2022–23 EFL League Two

The 2022–23 EFL League Two (referred to as the Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship reasons) was the 19th season of the Football League Two under its current title and the 31st season under its current league division format. It began on 30 July 2022.

EFL League Two

Season	2022–23
Dates	30 July 2022 – 8 May 2023
Champions	Leyton Orient
Promoted	Leyton Orient Stevenage Northampton Town Carlisle United
Relegated	Hartlepool United Rochdale
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,294 (2.34 per match)
Top goalscorer	Andy Cook (28 goals)
Biggest home win	Stevenage 5–0 Barrow (2 December 2022) Swindon Town 5–0 Grimsby Town (14 January 2023)
Biggest away win	Hartlepool United 0–5 Stockport County (3 December 2022)
Highest scoring	Rochdale 4–4 Swindon Town (18 March 2023)
Total attendance	2,999,174
Average attendance	5,712
← 2021–22 2023–24 → All statistics correct as of 15 May 2023.

Team changes

The following teams have changed division since the 2021–22 season:

To League Two Promoted from National League Stockport County Grimsby Town Relegated from League One Gillingham Doncaster Rovers AFC Wimbledon Crewe Alexandra

From League Two Promoted to League One Forest Green Rovers Exeter City Bristol Rovers Port Vale Relegated to National League Oldham Athletic Scunthorpe United

Stadiums

Greater
Manchester

London

Barrow

Bradford City

Carlisle United

Colchester United

Crawley Town

Crewe Alexandra

Doncaster Rovers

Gillingham

Grimsby Town

Harrogate Town

Hartlepool United

Mansfield Town

Newport County

Northampton
Town

Stevenage

Swindon Town

Tranmere
Rovers

Walsall

Greater Manchester teams
Rochdale
Salford City
Stockport County

London Teams
AFC Wimbledon
Leyton Orient
Sutton United

Locations of the 2022–23 EFL League Two teams

Rochdale

Salford City

Stockport County

Greater Manchester League Two football clubs

AFC Wimbledon

Leyton Orient

Sutton United

London League Two football clubs

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
AFC Wimbledon	London (Wimbledon)	Plough Lane	9,369
Barrow	Barrow-in-Furness	Holker Street	5,045
Bradford City	Bradford	Valley Parade	25,126
Carlisle United	Carlisle	Brunton Park	17,949
Colchester United	Colchester	Colchester Community Stadium	10,105
Crawley Town	Crawley	Broadfield Stadium	5,996
Crewe Alexandra	Crewe	Gresty Road	10,153
Doncaster Rovers	Doncaster	Keepmoat Stadium	15,231
Gillingham	Gillingham	Priestfield Stadium	11,582
Grimsby Town	Cleethorpes	Blundell Park	9,052
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
Rochdale	Rochdale	Spotland Stadium	10,000
Salford City	Salford	Moor Lane	5,108
Stevenage	Stevenage	Broadhall Way	7,300
Stockport County	Stockport	Edgeley Park	10,852
Sutton United	London (Sutton)	Gander Green Lane	5,032
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
AFC Wimbledon	Johnnie Jackson	Alex Woodyard	Hummel[1]	Sports Interactive
Barrow	Pete Wild	Niall Canavan	Puma	JF Hornby & Co.
Bradford City	Mark Hughes	Richie Smallwood	Macron	JCT600
Carlisle United	Paul Simpson	Morgan Feeney	Erreà	Bimson Haulage
Colchester United	Ben Garner	Tommy Smith	Macron	Workhorse Group
Crawley Town	Scott Lindsey	Ben Gladwin	Adidas	The People's Pension
Crewe Alexandra	Lee Bell	Luke Offord	FBT	Mornflake
Doncaster Rovers	Grant McCann	Tom Anderson	Elite Pro Sports	Eco-Power Group
Gillingham	Neil Harris	Stuart O'Keefe	Macron	MEMS Power Generation
Grimsby Town	Paul Hurst	Luke Waterfall	Macron	myenergi
Harrogate Town	Simon Weaver	Josh Falkingham	New Balance	Strata
Hartlepool United	John Askey	Nicky Featherstone	Erreà[2]	Suit Direct
Leyton Orient	Richie Wellens	Darren Pratley	Puma[3]	Multiple charities[note 1]
Mansfield Town	Nigel Clough	Ollie Clarke	Surridge Sports	One Call Insurance
Newport County	Graham Coughlan	Mickey Demetriou	Hummel	Pure Vans
Northampton Town	Jon Brady	Jon Guthrie	Hummel	University of Northampton
Rochdale	Jimmy McNulty (interim)	Ethan Ebanks-Landell	Erreà	Crown Oil Ltd
Salford City	Neil Wood	Ashley Eastham	Castore	TalkTalk
Stevenage	Steve Evans	Carl Piergianni	Macron	Prime Gaming
Stockport County	Dave Challinor	Paddy Madden	Puma	VITA Group
Sutton United	Matt Gray	Craig Eastmond	O'Neills	Angel Plastics
Swindon Town	Michael Flynn	Charlie Austin	Puma	First City Nursing and Care
Tranmere Rovers	Ian Dawes	Kane Hemmings	Mills	Essar
Walsall	Mat Sadler	Donervon Daniels	Erreà	Poundland

