2011–12 Football League Two

The 2011–12 Football League Two (referred to as the Npower Football League Two for sponsorship reasons) is the eighth season of the league under its current title and nineteenth season under its current league division format.

Football League Two

Season	2011–12
Champions	Swindon Town
Promoted	Swindon Town Shrewsbury Town Crawley Town Crewe Alexandra
Relegated	Hereford United Macclesfield Town
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,458 (2.64 per match)
Top goalscorer	18 goals Adebayo Akinfenwa Lewis Grabban Izale McLeod Jack Midson
Biggest home win	Morecambe 6–0 Crawley Town (10 September) Bristol Rovers 7–1 Burton Albion (14 April)
Biggest away win	Hereford United 1–6 Gillingham (17 September) Northampton Town 2–7 Shrewsbury Town (19 November) Dagenham & Redbridge 0–5 Cheltenham Town (18 February)
Highest scoring	Barnet 3–6 Burton Albion (29 October) Northampton Town 2–7 Shrewsbury Town (19 November) Gillingham 5–4 Hereford United (28 February)
Longest winning run	10 matches – Swindon Town (31 December – 28 February)
Longest unbeaten run	16 matches – Crewe Alexandra (18 February-5 May)
Longest winless run	18 matches – Macclesfield Town (2 January–5 May)
Longest losing run	9 matches – Dagenham & Redbridge (8 October – 10 December)
Highest attendance	17,014 – 25 February (Bradford City vs Hereford United)
Lowest attendance	1,207 – 6 March (Morecambe vs Cheltenham Town)
← 2010–11 2012–13 →

Changes from last season

Team changes

From League Two

Promoted to League One

• Chesterfield
• Bury
• Wycombe Wanderers
• Stevenage

Relegated to Conference National

• Stockport County
• Lincoln City

To League Two

Relegated from League One

• Dagenham & Redbridge
• Bristol Rovers
• Plymouth Argyle
• Swindon Town F.C.

Promoted from Conference National

• Crawley Town
• AFC Wimbledon

Team overview

Stadia and locations

Accrington Stanley

Aldershot Town

AFC Wimbledon

Barnet

Bradford City

Bristol Rovers

Burton Albion

Cheltenham Town

Crawley Town

Crewe Alexandra

Dagenham & Redbridge

Gillingham

Hereford United

Macclesfield Town

Morecambe

Northampton Town

Oxford United

Plymouth Argyle

Port Vale

Rotherham United

Shrewsbury Town

Southend United

Swindon Town

Torquay United

Locations of League Two 2011–12 teams

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Accrington Stanley	Accrington	Crown Ground	5,057
AFC Wimbledon	London	Kingsmeadow	4,850
Aldershot Town	Aldershot	Recreation Ground	7,100
Barnet	London	Underhill Stadium	6,200
Bradford City	Bradford	Valley Parade	25,136
Bristol Rovers	Bristol	Memorial Stadium	12,011
Burton Albion	Burton upon Trent	Pirelli Stadium	6,912
Cheltenham Town	Cheltenham	Abbey Business Stadium	7,066
Crawley Town	Crawley	Broadfield Stadium	6,134
Crewe Alexandra	Crewe	Alexandra Stadium	10,153
Dagenham & Redbridge	London	Victoria Road	6,078
Gillingham	Gillingham	Priestfield Stadium	11,582
Hereford United	Hereford	Edgar Street	5,075
Macclesfield Town	Macclesfield	Moss Rose	6,355
Morecambe	Morecambe	Globe Arena	6,476
Northampton Town	Northampton	Sixfields Stadium	7,653
Oxford United	Oxford	Kassam Stadium	12,500
Plymouth Argyle	Plymouth	Home Park	16,388
Port Vale	Stoke-on-Trent	Vale Park	19,052
Rotherham United	Sheffield	Don Valley Stadium	10,000
Shrewsbury Town	Shrewsbury	Greenhous Meadow	9,875
Southend United	Southend-on-Sea	Roots Hall	12,392
Swindon Town	Swindon	County Ground	14,700
Torquay United	Torquay	Plainmoor	6,104

