2016–17 EFL League Two explained

Competition:	EFL League Two
Season:	2016–17
Winners:	Portsmouth
Promoted:	Portsmouth Plymouth Argyle Doncaster Rovers Blackpool
Relegated:	Hartlepool United Leyton Orient
Matches:	557
Total Goals:	1490
League Topscorer:	John Akinde John Marquis (26 goals each)
Biggest Home Win:	Stevenage 6–1 Hartlepool Yeovil 5–0 Crawley Crewe 5–0 Grimsby Accrington 5–0 Leyton Orient Portsmouth 6–1 Cheltenham
Biggest Away Win:	Hartlepool 0–5 Cambridge
Longest Wins:	7 matches (Exeter City)
Longest Unbeaten:	15 matches (Accrington Stanley, Carlisle United)
Longest Winless:	13 matches (Notts County)
Longest Losses:	10 matches (Notts County)
Highest Attendance:	Portsmouth 1–1 Plymouth Argyle (18,644)
Average Attendance:	4,751
Prevseason:	2015–16
Nextseason:	2017–18
Updated:	28 May 2017

The 2016–17 EFL League Two (referred to as the Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship reasons) is the 13th season of the Football League Two under its current title and the 24th season under its current league division format. The fixtures were announced on 22 June 2016.^[1]

Team changes

To League Two

Promoted from National League

• Cheltenham Town^[2]
• Grimsby Town^[3]

Relegated from League One

• Doncaster Rovers^[4]
• Blackpool^[5]
• Colchester United^[6]
• Crewe Alexandra^[7]

From League Two

Promoted to League One

• Northampton Town^[8]
• Oxford United^[9]
• Bristol Rovers^[10]
• AFC Wimbledon^[11]

Relegated to National League

• Dagenham & Redbridge^[12]
• York City^[13]

Teams

Club	Location	Stadium	Capacity^[14]
Accrington Stanley			5,057
Barnet	London (Edgware)		6,418
Blackpool			16,750
Cambridge United			8,127
Carlisle United			17,149
Cheltenham Town			7,066
Colchester United			10,105
Crawley Town			5,996
Crewe Alexandra			10,180
Doncaster Rovers			15,231
Exeter City			8,830
Grimsby Town			9,052
Hartlepool United			7,833
Leyton Orient	London (Leyton)		9,271
Luton Town			10,226
Mansfield Town			9,846
Morecambe			6,476
Newport County			7,850
Notts County			19,588
Plymouth Argyle			17,441
Portsmouth			21,100
Stevenage			6,722
Wycombe Wanderers			10,300
Yeovil Town			9,665

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Blackpool	Neil McDonald	Sacked	18 May 2016^[15]	Pre-season	Gary Bowyer	1 June 2016^[16]
Leyton Orient	Andy Hessenthaler		26 September 2016^[17]	14th	Alberto Cavasin	2 October 2016^[18]
Newport County	Warren Feeney		28 September 2016^[19]	24th	Graham Westley	10 October 2016^[20]
Grimsby Town	Paul Hurst	Hired by Shrewsbury Town	24 October 2016^[21]	8th	Marcus Bignot	7 November 2016^[22]
Mansfield Town	Adam Murray	Resigned	14 November 2016^[23]	18th	Steve Evans	16 November 2016^[24]
Leyton Orient	Alberto Cavasin	Sacked	23 November 2016^[25]	22nd	Andy Edwards	23 November 2016^[26]
Barnet	Martin Allen	Hired by Eastleigh	1 December 2016^[27]	8th	Kevin Nugent	15 February 2017^[28]
Notts County	John Sheridan	Sacked	2 January 2017^[29]	22nd	Kevin Nolan	12 January 2017^[30]
Crewe Alexandra	Steve Davis		8 January 2017^[31]	18th	David Artell	8 January 2017
Hartlepool United	Craig Hignett	Mutual consent	15 January 2017^[32]	19th	Dave Jones	18 January 2017^[33]
Leyton Orient	Andy Edwards	Hired by the Football Association	29 January 2017^[34]	23rd	Danny Webb	29 January 2017
Newport County	Graham Westley	Sacked	9 March 2017^[35]	24th	Mike Flynn	9 May 2017^[36]
Leyton Orient	Danny Webb	Resigned	30 March 2017^[37]	24th	Steve Davis	10 July 2017^[38]
Grimsby Town	Marcus Bignot	Sacked	10 April 2017^[39]	14th	Russell Slade	12 April 2017^[40]
Barnet	Kevin Nugent		15 April 2017^[41]	16th	Rossi Eames	19 May 2017^[42]
Hartlepool United	Dave Jones		24 April 2017^[43]	23rd	Craig Harrison	26 May 2017^[44]
Crawley Town	Dermot Drummy	Mutual consent	4 May 2017^[45]	21st	Harry Kewell	23 May 2017^[46]

League table

Play-offs

See also: 2017 English Football League play-offs.

