League Two Betting Tips
The English Football League Two is the lowest of the three leagues hosted by that of the EFL. The league format is played as the base of the professional leagues and whilst it’s seen as the lowest of the three, is widely regarded as one of the most competitive and unpredictable leagues in England.
The league is actually the fourth tier of English football if you include the Premier League, which isn’t run by the EFL. Whilst it doesn’t get the plaudits and crowds that the higher leagues get, it is able to offer up a great base for young players to get a taste of professional football.
It comes with a unique style and the games are often played out very differently than say, the Premier League. It’s known for its physicality and whilst Premier League teams put an emphasis on entertainment, League Two highlights that there is more to football than the tikka-taka style and see’s much more success from a direct style of play.
Who Will Win League Two?
At the time of writing, only six points separates the top four in EFL League Two. Richie Wellens’ Swindon Town lead the way in the fourth tier, two points clear of Crewe Alexandra. Can the Robins, who are the bookies’ favourites, fend off their rivals to win the League Two title this year?
Swindon Town – 6/4 (1/6 To Be Promoted)
Swindon have been superb this season, picking up an impressive 18 wins from 32 matches at the time of writing. No side in League Two has won more games than Wellens’ men. The Robins have also scored the most goals, netting 56 times already. Making the signing of Eoin Doyle permanent in January could give Swindon the edge in the race for the title.
Crewe Alexandra – 5/2 (2/7 To Be Promoted)
Swindon’s main rivals in the race for the League Two title could be David Artell’s Crewe. The Alex have been in terrific form of late – with four wins and two draws from their last six games at the time of writing – and the January captures of Michael Nottingham and Stephen Walker have certainly bolstered their already strong squad. Can Crewe push Swindon all the way? They will certainly put up a decent fight.
Exeter City – 7/2 (4/11 To Be Promoted)
Exeter City – who are priced at 7/2 to win the league – have only been beaten six times in League Two this season. Matt Taylor is doing a fine job at St James Park, guiding the club to eight wins from their last 13. After back-to-back defeats, the Grecians got back on track with a much-needed win over Stevenage in their last one. Exeter had a quiet January, but Taylor’s squad look more than capable of sustaining a title challenge. They are outsiders, but 7/2 is a very tempting price.
Plymouth Argyle – 7/2 (2/5 To Be Promoted)
Plymouth Argyle are one of the bigger clubs in the fourth tier, and Ryan Lowe’s men will be desperate for promotion after a solid season so far. At the moment, the Pilgrims are six points adrift of Swindon. Like Exeter, Plymouth are also available at odds of 7/2 to win the title. However, the albeit rather shorter price of 2/5 for Argyle to be promoted looks a better bet.
Who Will Be Promoted To League One?
The race for a top seven finish in League Two could go to the wire. Any team in the top half of table will fancy their chances of finishing in the play-offs, with only eight points separating seventh to 12th at the time of writing. Plymouth, Colchester United, Northampton Town and Cheltenham Town are the four teams in the play-off positions at this moment in time.
Colchester United – 9/4 (4/9 Top 7 Finish)
Colchester have been very hard to beat so far, losing just six times. In fact, no side in the fourth tier have lost fewer games than John McGreal’s men. After just missing out on the play-offs last term, can the Essex club get over the line this time around? Colchester have been very strong at home, and they are worth keeping an eye on in the race for automatic promotion.
Northampton Town – 7/2 (8/15 Top 7 Finish)
Northampton, who finished 15th last season, have been far more competitive this time around. Keith Curle’s men currently sit in sixth position, five points away from the top three. Town are available at odds of 8/15 to finish in the top seven and 7/2 to be promoted. Curle made three signings in January, including the capture of Arsenal youngster James Olayinka. Northampton will be hoping to be involved in the play-offs at the very least.
Cheltenham Town – 4/1 (4/7 Top 7 Finish)
Cheltenham are usually fighting for survival at this stage of the season. However, things are very different with Michael Duff now in charge, as Town are flying high in seventh place at the time of writing. Cheltenham have been hard to beat this time, with no side losing fewer (six) matches to this point. They could be worth backing for promotion at the tempting odds of 4/1 as they continue to confound those who thought they would be struggling again.
