2019–20 English Football League

The Football League 2019–20
Season information
Winners	Leeds United
Promoted	West Bromwich Albion
Relegated	Stevenage
Continental cup qualifiers
Expelled	Bury
New Clubs in League	Leyton Orient Salford City
Season statistics
← 2018-19	2020-21 →

The 2019–20 season was the 121st season of the English Football League (EFL) and the fourth season under that name after it was renamed from The Football League in 2016. For the seventh 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. Originally the bottom two teams in League Two were to be relegated to the National League, but because of the expulsion of Bury from League One, only the bottom team in League Two will be relegated.

Promotion and relegation

From the Premier League

Relegated to the Championship

• Cardiff City
• Fulham
• Huddersfield Town

From the Championship

Promoted to the Premier League

• Norwich City
• Sheffield United
• Aston Villa

Relegated to League One

• Rotherham United
• Bolton Wanderers
• Ipswich Town

From League One

Promoted to the Championship

• Luton Town
• Barnsley
• Charlton Athletic

Relegated to League Two

• Plymouth Argyle
• Walsall
• Scunthorpe United
• Bradford City

From League Two

Promoted to League One

• Lincoln City
• Bury
• Milton Keynes Dons
• Tranmere Rovers

Relegated to the National League

• Notts County
• Yeovil Town

From the National League

Promoted to League Two

• Leyton Orient
• Salford City

League tables

Sky Bet Championship

Main article: 2019–20 EFL Championship

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Leeds United  (C) (P)	46	28	9	9	77	35	+42	93	Promotion to the Premier League
2	West Brom  (P)	46	22	17	7	77	45	+32	83
3	Brentford	46	24	9	13	80	38	+42	81	Qualification to the Championship Play-offs
4	Fulham  (P)	46	23	12	11	64	48	+16	81
5	Cardiff City	46	19	16	11	68	58	+10	73
6	Swansea City	46	18	16	12	59	56	+3	70
7	Nottm Forest	46	18	16	12	58	50	+8	70
8	Millwall	46	17	17	12	57	51	+6	68
9	Preston North End	46	18	12	16	59	54	+5	66
10	Derby County	46	17	13	16	62	64	−2	64
11	Blackburn Rovers	46	17	12	17	66	63	+3	63
12	Bristol City	46	17	12	17	60	65	−5	63
13	Queens Park Rangers	46	16	10	20	67	76	−9	58
14	Reading	46	15	11	20	59	58	+1	56
15	Stoke City	46	16	8	22	62	68	−6	56
16	Reading	46	15	11	20	58	66	−8	56
17	Middlesbrough	46	13	14	19	48	61	−13	53
18	Huddersfield Town	46	13	12	21	52	70	−18	51
19	Luton Town	46	14	9	23	54	82	−28	51
20	Birmingham City	46	12	14	20	54	75	−21	50
21	Barnsley	46	12	13	21	49	69	−20	49
22	Charlton Athletic  (R)	46	12	12	22	50	65	−15	48	Relegation to League One
23	Wigan Athletic  (R)	46	15	14	17	57	56	+1	47
24	Hull City  (R)	46	12	9	25	57	87	−30	45

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

Sky Bet League One

Main article: 2019–20 EFL League One

Table

2019–20 Football League One table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Coventry City  (C) (P)	34	18	13	3	48	30	+18	67	Promotion to the Championship
2	Rotherham United  (P)	35	18	8	9	61	38	+23	62
3	Wycombe Wanderers  (P) (O)	34	17	8	9	45	40	+5	59	Qualification to the League One play-offs
4	Oxford United	35	17	9	9	61	37	+24	60
5	Portsmouth	35	17	9	9	53	36	+17	60
6	Fleetwood Town	35	16	12	7	51	38	+13	60
7	Peterborough United	35	17	8	10	68	40	+28	59
8	Sunderland	36	16	11	9	48	32	+16	59
9	Doncaster Rovers	34	15	9	10	51	33	+18	54
10	Gillingham	35	12	15	8	42	34	+8	51
11	Ipswich Town	36	14	10	12	46	36	+10	52
12	Burton Albion	35	12	12	11	50	50	0	48
13	Blackpool	35	11	12	12	44	43	+1	45
14	Bristol Rovers	35	12	9	14	38	49	−11	45
15	Shrewsbury Town	34	10	11	13	31	42	−11	41
16	Lincoln City	35	12	6	17	44	46	−2	42
17	Accrington Stanley	35	10	10	15	47	53	−6	40
18	Rochdale	34	10	6	18	39	57	−18	36
19	Milton Keynes Dons	35	10	7	18	36	47	−11	37
20	AFC Wimbledon	35	8	11	16	39	52	−13	35
21	Tranmere Rovers  (R)	34	8	8	18	36	60	−24	32	Relegation to League Two
22	Southend United  (R)	35	4	7	24	39	85	−46	19
23	Bolton Wanderers  (R)	34	5	11	18	27	66	−39	14
24	Bury	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-12	Club expelled

