The 2009–10 Football League (known as the Coca-Cola Football League for sponsorship reasons) was the 111th completed season of the Football League. It began in August 2009 and concluded in May 2010, with the promotion play-off finals. The Football League is contested through three Divisions. The divisions are the League Championship, League One and League Two. The winner and the runner-up of the League Championship are automatically promoted to the Premier League and they are joined by the winner of the League Championship play-off. The bottom two teams in League Two are relegated to the Conference Premier.
The league was won by Newcastle United, with West Bromwich Albion as runners up. Both teams were promoted to the Premier League. Sheffield Wednesday, Plymouth Argyle and Peterborough United were relegated into League One. Grimsby Town and Darlington were relegated from the Football League. Attendance levels in the Football League in the 2009–10 season were the highest for 50 years, with 17.1m people paying to watch games in the three divisions.
Promotion and relegation
The following teams were either promoted or relegated for the 2009–10 season based upon the results of the previous year.
From Premier League Relegated to Championship Newcastle United Middlesbrough West Bromwich Albion
From Championship Promoted to Premier League Wolverhampton Wanderers Birmingham City Burnley Relegated to League One Norwich City Southampton Charlton Athletic
From Football League One Promoted to Championship Leicester City Peterborough United Scunthorpe United Relegated to League Two Northampton Town Crewe Alexandra Cheltenham Town Hereford United
From Football League Two Promoted to League One Brentford Exeter City Wycombe Wanderers Gillingham Relegated to Conference Premier Chester City Luton Town
From Conference Premier Promoted to League Two Burton Albion Torquay United
Championship
Table
Play-offs
Results
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table Blackpool Simon Grayson Signed by Leeds United 23 December 2008 Ian Holloway 21 May 2009 Pre-season Queens Park Rangers Paulo Sousa Sacked 9 April 2009 Jim Magilton 3 June 2009 Pre-season Reading Steve Coppell Resigned 13 May 2009 Brendan Rodgers 5 June 2009 Pre-season Watford Brendan Rodgers Signed by Reading 5 June 2009 Malky Mackay 15 June 2009 Pre-season Swansea City Roberto Martínez Signed by Wigan Athletic 15 June 2009 Paulo Sousa 23 June 2009 Pre-season West Bromwich Albion Tony Mowbray Signed by Celtic 16 June 2009 Roberto Di Matteo 30 June 2009 Pre-season Barnsley Simon Davey Mutual Consent 29 August 2009 Mark Robins 9 September 2009 24th Middlesbrough Gareth Southgate Sacked 21 October 2009 Gordon Strachan 26 October 2009 4th Peterborough United Darren Ferguson Mutual Consent 10 November 2009 Mark Cooper 14 November 2009 24th Plymouth Argyle Paul Sturrock Sacked 10 December 2009 Paul Mariner 10 December 2009 23rd Sheffield Wednesday Brian Laws Mutual Consent 13 December 2009 Alan Irvine 8 January 2010 22nd Queens Park Rangers Jim Magilton Mutual Consent 16 December 2009 Paul Hart 17 December 2009 12th Reading Brendan Rodgers Mutual Consent 17 December 2009 Brian McDermott 27 January 2010 21st Preston North End Alan Irvine Sacked 29 December 2009 Darren Ferguson 6 January 2010 16th Queens Park Rangers Paul Hart Mutual Consent 15 January 2010 Neil Warnock 2 March 2010 10th Peterborough United Mark Cooper Sacked 1 February 2010 Jim Gannon 2 February 2010 24th Crystal Palace Neil Warnock Signed by Queens Park Rangers 2 March 2010 Paul Hart 4 March 2010 21st Bristol City Gary Johnson Mutual Consent 18 March 2010 Steve Coppell 22 April 2010 15th Peterborough United Jim Gannon Mutual Consent 6 April 2010Gary Johnson appointed new Peterborough United boss, BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 April 2010 Gary Johnson 6 April 2010 24th Coventry City Chris Coleman Sacked 4 May 2010 Aidy Boothroyd 22 May 2010 19th Plymouth Argyle Paul Mariner Mutual Consent 6 May 2010 Peter Reid 24 June 2010 23rd Crystal Palace Paul Hart End of Contract 17 June 2010 George Burley 17 June 2010 21st