Bradford City – 8/1 (13/8 Top 7 Finish)
Braford City were one the busiest clubs in the January Transfer Window, with no less than five new players joining Valley Parade. Strikers Eoin Doyle and James Vaughan were moved on, but Kurtis Guthrie, Luke McGee, Glenn Middleton, Dylan Mottley-Henry and Lee Novak were brought in. You can get Bradford at 13/8 for a top seven finish.
Port Vale – 6/1 (11/4 Top 7 Finish)
Port Vale are currently level on points with Cheltenham and Bradford in the race for seventh spot. Vale have blown hot and cold this term, but John Askey’s men will fancy their chances of sneaking into the play-offs. Also, odds of 6/1 for promotion represents a very handsome price.
Relegation Betting
The battle to stay in the Football League could go to the wire this season, but only if Stevenage find some form, and quickly. Due to the EFL changing the rules to re-establish 72 clubs in the Football League (after Bury dropped out), there is just a single relegation spot from League Two this season. Stevenage are bottom at present, picking up just three wins up until now. Morecambe are five points ahead, with Macclesfield Town hovering just above them. At this stage it looks very likely it will be Stevenage who will be relegated from League Two at the end of the season, unless there is a momentous slump by one of sides above them.
Stevenage – 1/3
Stevenage have had an abysmal season thus far. The Boro failed to kick on from their tenth place finish last term, picking up a mere three wins from 32 matches this time around. Stevenage are seven points away from safety, but they will need a huge upswing in fortunes in their remaining games to keep themselves in the division. Boro’s stay in the EFL could be coming to an end and the odds reflect that.
Morecambe – 6/4
Morecambe have suffered 17 defeats in 32 league games, but they are five points ahead of the bottom side with 14 fixtures left to play. Derek Adams brought in a number of new faces in January in the hope of turning things around, with the likes of Jordan Slew, Adam Phillips and Harvey Bradbury making the switch to the Globe Arena. Will those signings be enough for the Shrimps? As things stand it should be.
Macclesfield Town – 13/10
Macclesfield are currently seven points ahead of Stevenage with over a quarter of the season still to play. It’s been another turbulent campaign at Moss Rose, with former Liverpool and Manchester City winger Mark Kennedy taking over in January. Macclesfield survived by the skin of their teeth last season and unless anything dramatic happens they should just about do so again.
Mansfield Town – 6/1
Graham Coughlan’s Mansfield Town are a full 10 point above bottom side Stevenage as things stand, but they still have a little bit of work to do in the race for survival. The Stags finished fourth before losing to Newport County in the play-offs last season, but things have been much different this term. Still, the Stags should have enough to keep themselves up this season.
League Two Top Goalscorer
Eoin Doyle’s move from Bradford to Swindon was made permanent in January. The 31 year old has scored goals for fun at the County Ground, and he is currently nine goals clear at the top of the League Two scoring charts. Will anyone be able to stop the Irishman from claiming the Golden Boot this season? It doesn’t look especially likely at this point in proceedings.
Eoin Doyle (Swindon Town) – 1/50
Keeping Doyle at the County Ground was a great bit of business by Swindon boss Wellens. Doyle has had a sensational season in front of goal for the Robins, netting 23 times to fire Town to first place in League Two. Barring any injuries or a serious dip in form, the former Cardiff City and Preston North End striker will finish top scorer in League Two this season (and the rather unappealing odds of just 1/50 reflect this).
Nicky Maynard (Mansfield Town) – 20/1
Experienced forward Nicky Maynard has been banging in the goals for Mansfield this season. Make no mistake about it, the Stags are not quite clear of the threat of relegation just yet, but Maynard’s goals should keep them in the Football League. The ex-West Ham United man has helped himself to 14 league goals in a struggling Mansfield team. Maynard could be Doyle’s closest challenger but overtaking the Swindon man will take some doing.
Jerry Yates (Swindon Town) – 25/1
Doyle’s teammate Jerry Yates has also scored plenty of goals this season. Between them, Yates and Doyle have netted 35 of Town’s 56 League Two goals. The pair have complemented each other perfectly, and the pair’s goals should fire Swindon to promotion to EFL League One at the end of the season. Yates is currently third favourite behind Doyle and Maynard at odds of 25/1.
The League has been in its current format since 2004 when the whole EFL league system was reformed, albeit through naming. The original name of the league was that of Division Four, which was set up in 1958. It then changed to Division Three when the Premier League broke away and was formed in 1992, before finally being renamed League Two in 2004.
