English League 1
England · Est. 2004
About English League 1
Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League 1) is the second-highest division of the Football League and the third tier in the English football league system.
Football League One was introduced for the 2004–05 season. It was previously known as the Football League Second Division and prior to the advent of the Premier League, the Football League Third Division.
At present (2014–15 season), Oldham Athletic hold the longest tenure in League One, last being out of the division in the 1996–97 season when they were relegated from the Championship. There are currently six former Premier League clubs competing in the League One, namely Barnsley, Bradford City, Coventry City, Oldham Athletic, Sheffield United and Swindon Town.
There are 24 clubs in Football League One. Each club plays every other club twice (once at home and once away). Three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and zero 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) and, finally, a series of one or more play-off matches.
At the end of each season the top two clubs, together with the winner of the play-offs between the clubs which finished in 3rd–6th position, are promoted to Football League Championship and are replaced by the three clubs that finished at the bottom of that division.
Similarly, the four clubs that finished at the bottom of Football League One are relegated to Football League Two and are replaced by the top three clubs and the club that won the 4th–7th place play-offs in that division.
Sky Sports currently show live League One matches with highlights shown on BBC One on their programme called The Football League Show, which also broadcasts highlights of Football League Championship and Football League Two matches. The show is available on the red button the following Sunday until midday and is available on iPlayer all the following week. Highlights of all games in the Football League are also available to view separately on the Sky Sports website. In Sweden, TV4 Sport has the rights of broadcasting from the league. A couple of league matches during the season of 09/10 including play-off matches and the play-off final to the Championship were shown. In Australia, Setanta Sports Australia broadcasts live Championship matches. In the USA and surrounding countries including Cuba, some Football League Championship, Football League One and Football League Two games are shown on beIN Sport.