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in the table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
AFC Wimbledon	Mark Bowen[6]	End of contract	7 May 2022	Pre-season	Johnnie Jackson[7]	16 May 2022
Hartlepool United	Michael Nelson	End of caretaker spell	8 May 2022		Paul Hartley[8]	3 June 2022
Crawley Town	Lewis Young				Kevin Betsy[9]	6 June 2022
Barrow	Phil Brown[10]	End of contract	12 May 2022		Pete Wild[11]	27 May 2022
Salford City	Gary Bowyer[12]	Sacked	17 May 2022		Neil Wood[13]	20 May 2022
Swindon Town	Ben Garner[14]	Signed by Charlton Athletic	8 June 2022		Scott Lindsey[15]	20 June 2022
Rochdale	Robbie Stockdale[16]	Sacked	18 August 2022	24th	Jim Bentley[17]	29 August 2022
Hartlepool United	Paul Hartley[18]		18 September 2022	23rd	Keith Curle[19]	18 September 2022
Colchester United	Wayne Brown[20]		18 September 2022	21st	Matt Bloomfield[21]	30 September 2022
Crawley Town	Kevin Betsy[22]		9 October 2022	24th	Matthew Etherington[23]	27 November 2022
Newport County	James Rowberry[24]		10 October 2022	18th	Graham Coughlan[25]	20 October 2022
Doncaster Rovers	Gary McSheffrey[26]		17 October 2022	12th	Danny Schofield[27]	20 October 2022
Crewe Alexandra	Alex Morris[28]	Demoted to assistant manager	4 November 2022	16th	Lee Bell[a][28][29]	4 November 2022
Crawley Town	Matthew Etherington[30]	Mutual Consent	29 December 2022	20th	Scott Lindsey[31]	11 January 2023
Swindon Town	Scott Lindsey[32]	Signed by Crawley Town	11 January 2023	8th	Jody Morris[33]	31 January 2023
Colchester United	Matt Bloomfield[34]	Signed by Wycombe Wanderers	21 February 2023	18th	Ben Garner[35]	2 March 2023
Hartlepool United	Keith Curle[36]	Sacked	22 February 2023	22nd	John Askey[37]	23 February 2023
Tranmere Rovers	Micky Mellon[38]		19 March 2023	14th	Ian Dawes[b][39]	4 May 2023
Rochdale	Jim Bentley[40]		27 March 2023	24th	Jimmy McNulty[40] (interim)	27 March 2023
Walsall	Michael Flynn[41]		19 April 2023	15th	Mat Sadler[42] (interim)	19 April 2023
Swindon Town	Jody Morris[43]		1 May 2023	10th	Steve Mildenhall and Gavin Gunning (Interim)	1 May 2023

