I was having a bit of a browse and found some interesting information from yesteryear which some people might find interesting:
The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992.
The Second Division was formed in 1892 and consisted of 12 clubs, the majority of which had previously played in the Football Alliance. These original clubs were: Ardwick (now Manchester City), Bootle, Burton Swifts, Crewe Alexandra, Darwen, Grimsby Town, Lincoln City, Northwich Victoria, Port Vale, Sheffield United, Small Heath (now Birmingham City), and Walsall.
There was no automatic promotion to the First Division in the first few years, however, the top teams in the Division Two, including the top team, played test matches against the lower teams in Divsion One.
Small Heath were Second Division champions in 1892-93, and were denied promotion after losing in test matches to Newton Heath. Sheffield United, who were runners-up, beat Accrington to become the first team to win promotion to the First Division. This team included ex-Staveley players Harry and Will Lilley, and Ernest Needham, who I have written articles on before on Vital Football.
These test matches were canned in 1898 after Burnley and Stoke conspired to deliberately fix their test match as a draw at 0-0, which resulted in Burnley being promoted and Stoke being saved from relegation.
Relegation to the Football League Third Division was done in the season before the latter even started, Grimsby Town (bottom in 1919-20) made way for Cardiff City and formed the new Third Division with southern clubs.
For subsequent seasons, two clubs were relegated into either the Third Division North or Third Division South depending on their geographical location. When the Third Division was reunified in 1958-59, the relegation arrangement was kept and a third club began being relegated in 1974.
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