The best L2 team ever?

[BRFC_Gas]

I wish I could put my team in the equation.

Closest would be when we were promoted behind Swindon and Crewe but we sold Tubbs(£800k) Barnett (£1.5m) and Wesley Thomas in January and didn't replace them.

Odd we didn't score many after that

Swindon under DiCanio.

Casey

Same, although rather than steamroller L2 as champs, we prefer some final day drama....

 

[ASpireite]

MK under Ince when they won the league were excellent.

Our 2013-14 team was brilliant, strong at both ends of the pitch and won the league playing some lovely football. If we had the Eoin Doyle of the following season when he was scoring for fun then we would have walked it. Followed it up the season after with playoffs in a touch league one as well.

 

[Son of Cod]

As it is coming up to 20 years now since League Two became known as League Two in the 04/05 season, who do you think have been the best teams to have got promoted since then and why?

For me I think the Northampton Town team in 15/16 were definitely up there among the best when they won the league and were completely unstoppable. They had quality players all round and Chris Wilder was manager.

Another outstanding team were Peterborough in 07/08 with the deadly strikeforce of Boyd, McLean and Mackail Smith.

Also our team who won the title were pretty good in 05/06.

That 05/06 Carlisle team was indeed quality. Bridges and Hawley were ridiculous and you were very solid and tough to play against.

Special mentions to our 12/13 side, too. Finished 7th and were promoted through the play-offs. However, had it not have been for our League Cup success, which ultimately resulted in playing at Wembley twice that season, I think we would’ve gone up automatically with relative ease. 64 competitive games we played that season - it was ridiculous.

GK: Jon McLaughlan/Matt Duke

RB: Stephen Darby
CB: Rory McArdle
CB: Andrew Davies
LB: James Meredith

RW: Garry Thompson
CM: Gary Jones (c)
CM: Nathan Doyle
LW: Kyel Reid

ST: Nahki Wells
ST: James Hanson

Oh, to build a team as good as that for next season.

Pretty sure you spent an entire season telling us all how absolutely fucking useless James Hanson was so you're not having this Bradford team in the conversation mate sorry.

It's certainly not any Grimsby side. They go into the worst team category with Darlington in 2010. Absolute shite they both were

Absolutely gutted to not be in contention for best ever tinpot team. We'll get involved when we fire up the best ever side to punch above their weight at a decent level chat.

 

[Andy Butler]

That 05/06 Carlisle team was indeed quality. Bridges and Hawley were ridiculous and you were very solid and tough to play against.

Pretty sure you spent an entire season telling us all how absolutely fucking useless James Hanson was so you're not having this Bradford team in the conversation mate sorry.

Absolutely gutted to not be in contention for best ever tinpot team. We'll get involved when we fire up the best ever side to punch above their weight at a decent level chat.

Well I think we are definitely up there seeing as we survived in the Championship back in 2010.

 

[DippyDon]

Well I think we are definitely up there seeing as we survived in the Championship back in 2010.

That semi final penalty shootout that helped you get there is haunting

 

[CFC91]

Interesting you mention Sheridans team because I thought our L2 title team under Cook was stronger. There was some serious talent in that group. Sam Morsy, Jimmy Ryan, Liam Cooper, Tendayi Darikwa, Sam Clucas, Gary Roberts, Eoin Doyle, more. Some team, that.

This team probably is the best, all of those went on to play in the Prem or Champ, one made a World Cup, etc. Insane team, great memories

 

[Andy Butler]

That semi final penalty shootout that helped you get there is haunting

Tore Andre Flo is a legend

 

[kieran_vale]

Interesting you mention Sheridans team because I thought our L2 title team under Cook was stronger. There was some serious talent in that group. Sam Morsy, Jimmy Ryan, Liam Cooper, Tendayi Darikwa, Sam Clucas, Gary Roberts, Eoin Doyle, more. Some team, that.

Been touched on before but it was incredibly aggravating to see Sam Morsy leave us for you and Micky Adams was completely at fault for it. Should never have called him out publicly like he did for what was a poor challenge but also seen worse from others. Some career he’s gone on to have since, was a huge fan of him at Vale but not even I would have predicted he’d now be the captain of a Premier League team.