1. Bell was originally appointed interim manager before being given the role permanently on 1 December 2022
2. Dawes was originally appointed interim manager before being given the role permanently on 4 May 2023

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Leyton Orient (C, P)	46	26	13	7	61	34	+27	91	Promotion to EFL League One
2	Stevenage (P)	46	24	13	9	61	39	+22	85
3	Northampton Town (P)	46	23	14	9	62	42	+20	83
4	Stockport County	46	22	13	11	65	37	+28	79	Qualification for League Two play-offs
5	Carlisle United (O, P)	46	20	16	10	66	43	+23	76
6	Bradford City	46	20	16	10	61	43	+18	76
7	Salford City	46	22	9	15	72	54	+18	75
8	Mansfield Town	46	21	12	13	72	55	+17	75
9	Barrow	46	18	8	20	47	53	−6	62
10	Swindon Town	46	16	13	17	61	55	+6	61
11	Grimsby Town	46	16	13	17	49	56	−7	61
12	Tranmere Rovers	46	15	13	18	45	48	−3	58
13	Crewe Alexandra	46	14	16	16	48	60	−12	58
14	Sutton United	46	15	13	18	46	58	−12	58
15	Newport County	46	14	15	17	53	56	−3	57
16	Walsall	46	12	19	15	46	49	−3	55
17	Gillingham	46	14	13	19	36	49	−13	55
18	Doncaster Rovers	46	16	7	23	46	65	−19	55
19	Harrogate Town	46	12	16	18	59	68	−9	52
20	Colchester United	46	12	13	21	44	51	−7	49
21	AFC Wimbledon	46	11	15	20	48	60	−12	48
22	Crawley Town	46	11	13	22	48	71	−23	46
23	Hartlepool United (R)	46	9	16	21	52	78	−26	43	Relegation to National League
24	Rochdale (R)	46	9	11	26	46	70	−24	38

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^[44]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Play-offs

Main article: 2023 English Football League play-offs

	Semi-finals							Final
	7	Salford City	1	1	2 (1)
	4	Stockport County (p)	0	2	2 (3)
								4	Stockport County	1 (4)
								5	Carlisle United (p)	1 (5)
	6	Bradford City	1	1	2
	5	Carlisle United	0	3	3

Semi-Finals

First leg

13 May 2023

19:45

Salford City	1–0	Stockport County
Smith 17'	Report

Moor Lane, Salford

Attendance: 3,923

Referee: Tom Nield

14 May 2023

19:00

Bradford City	1–0	Carlisle United
Walker 18'	Report

Valley Parade, Bradford

Attendance: 20,575

Referee: Ross Joyce

Second leg

20 May 2023

12:30

Stockport County	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Salford City
Olaofe 68' Stretton 115'	Report	Mallan 112'
Penalties
Madden Croasdale Collar Sarcevic	3–1	Lund Mariappa Barry Mallen

Edgeley Park, Stockport

Attendance: 10,023

Referee: Ben Toner

2–2 on Aggregate. Stockport County wins 3–1 on penalties

20 May 2023

15:00

Carlisle United	3–1 (a.e.t.)	Bradford City
Halliday 21' (o.g.) Guy 98' Barclay 112'	Report	Derbyshire 106'

Brunton Park, Carlisle

Attendance: 15,401

Referee: Simon Mather

Carlisle United won 3–2 on Aggregate.