Personnel and sponsoring

Team	Manager	Chairman	Team captain	Kit maker	Sponsor
Accrington Stanley	Paul Cook	Ilyas Khan	Dean Winnard	Samurai Sportswear	Clever Boxes
AFC Wimbledon	Terry Brown	Erik Samuelson	Jamie Stuart	Tempest Sports	Sports Interactive (H) Football Manager (A)
Aldershot Town	Dean Holdsworth	Kris Machala	Ben Herd	Erreà	EBB Paper
Barnet	Martin Allen	Anthony Kleanthous	Mark Hughes	Surridge	Pulse Fitness
Bradford City	Phil Parkinson	Mark Lawn and Julian Rhodes	Michael Flynn	Nike	Map Group UK
Bristol Rovers	Mark McGhee	Nick Higgs	Matthew Gill	Erreà	McCarthy Waste (H) ITS (A)
Burton Albion	Gary Rowett (caretaker) Kevin Poole (caretaker)	Ben Robinson	John McGrath	TAG	Mr Cropper
Cheltenham Town	Mark Yates	Paul Baker	Alan Bennett	Erreà	Mira Showers
Crawley Town	Craig Brewster (caretaker)	Victor Manley	Pablo Mills	Puma best team ever
Crewe Alexandra	Steve Davis	John Bowler	David Artell Lee Bell	Carbrini	Mornflake Cereal
Dagenham & Redbridge	John Still	Dave Andrews	Mark Arber	Vandanel	West & Coe Funeral Directors
Gillingham	Andy Hessenthaler	Paul Scally	Andy Frampton	Vandanel	Medway Electrical & Mechanical Services
Hereford United	Richard O'Kelly	David Keyte	Stefan Stam	Admiral	Cargill
Macclesfield Town	Glyn Chamberlain	Mike Rance	Paul Morgan	adidas	Voi Jeans
Morecambe	Jim Bentley	Peter McGuigan	Will Haining	Puma	Bench
Northampton Town	Aidy Boothroyd	David Cardoza	John Johnson	Erreà	Jackson Grundy
Oxford United	Chris Wilder	Kelvin Thomas	Jake Wright	Nike	Bridle Insurance
Plymouth Argyle	Carl Fletcher	James Brent	Simon Walton	Puma	Bond Timber
Port Vale	Micky Adams	Vacant	Marc Richards	Vandanel	Harlequin Property
Rotherham United	Steve Evans	Tony Stewart	Ryan Cresswell	Puma	Parkgate Shopping
Shrewsbury Town	Graham Turner	Roland Wycherley	Ian Sharps	Joma	Greenhous
Southend United	Paul Sturrock	Ron Martin	Chris Barker	Nike	InsureandGo
Swindon Town	Paolo Di Canio	Jeremy Wray	Paul Caddis	Adidas	Samsung (H) FIFA 12 (A)
Torquay United	Martin Ling	Simon Baker	Lee Mansell	Vandanel	Sparkworld