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

• Bury deducted 12 points for entering into an insolvency event, before later being expelled from the EFL on August 27 2019. At the time of their expulsion, they had played no matches.
• Bolton Wanderers deducted 12 points for entering administration.

Sky Bet League Two

Main article: 2019–20 EFL League Two

Table

2019–20 Football League TwoOne table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Swindon Town  (C) (P)	36	21	6	9	62	39	+23	69	Promotion to League One
2	Crewe Alexandra  (P)	37	20	9	8	67	43	+24	69
3	Plymouth Argyle  (P)	37	20	8	9	61	39	+22	68
4	Cheltenham Town	36	17	13	6	52	27	+25	64	Qualification to the League Two play-offs
5	Exeter City	37	18	11	8	53	43	+10	65
6	Colchester United	37	15	13	9	52	37	+15	58
7	Northampton Town  (P)	37	17	7	13	54	40	+14	58
8	Port Vale	37	14	15	8	50	44	+6	57
9	Bradford City	37	14	12	11	44	40	+4	54
10	Forest Green Rovers	36	13	10	13	43	40	+3	49
11	Salford City	37	13	11	13	49	46	+3	50
12	Walsall	36	13	8	15	40	49	−9	47
13	Crawley Town	37	11	15	11	51	47	+4	48
14	Newport County	36	12	10	14	32	39	−7	46
15	Grimsby Town	37	12	11	14	45	51	−6	47
16	Cambridge United	37	12	9	16	40	48	−8	45
17	Leyton Orient	36	10	12	14	47	55	−8	42
18	Carlisle United	37	10	12	15	39	56	−17	42
19	Oldham Athletic	37	9	14	14	44	57	−13	41
20	Scunthorpe United	37	10	10	17	44	56	−12	40
21	Mansfield Town	36	9	11	16	48	55	−7	38
22	Morecambe	37	7	11	19	35	60	−25	32
23	Macclesfield Town	37	7	15	15	32	47	−15	36	Reprieved from relegation
24	Stevenage  (R)	36	3	13	20	24	50	−26	22	Relegation to the National League

