View source for Football League Second Division

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{{Use British English|date=November 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}}
{{Infobox football league
| logo       =
| pixels     = 
| country    = {{ubl|England|[[Wales]]}}
| founded    = 1892
| folded     = 2004
| teams      = 24
| promotion  = [[Football League First Division|First Division]] (1892–2004)
| relegation = [[Football League Third Division|Third Division]] (1920–1921; 1958–2004)<br>[[Football League Third Division North|North]]/[[Football League Third Division South|South]] (1921–1958)
| levels     = 2 (1892–1992)<br>3 (1992–2004)
| confed_cup = [[UEFA Cup Winners' Cup|European Cup Winners' Cup]] (1960–1985; 1990–1999)
| champions  = [[Plymouth Argyle F.C.|Plymouth Argyle]]<br>([[2003–04 Football League Second Division|2003–04]])
| most successful club =[[Leicester City F.C.|Leicester City]] (8 titles)
| tv         = 
| season     = 
| website    = 
| current    = 
}}
[[File:Derby County 1968-69.jpg|thumb|The [[Derby County]] team that won the [[1968–69 Football League#Second Division|1968–69 Football League Second Division]].]]
The '''Football League Second Division''' was the second level division in the [[English football league system]] between [[1892–93 Football League|1892]] and [[1992–93 Football League|1992]]. Following the foundation of the [[FA Premier League]], the [[Football League]] divisions were renumbered and the third tier became known as the Football League Second Division, while the second level was branded "First Division," below the Premiership. After the rebranding of the Football League in [[2003-04 Football League|2003–04]], the second tier became known as the Championship, and the third tier became known as [[Football League One]].

==Early history==
{{Main article|Football Alliance|The Football League#History}}

In 1888, Scotsman [[William McGregor (football)|William McGregor]] a director of [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]], was the main force between meetings held in [[London]] and [[Manchester]] involving 12 football clubs, with an eye to a league competition. These 12 clubs would later become [[the Football League]]'s 12 founder members. The meetings were held in London on 22 March 1888. The main concern was that an early exit in the knockout format of the [[FA Cup]] could leave clubs with no matches for almost a year; not only could they suffer heavy financial losses, but fans did not wait long without a game, when other teams were playing. Matters were finalised on 17 April in Manchester.

McGregor had voted against the name The Football League, as he was concerned that it would be associated with the [[Irish Land League]].<ref name="AHistoryOfFootball22">"A History of Football", p.22</ref> But this name still won by a majority vote and was selected. The competition guaranteed fixtures for all of its member clubs. Geographically, these were split equally between the North and the Midlands.

A rival English league called the [[Football Alliance]] operated from 1889 to 1892. In 1892 it was decided to formally merge the two leagues, and so the ''Football League Second Division'' was formed, consisting mostly of Football Alliance clubs. The existing League clubs, plus three of the strongest Alliance clubs, comprised the [[Football League First Division]].

==Overview==
The Second Division was formed in 1892 with 12 clubs, most of which had previously played in the [[Football Alliance]]. The original members were: Ardwick (now [[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]]), [[Bootle F.C. (1879)|Bootle]], [[Burton Swifts F.C.|Burton Swifts]], [[Crewe Alexandra F.C.|Crewe Alexandra]], [[Darwen F.C. (1870)|Darwen]], [[Grimsby Town F.C.|Grimsby Town]], [[Lincoln City F.C.|Lincoln City]], [[Northwich Victoria F.C.|Northwich Victoria]], [[Port Vale F.C.|Port Vale]], [[Sheffield United F.C.|Sheffield United]], Small Heath (now [[Birmingham City F.C.|Birmingham City]]), and [[Walsall F.C.|Walsall]]. Leicester City and Manchester City both hold the record for most second tier championships (8).

It expanded over the years to its final total of 24 clubs, as follows:

* 1893 – 15 clubs
* 1894 – 16
* 1898 – 18
* 1905 – 20
* 1919 – 22
* 1987 – 23
* 1988 – 24

For the first few years, there was no automatic promotion to the First Division. Instead, the top few teams in Division Two, including the winners, contested a series of [[Football League test matches|test matches]] against the bottom teams in Division One. [[Birmingham City F.C.|Small Heath]], Second Division champions in [[1892–93 in English football|1892–93]], were denied promotion after losing in test matches to [[Manchester United F.C.|Newton Heath]]. However, runners-up [[Sheffield United F.C.|Sheffield United]] beat [[Accrington F.C.|Accrington]] to become the first team to win promotion to the First Division. Test matches were abolished in 1898 after [[Burnley F.C.|Burnley]] and [[Stoke City F.C.|Stoke]] conspired to deliberately draw their test match 0–0, which resulted in Burnley being promoted and Stoke being saved from relegation.

Relegation to the [[Football League Third Division]] was in place in the season before the latter even started, as Grimsby Town (last place in 1919–20) made way for [[Cardiff City F.C.|Cardiff City]] and formed the new Third Division with southern clubs. For subsequent seasons, two clubs were relegated into either the [[Football League Third Division North|Third Division North]] or [[Football League Third Division South|Third Division South]] depending on their geographical location. When the Third Division was reunified in 1958–59, the relegation arrangement was kept; a third club began being relegated in 1974.

==Previous League champions==
See [[List of teams promoted from the English Football League Championship and predecessors]] for winners from 1893 to 1992 and [[List of winners of English Football League One and predecessors]] for winners from 1993 to 2004.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-sports}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Football Alliance]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[English football league system|Second tier of English football]]| years = 1892–1992}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Football League First Division]]}}
{{S-bef|before=Football League Third Division}}
{{S-ttl|title=Third tier of English football| years = 1992–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Football League One]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{UEFA second leagues}}
{{UEFA third level leagues}}
{{Football League Championship seasons}}

[[Category:Football League Second Division| ]]
[[Category:Defunct English Football League divisions|2]]
[[Category:Defunct second-level football leagues in Europe|England]]
[[Category:Defunct third-level football leagues in Europe|England]]