league_history/derby_county/index.shtml

November 20, 2013

England, 4th division: Football League Two – 2013-14 Location-map, with attendance data & 2013-14 home kit badges, featuring top 4 in the table after 16 games: Oxford United, Chesterfield, Rochdale, Fleetwood Town.

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England, 4th division: Football League Two – 2013-14 Location-map, with attendance data & 2013-14 home kit badges




Note: to see my most recent post on the English 4th division, click on the following: category: Eng-4th Level/League 2.

On the map page
Facsimiles of each clubs’ home jersey badges for the 2013-14 season are shown, in alphabetical order, across the the top of the map page. Below that, at the lower left, is a location-map of the clubs in the 2013-14 Football League Two. At the right-hand side of the map page is attendance data for current League Two clubs from the two previous seasons (2011-12 and 2012-13). Change (by percent), as well as percent capacity (ie, how much the club filled their stadium on average), from last season, are shown. League movement (if any) of the clubs is shown as well.

The 2013-14 League Two
The 2013-14 League Two has been a very tightly-contested affair, with just over one-third of the season having been played so far (16 games played out of 46, for most clubs). To give you but one example of how evenly-matched the clubs in the fourth division are currently – and not just the clubs in the top half of the table – last week’s league leaders Fleetwood Town lost away to last-place Northampton Town 1-0 on Saturday 16th November 2013 (with a goal by the Cobblers in the 93rd minute)…and Fleetwood dropped clear out of the three automatic promotion places into 4th place with the loss, as Oxford United, Chesterfield, and Rochdale all won.

So currently, Oxford United, Chesterfield, and Rochdale all have 29 points and are separated at the top of the table by goal difference. Clubs like Portsmouth and Cheltenham Town, who are currently in 16th and 17th places on 20 points, find themselves in a simultaneous promotion campaign/relegation battle, both being at present 6 points above the relegation zone and 6 points below the play-off places. I wouldn’t say anyone could win promotion this season in the fourth tier, but there are certainly more than a dozen sides with a good chance of being one of the 4 clubs to gain promotion, and there are probably more than 16 sides that could feasibly win promotion.

Below are brief illustrated profiles of the top four clubs in League Two as of 17th Nov. 2013, with: a brief write-up of each club’s manager and 2 featured players; a photo and caption for each club’s manager; a photo for each club’s current top scoring threats; a photo or two of each club’s ground; plus each club’s league history (with Non-League history noted), as well as a look at each club’s home league average attendance from the last two seasons, plus current average attendance listed (current home league average attendance to 17 Nov. 2013 {via soccerway.com, here}).

    Below, the top 4 in League Two after one-third of the 2013-14 season…

Oxford United FC, currently 1st place (29 points/+12 goal difference).
46-year-old Sheffield-born Chris Wilder, manager of Oxford United since December 2008 (back when they were in the middle of their 3 season spell in Non-League football), has been managing for over a decade now, having got his managerial start with the then-9th-Level (now Conference club) Alfreton Town, back in 2001-02, when Alfreton were in the Northern Counties East Football League, and the then-35-year-old Wilder got them promoted into the Northern League. Wilder then managed then-Conference side Halifax Town for 6 seasons (2002 to 2008), up until Halifax went broke and were liquidated (the Phoenix-club FC Halifax Town is now back in the Conference as of 2013-14). Wilder then worked as Alan Knill’s assistant at Bury in the first part of 2008-09 before getting the job at Oxford. Flash forward 3 years and 11 months later, and Chris Wilder is currently the third longest-serving manager in the Football League {see this, List of English Football League managers‘ (en.wikipedia.org)}. In Wilder’s first full season at the helm at Oxford (in 2009-10), the U’s won promotion via the play-offs (beating York City in the final at Wembley). Since then, Oxford United have finished in 12th, then in 9th, and then in 9th again last season (2012-13).

Throughout last season there were calls for Wilder’s dismissal by some supporters, and Wilder knows that probably only promotion will keep him at Oxford past this campaign. With a population of around 150,000 {2011 estimate}, Oxford is basically too big a city to only be hosting a fourth division side. Oxford United draw around 6K to 7K and in the past have gotten up to 10.3K (in 1986-7). Oxford fans would feel at the very least that their club should be in the third tier, and there are probably many gold-and-blue fans who dream of their club one day returning to the top flight – where Oxford United played for 3 seasons in the 1980s (86/87, 87/88, 88/89), when they were owned by Mephistophelian media baron Robert Maxwell, and when the U’s won their only major title, the 1986 League Cup.