 

[JJ1990]

See I think our 2013 team were better. They just had a horrid start to the season, once they realised they were good and could play football we were by far the beat side in the league from Christmas onwards. Steve Phillips was quality in goal. Harry Davis and Dave Artell a great partnership at the back. Then I'm not sure there has been a better midfield 4 in this league than Nick Powell, Ashley Wetwood, Luke Murphy and Byron Moore. The only thing missing was a 20+ a season goal scorer.

I thought about that group, but when you look through that team, it was mostly those 3 top end talents carrying the rest of them. Phillips never played higher than L1, nor did Tootle, Moore, Dugdale(who was a L2 player at best), Davis, Mellor or Leitch-Smith.

That team had more top end talent for sure, but 19-20 team was far more rounded and balanced, plus that team already boasts 5 homegrown players who've played in the Championship(Ng, Wintle, Kirk, Pickering and Dale) and 1 more will be added if Lowery plays for Pompey next season. Hence why I think it ranks higher.

 

[Son of Cod]

Well I think we are definitely up there seeing as we survived in the Championship back in 2010.

For two seasons? Absolutely no chance you're in the conversation, but I admire that brazen attempt at getting involved.

 

[saddler78]

Best i can do on this is our 06/07 title winners Scott Dann Dan Fox and Ant Gerrard at the back and Clayton Ince in goal we didnt let many in.We also had a young Troy Deeney then.

 

[OneDecentLester]

Seen our two champion sides mentioned a couple of times in this thread. When you compare the two sides on paper, Cook’s 2013/14 one blitzes Sheridan’s 2010/11 one in terms of what those players went on to do in their careers after that point, but that 2010/11 side has got to be one of the most entertaining this leagues ever seen. All out attack, every single game because we knew we had the fire power to outscore anyone with the quality of our attack. Jack Lester, Craig Davies, Danny Whitaker, Dean Morgan, Deane Smalley etc all unplayable at times, and it also spanked Rotherham 5-0 under the lights live on Sky, which is still my favourite ever CFC game. So yeah, fond memories of that side definitely.

But 2013/14 was a different beast really. Most names mentioned above such as star men like Gary Roberts, Eoin Doyle, Sam Morsy, Jimmy Ryan, Liam Cooper but then you had the likes of Jay O’Shea, Marc Richards, Ian Evatt, Drew Talbot etc also. Just had so much quality everywhere and firmly believe with just that little bit more investment the year after when we made the L1 play offs, we’d have got to the Championship. As it turned out, that investment never came, Cook left in the summer of 2015, and our downward spiral began..

Shoutouts for a few other sides I rated highly at this level such as MK Dons 07/08, Notts Co 09/10 (Lee Hughes / Ben Davies etc), Bury 2010/11 (Ryan Lowe / Nicky Ajose etc).

 

[OneDecentLester]

Been touched on before but it was incredibly aggravating to see Sam Morsy leave us for you and Micky Adams was completely at fault for it. Should never have called him out publicly like he did for what was a poor challenge but also seen worse from others. Some career he’s gone on to have since, was a huge fan of him at Vale but not even I would have predicted he’d now be the captain of a Premier League team.

What a player, the best CM I’ve ever seen in a CFC shirt. Him and Ryan were unplayable together between 2013 - 2015, made the whole team tick. Still hold out hope he may come back one day and do another season or two with us, and whilst ever Cook remains manager then I could see it happening. Looking forward to watching him in the PL next year, deserves his chance at that level.

 

[leedsvaliant]

What a player, the best CM I’ve ever seen in a CFC shirt. Him and Ryan were unplayable together between 2013 - 2015, made the whole team tick. Still hold out hope he may come back one day and do another season or two with us, and whilst ever Cook remains manager then I could see it happening. Looking forward to watching him in the PL next year, deserves his chance at that level.

I thought he was decent at Vale but I never thought he was good enough for the Premier league. Just goes to show how dedication and hard work can improve you as a player.

 

[Optipez]

The Notts 2009/10 team had some players way too good for L2. It was all built on a massive fraud but..
Kasper Schmeichel, Andy Ritchie, Lee Hughes, Johnny Jackson, Ben Davies were players whose careers went way beyond this level. We also had key players like Neal Bishop, Craig Westcarr, Brendan Maloney, Ricky Ravenhill, Luke Rogers and Graeme Lee who were all solid lower league pros.
Neal Bishop is still one of my all time favourite players, fantastic for us.