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Bristol Rovers	Dave Penney	Sacked	7 March 2011[1]	Pre-season	Paul Buckle	30 May 2011[2]
Swindon Town	Paul Hart		28 April 2011[3]	Pre-season	Paolo Di Canio	20 May 2011[4]
Morecambe	Sammy McIlroy	Mutual consent	9 May 2011[5]	Pre-season	Jim Bentley	13 May 2011[6]
Barnet	Giuliano Grazioli	End of tenure as caretaker	13 May 2011	Pre-season	Lawrie Sanchez	13 May 2011[7]
Torquay United	Paul Buckle	Signed by Bristol Rovers	30 May 2011[2]	Pre-season	Martin Ling	13 June 2011[8]
Bradford City	Peter Jackson	Resigned	25 August 2011[9]	21st	Phil Parkinson	28 August 2011[10]
Plymouth Argyle	Peter Reid	Sacked	18 September 2011[11]	24th	Carl Fletcher	18 September 2011[12]
Crewe Alexandra	Dario Gradi	Resigned	10 November 2011[13]	18th	Steve Davis	10 November 2011[14]
Northampton Town	Gary Johnson	Mutual consent	14 November 2011[15]	20th	Aidy Boothroyd	30 November 2011[16]
Bristol Rovers	Paul Buckle	Sacked	3 January 2012[17]	19th	Mark McGhee	18 January 2012[18]
Accrington Stanley	John Coleman	Signed by Rochdale	24 January 2012[19]	10th	Paul Cook	13 February 2012[20]
Hereford United	Jamie Pitman	Sacked	5 March 2012[21]	21st	Richard O'Kelly	5 March 2012
Burton Albion	Paul Peschisolido		17 March 2012[22]	17th	Gary Rowett (caretaker) Kevin Poole (caretaker)	17 March 2012[22]
Macclesfield	Gary Simpson	Mutual consent	18 March 2012[23]	21st	Brian Horton	19 March 2012[24]
Rotherham United	Andy Scott	Sacked	19 March 2012[25]	11th	Steve Evans	9 April 2012[26]
Crawley Town	Steve Evans	Signed by Rotherham United	9 April 2012[26]	4th	Craig Brewster (caretaker)	9 April 2012
Barnet	Lawrie Sanchez	Sacked	16 April 2012[27]	22nd	Martin Allen	16 April 2012[28]
Macclesfield	Brian Horton	Resigned	30 April 2012[29]	24th	Glyn Chamberlain	30 April 2012

League table

A total of 24 teams contest the division: 18 sides remaining in the division from last season, four relegated from League One, and two promoted from Conference National.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Swindon Town (C, P)	46	29	6	11	75	32	+43	93	Promotion to Football League One
2	Shrewsbury Town (P)	46	26	10	10	66	41	+25	88
3	Crawley Town (P)	46	23	15	8	76	54	+22	84
4	Southend United	46	25	8	13	77	48	+29	83	Qualification for League Two play-offs[a]
5	Torquay United	46	23	12	11	63	50	+13	81
6	Cheltenham Town	46	23	8	15	66	50	+16	77
7	Crewe Alexandra (O, P)	46	20	12	14	67	59	+8	72
8	Gillingham	46	20	10	16	79	62	+17	70
9	Oxford United	46	17	17	12	59	48	+11	68
10	Rotherham United	46	18	13	15	67	63	+4	67
11	Aldershot Town	46	19	9	18	54	52	+2	66
12	Port Vale	46	20	9	17	68	60	+8	59[b]
13	Bristol Rovers	46	15	12	19	60	70	−10	57
14	Accrington Stanley	46	14	15	17	54	66	−12	57
15	Morecambe	46	14	14	18	63	57	+6	56
16	AFC Wimbledon	46	15	9	22	62	78	−16	54
17	Burton Albion	46	14	12	20	54	81	−27	54
18	Bradford City	46	12	14	20	54	59	−5	50
19	Dagenham & Redbridge	46	14	8	24	50	72	−22	50
20	Northampton Town	46	12	12	22	56	79	−23	48
21	Plymouth Argyle	46	10	16	20	47	64	−17	46
22	Barnet	46	12	10	24	52	79	−27	46
23	Hereford United (R)	46	10	14	22	50	70	−20	44	Relegation to the Conference Premier
24	Macclesfield Town (R)	46	8	13	25	39	64	−25	37

Updated to match(es) played on 5 May 2012. Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Four teams play for one spot and promotion to Football League One.
2. On 9 March Port Vale were deducted ten points for entering administration.^[30]

Play-offs

Main article: 2012 Football League play-offs

	Semifinals							Final
	4	Southend United	0	2	2
	7	Crewe Alexandra	1	2	3
								6	Cheltenham Town	0
								7	Crewe Alexandra	2
	5	Torquay United	0	1	1
	6	Cheltenham Town	2	2	4

Results

The fixtures for the League Two were released on 17 June 2011. The season started on 6 August 2011, and is scheduled to conclude on 5 May 2012.^[31]

