2021–22 EFL League Two

The 2021–22 EFL League Two (referred to as the Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship reasons) was the 18th season of Football League Two under its current title and the 30th season under its current league division format. The season is known for the finish to the last automatic spot (3rd) between Bristol Rovers and Northampton Town. Bristol Rovers started the day needing to better the result of 3rd placed Northampton Town, or to win by 5 goals more than their rivals. Northampton Town beat 22nd-placed Barrow 3-1, and by halftime, Bristol Rovers seemed on course for a playoff position despite leading 2-0 against Scunthorpe United, thanks in part to Lobley's own goal. However, in the second half the team netted 5 goals against a youthful Scunthorpe side. With just 5 minutes remaining, Anderson's header propelled Bristol Rovers into the automatic promotion spot (Anderson's crucial winner against Colchester United earlier in March secured the team's place in the playoff ranks for the first time this season). The final moments saw Bristol Rovers clinch automatic promotion from League Two based on goals scored, as the two teams were tied on points and goal difference. Manager Joey Barton implored fans to clear the pitch after Anderson's decisive goal triggered a pitch invasion, halting the match for nearly 20 minutes. The remaining 5 minutes and added time were played without incident, sealing Bristol Rovers' immediate and triumphant return to EFL League One following last season's relegation, beating already relegated Scunthorpe United 7-0. ^[1][2]

EFL League Two

Season	2021–22
Dates	7 August 2021 – 7 May 2022
Champions	Forest Green Rovers
Promoted	Forest Green Rovers Exeter City Bristol Rovers Port Vale
Relegated	Oldham Athletic Scunthorpe United
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,359 (2.46 per match)
Top goalscorer	Dom Telford (25 goals)
Biggest home win	Bristol Rovers 7–0 Scunthorpe United (7 May 2022)
Biggest away win	Scunthorpe United 0–4 Exeter City (11 September 2021) Stevenage 0–4 Forest Green Rovers (18 September 2021) Tranmere Rovers 0–4 Forest Green Rovers (29 January 2022) Stevenage 0–4 Bristol Rovers (19 February 2022) Scunthorpe United 0–4 Mansfield Town (9 April 2022)
Highest scoring	Oldham Athletic 5–5 Forest Green Rovers (11 December 2021)
← 2020–21 2022–23 →

Team changes

To League Two Promoted from National League Sutton United Hartlepool United Relegated from League One Bristol Rovers Swindon Town Northampton Town Rochdale

From League Two Promoted to League One Cheltenham Town Cambridge United Bolton Wanderers Morecambe Relegated to National League Grimsby Town Southend United

Stadiums

Greater
Manchester

Barrow

Bradford City

Bristol
Rovers

Carlisle
United

Colchester
United

Crawley
Town

Exeter City

Forest Green Rovers

Harrogate Town

Hartlepool United

Leyton Orient

Mansfield Town

Newport County

Northampton
Town

Port Vale

Scunthorpe United

Stevenage

Sutton
United

Swindon
Town

Tranmere
Rovers

Walsall

Greater Manchester teams
Oldham Athletic
Rochdale
Salford City

Locations of the 2021–22 EFL League Two teams

Oldham Athletic

Rochdale

Salford City

Greater Manchester League Two football clubs

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Barrow	Barrow-in-Furness	Holker Street	5,045
Bradford City	Bradford	Valley Parade	25,136
Bristol Rovers	Bristol	Memorial Stadium	12,300
Carlisle United	Carlisle	Brunton Park	18,202
Colchester United	Colchester	Colchester Community Stadium	10,105
Crawley Town	Crawley	Broadfield Stadium	5,996
Exeter City	Exeter	St. James Park	8,696
Forest Green Rovers	Nailsworth	The New Lawn	5,147
Harrogate Town	Harrogate	Wetherby Road	5,000
Hartlepool United	Hartlepool	Victoria Park	7,856
Leyton Orient	London (Leyton)	Brisbane Road	9,271
Mansfield Town	Mansfield	Field Mill	9,186
Newport County	Newport	Rodney Parade	7,850
Northampton Town	Northampton	Sixfields Stadium	7,798
Oldham Athletic	Oldham	Boundary Park	13,513
Port Vale	Burslem	Vale Park	20,552
Rochdale	Rochdale	Spotland Stadium	10,249
Salford City	Salford	Moor Lane	5,108
Scunthorpe United	Scunthorpe	Glanford Park	9,088
Stevenage	Stevenage	Broadhall Way	7,300
Sutton United	London (Sutton)	Gander Green Lane	5,013
Swindon Town	Swindon	County Ground	15,728
Tranmere Rovers	Birkenhead	Prenton Park	16,789
Walsall	Walsall	Bescot Stadium	11,300