 

[GTFCfish]

It's certainly not any Grimsby side. They go into the worst team category with Darlington in 2010. Absolute shite they both were

Can’t really argue with you there Lance.

 

[Scum.]

07/08 MK Dons. End of thread. 97 points, +45 GD, 23 game unbeaten run, biggest attendance of 17,250 against Morecambe (one for the penis wavers). Anything else…

We had Paul Ince as our manager so winning the double deserves bonus points.

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

It’s hard to say with that Carlisle 05/06 team because it is split in half, the first half of season we were good but in no means great or memorable, but once it hit December and Bridges got fit that team was frightening to play against for some sides. Bridges was just one of them rare luxuries that should never have graced this level but did.

Weirdly the best L2 side I’ve seen never even went up, that Wycombe side under Gorman in 05/06 that had Tyson and Betsy played some utterly wonderful attack based football, that was a side I found a joy to watch but clearly their style ended up their downfall down here.

I’d liked to have seen the di canio Swindon side for its overall madness. They may not be the best but I give more credit to sides who attack and have a go home and away

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

It’s hard to say with that Carlisle 05/06 team because it is split in half, the first half of season we were good but in no means great or memorable, but once it hit December and Bridges got fit that team was frightening to play against for some sides. Bridges was just one of them rare luxuries that should never have graced this level but did.

Weirdly the best L2 side I’ve seen never even went up, that Wycombe side under Gorman in 05/06 that had Tyson and Betsy played some utterly wonderful attack based football, that was a side I found a joy to watch but clearly their style ended up their downfall down here.

I’d liked to have seen the di canio Swindon side for its overall madness. They may not be the best but I give more credit to sides who attack and have a go home and away

Didn't Wycombe have a couple of tragedies that season which affected the club? I think Gorman's wife died and I think that might've been the season Mark Philo died? They started off unbeaten until November IIRC but then tailed off and got done in the playoffs by Cheltenham which was a shame.

The Di Canio Swindon team vastly overspent. They had the biggest budget in the league by a country mile and were always winning the league. I did love our win over them late on in the season though. They were never a boring team though, always making headlines and Di Canio's antics were box office. Some of the stories Si Ferry says about that era are brilliant on his podcast appearances. I can genuinely believe every single one of them!

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

Best i can do on this is our 06/07 title winners Scott Dann Dan Fox and Ant Gerrard at the back and Clayton Ince in goal we didnt let many in.We also had a young Troy Deeney then.

Clayton was my neighbour for 10 years growing up and that included when he played for you lot. Used to go the odd game if Crewe were away dead far down South and you had a great team under Dickie Dosh tbf. He really loved his time at Walsall after being frozen out in the cold by Micky Adams at Coventry.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Surely Stockport this season get a mention?

Top 3 for me are Northampton 15/16, Stockport 23/24 and MK in 07/08 in no particular order.

Don’t know what happened between 2008-2013 as we were STAINED

 

[joethegill]

We haven't been here that regularly in the 20 years mentioned, but in our time here the sides that have impressed most were Di Canio's Swindon side, the Chesterfield side in 10/11 and Brentford in 08/09.

Seen Bradford and Vale fans have mentioned that one of their best sides were in the 12/13 season when we won the league - to be fair we were comfy winners in the end, Vale gave us a little push around the new year when we stumbled a little bit, but to be honest we were the best in that league by a distance - not flashy but just solid, consistent and packed with experience. The spine of Nelson, Barrett, Legge, Charlie Lee, Whelpdale, Kedwell and Deon Burton was just too good for the level, and Myles Weston was a superstar out wide and won us several games on his own. Further experience in Martin Allen as the manager, and it was pretty much a perfect blueprint of a side designed to do well at this level.

 

[Grimsby Road]

It's certainly not any Grimsby side. They go into the worst team category with Darlington in 2010. Absolute shite they both were

We have only had 1 good season as a league 2 team

It’s hard to say with that Carlisle 05/06 team because it is split in half, the first half of season we were good but in no means great or memorable, but once it hit December and Bridges got fit that team was frightening to play against for some sides. Bridges was just one of them rare luxuries that should never have graced this level but did.