Top goalscorers

Source: BBC Sport
Correct as of 28 May 2017

Rank	width=175	Player	width=150	Club	Goals
1	John Akinde	Barnet	26
	John Marquis	Doncaster Rovers
3	Danny Hylton	Luton Town	22
4	Matt Godden	Stevenage	20
	James Collins	Crawley Town
6	Omar Bogle	Grimsby Town	19
	David Wheeler	Exeter City
8	Luke Berry	Cambridge United	17
9	Chris Porter	Colchester United	16
10	Ollie Watkins	Exeter City	15

Monthly Awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month		Reference
	Manager	Club	Player	Club
August	Jim Bentley	Morecambe	James Coppinger	Doncaster Rovers	^[47] ^[48]
September	Derek Adams	Plymouth Argyle	Jon Stead	Notts County	^[49] ^[50]
October	Keith Curle	Carlisle United	Jason Kennedy	Carlisle United	^[51] ^[52]
November	Gareth Ainsworth	Wycombe Wanderers	Omar Bogle	Grimsby Town	^[53] ^[54]
December	John McGreal	Colchester United	Scott Kashket	Wycombe Wanderers	^[55] ^[56]
January	Darren Ferguson	Doncaster Rovers	Ollie Watkins	Exeter City	^[57] ^[58]
February	Darren Sarll	Stevenage	Matt Godden	Stevenage	^[59] ^[60]
March	John Coleman	Accrington Stanley	Shay McCartan	Accrington Stanley	^[61] ^[62]
April	Paul Cook	Portsmouth	Mickey Demetriou	Newport County	^[63] ^[64]