Personnel and sponsoring

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Sponsor
Barrow	Phil Brown	Jason Taylor	Joma	JF Hornby & Co.
Bradford City	Mark Hughes	Paudie O'Connor	Avec Sport	JCT600
Bristol Rovers	Joey Barton	Paul Coutts	Macron	Utilita
Carlisle United	Paul Simpson	Callum Guy	Erreà	Thomas Graham
Colchester United	Wayne Brown (caretaker)	Tommy Smith	Macron	Texo Scaffolding (Home) JobServe (Away / Third)
Crawley Town	Lewis Young (caretaker)	George Francomb[3]	Erreà	The People's Pension
Exeter City	Matt Taylor	Matt Jay[4]	Joma	Carpetright
Forest Green Rovers	Rob Edwards	Jamille Matt	PlayerLayer[5]	Ecotricity
Harrogate Town	Simon Weaver	Josh Falkingham	New Balance	Strata
Hartlepool United	Michael Nelson (caretaker)	Nicky Featherstone	O'Neills	Orangebox Training Solutions
Leyton Orient	Richie Wellens	Darren Pratley	New Balance	Multiple charities[note 1]
Mansfield Town	Nigel Clough	Ollie Clarke	Surridge	One Call
Newport County	James Rowberry	Matty Dolan	Hummel	Alzheimers Society Cymru
Northampton Town	Jon Brady	Joseph Mills	Hummel	University of Northampton
Oldham Athletic	John Sheridan	Carl Piergianni	Hummel	Bartercard
Port Vale	Darrell Clarke	Tom Conlon	Erreà	Synectics Solutions
Rochdale	Robbie Stockdale	Eoghan O'Connell	Erreà	Crown Oil Ltd
Salford City	Gary Bowyer	Ashley Eastham	Kappa	TalkTalk
Scunthorpe United	Keith Hill	Liam Feeney	Macron	Cancer Research UK
Stevenage	Steve Evans	Scott Cuthbert	Macron	Prime Gaming
Sutton United	Matt Gray	Craig Eastmond	Macron	Angel Plastics
Swindon Town	Ben Garner	Dion Conroy	Puma	Bartercard
Tranmere Rovers	Micky Mellon	Peter Clarke	Mills[8]	Essar
Walsall	Michael Flynn	Joss Labadie	Erreà	HomeServe

1. Tottenham Hotspur player Harry Kane, who played for Leyton Orient early in his career, bought the club's shirt sponsorship for the 2021–22 season, his second season of doing this. Each of the team's shirts will feature a different message or charity chosen by Kane: Tommy Club (home shirt), Haven House Children's Hospice (away shirt), and Mind (third shirt).^[6][7]

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Leyton Orient	Jobi McAnuff[9]	End of Interim spell	8 May 2021	Pre-season	Kenny Jackett[10]	21 May 2021
Swindon Town	Tommy Wright				John McGreal[11]	26 May 2021
Bradford City	Mark Trueman Conor Sellars[12]	Sacked	10 May 2021		Derek Adams[13]	4 June 2021
Walsall	Brian Dutton[14]				Matthew Taylor[15]	19 May 2021
Barrow	Rob Kelly[16]	End of Caretaker spell	14 May 2021		Mark Cooper[17]	28 May 2021
Tranmere Rovers	Ian Dawes		23 May 2021		Micky Mellon[18]	1 June 2021
Forest Green Rovers	Jimmy Ball				Rob Edwards[19]	27 May 2021
Swindon Town	John McGreal[20]	Mutual consent	25 June 2021		Ben Garner[21]	21 July 2021
Rochdale	Brian Barry-Murphy[22]	Resigned	30 June 2021		Robbie Stockdale[23]	10 July 2021
Newport County	Michael Flynn[24]		1 October 2021	15th	James Rowberry[25]	19 October 2021
Carlisle United	Chris Beech[26]	Sacked	10 October 2021	22nd	Keith Millen[27]	26 October 2021
Scunthorpe United	Neil Cox[28]		1 November 2021	24th	Keith Hill[29]	5 November 2021
Hartlepool United	Dave Challinor[30]	Signed by Stockport County		10th	Graeme Lee[31]	1 December 2021
Stevenage	Alex Revell[32]	Sacked	15 November 2021	21st	Paul Tisdale[33]	28 November 2021
Oldham Athletic	Keith Curle[34]		24 November 2021	22nd	Selim Benachour (Interim)	24 November 2021
Colchester United	Hayden Mullins[35]		19 January 2021	22nd	Wayne Brown (Interim)[35]	22 January 2022
Oldham Athletic	Selim Benachour	End of Interim Spell	22 January 2022	24th	John Sheridan[36]	22 January 2022
Walsall	Matthew Taylor[37]	Sacked	9 February 2022	21st	Michael Flynn[38]	15 February 2022
Bradford City	Derek Adams[39]		15 February 2022	11th	Mark Hughes[40]	24 February 2022
Leyton Orient	Kenny Jackett[41]		22 February 2022	18th	Richie Wellens[42]	9 March 2022
Carlisle United	Keith Millen[43]	Mutual consent	23 February 2022	23rd	Paul Simpson[44]	23 February 2022
Stevenage	Paul Tisdale[45]	Sacked	16 March 2022	22nd	Steve Evans[45]	16 March 2022
Barrow	Mark Cooper[46]	Mutual consent	20 March 2022	21st	Phil Brown[47]	21 March 2022
Hartlepool United	Graeme Lee[48]	Sacked	5 May 2022	16th	Michael Nelson (caretaker)	5 May 2022
Crawley Town	John Yems[49][50]	Mutual consent	6 May 2022	16th	Lewis Young (caretaker)[49][50]	6 May 2022