Oxford United currently feature a striker who has had a longer spell there than Wilder – the Wiltshire-born 29-year-old James Constable, a classic lower-divisions bruiser of a forward, who has shaken off recent injuries and has scored 5 league goals this season so far. Overall, Constable has scored 85 league goals for Oxford in 216 games going back to the start of 2008-09, when he joined the then-Conference side on loan from Shrewsbury Town (Constable signed for Oxford 10 months later in the summer of 2009). Oxford fans will always love Constable for turning down the chance to almost double his wages – if he had went over to Oxford United’s much-hated nearby rivals Swindon Town. Here is what it says about that at James Constable’s page at Wikipedia…’Oxford accepted an improved offer for Constable from local rivals Swindon on 19 January 2012. Oxford allowed Constable to talk to the club, although he refused the opportunity to discuss the move with Swindon manager Paolo Di Canio.’…{end of excerpt}.

Just last week, Constable became only the third Oxford United player to have scored 100 goals in all competitions for the club {see this, ‘Constable’s century joy‘ (oxfordmail.co.uk, from 18 Nov.2013, by David Pritchard)}.

An up-and-coming striker also features in Oxford’s current set-up, the 25-year-old Deane Smalley, who signed for Oxford originally in the summer of 2011, but suffered an injury-plagued 2012, then re-signed with Oxford on less terms following a goal-less loan out to Bradford City. Smalley scored 5 goals in 2012-13 for Oxford (such as the one he is seen celebrating below), and has scored 5 league goals this season so far.

Perhaps the biggest impediment to Oxford United’s progression is their stadium situation – they don’t own the Kassam Stadium, nor does the Oxford City Council. It is owned by a shell company of the former club owner Firoz Kassam, and as such is an ongoing thorn in the side of Oxford United (since 2005-06). A sizable chunk of revenue Oxford United makes on ticket sales gets lost because of rent charges. To make matters worse, for the second season now, Oxford United must endure a stadium share with the second division Rugby Union club London Welsh RFC. So the pitch gets torn up, Oxford are more susceptible to injuries, and any attempts at an on-the-turf-passing-style get bogged down (literally) by mid-season.

In the spring of this year, supporters fought back this way…’Oxford fans successfully safeguard their stadium‘ (wsc.co.uk from 14 May 2013). In October 2013, this happened, ‘Kassam Stadium owners fail with appeal against community asset‘ (bbc.co.uk/sport/football).

Here is a recent article by Matthew Derbyshire from the Two Unfortunates site, about Oxford United’s stadium plight, ‘THE COMMUNITY VALUE OF FOOTBALL: OXFORD UNITED’S STADIUM BATTLE‘ (thetwounfortunates.com).

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Photo and Image credits above -
Exterior-view photo of the Kassam Stadium by nodale at panoramio.com ; photos by nodale at panoramio.com.
Chris Wilder, photo from oxfordmail.co.uk.
Deane Smalley, photo from julianalsopsyellowbanana.wordpress.com.
James Constable, photo from sportinglife.com.

Chesterfield FC, currently 2nd place (29 points/+9 goal difference).
Liverpool-born Chesterfield manager and Football League veteran MF Paul Cook had to wait a while for his second shot at managing an English pro club. Cook had a rough go of it in 2006-07 as manager of Merseyside 5th-division club Southport, this right at the time when the former Football League club had decided to return to professional status after 28 years as an amateur side following their being elected out of the League in 1978. Many players were unable (or unwilling) to make the jump to full-time status, and Cook had to rebuild virtually from scratch, and Southport finished in 23rd and went down to the Conference South (Southport stayed pro and rebounded in May 2010). Cook then signed on as manager of Connacht, western-Ireland-based Sligo Rovers in April 2007, and stayed at the helm of Sligo Rovers for 4-and-a-half seasons, winning two FAI Cups and leaving Sligo in good hands (Sligo Rovers won the League of Ireland title later that season, their first in a quarter century). Cook had left Sligo in February 2012 to take over at his old club Accrington Stanley, and with Cook in charge Stanley survived another year in the League, finishing in 18th in 2011-12. Eight months later, in October 2012, Chesterfield needed a new manager after John Sheridan bolted off to Plymouth Argyle, and they chose Paul Cook to try to get the North Derbyshire club back to the third division (Chesterfield finished in 8th last season).