Final

Main article: 2023 EFL League Two play-off final

28 May 2023 (2023-05-28)

13:30 BST

Stockport County	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Carlisle United
Mellish 34' (o.g.)	Report	Patrick 84'
Penalties
Lemonheigh-Evans Rydel Hippolyte Stretton Collar	4–5	Dennis Mellish Edmondson Moxon Charters

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 34,004

Referee: Tom Nield

Results

Home \ Away	WIM	BAR	BRA	CAR	COL	CRA	CRE	DON	GIL	GRI	HAR	HTL	LEY	MAN	NEW	NOR	ROC	SAL	STE	STO	SUT	SWI	TRA	WAL
AFC Wimbledon	—	0–1	0–0	0–0	2–1	0–1	1–1	2–2	2–0	1–0	3–2	2–2	2–0	1–3	1–1	0–2	0–1	2–3	2–3	1–0	0–1	1–5	1–1	2–0
Barrow	2–1	—	3–2	0–1	3–1	4–0	3–0	2–0	2–1	1–0	1–0	3–1	0–2	0–1	0–1	0–2	0–0	1–1	0–1	1–0	0–0	0–1	1–2	2–1
Bradford City	2–2	0–1	—	0–0	2–0	1–1	0–0	0–0	2–2	3–2	1–0	2–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–3	1–2	3–2	3–0	0–1	3–1	1–1	2–0	2–1
Carlisle United	2–1	5–1	1–0	—	1–0	1–0	0–0	3–0	1–0	2–0	0–1	3–1	2–3	0–4	2–1	0–0	3–3	2–3	0–0	2–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–0
Colchester United	1–2	1–1	1–0	1–1	—	2–2	4–0	3–0	0–2	0–1	2–1	1–1	1–3	0–2	0–0	0–1	0–1	1–1	1–1	0–1	4–1	1–0	1–1	0–0
Crawley Town	0–2	1–0	0–0	2–5	0–0	—	2–2	1–1	0–0	1–1	3–1	0–2	0–1	3–2	2–1	2–3	2–0	3–2	1–2	3–2	1–2	2–0	2–1	0–0
Crewe Alexandra	0–0	3–0	3–2	0–3	1–0	1–0	—	1–1	1–1	0–3	3–0	2–0	0–2	1–2	1–2	2–2	1–1	4–3	1–2	1–1	1–0	2–1	1–0	2–0
Doncaster Rovers	2–1	1–0	0–1	2–1	1–0	4–1	0–2	—	1–0	1–2	0–2	0–1	1–1	1–3	1–3	0–2	4–3	2–1	0–1	2–1	2–1	0–1	2–0	0–2
Gillingham	2–1	1–1	0–2	1–0	0–1	1–0	2–1	1–0	—	2–1	0–2	2–0	2–0	0–2	1–2	0–2	1–0	0–3	1–1	1–1	1–0	0–0	2–0	0–0
Grimsby Town	1–0	1–0	0–0	1–2	0–1	3–0	2–0	1–3	1–1	—	0–0	1–4	2–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–0	1–4	1–1	1–0	0–0	1–2	2–1	1–1
Harrogate Town	2–2	1–0	1–2	3–3	1–3	0–0	2–2	2–2	0–0	3–2	—	2–1	0–2	3–0	0–4	1–1	1–1	0–1	1–1	1–3	0–1	3–0	1–1	3–0
Hartlepool United	0–0	3–1	1–3	1–3	1–2	0–2	1–1	2–1	0–0	2–1	3–3	—	1–1	1–2	0–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	1–1	0–5	2–2	2–1	0–0	3–3
Leyton Orient	1–0	0–0	3–0	1–0	2–2	1–0	2–0	1–0	2–0	2–0	2–2	4–2	—	1–0	1–2	0–0	2–1	1–0	0–0	0–3	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–0
Mansfield Town	5–2	2–3	1–2	0–0	2–1	4–1	1–1	4–1	2–0	0–0	1–2	2–2	1–2	—	0–0	1–1	1–1	2–5	1–0	2–1	0–0	2–5	1–0	2–1
Newport County	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–0	2–2	2–2	0–1	2–0	0–2	2–3	2–0	0–0	1–2	—	3–0	0–1	2–3	2–2	1–2	0–2	2–1	2–1	0–1
Northampton Town	0–0	3–1	1–2	2–1	3–2	1–0	1–0	0–1	2–1	1–2	3–1	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	—	3–0	0–1	1–1	2–1	2–2	1–2	0–0	0–0
Rochdale	1–2	2–1	0–3	0–1	1–2	1–1	1–2	1–2	0–2	0–1	1–2	1–2	0–1	0–1	1–1	1–1	—	1–0	2–0	1–2	4–1	4–4	2–2	4–2
Salford City	0–0	1–1	0–1	1–4	0–1	2–2	3–0	3–1	0–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–0	3–1	2–1	2–1	—	1–0	0–2	2–0	1–2	0–1	1–0
Stevenage	2–1	5–0	2–3	2–1	1–1	3–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	2–0	1–0	1–0	3–0	0–0	1–0	2–3	1–0	1–3	—	2–1	3–0	2–0	0–1	3–1
Stockport County	1–0	2–3	0–0	2–0	1–0	2–1	2–0	0–0	0–0	1–3	0–0	1–1	1–2	1–1	4–0	2–0	1–0	1–1	2–0	—	3–0	1–1	3–2	1–1
Sutton United	2–1	1–0	0–2	1–1	1–0	3–0	1–1	2–0	2–1	0–1	2–1	2–0	0–2	2–1	1–1	1–2	1–0	1–2	0–0	0–1	—	2–1	0–2	1–1
Swindon Town	0–0	0–0	1–0	1–2	1–0	2–1	0–1	0–2	3–3	5–0	3–0	2–1	1–1	2–4	1–0	1–2	3–0	0–0	0–1	0–1	3–2	—	1–1	1–2
Tranmere Rovers	0–2	1–0	1–2	0–2	2–0	1–0	3–0	3–0	3–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–0	0–2	1–3	0–1	1–1	1–0	1–2	0–0	2–2	1–0	—	1–1
Walsall	3–1	0–1	0–0	0–0	1–1	2–1	0–0	2–1	2–0	1–2	3–1	4–0	1–1	2–1	1–1	1–0	1–0	2–3	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–0	0–1	—

