53-981: League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football [ edit ] EFL League One , the third tier of football in England. China League One , the second tier of football in China K League 1 , the top-tier football in South Korea Lao League 1 League1 British Columbia , semi-professional regional league in Canada League1 Ontario , semi-professional regional league in Canada League1 Ontario (women) , semi-professional women's regional league in Canada Scottish League One ,
106-470: A better goal-average: 1.86, to Blackpool's 1.65. At the end of the following 1968–69 campaign, the Blackpool board made the decision to sack Mortensen after just over two years in the job. Their decision was met by fans with shock and anger, as Mortensen was as popular a manager as he was a player. Les Shannon , who spent the majority of his playing career with Blackpool's Lancashire rivals Burnley ,
159-535: A ground in Caunce Street. This team disbanded a few years later but some of its members are understood to have merged with old boys from St John's School to form a new club called Blackpool St John's. The two factions remained disunited, however, and on 26 July 1887, at a meeting in the Stanley Arms public house, the members resolved to wind up St John's and form a new club to represent the whole town. It
212-604: A regular source of goals for Mortensen, joined Blackpool in 1947, as did centre-forward Jackie Mudie . Goalkeeper George Farm signed in 1948, followed by outside-left Bill Perry in 1949. Kelly, Garrett, Matthews, Mudie, Farm and Perry would play with the club throughout the 1950s, the most successful decade in the club's history. Post-war Blackpool reached the FA Cup final on three occasions, losing to Manchester United in 1948 and Newcastle United three years later , and winning it in 1953 , captained by Harry Johnston . For
265-573: A single club was Sunderland in the 2018–19 season with 32,157. They also set the League One attendance record for a single game in the same season, when 46,039 spectators attended the Boxing Day game against Bradford City . Since the restructuring into League One in 2004, 78 teams have spent at least one season in the division, including 8 of the 20 teams in the 2024–25 Premier League . Milton Keynes Dons has spent 15 seasons in League One,
318-781: A year in the job, and departed when the club were relegated to the League's basement division . Allan Brown had taken over from Ball in February 1981, and he remained in charge for the following 1981–82 term. Blackpool finished twelfth in their first season in Division Four; however, unable to handle the pressure of the job, Brown resigned during the close season. Sam Ellis took over from Brown in June 1982, three years after he finished his playing career with Watford . His first season saw Blackpool finish 21st, with Dave Bamber topping
371-529: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages EFL League One The English Football League One , known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes or simply League One in England, is the second-highest division of the English Football League and the third-tier overall in the English football league system . Introduced in
424-646: Is the most-watched third-tier domestic sports league in the world, with an average of 10,613 spectators per game in the 2022–23 season, also making it one of the top ten most watched leagues in Europe. The closest third-tier association football league in terms of average attendance is the Germany 3. Liga (8,219). The highest average attendance since the restructure into League One was the 2022–23 season, when over 5.3 million spectators watched games, with an average of 10,613 per game. The highest average attendance by
477-533: The 1945–46 season, after the war's conclusion, Blackpool spent one season in the Football League North . Scottish defender Hugh Kelly had arrived at Blackpool in 1943, as had fellow defender Tommy Garrett in 1942. Forward Stan Mortensen joined the club after the war in 1946. Mortensen went on to become Blackpool's top League goalscorer for the next nine seasons, sharing the honour with Allan Brown in 1952–53 . Stanley Matthews , who became
530-474: The 2010 Championship play-offs . They spent one season in the Premier League, under manager Ian Holloway , and later suffered a double relegation into League Two by 2016, though gained immediate promotion by winning the 2017 League Two play-off final , their sixth success in the format in eight finals. Football had developed in Blackpool by 1877, when Victoria F.C. were founded as a church club with
583-443: The FA Cup . A 23-year-old Ray Charnley topped the club's goalscoring chart with 20, in his first season as a professional, and went on to repeat the feat for seven of the eight seasons that followed. The League Cup came into existence in 1960–61 . Blackpool were knocked out in the second round, the round in which they entered. The club's First Division status came under threat, but they managed to avoid relegation by one point, at