In the following off-season (last summer), one of Cook’s requests to the CFC board was to sign (on a free transfer) the 28-year-old Liverpool-born MF Gary Roberts, who was playing for Swindon Town then, and whom Cook knew from his latter playing days at Accrington (circa 2005-06). That signing has been paying dividends, as Roberts has scored 4 goals in 14 league matches and has also notched 4 assists this season so far. Another player Cook brought in after past association has also been contributing to the Spireites good form, and that is ex-Sligo Rovers and ex-Hibernian MF Eoin Doyle, who scored 10 league goals in the SPL last season for Hibs. The Dublin-born Doyle is 25. He has scored 3 league goals and made 3 assists this season so far.

Chesterfield, with a population of around 103,000 {2011 estimate} is about 43 km or 29 mi north of Derby and is about 17 km or 10 mi south of Sheffield. Chesterfield FC, which has not been in the second division since 1950, nevertheless has good potential. Both much-larger nearby League clubs from Sheffield – Sheffield Wednesday (in the 2nd division relegation places, currently) and Sheffield United (in the third division relegation places, currently) – are still stuck in the doldrums. So Chesterfield has a real opportunity to attract new fans from the Greater Sheffield/North Derbyshire area, especially because Chesterfield boasts nice new facilities now. After more than a century at the eventually decrepit Saltergate (see photo below), Chesterfield now has a fine new 10K-capacity/3-year-old stadium, which the club itself owns. Currently, Chesterfield can count on a solid 5-6,000-strong fan base, and their support might have the potential to grow. But the Spireites need to get back to the third division, and get ensconced there again, if they expect to grow their fan base any more (their last spell in League One lasted 1 year [2011-12]). Chesterfield first dropped into the 4th division in 1961 (that was the third season that the Fourth Division [est. 1958-59] had existed), and when you add up all their years of League football, Chesterfield are an historically-third-division club, with 52 seasons being spent there, including 12 of their last 20 seasons (going back to 1994-95 and recently having a 6 year stay in the third tier from 2002-03 to 2006-07 {data from CFC-footy-mad site here}). Here is a recent article on Paul Cook and Chesterfield, from Skysports.com from 14 Oct. 2013 by Johnny Phillips, ‘Chesterfield manager Paul Cook could be the next big thing in football, says Johnny Phillips‘ (skysports.com/football).

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CFC’s old ground (Saltergate), photo from ciderspace.co.uk/asp/opposition/chesterfield.
Aerial photo of new stadium by Rob McGann (Robinson Steel Structures of Derby) via bullsnews.blogspot.com/2010/08/chesterfields-new-stadium.
Paul Cook, photo from goal.com.
Gary Roberts, photo from chesterfield-fc.co.uk/news/article/20131111-roberts-post-daventry.
Eoin Doyle, photo from thestar.co.uk

Rochdale AFC, currently 3rd place (29 points/+5 goal difference).
Rochdale AFC play at Spotland Stadium, in Rochdale (which is in the north-eastern part of Greater Manchester, but was historically in the south-eastern part of Lancashire). Rochdale borough has a population of around 95,000 {2001 census figure}. Spotland has a capacity of 10,249, was opened in 1920, and was last renovated in 1999-2000. Ownership of the ground is a three-way split between Rochdale Borough Council, Rochdale AFC, and the (just-promoted) second-division rugby league club Rochdale Hornets RLFC. Rochdale AFC, aka the Dale, draw 2.5 K or so in mediocre years and up to 3.5K in good seasons, and have done so for over two decades now {attendances from E-F-S site, here}.

Rochdale AFC manager Keith Hill (age 44), was born in Bolton, Lancashire. Hill was a defender who had 388 league appearances and 11 goals, playing for Blackburn Rovers, Plymouth Argyle, Rochdale (for 5 seasons), Cheltenham Town, Wrexham, and Morecambe from 1987 to 2003. Hill is now in his second spell managing Rochdale, after previously getting the club promoted to the 3rd division for the first time in 36 years (in May 2010, seen in photo below). Following that 4-and-half-year spell running Rochdale, Hill was hired by second division club Barnsley in June 2011, but was sacked in December 2012 as Barnsley languished in the relegation zone (Hill’s then-number-two, David Flitcroft [who was also assistant under Hill at Rochdale], took over, and did a fine job of keeping Barnsley in the Champiionship by the skin of their teeth last May).

