Bury won their second successive promotion, returning to the second tier for the first time in thirty years. Stockport took the second automatic promotion spot before the final day of the season despite a fantastic League Cup run that took them to the semi-finals where they were knocked out by Middlesbrough despite winning the second leg, and entered the second tier after nearly 60 years of lower league football, though this achievement was tempered by the loss of manager Dave Jones to Southampton at the end of the season. Capping off the trio of unfancied clubs who won promotion to the second tier, Crewe Alexandra won promotion just three years after being promoted from Division Three, and entered the second tier for the first time since 1896, and the first time overall under a four-division system.