League One
Table
Play-offs
Results
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table Tranmere Rovers Ronnie Moore Sacked 5 June 2009 John Barnes 21 May 2009 Pre-season Milton Keynes Dons Roberto Di Matteo Signed by West Brom 30 June 2009Paul Ince 3 July 2009 Pre-season Stockport County Jim Gannon Released, Consequently, Joined Motherwell 6 May 2009Gary Ablett 8 July 2009 Pre-season Southampton Mark Wotte Sacked 9 July 2009Alan Pardew 17 July 2009 Pre-season Norwich City Bryan Gunn Sacked 14 August 2009 Paul Lambert 18 August 2009 22nd Colchester United Paul Lambert Signed by Norwich City 18 August 2009 Aidy Boothroyd 2 September 20091st Tranmere Rovers John Barnes Sacked 9 October 2009 Les Parry 16 December 2009 22nd Wycombe Wanderers Peter Taylor Mutual Consent 10 October 2009 Gary Waddock 13 October 2009 23rd Brighton & Hove Albion Russell Slade Sacked 1 November 2009 Gustavo Poyet 10 November 2009 20th Leyton Orient Geraint Williams Sacked 3 April 2010Leyton Orient part company with boss Geraint Williams, BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 April 2010 Russell Slade 5 April 2010 19th Oldham Athletic Dave Penney Sacked 6 May 2010 Paul Dickov 9 June 2010 17th Gillingham Mark Stimson Mutual Consent 10 May 2010 Andy Hessenthaler 22 May 2010 21st Milton Keynes Dons Paul Ince Sacked 10 May 2010 Karl Robinson 10 May 2010 12th Colchester United Aidy Boothroyd Signed by Coventry City 22 May 2010 John Ward 31 May 2010 8th
League Two
Table
Play-offs
Results
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table Burton Albion Roy McFarland Resigned 18 May 2009 Paul Peschisolido 18 May 2009 Pre-season Darlington Dave Penney Signed by Oldham Athletic 30 April 2009 Colin Todd 20 May 2009 Pre-season Port Vale Dean Glover Sacked 21 May 2009 Micky Adams 5 June 2009 Pre-season Chesterfield Lee Richardson End of Contract 6 May 2009 John Sheridan 9 June 2009 Pre-season Lincoln City Peter Jackson Sacked 2 September 2009 Chris Sutton 28 September 2009 17th Northampton Town Stuart Gray Sacked 8 September 2009 Ian Sampson 5 October 2009 16th Rotherham United Mark Robins Signed by Barnsley 9 September 2009 Ronnie Moore 24 September 2009 1st Darlington Colin Todd Mutual Consent 26 September 2009 Steve Staunton 5 October 2009 24th Crewe Alexandra Guðjón Þórðarson Sacked 2 October 2009 Dario Gradi 2 October 2009 14th Notts County Ian McParland Sacked 12 October 2009 Hans Backe 27 October 2009 5th Aldershot Town Gary Waddock Signed by Wycombe Wanderers 13 October 2009 Kevin Dillon 9 November 2009 6th Grimsby Town Mike Newell Sacked 18 October 2009 Neil Woods 23 November 2009 23rd Cheltenham Town Martin Allen Mutual Consent 11 December 2009 Mark Yates 22 December 2009 20th Notts County Hans Backe Resigned 15 December 2009 Steve Cotterill 23 February 2010 6th Bradford City Stuart McCall Resigned 8 February 2010 Peter Taylor 17 February 2010 16th Macclesfield Town Keith Alexander Death 3 March 2010 Gary Simpson 14 April 2010 21st Darlington Steve Staunton Sacked 22 March 2010 Simon Davey 5 April 2010 24th Barnet Ian Hendon Sacked 28 April 2010 Mark Stimson 1 June 2010 22nd Shrewsbury Town Paul Simpson Sacked 30 April 2010 Graham Turner 11 June 2010 12th Notts County Steve Cotterill End of Contract 27 May 2010 Craig Short 6 June 2010 1st
References