Keith Hill returned to Rochdale in January 2013, with one objective – to get the Dale back to the third division. Rochdale currently feature twin scoring threats in the Norfolk-born ex-Colchester FW Ian Henderson (age 28), who has tallied 5 league goals this season so far; and a young potential phenom in the 21-year old striker Scott Hogan, who is Manchester-born and previously played for Conference side Hyde. Hogan has scored 6 league goals so far this season.

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Photo and Image credits above -
Exterior-view of main stand at Spotland, photo by David Dixon at geograph.org.uk.
Photo of 13/14 RAFC home jersey badge from football-shirts.co.uk/rochdale-shirt.
Interior photo of Spotland by 100groundsclub.blogspot.com/2009/08/my-matchday-223-spotland
Keith Hill celebrating May 2010 Rochdale promotion (during pitch invasion), photo from manchestereveningnews.co.uk.
Ian Henderson, photo by Pete Norton/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.
Scott Hogan, photo from manchestereveningnews.co.uk.

Fleetwood Town, currently 4th place (28 points/+9 goal difference).
Fleetwood has a population of around 26,000 {2001 census figure}. Fleetwood is just north of Blackpool on the Fylde coast of west-central Lancashire.

Fleetwood Town manager Graham Alexander played 21 years for Scunthorpe United, Luton Town, Preston North End, and Burnley, as a defender and a holding midfielder. Alexander became the oldest player to make his Premier League debut at the age of 37 (when he played right back/defensive midfielder for Burnley in the 2008-09 Premier League). Alexander was also the third oldest goal scorer in Premier League history. A dead-ball specialist, he retired in 2012 with 837 league appearances and 107 league goals (130 goals in all competitions). In Graham Alexander’s final match in April 2012, he scored a 92nd-minute equalizer at Deepdale versus Charlton. Graham Alexander played well over one thousand games in all competitions, second-most as a pro in the English leagues only to Tony Ford {see this ‘Tony Ford (footballer born 1959)‘}.

Alexander made his coaching debut in December 2011 while still a player, as a joint-caretaker manager of Preston North End (along with David Unsworth), following Preston’s sacking of Phil Brown. That position only lasted 5 games, though, as Preston brought in tough guy Graham Westely, to poor results (Westley has slunk back to 3rd-division-but-relegation-threatened Stevenage now). Alexander was appointed manager of Fleetwood Town in December 2012, following the surprise sacking of Mickey Mellon. Mellon had gotten Fleetwood Town into the Football League in May 2012. Fleetwood Town is a former 9th- and 8th-division club which has won 5 promotions in the last decade. This is a club that was drawing just 206 per game nine seasons ago in 2004-05, and now draws in the vicinity of 2,800. Actually, at the time of his sacking last December, Mellon had the Cod Army in the play-off places (in 7th place). But Mellon’s squad had just lost 3 matches in a row including an FA Cup 2nd Round match to Aldershot. Graham Alexander didn’t exactly have too poor a run-in managing Fleetwood for the latter half of last season, but, for all intents and purposes, once the Fleetwood squad knew they were safe from relegation, they coasted, and Fleetwood finished in 13th place in 2012-13, losing their final 4 matches. In the off season there were a few key personnel moves. The headline-maker was the club’s biggest signing ever, of Jamaican-born almost-23-year-old FW Jamille Matt (bought from Kidderminster for an undisclosed sum above £200,000). There was also the signing of 21-year-old play-maker Antoni Sarcevic, a MF with real potential, who was instrumental in getting Phoenix-club Chester FC up into the Conference last season. Both have produced so far, with Matt scoring 5 league goals in 12 appearances and Sarcevic netting 3 times with 3 assists.

fleetwood-town_highbury-stadium_g-alexander_j-matt_a-sarcevic_13-14-kit-badge_.gif

Photo and Image credits above -
Aerial photo of Highbury Stadium, from fwpgroup.co.uk/job/fleetwood-town-football-club.
Photo of Graham Alexander, from skysports.com.
Photo of Jamille Matt, by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.
Photo of Antoni Sarcevic and Fleetwood teammates celebrating from visitfleetwood.info.