Sky Bet are the current sponsors for the league, with the official title being that of Sky Bet League Two. Many still refer to it as Division Three though.
As the sponsors are those who work with the EFL, the leagues governing body, they tend to take on the name of these sponsors. Some of them have included the likes of Canon, Today Newspaper, Barclays, Endsleigh, Nationwide, Coca-Cola, npower and most recently, Sky Bet.
Format
The league includes 24 teams in total, which is the same as both the Championship and League One. The format is pretty much the same as each of these leagues, with all 24 teams playing each other both home and away throughout the season. This means that in total, each team will play 46 games throughout the season, some 8 more than the Premier League.
The cast majority of games take place on a Saturday afternoon and Tuesday evening. Some games will be moved in order to fit in matches for TV purposes or even for more convenient times for local authorities to police, such as major local derbies. As League Two get the fewest number of matches shown live within the EFL, few games need to be moved, so often you see that the majority of teams will all play at the same time throughout the week. The biggest disruptions come in the form of cup runs, which need to be allocated accordingly.
There are four teams in total that get promoted to League One come the end of the season. The places are earned by that of a point scoring system, with the teams ranked in highest points first. Usual rules apply for points, such as 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw and none for a loss.
League Two is unique with 4 teams getting promoted, as both the Championship and League One only have three teams. Three are automatic spots and the final spot comes from the playoffs.
The playoffs are played out between the four teams ranked 4th to 7th, respectively. The first stage is played over two legs, with 4th playing 7th and 5th playing 6th. The aggregate winners over both legs will then play in the final, hosted at Wembley Stadium.
The final is a winner takes all match. The winners progress to League One and the losers will remain in League 2 for the following season.
Cup Entries
As a member of League 2, the teams are able to enter three cup competitions in total. These include the FA Cup, League Cup and the EFL Trophy. The FA Cup and the League Cup will eventually include teams from higher leagues as rounds progress and is often a chance for teams from the league to go head to head with some of the best teams in Europe.
The EFL Trophy has been designed by the English Football League and does not include the first team squads from Premier League teams. But, in a recent change to the format in 2017, they now allow Premier League and Championship teams to field their academies, which are made up of players aged 2q and under. The EFL Trophy offers the best chance of major honours for teams within League Two.
Whilst unlikely, it is worth noting that should a team from League Two win the FA Cup or League Cup, they will be eligible to take up the reward of representing within the Europa League if they choose to do so.
Prize Money
As you would imagine, the money on offer at League Two level compared to the likes of the Premier League is worlds apart. Each team is offered a basic award from the EFL of £472,000, with a solidarity payment from the Premier League of £430,000, totalling £902,000.
The money between League 1 and League is quite significant as well, with League 1 teams picking up around £1.3million in total, almost 50% more than in League Two.
The money on offer for players is small compared to the likes of the higher leagues, but in the real-world, still offer a very good living. Players will look to take home around £1,000 a week, but this can fluctuate anywhere between £200 a week and £5,000 a week, depending on the stature of the player. At around £50,000 per year to play a solid level of football, it shows that whilst the money does drop off massively so as you work down, there is still money to be made.
Transfer Window
As League Two is part of and run by the EFL, they have to adhere to rules regarding transfers just as any other club in the association would. The transfer window usually opens around early May, after the season has ended and shuts on the 31st of August. But, in 2018/19 season, this deadline is being brought forward to the 9th of August in order to close before the first game of the season. The Premier League are also applying these rules for this season as well.
Clubs are still allowed to loan players until he end of January and also agree option to purchase deals for when the window reopens in January. The January transfer window is one that occurs across Europe and opens on the 1st of January, closing on the 31st of January.
The History of League Two
League Two came about in 2004 in its current format, although it has actually been running since 1958. The league was originally brought in 1958 to offer another professionally run league by the EFL. It was designed as a feeder league into the then Division Three, but has been able to stand on its own for several years after and now is widely regarded as quality football league.
It’s growth and expansion is one that is ranked on a world level. In the 2016/17 there were over 2.8million fans across the course of the season. To put that into perspective, that’s more than the Turkish Super League, 3 Division of German football (equivalent to League One in England), Brazil 2nd Division, Siwss Super League and the Canadian Football League, to name just a few.