Weirdly the best L2 side I’ve seen never even went up, that Wycombe side under Gorman in 05/06 that had Tyson and Betsy played some utterly wonderful attack based football, that was a side I found a joy to watch but clearly their style ended up their downfall down here.

I’d liked to have seen the di canio Swindon side for its overall madness. They may not be the best but I give more credit to sides who attack and have a go home and away

I think Wycombe had Sergio Torres that season aswell he was ace + Stefan Oakes , I remember them dominating us

 

[GTFCfish]

Clayton was my neighbour for 10 years growing up and that included when he played for you lot. Used to go the odd game if Crewe were away dead far down South and you had a great team under Dickie Dosh tbf. He really loved his time at Walsall after being frozen out in the cold by Micky Adams at Coventry.

Clayton Ince cost me nearly 2 grand so if you see him again can you tell him he’s a wanker please mate.

 

[saddler78]

Clayton was my neighbour for 10 years growing up and that included when he played for you lot. Used to go the odd game if Crewe were away dead far down South and you had a great team under Dickie Dosh tbf. He really loved his time at Walsall after being frozen out in the cold by Micky Adams at Coventry.

Great keeper wasnt here that long but still gets mentioned by fans even now as one of our best in the last 25 years.

 

[GTFCfish]

It’s hard to say with that Carlisle 05/06 team because it is split in half, the first half of season we were good but in no means great or memorable, but once it hit December and Bridges got fit that team was frightening to play against for some sides. Bridges was just one of them rare luxuries that should never have graced this level but did.

Weirdly the best L2 side I’ve seen never even went up, that Wycombe side under Gorman in 05/06 that had Tyson and Betsy played some utterly wonderful attack based football, that was a side I found a joy to watch but clearly their style ended up their downfall down here.

I’d liked to have seen the di canio Swindon side for its overall madness. They may not be the best but I give more credit to sides who attack and have a go home and away

I agree about that Wycombe side, we played them that season on a Friday night in a top of the table clash and the first 45 minutes is one of the best performances against us I’ve ever seen, they absolutely took the piss and had us chasing shadows the whole half but somehow we got in at half time only 1-0 down.
Not sure what Slade said at half time but the second half was the total opposite we were camped in their box absolutely battered them, hit the post and bar and had 2 cleared off the line and lost 1-0.
I said after that game that any team finishing above them would be going up.
We finished 4th, they finished 5th, and Cheltenham beat us both in the play offs and went up instead.

 

[Who Needs Mourinho]

Surely Stockport this season get a mention?

Top 3 for me are Northampton 15/16, Stockport 23/24 and MK in 07/08 in no particular order.

Don’t know what happened between 2008-2013 as we were STAINED

It’s so weird the way we won the league. A 12 game winning streak in autumn and then an 8 game winning streak at the end of the season. We either looked unbeatable or very average.

Having said we did reach 92 points despite having the worst injury riddled season I’ve ever seen the club have so I think without that we would have set records.

 

[Who Needs Mourinho]

I agree about that Wycombe side, we played them that season on a Friday night in a top of the table clash and the first 45 minutes is one of the best performances against us I’ve ever seen, they absolutely took the piss and had us chasing shadows the whole half but somehow we got in at half time only 1-0 down.
Not sure what Slade said at half time but the second half was the total opposite we were camped in their box absolutely battered them, hit the post and bar and had 2 cleared off the line and lost 1-0.
I said after that game that any team finishing above them would be going up.
We finished 4th, they finished 5th, and Cheltenham beat us both in the play offs and went up instead.

Not sure if it was the same season but remember Wycombe getting very far in cup competitions so did that derail them?

 

[Carver]

Not sure if it was the same season but remember Wycombe getting very far in cup competitions so did that derail them?

It was the same season you stayed up on the last day of the season thanks to a 0-0 draw against us where we were then confirmed as champions.

I think Wycombe went on a run to the League Cup semis under Lambert a season or two later.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

Clayton Ince cost me nearly 2 grand so if you see him again can you tell him he’s a wanker please mate.

He's lived in Trinidad since he left Walsall so unless I end up in the Caribbean I won't be seeing him anytime soon haha!

Out of interest, was it one of our games that cost you the money?