Notes and References

1. News: #fixturereleaseday: EFL season 2016/17 fixtures announced!. www.efl.com . 22 June 2016 . 22 June 2016.
2. Web site: Fallon. Jack. Champions 2015/16. Cheltenham Town FC. 16 April 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160416164840/http://www.ctfc.com/fixtures-results/match-report/?matchid=3845085&tcmuri=2526207. 16 April 2016. dead. dmy-all.
3. Web site: Grimsby Town PROMOTED! Mariners 3-1 Forest Green. Grimsby Telegraph. 19 February 2017.
4. Web site: Crewe 3 Doncaster 1: Rovers edge closer to relegation. The Yorkshire Post.
5. News: Peterborough 5 - 1 Blackpool. 8 May 2016. BBC Sport. 8 May 2016.
6. News: Colchester 0 - 3 Burton Albion. 23 April 2016. BBC Sport. 23 April 2016.
7. Web site: Davis: "Everyone Is Hurting Badly". Crewe Alexandra FC.
8. Web site: Willsher. Gareth. Champions!. Northampton Town FC. 16 April 2016.
9. Web site: Full time report as the U's beat Wycombe to go up. Chris. Williams.
10. Web site: Bristol Rovers 2-1 Dagenham & Redbridge.
11. Web site: AFC Wimbledon promoted to League One. BBC Sport. 19 February 2017.
12. Web site: Match Report: Leyton Orient 3 Dagenham and Redbridge 2. Dagenham & Redbridge FC. 16 April 2016.
13. News: Accrington Stanley 3 - 0 York City. 23 April 2016. BBC Sport. 23 April 2016.
14. Web site: Football Ground Guide. Football Ground Guide . 30 November 2016.
15. Web site: Neil McDonald: Blackpool part company with boss after League One relegation. BBC Sport. 1 June 2016.
16. Web site: Bowyer Named New Blackpool Manager. Blackpool FC. 1 June 2016.
17. Web site: Andy Hessenthaler: Leyton Orient part company with manager. BBC Sport. 26 September 2016.
18. Web site: Leyton Orient: Alberto Cavasin, former Sampdoria boss, named new O's manager. BBC Sport. 3 October 2016.
19. Web site: Newport County sack manager Warren Feeney. BBC Sport. 1 October 2016.
20. Web site: Graham Westley: Newport County appoint former Stevenage boss. BBC Sport. 9 October 2016.
21. Web site: Paul Hurst: Shrewsbury Town name ex-Grimsby boss as new manager. BBC Sport. 25 October 2016.
22. Web site: Marcus Bignot: Grimsby Town appoint Solihull Moors boss as manager. BBC Sport. 17 November 2016.
23. Web site: Mansfield Town: Adam Murray quits as manager of League Two club. BBC Sport. 14 November 2016.
24. Web site: Steve Evans: Mansfield Town appoint former Leeds boss as manager. BBC Sport. 17 November 2016.
25. Web site: Alberto Cavasin: Leyton Orient sack manager after seven weeks in charge. BBC Sport. 23 November 2016.
26. Web site: CONFIRMED: Andy Edwards replaces Alberto Cavasin as Leyton Orient manager. talkSPORTS. 23 November 2016.
27. Web site: Martin Allen: Barnet manager departs club and set to join Eastleigh. BBC Sport. 1 December 2016.
28. Web site: Kevin Nugent: Barnet appoint Charlton coach as manager. BBC Sport. 17 February 2017.
29. Web site: John Sheridan: Notts County sack manager after nine successive league defeats. BBC Sport. 2 January 2017.
30. Web site: Kevin Nolan: Notts County appoint new manager. BBC Sport. 12 January 2017.
31. Web site: Crewe Alexandra: David Artell named manager after sacking of Steve Davis. BBC Sport. 12 January 2017.
32. Web site: Craig Hignett: Manager leaves League Two strugglers Hartlepool. BBC Sport. 16 January 2017.
33. Web site: Dave Jones: Hartlepool name ex-Wolves, Cardiff and Wednesday boss as manager. BBC Sport. 18 January 2017.
34. Web site: Leyton Orient: Danny Webb becomes new manager after Andy Edwards takes FA job. BBC Sport.
35. Web site: Newport County sack manager Graham Westley. BBC Sport. 9 March 2017.
36. Web site: Mike Flynn appointed permanent Newport County manager. BBC Sport. 9 May 2017.
37. Web site: Danny Webb: Leyton Orient boss resigns after two months in charge. BBC Sport. 30 March 2017 . 30 March 2017.
38. Web site: Managers: Steve Davis . Soccerbase . Centurycomm . 8 August 2017.
39. Web site: Marcus Bignot: Grimsby Town sack manager after five months in job. BBC Sport. 11 April 2017.
40. Web site: Russell Slade: Grimsby Town appoint manager for second time. BBC Sport. 12 April 2017.
41. Web site: Kevin Nugent: Barnet part company with head coach. BBC Sport. 15 April 2017.
42. Web site: Rossi Eames: Barnet appoint new head coach. BBC Sport. 24 May 2017.
43. Web site: Dave Jones: Hartlepool United part company with manager. BBC Sport. 24 April 2017.
44. Web site: Craig Harrison: Hartlepool United appoint The New Saints boss as manager. BBC Sport. 26 May 2017.
45. Web site: Dermont Drummy: Crawley Town part company with manager. BBC Sport. 4 May 2017.
46. Web site: Former Liverpool and Leeds United midfielder Harry Kewell is the new Head Coach at Crawley Town. CrawleyTownFC. 24 May 2017.
47. Web site: Jim Bentley named Sky Bet League Two Manager of the Month. EFL. 15 September 2016.
48. Web site: James Coppinger named Sky Bet League Two Player of the Month. EFL. 15 September 2016.
49. Web site: Derek Adams named Sky Bet League Two Manager of the Month. EFL. 11 October 2016.
50. Web site: Jon Stead named Sky Bet League Two Player of the Month. EFL. 11 October 2016.
51. Web site: Keith Curle named Sky Bet League Two manager of the month. EFL. 11 November 2016.
52. Web site: Jason Kennedy named Sky Bet League Two player of the month. EFL. 11 November 2016.
53. Web site: Gareth Ainsworth named Sky Bet League Two Manager of the Month. EFL. 9 December 2016.
54. Web site: Omar Bogle named Sky Bet League Two Player of the Month. EFL. 9 December 2016.
55. Web site: John McGreal named Sky Bet League Two Manager of the Month. EFL. 6 January 2017.
56. Web site: Scott Kashket named Sky Bet League Two Player of the Month. EFL. 6 January 2017.
57. Web site: Darren Ferguson named Sky Bet League Two manager of the month. EFL. 10 February 2017.
58. Web site: Ollie Watkins named Sky Bet League Two player of the month. EFL. 10 February 2017.
59. Web site: Stevenage boss Darren Sarll named Sky Bet League Two Manager of the Month. EFL. 10 March 2017.
60. Web site: Stevenage striker Matt Godden named Sky Bet League Two Player of the Month. EFL. 10 March 2017.
61. Web site: John Coleman named Sky Bet League Two manager of the month. EFL. 8 April 2017.
62. Web site: Shay McCartan named Sky Bet League Two player of the month. EFL. 8 April 2017.
63. Web site: Paul Cook named Sky Bet League Two manager of the month. EFL.com. 5 May 2017.
64. Web site: Mickey Demetriou named Sky Bet League Two player of the month. EFL.com. 5 May 2017.