Source:
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

As of 3 May 2023

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Andy Cook	Bradford City	28
2	Sam Hoskins	Northampton Town	21
3	Kristian Dennis	Carlisle United	20
4	Dan Agyei	Crewe Alexandra	16
	Luke Armstrong	Harrogate Town
6	Omar Bogle	Newport County	15
	Josh Gordon	Barrow
8	Kyle Wootton	Stockport County	14
9	Danny Johnson	Walsall Mansfield Town	13

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of EFL League Two hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref
Danny Johnson	Walsall	Hartlepool United	4–0	30 July 2022	[45]
Billy Waters	Barrow	Colchester United	3–1	1 November 2022	[46]
Matt Smith	Salford City	Grimsby Town	1–4	29 December 2022	[47]
Charlie Austin	Swindon Town	Rochdale	4–4	19 March 2023	[48]
Dan Kemp	Hartlepool United	Grimsby Town	1–4	7 April 2023	[49]
Josh Gordon	Barrow	Crawley Town	4–0	10 April 2023	[50]

Awards

Monthly

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month		Reference
August	Richie Wellens	Leyton Orient	Sam Hoskins	Northampton Town	[51]
September			Andy Cook	Bradford City	[52]
October	Michael Flynn	Walsall	Paddy Madden	Stockport County	[53]
November	Johnnie Jackson	AFC Wimbledon	Billy Waters	Barrow	[54]
December	Dave Challinor	Stockport County	Kyle Wootton	Stockport County	[55]
January	Matt Bloomfield	Colchester United	Conor McAleny	Salford City	[56]
February	Dave Challinor	Stockport County	Dan Kemp	Hartlepool United	[57]
March	Jon Brady	Northampton Town	Callum Hendry	Salford City	[58]

Annual

Award	Winner	Club
Player of the Season	Sam Hoskins[59]	Northampton Town
Young Player of the Season	Junior Tchamadeu[59]	Colchester United
Manager of the Season	Richie Wellens[60]	Leyton Orient

Notes

1. Tommy Club (Home), Haven House Children's Hospice (Away), and Mind (Third).^[4][5]