__
Thanks to footballfashion.org and Igloo Films, at footballfashion.org/wordpress/2013/07/29/portsmouth-fc-201314-sondico-home-and-away-kits/, for image of Portsmouth 13/14 home jersey badge.
Thanks to Football-shirts.co.uk for photo of Rochdale 13/14 home jersey badge, football-shirts.co.uk/rochdale-shirt.
Thanks to Torquay United shop for images which allowed me to assemble a 13/14 TUFC home jersey badge facsimilie {tufcshop.com/tufc-2013-coaster ; tufcshop.com/tufc-replica-kits }.

Thanks to the contributors at en.wikipedia.org, ‘2013–14 Football League Two‘.

October 24, 2012

England: League Two – 2012-13 Location-map, with 2011-12 attendance data.

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England: League Two – 2012-13 Location-map, with 2011-12 attendance data




Note: to see my most recent post on the English 4th division, click on the following: category: Eng-4th Level/League 2.

At the top of the map page, the 2012-13 home jersey badges of the clubs in England’s 4th division are shown in alphabetical order. I added the clubs’ names under the badges mainly because if I had not, I am pretty sure I would have confused a few folks because, for the club’s Centenary, Gillingham’s kit badges and jersey colors this season are very different than their usual. Gillingham 12/13 Centenary Vandamel Football Shirt Design (Footballshirtculture.com). The badge is the Kent-based club’s original kit badge from 1911-12, and their home jersey color this season is not the Gills’ present-day royal blue, but the 1911-12 version – red-with-royal-blue-sleeves.

Here are the other League Two clubs this season which have home kit badges that are different from their official crests…
Bradford City sport a star (for their 1911 FA Cup title) – black stars seem to be a new kit-design trend, as both Huddrsfield Town and Man City also feature black stars on their home kit badges this season. Like Nottingham Forest, Southend United’s badge is, as usual, a reverse of their official crest. For 2012-13, Exeter City sport a striking shield device, with their flanking-winged-horses-coat-of-arms sitting in a larger version of the black-and-red-shield that is in the center of the crest itself. Exeter City’s badge has a sort of MC Escher feel about it {see it here (exetercityfcshop.co.uk)}. Since 1986, Torquay United have had, for most seasons, a seagull-in-disk device on the kits which is different, and more simplified – in a good way, I feel – than their official crest. Torquay United’s official crest, with its tacky color-blend effects, looks too much like a cheap clip-art design. Finally, League 1/League 2 yo-yo club Wycombe Wanderers are celebrating their 125th anniversary, and on their badge this season they sport gold olive branches flanking their chained-goose-with crown-in-disk device (which is based on the Buckinghamshire coat of arms). You can see it here (jerseyrevival.com).

Gillingham FC, League Two leaders as of 24 October 2012 -
After 14 games played for most of the clubs in the fourth division, Kent’s only Football League club, Gillingham FC, hold a 2-point lead in League Two, ahead of Port Vale in second place. Gillingham have spent the lions’ share of their years in the 3rd Level (ie, League One), with 56 seasons in the third division (last in 2009-10). Gillingham’s highest league placement was in 2002-03, when they finished in 11th place in the second division. That was during a 5-season-spell when Gillingham were, for the only time in their history, a second division club. That era coincided with the almost complete redevelopment of Gillingham’s Priestfield Stadium [known since 2011 as MEMS Priestfield Stadium for sponsorship purposes].