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#1732766034467636-624: The Lancashire League in 1889 and were invited into the Football League Second Division in 1896. They failed re-election in 1899 but had their Football League membership reinstated the following year. From 1923 onwards, Blackpool have worn the tangerine shade of orange shirts, traditionally accompanied by white shorts and tangerine socks. Blackpool remained in the Second Division until they won
689-472: The Third Division . As quickly as Shannon had taken Blackpool up, he saw them return whence they came. The club finished at the foot of the table and were relegated back to Division Two, along with Burnley. Before the season's conclusion, Shannon was briefly replaced by Jimmy Meadows as caretaker manager , who in turn was permanently replaced by Bob Stokoe . On 12 June 1971, well over a month after
742-422: The 10 seasons that followed, Blackpool could finish no higher than 12th place. The club's top goalscorers in the league included Bob Birket (10 goals in 1900–01 ), Geordie Anderson (12 goals in 1901–02 ) and Bob Whittingham (13 in 1908–09 ). At the end of 1910–11 , the club found themselves in seventh place, thanks largely to Joe Clennell 's haul of 18 goals. It was a case of "as you were", however, for
795-477: The 16-team Second Division . Blackpool's first-ever Football League game took place on 5 September 1896, at Lincoln City , which they lost 3–1 in front of around 1,500 spectators. For the 1897–98 campaign, the club played their home games at the Athletic Grounds (at the present-day Stanley Park ). They remained there for the first seven home games of 1898–99 , before returning to Raikes Hall for
848-465: The 2,000 mark, making the club's formative years a financial success. After struggling to repeat the success of the 1893–94 season, the Blackpool board decided it was time to leave local football behind, so on 13 May 1896 the club became a limited company and applied for entry to the Football League . Their application was successful, and for the club's debut season, 1896–97 , they joined
901-888: The 2004–05 English football season as Football League One , it is a rebrand of the former Football League Second Division , which itself is a rebrand of the now-defunct Football League Third Division before the 1992 launch of the Premier League . Shrewsbury Town currently hold the longest tenure in the division following promotion from League Two at the end of the 2014–15 season. There are eight former Premier League clubs currently competing in this division; Barnsley (1997–98), Birmingham City (2002–06, 2007–08 and 2009–11), Blackpool (2010–11), Bolton Wanderers (1995–96, 1997–98, and 2001–12), Charlton Athletic (1998–99 and 2000–07), Huddersfield Town (2017–19), Reading (2006–08 and 2012–13), and Wigan Athletic (2005–13). There are 24 clubs in this division. Each club plays each of
954-648: The 27 possible outcomes of those three games would have resulted in all three teams getting more than 37 points and Blackpool being relegated. Inevitably, Cardiff City beat Notts County, Leyton Orient drew with Charlton and, in the final match, Leyton Orient, who up to that point had only won one away game all season, and had lost six out of their previous eight away games, with no wins, beat now-safe Cardiff City, who had lost only two home games all season and had won six out of their previous seven homes games, with no defeats. Blackpool were relegated with 37 points (the seven teams above them all having 38 ), and were not to return to
1007-566: The Oyston family from any involvement. During the long years of Oyston ownership, Blackpool were relegated to the fourth tier in 1990, promoted via the play-offs in 1992 , then relegated again in 2000. Blackpool reached the Premier League in 2010, after becoming the first club to gain promotion from every division of the Football League via the play-off system; they won the 2001 Third Division play-offs , 2007 League One play-offs and
1060-490: The Second Division in 30 years, guiding them to a third-placed finish . They had gone into the final game of the season at Huddersfield Town knowing that a win would likely secure a return to the First Division. They won 3–1, but once the premature celebrations had ended, they discovered that their nearest rivals, Queens Park Rangers , had scored a last-minute winner at Aston Villa . Q.P.R. were promoted by virtue of
1113-601: The closing stages of the game. That same year, four Blackpool players were in the England team which lost against Hungary at Wembley . In the 1950s they had four top-six finishes in the First Division, with their best position being runners-up to Manchester United in 1955–56. In 1956, Stanley Matthews was the inaugural recipient of the Ballon d'Or . Blackpool were relegated from the First Division in 1967, and again in 1971 after winning promotion in 1969–70. They dropped into