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Forest Green Rovers (C, P)	46	23	15	8	75	44	+31	84	Promotion to EFL League One
2	Exeter City (P)	46	23	15	8	65	41	+24	84
3	Bristol Rovers (P)	46	23	11	12	71	49	+22	80
4	Northampton Town	46	23	11	12	60	38	+22	80	Qualification for League Two play-offs
5	Port Vale (O, P)	46	22	12	12	67	46	+21	78
6	Swindon Town	46	22	11	13	77	54	+23	77
7	Mansfield Town	46	22	11	13	67	52	+15	77
8	Sutton United	46	22	10	14	69	53	+16	76
9	Tranmere Rovers	46	21	12	13	53	40	+13	75
10	Salford City	46	19	13	14	60	46	+14	70
11	Newport County	46	19	12	15	67	58	+9	69
12	Crawley Town	46	17	10	19	56	66	−10	61
13	Leyton Orient	46	14	16	16	62	47	+15	58
14	Bradford City	46	14	16	16	53	55	−2	58
15	Colchester United	46	14	13	19	48	60	−12	55
16	Walsall	46	14	12	20	47	60	−13	54
17	Hartlepool United	46	14	12	20	44	64	−20	54
18	Rochdale	46	12	17	17	51	59	−8	53
19	Harrogate Town	46	14	11	21	64	75	−11	53
20	Carlisle United	46	14	11	21	39	62	−23	53
21	Stevenage	46	11	14	21	45	68	−23	47
22	Barrow	46	10	14	22	44	57	−13	44
23	Oldham Athletic (R)	46	9	11	26	46	75	−29	38	Relegation to National League
24	Scunthorpe United (R)	46	4	14	28	29	90	−61	26

Source: EFL Official Website
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head results; 5) Wins; 6) Away goals; 7) Penalty points (sec 9.5); 8) 12-point sending off offences^[51]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Play-offs

Main article: 2022 English Football League play-offs

	Semi-finals							Final
	4	Northampton Town	1	0	1
	7	Mansfield Town	2	1	3
								7	Mansfield Town	0
								5	Port Vale	3
	5	Port Vale	1	1	2
	6	Swindon Town	2	0	2

First leg

14 May 2022

19:45

Mansfield Town	2–1	Northampton Town
Oates 13' Bowery 32'	Report	Koiki 61'

Field Mill, Mansfield

Attendance: 7,469

Referee: Anthony Backhouse

15 May 2022

12:00

Swindon Town	2–1	Port Vale
McKirdy 26', 68'	Report	Wilson 83'

County Ground, Swindon

Attendance: 14,086

Referee: Ross Joyce

Second leg

18 May 2022

19:45

Northampton Town	0–1	Mansfield Town
	Report	McLaughlin 32'

Sixfields Stadium, Northampton

Attendance: 7,619

Referee: Ben Toner

Mansfield Town won 3–1 on aggregate.

19 May 2022

19:45

Port Vale	1–0	Swindon Town
	Report

Vale Park, Burslem

Attendance: 11,669

Referee: Seb Stockbridge

Port Vale won 2-2 on aggregate, 6-5 on penalties.

