One season after falling in the Division Two playoffs, Fulham established themselves as the pace-setters in the division this season and finished as runaway champions with 101 points. Manager
Kevin Keegan accepted the
FA's offer to take charge of the
England team in February, but remained in charge at
Craven Cottage until the end of the season before handing over the reins to
Paul Bracewell, leaving Fulham with just one more promotion to win before achieving their goal of a place in the Premier League. The final promotion place was secured by Manchester City, playing in the third tier for the first time in their history. A frustrating first few months of the season mounted the pressure on manager
Joe Royle, but the
Maine Road board kept faith in him and were rewarded by an upturn in form which saw them finish third in the final table. After overcoming another
Greater Manchester club, Wigan Athletic, in the playoff semi-finals, City took on Gillingham in the Wembley final but looked to have surrendered promotion to the
Kent side who were still 2–0 up with 90 minutes on the clock. Then came two goals in added time which forced extra time, with City winning on penalties and sealing an instant return to Division One. In their final season at
Springfield Park, the one time home of the long-defunct
Wigan Borough and their own home since formation in 1932, Wigan Athletic clinched the Football League Trophy, some compensation for their subsequent failure in the Division Two playoffs. The other losing semi-finalists in the playoffs were Preston North End, who managed to retain the services of their highly-rated new manager
David Moyes despite interest from
Manchester United, who were looking to appoint a new assistant manager halfway through the season. Stoke City, who had frequently led Division Two in the first half of the season, looked all set to return to Division One at the first time of asking, before a slump in the second half of the season dragged them down to seventh in the final table - not even enough for a playoff place. Manager
Brian Little left after just one season in charge and was succeeded by
Gary Megson. There was similar disappointment for Reading, also newly relegated from Division One, who could only manage a 10th place finish in their first season at the new
Madejski Stadium. Newly promoted Macclesfield Town and Lincoln City went straight back down to Division Three, and were joined by Northampton Town (playoff finalists the previous season) and a York City side who had rarely been out of the relegation battle during the previous three seasons and finally ran out of luck following the sale of top scorer
Richard Cresswell to
Sheffield Wednesday in March. Relegation also brought about the end of
Alan Little's reign at
Bootham Crescent after more than six years at the helm. Oldham Athletic had a lucky escape from relegation in their first season under player-manager
Andy Ritchie, with the man whose goals had helped them reach the top flight eight years earlier was faced with the challenge of keeping them out of the league's fourth tier.
Play-offs Second Division maps ==
Third Division==