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#17327660344671166-523: The club finished 11th and fourth. MacFarlane's final season, 1934–35 , marked Jimmy Hampson's eighth successive (and final) season as Blackpool's top League goalscorer. Joe Smith was appointed Blackpool's sixth manager in August 1935, a role in which he remained for the next 23 years. The club finished 10th in Smith's first season, with Bobby Finan taking over from Hampson as top scorer, with 34 goals. It
1219-484: The club from Nottingham Forest , was the country's top league scorer, with 32 goals to his name. Bedford repeated the feat the following season , this time under the watchful eye of new manager Frank Buckley , who replaced Bill Norman after his four years of service. Blackpool finished fourth in Buckley's first season in charge. The 1924–25 season was not as successful; a 17th-placed finish tempered only slightly by
1272-470: The club's 98 league goals. Blackpool lasted only three seasons in the First Division. Two third-bottom finishes were followed by a last-placed finish, and the club returned to the Second Division. The club's relegation prompted the Blackpool board to install a recognised manager, and they opted for Sandy MacFarlane . MacFarlane occupied the Bloomfield Road hot seat for just two seasons, in which
1325-462: The club's reaching the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time. A single-goal defeat at fellow Lancastrians Blackburn Rovers ended the Seasiders ' run. Buckley guided Blackpool to top-10 finishes in his final two seasons as manager – with Billy Tremelling 's 30 goals in the latter helping considerably – before he left to take the helm at Wolverhampton Wanderers . Buckley's replacement
1378-753: The conclusion of the League season , Blackpool won the Anglo-Italian Cup with a 2–1 victory over Bologna in the final. This was achieved without the services of Jimmy Armfield , who retired in May after 17 years and 627 appearances for the club. Blackpool finished amongst the top 10 teams in the Second Division for six consecutive seasons, under three different managers: Stokoe, Harry Potts and Allan Brown . Twice Blackpool narrowly missed promotion to Division One, by two points in 1974 and 1977. In February 1978, midway through 1977–78 , Brown's second season at
1431-441: The division three times. Key Beginning with the 2012–13 season, a Financial Fair Play arrangement has been in place in all three divisions of the Football League, the intention being eventually to produce a league of financially self-sustaining clubs. In League One, this takes the form of a Salary Cost Management Protocol in which a maximum of 60% of a club's turnover may be spent on players' wages, with sanctions being applied in
1484-466: The expense of Newcastle United . Local arch-rivals Preston North End were the other club to make the drop. In October 1961, Matthews, now aged 46, was sold back to Stoke City . Mid-table finishes in 1961–62 and 1962–63 (and an appearance in the League Cup semi-finals during the former) were offset by another lowly finish of 18th in 1963–64 , with Alan Ball top-scoring with 13 goals. Much of
1537-554: The first and only time in the club's history, four Blackpool players (Johnston, Matthews, Mortensen and debutant Ernie Taylor ) represented England in the infamous 6–3 defeat by Hungary at Wembley on 25 November 1953. Of the four, only Matthews would ever represent his country again. In 1955–56 , and now captained by Kelly, Blackpool attained their highest-ever finish in the Football League: runners-up to Manchester United, despite losing their final four league games. It
1590-486: The following three seasons (to Bury twice and Liverpool once), before winning the championship themselves on their fourth attempt. Blackpool's home at that point in time was Raikes Hall (also known as the Royal Palace Gardens), which was part of a large entertainment complex that included a theatre and a boating lake, amongst other attractions. This meant that the club's average attendances were around
1643-429: The form of Bill Norman . Norman guided the club to fourth-placed finishes in his first two league seasons in charge (he was installed as manager during the final inter-war season), with Lane again netting close to 30 goals in the former. The club's form nosedived in the 1921–22 season, with a finishing position of 19th, before bouncing back to a fifth-placed finish the following campaign. Harry Bedford , who had joined