Final

Main article: 2022 EFL League Two play-off Final

28 May 2022 (2022-05-28)

16:00 BST

Mansfield Town	0–3	Port Vale
	Report	Harratt 20' Wilson 24' Benning 85'

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 37,303

Referee: Jarred Gillett

Results

Home \ Away	BRW	BRA	BRI	CAR	COL	CRA	EXE	FOR	HAR	HAT	LEY	MAN	NEW	NOR	OLD	POR	ROC	SAL	SCU	STE	SUT	SWI	TRA	WAL
Barrow	—	1–2	1–1	1–2	2–3	0–1	0–0	4–0	0–0	3–2	1–1	1–3	2–1	1–3	0–0	1–2	1–2	0–2	1–1	0–0	1–0	2–0	1–1	1–1
Bradford City	1–1	—	2–2	2–0	0–0	1–2	0–1	1–1	1–3	1–3	1–1	0–2	0–0	1–1	2–1	1–2	2–0	2–1	2–1	4–1	2–2	1–2	1–1	1–1
Bristol Rovers	1–0	2–1	—	3–0	1–0	1–0	1–1	0–0	3–0	2–0	1–3	0–0	1–3	2–1	1–0	1–2	4–2	1–0	7–0	0–2	2–0	1–3	2–2	1–0
Carlisle United	0–0	2–0	1–0	—	0–0	1–1	0–1	0–2	0–2	0–0	1–1	1–0	1–2	2–1	0–0	1–3	2–0	2–1	2–2	2–1	0–2	0–3	0–1	1–0
Colchester United	0–2	3–0	1–1	2–2	—	0–1	3–1	0–1	1–0	1–2	2–2	1–1	1–1	0–1	1–1	1–0	1–1	0–2	2–1	0–2	1–3	1–1	1–0	2–2
Crawley Town	1–0	2–1	1–2	2–1	3–1	—	1–3	2–1	2–2	0–1	0–2	1–2	1–1	0–0	2–2	1–4	1–0	2–1	0–0	2–2	0–1	3–1	0–1	1–0
Exeter City	2–1	0–0	4–1	2–1	2–0	2–1	—	0–0	4–3	0–0	1–0	2–1	2–2	1–2	2–1	0–1	2–0	0–0	2–0	2–1	2–0	3–1	0–1	2–2
Forest Green Rovers	2–0	0–2	2–0	3–0	2–0	6–3	0–0	—	1–3	1–1	1–1	1–0	2–0	1–0	2–0	0–2	2–1	3–1	1–0	2–0	2–1	0–2	0–0	0–1
Harrogate Town	2–1	2–0	0–1	3–0	1–2	1–3	1–1	1–4	—	1–2	0–3	0–0	2–2	1–2	3–0	1–1	3–2	0–2	6–1	0–0	0–2	1–4	2–2	1–1
Hartlepool United	3–1	0–2	1–0	2–1	0–2	1–0	1–1	1–3	3–2	—	0–0	2–2	1–2	2–1	0–0	0–1	2–1	0–2	0–0	1–1	1–1	0–3	1–0	2–0
Leyton Orient	2–0	2–0	0–2	0–1	0–1	1–2	3–0	1–1	0–2	5–0	—	0–0	0–1	2–4	4–0	0–0	3–1	0–2	3–0	2–2	4–1	4–1	0–1	0–0
Mansfield Town	0–1	2–3	2–1	1–0	2–1	2–0	2–1	2–2	1–3	3–2	2–0	—	2–1	1–0	0–0	1–1	1–1	2–1	3–1	2–0	2–3	3–2	2–0	2–0
Newport County	2–1	0–0	1–0	2–2	1–2	1–2	0–1	1–1	4–0	2–3	2–2	1–1	—	0–1	3–3	2–1	0–2	0–2	3–0	5–0	3–2	1–2	4–2	2–1
Northampton Town	0–1	0–0	0–1	3–0	3–0	0–1	1–1	1–1	3–0	2–0	1–0	2–0	1–0	—	2–1	1–0	1–3	1–0	2–0	3–0	0–2	1–1	3–2	1–1
Oldham Athletic	0–3	2–0	2–1	1–2	1–2	3–3	0–2	5–5	1–2	0–0	2–0	1–2	0–1	0–2	—	3–2	0–0	1–2	1–3	3–0	1–3	1–3	0–1	1–3
Port Vale	3–1	1–1	1–3	0–0	3–0	4–1	0–0	1–1	2–0	2–0	3–2	3–1	1–2	0–0	3–2	—	2–3	0–1	1–0	2–0	2–0	1–3	0–0	0–1
Rochdale	0–0	0–0	3–4	2–0	1–1	0–1	1–1	1–2	3–3	2–1	2–2	0–1	3–0	1–0	0–1	1–1	—	1–1	0–0	2–2	3–2	0–0	1–0	1–0
Salford City	2–2	1–0	1–1	2–1	0–3	2–1	1–2	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–2	3–0	2–2	2–0	0–1	0–0	—	5–1	1–0	0–0	0–1	1–1	2–1
Scunthorpe United	0–1	1–1	2–3	0–1	1–3	2–1	0–4	0–2	0–3	1–1	1–1	0–4	0–1	0–0	0–1	0–1	1–2	1–1	—	1–1	1–1	1–3	1–0	1–0
Stevenage	1–0	0–1	0–4	0–2	1–0	2–1	2–2	0–4	3–0	2–0	0–0	1–2	0–2	1–2	0–1	1–1	1–0	4–2	1–1	—	3–3	1–1	2–0	3–1
Sutton United	1–0	1–4	1–1	4–0	3–2	3–0	2–1	1–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	2–0	1–0	0–0	1–2	4–3	3–0	0–0	4–1	2–1	—	1–2	1–1	0–1
Swindon Town	2–1	1–3	1–1	1–2	0–0	1–1	1–2	2–1	1–1	3–1	1–2	1–0	0–1	5–2	1–0	1–2	2–2	1–2	3–0	0–0	2–1	—	0–0	5–0
Tranmere Rovers	2–0	2–1	1–1	2–2	2–0	2–1	2–0	0–4	2–0	1–0	1–0	3–2	0–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–0	4–0	1–0	0–1	3–0	—	1–0
Walsall	2–2	1–2	1–2	1–0	3–0	1–1	0–2	1–3	1–3	3–1	0–2	3–1	3–3	0–1	2–1	2–0	0–0	2–1	1–1	1–0	1–0	0–3	1–0	—