Home \ Away	ACC	WIM	ALD	BAR	BRA	BRR	BRT	CHL	CRA	CRE	D&R	GIL	HER	MAC	MOR	NOR	OXF	PLY	PTV	ROT	SHR	STD	SWI	TOR
Accrington Stanley		2–1	3–2	0–3	1–0	2–1	2–1	0–1	0–1	0–2	3–0	4–3	2–1	4–0	1–1	2–1	0–2	0–4	2–2	1–1	1–1	1–2	0–2	3–1
AFC Wimbledon	0–2		1–2	1–1	3–1	2–3	4–0	4–1	2–5	1–3	2–1	3–1	1–1	2–1	1–1	0–3	0–2	1–2	3–2	1–2	3–1	1–4	1–1	2–0
Aldershot Town	0–0	1–1		4–1	1–0	1–0	2–0	1–0	0–1	3–1	1–1	1–2	1–0	1–2	1–0	0–1	0–3	0–0	1–2	2–2	1–0	2–0	2–1	0–1
Barnet	0–0	4–0	2–1		0–4	2–0	3–6	2–2	1–2	2–0	2–2	2–2	1–1	2–1	0–2	1–2	0–2	2–0	1–3	1–1	1–2	0–3	0–2	0–1
Bradford City	1–1	1–2	1–2	4–2		2–2	1–1	0–1	1–2	3–0	0–1	2–2	1–1	1–0	2–2	2–1	2–1	1–1	1–1	2–3	3–1	2–0	0–0	1–0
Bristol Rovers	5–1	1–0	0–1	0–2	2–1		7–1	1–3	0–0	2–5	2–0	2–2	0–0	0–0	2–1	2–1	0–0	2–3	0–3	5–2	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–2
Burton Albion	0–2	3–2	0–4	1–2	2–2	2–1		0–2	0–0	1–0	1–1	1–0	0–2	1–0	3–2	0–1	1–1	2–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–4
Cheltenham Town	4–1	0–0	2–0	2–0	3–1	0–2	2–0		3–1	0–1	2–1	0–3	0–0	2–0	1–2	2–2	0–0	2–1	2–0	1–0	0–0	3–0	1–0	0–1
Crawley Town	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–0	3–1	4–1	3–0	4–2		1–1	3–1	1–2	0–3	2–0	1–1	3–1	4–1	2–0	3–2	3–0	2–1	3–0	0–3	0–1
Crewe Alexandra	2–0	3–3	2–2	3–1	1–0	3–0	3–2	1–0	1–1		4–1	1–2	1–0	0–1	0–1	1–1	3–1	3–2	1–1	1–2	1–1	1–3	2–0	0–3
Dagenham & Redbridge	2–1	0–2	2–5	3–0	1–0	4–0	1–1	0–5	1–1	2–1		2–1	0–1	2–0	1–2	0–1	0–1	2–3	1–2	3–2	0–2	2–3	1–0	1–1
Gillingham	1–1	3–4	1–0	3–1	0–0	4–1	3–1	1–0	0–1	3–4	1–2		5–4	2–0	2–0	4–3	1–0	3–0	1–1	0–0	0–1	1–2	3–1	2–0
Hereford United	1–1	2–1	0–2	1–0	2–0	1–2	2–3	1–1	1–1	0–1	1–0	1–6		0–4	0–3	0–0	0–1	1–1	1–2	2–3	0–2	2–3	1–2	3–2
Macclesfield Town	1–1	4–0	0–1	0–0	1–0	0–0	0–2	1–3	2–2	2–2	0–1	0–0	2–2		1–1	3–1	1–1	1–1	2–1	0–0	1–3	0–2	2–0	1–2
Morecambe	1–2	1–2	2–0	0–1	1–1	2–3	2–2	3–1	6–0	1–2	1–2	2–1	0–1	1–0		1–2	0–0	2–2	0–0	3–3	0–1	1–0	0–1	1–2
Northampton Town	0–0	1–0	3–1	1–2	1–3	3–2	2–3	2–3	0–1	1–1	2–1	1–1	1–3	3–2	0–2		2–1	0–0	1–2	1–1	2–7	2–5	1–2	0–0
Oxford United	1–1	1–0	1–1	2–1	1–1	3–0	2–2	1–3	1–1	0–1	2–1	0–0	2–2	1–1	1–2	2–0		5–1	2–1	2–1	2–0	0–2	2–0	2–2
Plymouth Argyle	2–2	0–2	1–0	0–0	1–0	1–1	2–1	1–2	1–1	0–1	0–0	0–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	4–1	1–1		0–2	1–4	1–0	2–2	0–1	1–2
Port Vale	4–1	1–2	4–0	1–2	3–2	1–0	3–0	1–2	2–2	1–1	0–1	2–1	1–0	1–0	0–4	3–0	3–0	1–0		2–0	2–3	2–3	0–2	0–0
Rotherham United	1–0	1–0	2–0	2–2	3–0	0–1	0–1	1–0	1–2	1–1	3–1	3–0	1–0	4–2	3–2	1–1	1–0	1–0	0–1		1–1	0–4	1–2	0–1
Shrewsbury Town	1–0	0–0	1–1	3–2	1–0	1–0	1–0	2–0	2–1	2–0	1–0	2–0	3–1	1–0	2–0	1–1	2–2	1–1	1–0	3–1		2–1	2–1	2–0
Southend United	2–2	2–0	0–1	3–0	0–1	1–1	0–1	4–0	0–0	1–0	1–1	1–0	1–0	2–0	1–1	2–2	2–1	2–0	3–0	0–2	3–0		1–4	4–1
Swindon Town	2–0	2–0	2–0	4–0	0–0	0–0	2–0	1–0	3–0	3–0	4–0	2–0	3–3	1–0	3–0	1–0	1–2	1–0	5–0	3–2	2–1	2–0		2–0
Torquay United	1–0	4–0	1–0	1–0	1–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	1–3	1–1	1–0	2–5	2–0	3–0	1–1	1–0	0–0	3–1	2–1	3–3	1–0	0–0	1–0