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1696-540: The form of transfer embargoes. Blackpool F.C Blackpool Football Club is a professional association football club based in the seaside resort of Blackpool , Lancashire , England. The team competes in EFL League One , the third tier of the English football league system . Founded in 1887, the club formerly played its home games at Raikes Hall and the Athletic Grounds before moving to Bloomfield Road in 1901. Blackpool were founder members of
1749-464: The four seasons leading up to the First World War , with finishing positions of 14th, 20th, 16th and 10th. For the last of those seasons, Joe Lane netted 28 goals. The outbreak of war forced the cancellation of League football for four years, during which time regional competitions were introduced. When normality resumed, in 1919–20 , Blackpool had appointed their first full-time manager in
1802-433: The fourth tier after suffering relegations in 1978 and 1981, then gained promotion in 1984–85. Between 1987 and 2019, the club was owned by the Oyston family. In 1996, Owen Oyston was jailed for the rape and indecent assault of a 16-year-old girl four years earlier. His wife, Vicki, took over the chairmanship of the club during her husband's three-year prison term. The couple's son, Karl , took over in 1999 and remained in
1855-481: The helm, Blackpool were seventh in the division. Having just beaten local rivals Blackburn Rovers 5–2, on 6 February 1978, Brown was sacked by chairman Billy Cartmell for personal reasons. The team won only one more game that season, which ended with their relegation to the Division Three for the first time in their history. On 1 April 1978, with six games to go, Blackpool were in eighth place, nine points off
1908-450: The higher place between them. The only exception would be if the tied teams span the boundary between 2nd and 3rd, 6th and 7th, or 20th and 21st place, in which case one or more play-off matches would be arranged between the tied clubs. At the end of each season the top two clubs, together with the winner of the play-offs between the clubs which finished in the third to sixth positions, are promoted to EFL Championship and are replaced by
1961-478: The league title in 1929–30, though they were relegated after three seasons in the First Division . Promoted again in 1936–37, the club entered a golden period under the stewardship of long-time manager Joe Smith . Blackpool lost the 1948 and 1951 FA Cup finals before winning the competition in 1953 , the so-called " Matthews final", in which they beat Bolton Wanderers 4–3, overturning a 3–1 deficit in
2014-462: The most of any team. Oldham Athletic's single 14-season consecutive spell was the longest of any team. The team with the current longest tenure is Shrewsbury Town , who will be in their tenth consecutive season in the division, having been in League One since the 2015–16 season . Rotherham United have had the highest number of separate spells in League One with six. There have been 17 different Champions of League One, with Wigan Athletic having won
2067-632: The others twice. Three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss. At the end of the season a table of the final League standings is determined, based on the following criteria in this order: points obtained, goal difference , goals scored, an aggregate of the results between two or more clubs (ranked using the previous three criteria), most matches won, most goals scored away from home, fewest "penalty points" based on yellow and red cards received, followed by fewest straight red cards for certain offenses. If two or more teams are still tied after examining all of these criteria, they will share
2120-508: The remaining 10. After finishing third-bottom, the club were not re-elected at the end of the 1898–99 season, and spent the 1899–1900 term back in the Lancashire League. They finished third, and after the Football League's annual meeting, on 25 May 1900, were permitted back into Division Two. It was during this season out of the League that Blackpool amalgamated with local rivals South Shore and moved to Bloomfield Road . During
2173-406: The role for nineteen years. In 2018, after the Oyston family was found, in a High Court judgement, to have operated an "illegitimate stripping" of the club, paying out £26.77 million to companies they owned, Owen relieved Karl of his role and gave it to his daughter, Natalie. In June 2019, Simon Sadler , a 49-year-old Blackpool-born businessman, bought a 96.2% share in the club, completely removing
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2226-399: The same ensued over the following two seasons, before relegation finally occurred in 1966–67 . Blackpool finished bottom of the table, eight points adrift of fellow demotion victims Aston Villa . Suart had resigned four months before the end of the season. His replacement was another former Blackpool player, Stan Mortensen . Mortensen picked up the pieces for the club's first season back in