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of 7 May 2022

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Dom Telford	Newport County	25
2	Matty Stevens	Forest Green Rovers	23
3	Harry McKirdy	Swindon Town	20
4	Jamille Matt	Forest Green Rovers	19
5	Aaron Collins	Bristol Rovers	16
6	Davis Keillor-Dunn	Oldham Athletic	15
7	Matt Jay	Exeter City	14
	Freddie Sears	Colchester United

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of EFL League Two hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref
Andy Cook	Bradford City	Stevenage	4–1	17 August 2021	[52]
Nicky Cadden	Forest Green Rovers	Crawley Town	6–3	21 August 2021	[53]
Aaron Drinan	Leyton Orient	Hartlepool United	5–0	30 October 2021	[54]
Paul Lewis	Northampton Town	Carlisle United	3–0	30 October 2021	[55]
Dom Telford	Newport County	Stevenage	5–0	30 October 2021	[56]
Harry McKirdy4	Swindon Town	Northampton Town	5–2	1 January 2022	[57]
Jack Muldoon	Harrogate Town	Oldham Athletic	3–0	22 January 2022	[58]
Brandon Thomas-Asante	Salford City	Scunthorpe United	5–1	19 March 2022	[59]
Aaron Collins	Bristol Rovers	Rochdale	3–4	30 April 2022	[60]

Notes

⁴ Player scored 4 goals

Monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month		Reference
August	Rob Edwards	Forest Green Rovers	Mathew Stevens	Forest Green Rovers	[61]
September	Darrell Clarke	Port Vale	Nicky Cadden		[62]
October			Dom Telford	Newport County	[63]
November	Rob Edwards	Forest Green Rovers			[64]
December	Micky Mellon	Tranmere Rovers	Jake Beesley	Rochdale	[65]
January	Rob Edwards	Forest Green Rovers	Luke McGee	Forest Green Rovers	[66]
February	Matt Taylor	Exeter City	Davis Keillor-Dunn	Oldham Athletic	[67]
March	Joey Barton	Bristol Rovers	Ruel Sotiriou	Leyton Orient	[68]

Awards

Award	Winner	Club
Player of the Season	Kane Wilson[69]	Forest Green Rovers
Young Player of the Season	Finn Azaz[69]	Newport County

EFL League Two Team of the season

Pos.	Player	Club	Ref.
GK	Joe Wollacott	Swindon Town	[70]
DF	Jon Guthrie	Northampton Town
DF	Peter Clarke	Tranmere Rovers
DF	Jordan Turnbull	Salford City
MF	Kane Wilson	Forest Green Rovers
MF	Timothée Dieng	Exeter City
MF	Finn Azaz	Newport County
MF	Nicky Cadden	Forest Green Rovers
FW	Harry McKirdy	Swindon Town
FW	Dom Telford	Newport County
FW	Matty Stevens	Forest Green Rovers
Manager	Rob Edwards	Forest Green Rovers

Notes