2018–19 English Football League

The Football League 2018–19
Season information
Winners	Norwich City
Promoted	Sheffield United Aston Villa
Relegated	Notts County Yeovil Town
Season statistics
← 2017-18	2019-20 →

The 2018–19 season is the 120th season of the English Football League (EFL) and the third season under that name after it was renamed from The Football League in 2016. It began on 3 August 2018 and concluded on 5 May 2019, with the promotion play-off finals at Wembley Stadium on 25–27 May 2019. For the sixth season running, the league is sponsored by Sky Betting & Gaming and is therefore known as the Sky Bet EFL.

The EFL is contested through three divisions: the Championship, League One and League Two. The winner and the runner up of the Championship are automatically promoted to the Premier League and they are joined by the winner of the Championship playoff. The bottom two teams in League Two are relegated to the National League.

The 2018–19 season marked the start of an initial two year partnership between the EFL and its official charity partner Mind. The mental health charity will have its logo displayed on the shirts of all EFL clubs and will work with the EFL to promote mental health within football and the wider community. Also, this season saw one of the EFL's original members, Notts County, relegated from the league for the first time ever.

Promotion and relegation

From the Premier League

Relegated to the Championship

• West Bromwich Albion
• Stoke City
• Swansea City

From the Championship

Promoted to the Premier League

• Wolverhampton Wanderers
• Cardiff City
• Fulham

Relegated to League One

• Barnsley
• Burton Albion
• Sunderland

From League One

Promoted to the Championship

• Wigan Athletic
• Blackburn Rovers
• Rotherham United

Relegated to League Two

• Oldham Athletic
• Northampton Town
• MK Dons
• Bury

From League Two

Promoted to League One

• Accrington Stanley
• Luton Town
• Wycombe Wanderers
• Coventry City

Relegated to the National League

• Barnet
• Chesterfield

From the National League

Promoted to League Two

• Macclesfield Town
• Tranmere Rovers

League tables

Sky Bet Championship

Main article: 2018–19 Football League Championship

Table

2018–19 Football League Championship table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Norwich City  (C) (P)	46	27	13	6	93	57	+36	94	Promotion to the Premier League
2	Sheffield Utd  (P)	46	26	11	9	78	41	+37	89
3	Leeds United	46	25	8	13	73	50	+23	83	Qualification to the Championship Play-offs
4	West Brom	46	23	11	12	87	62	+25	80
5	Aston Villa  (P)	46	20	16	10	82	61	+21	76
6	Derby County	46	20	14	12	69	54	+15	74
7	Middlesbrough	46	20	13	13	49	41	+8	73
8	Bristol City	46	19	13	14	59	53	+6	70
9	Nottm Forest	46	17	15	14	61	54	+7	66
10	Swansea City	46	18	11	17	65	61	+4	65
11	Brentford	46	17	13	16	73	59	+14	64
12	Reading	46	16	16	14	60	62	−2	64
13	Hull City	46	17	11	18	66	68	−2	62
14	Preston North End	46	16	13	17	67	67	0	61
15	Blackburn Rovers	46	16	12	18	63	69	−6	60
16	Stoke City	46	11	22	13	44	51	−7	55
17	Birmingham City	46	14	19	13	64	58	+6	52
18	Wigan Athletic	46	13	13	20	51	62	−11	52
19	Queens Park Rangers	46	14	9	23	53	71	−18	51
20	Reading	46	10	17	19	49	66	−17	47
21	Millwall	46	10	14	22	48	64	−16	44
22	Rotherham United  (R)	46	8	16	22	52	83	−31	40	Relegation to League One
23	Bolton Wanderers  (R)	46	8	8	30	29	77	−48	32
24	Ipswich Town  (R)	46	5	16	25	36	77	−41	31

Updated to games played on 5 May 2019
Source: EFL.com
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round; (Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament

• Brentford were awarded a 1–0 win over Bolton Wanderers due to Bolton being unable to fulfil the fixture.
• Birmingham City deducted 9 points for failure to comply with the EFL profitability and Sustainability rules.