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
West Bromwich Albion	Darren Moore	Sacked	9 March 2019	2018–19 season	Slaven Bilić	13 June 2019	Pre-season
Oldham Athletic	Paul Scholes	Resigned	14 March 2019<		Laurent Banide	11 June 2019
Scunthorpe United	Stuart McCall	Sacked	24 March 2019		Paul Hurst	13 May 2019
Queens Park Rangers	Steve McClaren		1 April 2019		Mark Warburton	9 May 2019
Walsall	Dean Keates		6 April 2019		Darrell Clarke	10 May 2019
Gillingham	Steve Lovell		26 April 2019		Steve Evans	1 June 2019
Plymouth Argyle	Derek Adams		28 April 2019		Ryan Lowe	5 June 2019
Brighton & Hove Albion	Chris Hughton		13 May 2019	Pre-season	Graham Potter	20 May 2019
Mansfield Town	David Flitcroft		14 May 2019		John Dempster	14 May 2019
Middlesbrough	Tony Pulis	End of contract	17 May 2019		Jonathan Woodgate	14 June 2019
Swansea City	Graham Potter	Signed by Brighton & Hove Albion	20 May 2019		Steve Cooper	13 June 2019
Bury	Ryan Lowe	Signed by Plymouth Argyle	5 June 2019		Paul Wilkinson	2 July 2019
Leyton Orient	Justin Edinburgh	Deceased	8 June 2019		Carl Fletcher	16 October 2019	17th
Hull City	Nigel Adkins	End of contract	8 June 2019		Grant McCann	21 June 2019	Pre-season
Birmingham City	Garry Monk	Sacked	18 June 2019		Pep Clotet	4 December 2019	15th
Doncaster Rovers	Grant McCann	Signed by Hull City	21 June 2019		Darren Moore	10 July 2019	Pre-season
Nottingham Forest	Martin O’Neill	Sacked	28 June 2019		Sabri Lamouchi	28 June 2019
Derby County	Frank Lampard	Signed by Chelsea	4 July 2019		Phillip Cocu	5 July 2019
Blackpool	Terry McPhillips	Resigned	5 July 2019		Simon Grayson	6 July 2019
Sheffield Wednesday	Steve Bruce		15 July 2019		Garry Monk	6 September 2019	11th
Macclesfield Town	Sol Campbell	Mutual consent	15 August 2019	8th	Daryl McMahon	19 August 2019	4th
Huddersfield Town	Jan Siewert	Sacked	16 August 2019	20th	Danny Cowley	9 September 2019	23rd
Bolton Wanderers	Phil Parkinson	Resigned	22 August 2019	23rd	Keith Hill	31 August 2019	23rd
Southend United	Kevin Bond		6 September 2019	22nd	Sol Campbell	22 October 2019	22nd
Stevenage	Dino Maamria	Sacked	9 September 2019	23rd	Graham Westley	15 December 2019	23rd
Lincoln City	Danny Cowley	Signed by Huddersfield Town	9 September 2019	5th	Michael Appleton	20 September 2019	8th
Oldham Athletic	Laurent Banide	Sacked	19 September 2019	21st	Dino Maamria	19 September 2019	21st
Millwall	Neil Harris	Resigned	3 October 2019	18th	Gary Rowett	21 October 2019	17th
Barnsley	Daniel Stendel	Sacked	8 October 2019	23rd	Gerhard Struber	20 November 2019	24th
Sunderland	Jack Ross		8 October 2019	6th	Phil Parkinson	17 October 2019	6th
Reading	José Gomes		9 October 2019	22nd	Mark Bowen	14 October 2019	22nd
AFC Wimbledon	Wally Downes	Mutual consent	20 October 2019	21st	Glyn Hodges	23 October 2019	21st
Morecambe	Jim Bentley	Signed by A.F.C. Fylde	28 October 2019	24th	Derek Adams	7 November 2019	24th
Stoke City	Nathan Jones	Sacked	1 November 2019	23rd	Michael O'Neill	8 November 2019	24th
Milton Keynes Dons	Paul Tisdale	Mutual consent	2 November 2019	21st	Russell Martin	3 November 2019	21st
Cardiff City	Neil Warnock	Resigned	11 November 2019	14th	Neil Harris	16 November 2019	14th
Carlisle United	Steven Pressley	Sacked	13 November 2019	19th	Chris Beech	26 November 2019	21st
Leyton Orient	Carl Fletcher		14 November 2019	16th	Ross Embleton	7 January 2020	19th
Grimsby Town	Michael Jolley		15 November 2019	18th	Ian Holloway	31 December 2019	21st
Crawley Town	Gabriele Cioffi	Mutual consent	2 December 2019	17th	John Yems	5 December 2019	17th
Mansfield Town	John Dempster	Sacked	14 December 2019	18th	Graham Coughlan	17 December 2019	18th
Bristol Rovers	Graham Coughlan	Signed by Mansfield Town	17 December 2019	4th	Ben Garner	23 December 2019	4th
Macclesfield Town	Daryl McMahon	Resigned	2 January 2020	22nd	Mark Kennedy	16 January 2020	22nd
Cambridge United	Colin Calderwood	Mutual consent	29 January 2020	18th
Scunthorpe United	Paul Hurst	Sacked	29 January 2020	15th
Bradford City	Gary Bowyer		3 February 2020	8th	Stuart McCall	4 February 2020	8th
Blackpool	Simon Grayson		12 February 2020	15th	Neil Critchley	2 March 2020	13th
Stevenage	Graham Westley	Resigned	16 February 2020	24th	Alex Revell	16 February 2020	24th
Luton Town	Graeme Jones	Mutual consent	24 April 2020	23rd	Nathan Jones	28 May 2020	23rd
Middlesbrough	Jonathan Woodgate	Sacked	23 June 2020	21st	Neil Warnock	23 June 2020	21st

External links

• Football League website
• BBC Sport