2279-417: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title League One . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=League_One&oldid=1252557871 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
2332-429: The second tier for 29 years: Bob Stokoe returned for a second stint as manager for the 1978–79 campaign, at the end of which Blackpool finished mid-table. Stokoe resigned during the summer. Stan Ternent became Blackpool's seventh manager in nine years, only to be replaced in February 1980 by Alan Ball , the popular former Blackpool midfielder who left the club for Everton 14 years earlier. Ball himself only lasted
2385-534: The teams below Blackpool still had games to play, apart from bottom placed Hull City. The bottom of the Division Two table read: The only other team in the division with games to play was Notts County, in 14th place with 38 points. After Millwall achieved safety by beating already-relegated Mansfield Town, the three remaining fixtures were Cardiff City v. Notts County, Leyton Orient v. Charlton Athletic, and Cardiff City v. Leyton Orient. Only one combination from
2438-413: The third relegation slot. On 25 April, with one game to go, Blackpool were 14th, three points above Cardiff City in the third relegation slot. Four days later, Blackpool completed their programme and were 16th with 37 points – two points clear of Leyton Orient in the third relegation slot, with a vastly superior goal difference (−1, which was four better than fifth-placed Blackburn Rovers). At that point, all
2491-922: The third tier of football in Scotland Thai League 1 , the top tier of football in Thailand USL League One , a third-tier soccer league in the United States Rugby [ edit ] RFL League One , the third tier of rugby league in Europe National League 1 , the third tier of rugby union in England See also [ edit ] Ligue 1 , the top tier professional football league in France Ligue 1 (disambiguation) Division 1 (disambiguation) Topics referred to by
2544-608: The three clubs that finished at the bottom of that division. Similarly, the four clubs that finished at the bottom of EFL League One are relegated to EFL League Two and are replaced by the top three clubs and the club that won the fourth to seventh place play-offs in that division. For past winners at this level before 2004, see List of winners of the EFL League One and predecessors . Expelled in August 2019 after financial breaches. In 35 games. Season truncated because of coronavirus. EFL League One
2597-580: Was Sydney Beaumont , who took charge for the 1927–28 season, but he lasted only until the spring after the club finished in 19th position. Harry Evans was installed as the new Blackpool manager, in an honorary capacity, for the 1928–29 campaign. Due in no small part to Jimmy Hampson 's 40 goals, the club finished eighth. In his second season , Evans guided Blackpool to the Division Two championship (their only championship to date), finishing ahead of promotion rivals Chelsea and Oldham Athletic by three and four points respectively. Hampson had bagged 45 of
2650-542: Was Smith's second season in charge, however, that marked the starting point of the success to come. Blackpool finished the 1936–37 season as runners-up in the Second Division to Leicester City and were promoted back to the First Division. Two seasons of Division One football were played before the Second World War intervened. Blackpool sat atop the table at the time the abandonment occurred. Regional competitions were implemented again between 1939 and 1945. For
2703-412: Was a feat that could not be matched or bettered over the following two seasons, with fourth and seventh-placed finishes, and Smith left Blackpool as the club's most successful and longest-serving manager. Smith was succeeded, in May 1958, by Ron Suart , the first former Tangerine to return to the club as manager. In his first season, he led the club to eighth in the First Division and the sixth round of
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#17327660344672756-404: Was installed as manager for the 1969–70 season. In his first season, he succeeded where Mortensen had failed, by guiding the club back to the top flight as runners-up behind Huddersfield Town . Their promotion had been sealed after the penultimate game of the season, a 3–0 victory at rivals Preston North End, courtesy of a Fred Pickering hat-trick . The result effectively relegated the hosts to
2809-554: Was named Blackpool Football Club. The new club managed to win two pieces of silverware in its first season in existence, 1887–88 : the Fylde Cup and the Lancashire Junior Cup . At the conclusion of the following 1888–89 season, Blackpool became founder members of the Lancashire League . In their first season in the competition, the club finished fifth out of the 13 member clubs. They finished as runners-up over
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