Sky Bet League One

Main article: 2018–19 Football League One

Table

2018–19 Football League One table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Luton Town  (C) (P)	46	27	13	6	90	42	+48	94	Promotion to the Championship
2	Barnsley  (P)	46	26	13	7	80	39	+41	91
3	Charlton Athletic  (P) (O)	46	26	10	10	73	40	+33	88	Qualification to the League One play-offs
4	Portsmouth	46	25	13	8	83	51	+32	88
5	Sunderland	46	22	19	5	80	47	+33	85
6	Doncaster Rovers	46	20	13	13	76	58	+18	73
7	Peterborough United	46	20	12	14	71	62	+9	72
8	Coventry City	46	18	11	17	54	54	0	65
9	Burton Albion	46	17	12	17	66	57	+9	63
10	Blackpool	46	15	17	14	50	52	−2	62
11	Fleetwood Town	46	16	13	17	58	52	+6	61
12	Oxford United	46	15	15	16	58	64	−6	60
13	Gillingham	46	15	10	21	61	72	−11	55
14	Accrington Stanley	46	14	13	19	51	67	−16	55
15	Bristol Rovers	46	13	15	18	47	50	−3	54
16	Rochdale	46	15	9	22	54	87	−33	54
17	Wycombe Wanderers	46	14	11	21	55	67	−12	53
18	Shrewsbury Town	46	12	16	18	51	59	−8	52
19	Southend United	46	14	8	24	55	68	−13	50
20	AFC Wimbledon	46	13	11	22	42	63	−21	50
21	Plymouth Argyle  (R)	46	13	11	22	56	80	−24	50	Relegation to League Two
22	Walsall  (R)	46	12	11	23	49	71	−22	47
23	Scunthorpe United  (R)	46	12	10	24	53	83	−30	46
24	Bradford City  (R)	46	11	8	27	49	77	−28	41

Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round; (Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament

Sky Bet League Two

Main article: 2018–19 Football League Two

Table

2018–19 Football League Two table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Lincoln City  (C) (P)	46	23	16	7	73	43	+30	85	Promotion to League One
2	Bury  (P)	46	22	13	11	82	56	+26	79
3	Milton Keynes Dons  (P)	46	23	10	13	71	49	+22	79
4	Mansfield Town	46	20	16	10	69	41	+28	76	Qualification to the League Two play-offs
5	Forest Green Rovers	46	20	14	12	68	47	+21	74
6	Tranmere Rovers  (P)	46	20	13	13	63	50	+13	73
7	Newport County	46	20	11	15	59	59	0	71
8	Colchester United	46	20	10	16	65	53	+12	70
9	Exeter City	46	19	13	14	60	49	+11	70
10	Stevenage	46	20	10	16	59	55	+4	70
11	Carlisle United	46	20	8	18	67	62	+5	68
12	Crewe Alexandra	46	19	8	19	60	59	+1	65
13	Swindon Town	46	16	16	14	59	56	+3	64
14	Oldham Athletic	46	16	14	16	67	60	+7	62
15	Northampton Town	46	14	19	13	64	63	+1	61
16	Cheltenham Town	46	15	12	19	57	68	−11	57
17	Grimsby Town	46	16	8	22	45	56	−11	56
18	Morecambe	46	14	12	20	44	70	−26	54
19	Crawley Town	46	15	8	23	51	68	−17	53
20	Port Vale	46	12	13	21	39	55	−16	49
21	Cambridge United	46	12	11	23	40	66	−26	47
22	Macclesfield Town	46	10	14	22	48	74	−26	44
24	Notts County  (R)	46	9	14	23	48	84	−36	41	Relegation to the National League
23	Yeovil Town  (R)	46	9	13	24	41	66	−25	40

Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round; (Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment	Position in table
Charlton Athletic	Karl Robinson	Signed by Oxford United	22 March 2018	2017–18 season	Lee Bowyer	6 September 2018	10th
Scunthorpe United	Graham Alexander	Sacked	24 March 2018		Nick Daws	25 May 2018	Pre-season
West Bromwich Albion	Alan Pardew		2 April 2018	2017–18 Premier League season	Darren Moore	18 May 2018
Northampton Town	Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink		2 April 2018	2017–18 season	Dean Austin	12 May 2018
Ipswich Town	Mick McCarthy	Resigned	10 April 2018		Paul Hurst	30 May 2018
Milton Keynes Dons	Dan Micciche	Sacked	22 April 2018		Paul Tisdale	6 June 2018
Sunderland	Chris Coleman	Released	29 April 2018		Jack Ross	25 May 2018
Carlisle United	Curle, KeithKeith Curle	Resigned	5 May 2018	Pre-season	John Sheridan	5 June 2018
Barnsley	José Morais	Sacked	6 May 2018		Daniel Stendel	6 June 2018
Bradford City	Simon Grayson	End of contract	8 May 2018		Michael Collins	18 June 2018
Queens Park Rangers	Ian Holloway	Sacked	10 May 2018		Steve McClaren	18 May 2018
Swansea City	Carlos Carvalhal	End of contract	18 May 2018		Graham Potter	11 June 2018
Stoke City	Paul Lambert	Sacked	18 May 2018		Gary Rowett	22 May 2018
Derby County	Gary Rowett	Signed by Stoke City	22 May 2018		Frank Lampard	31 May 2018
Shrewsbury Town	Paul Hurst	Signed by Ipswich Town	30 May 2018		John Askey	1 June 2018
Leeds United	Paul Heckingbottom	Sacked	1 June 2018		Marcelo Bielsa	15 June 2018
Exeter City	Paul Tisdale	End of contract	1 June 2018		Matt Taylor	1 June 2018
Macclesfield Town	John Askey	Signed by Shrewsbury Town	1 June 2018		Mark Yates	19 June 2018
Fleetwood Town	John Sheridan	End of contract	2 June 2018		Joey Barton	2 June 2018
Doncaster Rovers	Darren Ferguson	Resigned	4 June 2018		Grant McCann	27 June 2018
Oldham Athletic	Richie Wellens	Sacked	8 June 2018		Frankie Bunn	13 June 2018
Blackpool	Gary Bowyer	Resigned	8 August 2018	12th	Terry McPhillips	10 September 2018	9th
Cheltenham Town	Gary Johnson	Sacked	21 August 2018	22nd	Michael Duff	10 September 2018	18th
Scunthorpe United	Nick Daws		24 August 2018	18th	Stuart McCall	24 August 2018	18th
Notts County	Kevin Nolan		26 August 2018	24th	Harry Kewell	31 August 2018	24th
Crawley Town	Harry Kewell	Signed by Notts County	31 August 2018	14th	Gabriele Cioffi	7 September 2018	16th
Bradford City	Michael Collins	Sacked	3 September 2018	17th	David Hopkin	4 September 2018	17th
Northampton Town	Dean Austin		30 September 2018	21st	Keith Curle	1 October 2018	21st
Aston Villa	Steve Bruce		3 October 2018	12th	Dean Smith	10 October 2018	15th
Macclesfield Town	Mark Yates		8 October 2018	24th	Sol Campbell	27 November 2018
Brentford	Dean Smith	Signed by Aston Villa	10 October 2018	6th	Thomas Frank	16 October 2018	7th
Ipswich Town	Paul Hurst	Sacked	25 October 2018	24th	Paul Lambert	26 October 2018	24th
Swindon Town	Phil Brown		12 November 2018	17th	Richie Wellens	13 November 2018	17th
AFC Wimbledon	Neal Ardley	Mutual consent	12 November 2018	23rd	Wally Downes	4 December 2018	23rd
Shrewsbury Town	John Askey	Sacked	12 November 2018	18th	Sam Ricketts	3 December 2018	15th
Notts County	Harry Kewell		13 November 2018	22nd	Neal Ardley	23 November 2018	23rd
Cambridge United	Joe Dunne		1 December 2018	21st	Colin Calderwood	19 December 2018	22nd
Reading	Paul Clement		6 December 2018	21st	José Gomes	22 December 2018	21st
Bristol Rovers	Darrell Clarke	Mutual consent	13 December 2018	21st	Graham Coughlan	6 January 2019	20th
Sheffield Wednesday	Jos Luhukay	Sacked	21 December 2018	18th	Steve Bruce	2 January 2019	16th
Oldham Athletic	Frankie Bunn		27 December 2018	12th	Paul Scholes	11 February 2019	14th
Carlisle United	John Sheridan	Resigned	4 January 2019	7th	Steven Pressley	16 January 2019	6th
Stoke City	Gary Rowett	Sacked	8 January 2019	14th	Nathan Jones	9 January 2019	14th
Luton Town	Nathan Jones	Signed by Stoke City	9 January 2019	2nd	Graeme Jones	7 May 2019	1st
Nottingham Forest	Aitor Karanka	Resigned	11 January 2019	7th	Martin O'Neill	15 January 2019	9th
Peterborough United	Steve Evans	Sacked	26 January 2019	6th	Darren Ferguson	26 January 2019	6th
Port Vale	Neil Aspin	Resigned	30 January 2019	18th	John Askey	4 February 2019	18th
Bradford City	David Hopkin		25 February 2019	23rd	Gary Bowyer	4 March 2019	23rd
Rochdale	Keith Hill	Sacked	4 March 2019	22nd	Brian Barry-Murphy	3 April 2019	23rd
West Bromwich Albion	Darren Moore		9 March 2019	4th
Oldham Athletic	Paul Scholes	Resigned	14 March 2019	14th
Scunthorpe United	Stuart McCall	Sacked	24 March 2019	18th	Paul Hurst	13 May 2019	2019–20 season
Yeovil Town	Darren Way		24 March 2019	22nd
Southend United	Chris Powell		26 March 2019	20th	Kevin Bond	2 April 2019	20th
Queens Park Rangers	Steve McClaren		1 April 2019	17th	Mark Warburton	9 May 2019	2019–20 season
Walsall	Dean Keates		6 April 2019	22nd	Darrell Clarke	10 May 2019
Gillingham	Steve Lovell		26 April 2019	12th	Steve Evans	1 June 2019
Plymouth Argyle	Derek Adams		28 April 2019	21st

External links

• Football League website
• BBC Sport