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      LEAGUE 2    2019/20
     

See notes below table

   

Leading League goalscorer:
Eoin Doyle
25 goals
(23 Swindon Town,
2 Bradford City)


The tragedy that was coronavirus saw the last League 2 match played on Tuesday March 10th leaving 112 fixtures unplayed. At an EFL meeting on June 9th it was confirmed that the season would be officially ended with a unweighted points per game (PPG) figure deciding league positions rather than the traditional points table. 

Crewe finished top  in the traditional points table but finished second to Swindon Town who finished as champions using PPG.
Otherwise no great differences between the two systems - the same three teams won automatic promotion, the same four were in the play-offs and Macclesfield lost their League place using either system.



Northampton were the unlikely side to gain promotion through the play-offs. The lowest placed of the four play-off qualifiers they started their play-off campaign with a 2-0 home defeat by Cheltenham. A 3-0 away win followed to earn them the first of the behind-closed-doors Wembley finals. In that they beat Exeter 4-0.

Macclesfield had the misfortune of several clubs from the north-west to suffer from financial problems during 2019/20. Non-payment of wages resulted in players - and staff generally - going on strike. That saw Macclesfield field a team of loanees and youth players in their FA Cup tie against non-leaguers Kingstonian - they lost 0-4 - and resulted in 2 League matches being postponed. When the season ended the Silkmen had been docked 13 points by the EFL for the problems caused but had finished one point above Stevenage who faced relegation to the National League. Then on August 11th Macclesfield suffered another 4 point penalty and so replaced Stevenage in being relegated to non-league football.  Full details

Congrats to Colchester United who reached the League Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 1974/75. They beat Premier Leaguers Crystal Palace and Tottenham before Manchester United beat them 3-0 in front of a 57,559 Old Trafford crowd.
League Cup 2019/20

  P W D L F A Pts

PPG

Position
Change

    Results 1 Swindon Town 36 21 6 9 62 39 69 1.917 Promoted +1
    Results 2 Crewe Alexandra 37 20 9 8 67 43 69 1.865 Promoted -1
    Results 3 Plymouth Argyle 37 20 8 9 61 39 68 1.838 Promoted -
    Results 4 Cheltenham Town 36 17 13 6 52 27 64 1.778 Play Off +1
    Results 5 Exeter City 37 18 11 8 53 43 65 1.757 Play Off -1
    Results 6 Colchester United 37 15 13 9 52 37 58 1.568 Play Off -
    Results 7 Northampton Town 37 17 7 13 54 40 58 1.568 Promoted -
    Results 8 Port Vale 37 14 15 8 50 44 57 1.541 -
    Results 9 Bradford City 37 14 12 11 44 40 54 1.459 -
    Results 10 Forest Green Rovers 36 13 10 13 43 40 49 1.361 +1
    Results 11 Salford City 37 13 11 13 49 46 50 1.351 -1
    Results 12 Walsall 36 13 8 15 40 49 47 1.306 +2
    Results 13 Crawley Town 37 11 15 11 51 47 48 1.297 -1
    Results 14 Newport County 36 12 10 14 32 39 46 1.278 +1
    Results 15 Grimsby Town 37 12 11 14 45 51 47 1.270 -2
    Results 16 Cambridge United 37 12 9 16 40 48 45 1.216 -
    Results 17 Leyton Orient 36 10 12 14 47 55 42 1.167 -
    Results 18 Carlisle United 37 10 12 15 39 56 42 1.135 -
    Results 19 Oldham Athletic 37 9 14 14 44 57 41 1.108 -
    Results 20 Scunthorpe United 37 10 10 17 44 56 40 1.081 -
    Results 21 Mansfield Town 36 9 11 16 48 55 38 1.056 -
    Results 22 Morecambe 37 7 11 19 35 60 32 0.865 -
    Results 23 Stevenage 36 3 13 20 24 50 22 0.611 -
    Results 24 Macclesfield Town 37 7 15 15 32 47 19

*

0.514 Relegated -
   
   


Full home and away
table

Notes
The 2019/20 League 2 season was abandoned before its completion due to the coronavirus pandemic. Other than the play-offs the last League 2 match of the season was the Carlisle v Newport County fixture on Tuesday March 10th leaving 112 matches still to play. With League 2 clubs having all played 36 or 37 League matches at that point the traditional points table couldn't be used to calculate final positions. Various ideas were put forward to even out the differences but a straightforward points per game solution for Leagues 1 and 2 was adopted (points divided by games played) with goal difference deciding placings where PPG was the same. The first part of the table above shows details of the traditional table and is followed by the PPG figures which been used to decide final table positions. The final column shows the differences in league positions the move from points to PPG made to each club. 

The move from points to PPG brought no real significant changes in League 2 - the same three clubs were promoted, the same four clubs played in the play offs and using either method Macclesfield dropped out of the League. The biggest difference was that in the points table Crewe finished in first place but PPG saw Swindon replace them in top spot. But is being champions in a season that wasn't finished the honour that it would be in a normal season?

* Macclesfield Town had a total of 17 points deducted due to financial problems - full details

Promoted Relegated As League 1 sadly lost Bury at the start of the 2019/20 season only three clubs were relegated from League 1 but four clubs were promoted to League 1. To get back to 24 clubs in League 2 only Macclesfield Town were relegated but Barrow (National League champions) and Harrogate Town (play-off winners) were promoted into the division.
2019/20 National League table and play-offs

   
   
All the Play Off matches were played behind closed doors.

Play Off Semi-Finals
    Play Off
1st Leg
Thu Jun 18 Colchester United 1 - 0 Exeter City
Thu Jun 18 Northampton Town 0 - 2 Cheltenham Town
2nd Leg
Mon Jun 22 Exeter City 3 - 1 Colchester United
Mon Jun 22 Cheltenham Town 0 - 3 Northampton Town
Aggregate scores
Exeter City 3 - 2 Colchester United
Northampton Town 3 - 2 Cheltenham Town
                 
Play Off Final (at Wembley)
Mon Jun 29 Northampton Town 4 - 0 Exeter City

   Northampton Town were promoted to League 1 


 

Northampton Town
joined the Football League in 1920. For every Cobblers' first team result and League table 
click on...


 Northampton Town

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