Much-traveled motivator/quick-fixer Martin ‘Mad Dog’ Allen is the Gills’ manager, after he helped keep Barnet from dropping out of the League in May 2012. This was a good karmic ending because you could say Allen was atoning for his sin against Barnet 13 months earlier, when he bolted from the the small North London-based club after just 3 games, leaving Barnet twisting in the wind and needing to find another way to once again save off relegation (which they did – just). The reason Allen bolted then was because Notts County, then in a relegation-battle of their own in League One, made Allen a better offer. Allen kept Notts County up in 2011-12, but poor league form the next season saw the Notts County board sack Allen in February 2011. So Allen then went back to Barnet and Barnet avoided relegation on the last day of the season for the third straight year. Then in July 2012 Allen made it nine job hires as manager in 9 years, with his appointment as the manager of Gillingham. [Clubs managed by Martin Allen - 2003–04, Barnet. 2004–06, Brentford. 2006–07, MK Dons. 2007, Leicester City. 2008–09, Cheltenham Town. 2011, Barnet. 2011–12, Notts County. 2012, Barnet. 2012, Gillingham.]. With the blossoming of Kent-born Gillingham striker and captain Danny Kedwell, Gillingham have held the top spot in League Two for virtually the whole season. Some observers feel Kedwell can forge a similar path to the top level like another rough-and-tumble ex-Non-league striker – Grant Holt, of Norwich City. The only problem with that scenario is that Kedwell is 29 years old.
Below, Danny Kedwell, Martin Allen, Priestfied Stadium…
gillingham-fc_priestfield-stadium_danny-kedwell_martin-allen_d.gif
Image and Photo credits above – kentonline.co.uk. businessforkent.co.uk. bing.com/maps/Bird’s Eye satellite view. Interior photo of Priestfield from PA via dailymail.co.uk.

New Stadium in Rotherham
The good news for Millers fans up in South Yorkshire is that Rotherham United have a new stadium, the 12,021-capacity New York Stadium, which was built by, and is owned by Rotherham United FC. The bad news for Millers fans is that their new manager is the felonious controversy-magnet Steve Evans, late of Crawley Town. Evans’ latest dust-up sees Evans banned and fined (the FA.com). Well, once Evans eventually takes his act elsewhere, RUFC supporters will still have their shiny new ground, which, as you can see below, looks rather nice. First of all, the New York Stadium is located in the city-center of Rotherham, not out in some god-forsaken lot many kilometers outside the town’s core, like with Coventry City’s Ricoh Stadium or Colchester United’s Colchester Community Stadium. And as far as the design of the New York Stadium goes, you can see in the photo below how the stands are very close to the pitch and they have a steep incline, making for excellent sight-lines. The staggered roof line prevents the stadium from having a bland, cookie-cutter look. Plus, Rotherham top brass didn’t pull a Notts County and over-expand – 12,000 capacity suits Rotherham United just fine. Rotherham is only 9.5 kilometers (or 7 miles) from Sheffield in South Yorkshire. So it has always been an uphill battle for Rotherham United to build a larger fan base. That is because the club is situated right in the midst of the fan bases of Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United, both of whom can draw in the the high 20K-range when playing in the upper reaches of the football ladder. The last time Rotherham United were in the second division was a 4-season spell from 2001-02 to 2004-05, and they drew in the mid-7,000-per game range then. In their new stadium this season, Rotherham are currently averaging 8,135 per game and will probably end up averaging around 7 or 8 thousand this season, maybe a bit higher than that if they can maintain a promotion drive (Rotherham are currently just within the play-off places in 7th place).

Rotherham’s new ground is called the ‘New’ York Stadium because the RUFC chairman Tony Stewart insists that this was what this section of Rotherham was nicknamed a century ago. Whatever. He just thought that the name would garner attention, and maybe it would lead to some sponsorship tie-in with the actual city of New York or even the New York Yankees (dream on). The stadium was built on the former site of the Guest and Chrimes Foundry {which you can still see via Bing.com/maps/Bird’s Eye satellite view, here}.

Below, The New York Stadium, Rotherham, South Yorkshire. Opened 18 August, 2012. Capacity 12,021 (all seated). Built and owned by Rotherham FC.
new-york-stadium_rotherham-united_.gif
Photo credit above – unattributed at rotherfm.co.uk/news/local-news/new-york-stadium-good-for-rotherham/.

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Thanks to Soccerway.com, for attendance figures and stadium capacities, http://www.soccerway.com/national/england/league-two/20122013/regular-season/ .
Thanks to Footballkitnews.com, for info on 2012-13 jerseys- http://www.footballkitnews.com/category/english-football-league-two/.
Thanks to Footballfashion.org, for info on 2012-13 jerseys – http://footballfashion.org/wordpress/category/201213-kits-jerseys/.
Thanks to Footballshirtculture.com, for info on 2012-13 jerseys – http://www.footballshirtculture.com/.
Thanks to Wycombe Wanderers site for 125th anniversary crest – http://www.wwfcshop.co.uk/collections/all-products/products/kuk01703 .

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