Updated to match(es) played on 5 May 2012. Source: The Football League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Statistics

As of 14 April 2012

Top goalscorers Rank Player Club Goals[32] 1 Jack Midson AFC Wimbledon 18 Izale McLeod Barnet Lewis Grabban Rotherham United Adebayo Akinfenwa Northampton Town 5 Marc Richards Port Vale 17 6 Matt Harrold Bristol Rovers 16 7 Kevin Ellison Morecambe 15 8 James Collins Shrewsbury Town 14 Nick Powell Crewe Alexandra 10 James Hanson Bradford City 13 Tyrone Barnett Crawley Town Bilel Mohsni Southend United Rene Howe Torquay United

Top assists Rank Player Club Assists[33] 1 Ryan Hall Southend United 19 2 Matt Ritchie Swindon Town 14 3 Peter Leven Oxford United 11 Luke Rooney Gillingham/Swindon Town 5 Michael Jacobs Northampton Town 10 Kyel Reid Bradford City Tom Pope Port Vale 8 Eunan O'Kane Torquay United 9 Mark Wright Shrewsbury Town Danny Jackman Gillingham

Monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month		Notes
	Manager	Club	Player	Club
August	Andy Scott	Rotherham United	Mark Arber	Dagenham & Redbridge	[34][35]
September	Paul Sturrock	Southend United	Danny Carlton	Morecambe	[36][37]
October	Steve Evans	Crawley Town	Danny Hylton	Aldershot Town	[38][39]
November	Mark Yates	Cheltenham Town	Billy Kee	Burton Albion	[40][41]
December	Phil Parkinson	Bradford City	Bryan Hughes	Accrington	[42][43][44]
January	Martin Ling	Torquay United	Mark Ellis	Torquay United	[40][41]
February	Paolo Di Canio	Swindon Town	Paul Benson	Swindon Town	[45][46]
March	Martin Ling	Torquay United	Lee Mansell	Torquay United	[47][48]
April	Graham Turner	Shrewsbury Town	Bilel Mohsni	Southend United	[49][50]