The 9 biggest clubs in EFL League Two named and ranked by AI | OneFootball

There are some sleeping giants in the fourth tier of English football - but who does AI think is the biggest?

It may be the lowest division in the EFL, but League Two still has some big clubs that have played at the top level of English football.

With four promotion places up for grabs and only two clubs dropping into the National League at the end of every season, there tends to be plenty of comings and goings between the third and fourth tier from year to year.

But, who does AI believe are the nine biggest out of the current crop of 24 League Two clubs, and in what order? Let's take a look...

9 ? ? Chesterfield

Even though Chesterfield have not been any higher than the third tier of English football since 1951, the modern-day Spireites are one of the best-attended clubs in League Two, which will be in no small part to their recent resurgence.

In 2017 and 2018, Chesterfield suffered back-to-back relegations from League One to the National League, and then spent six seasons trying to get out of the fifth tier and back into the EFL.

Being able to attract a manager like Paul Cook back to the club though, despite being a non-league side at the time, just proved the ambition and size of the club, and since taking the National League apart in 2024, Chesterfield fell short of a return to League One in 2025 after losing out in the play-off semi finals - you wouldn't put it past them returning to that level though in the near future.

8 ? ? Walsall

Walsall have perhaps always found it tough being surrounded by bigger clubs in the Midlands such as Aston Villa, Birmingham City, West Brom and Wolves - who are all less than 15 miles from the Bescot Stadium - and that's somewhat proven by still being in League Two.

Between 1999 and 2004, the Saddlers spent four years in the second tier and one in the third tier, but until 2019, their more natural home in the 21st century had been in League One - until their relegation that year, of which they've not managed to put right.

This is Walsall's seventh League Two season in succession, but aside from last season's play-off final defeat at the hands of AFC Wimbledon, they've not really been close to getting promoted once more.

With a healthy fanbase though in spite of their local rivals, the Midlands outfit are perhaps just waiting to build on their foundations if they can just make the move up into a higher division.

7 ? ? Gillingham

Like Walsall, Gillingham have mainly been a long-serving League One club in the 21st century, but their relegation from that level in 2022 after nine straight years has brought more mediocrity to the Kent-based outfit.

Their highest finish in three years since has been 12th in League Two, but in Gareth Ainsworth, they have a manager who knows how to win promotions based on his time at Wycombe Wanderers.

The temporary stand at the Priestfield still looms large behind one goal as it has done for many a year, and their respectable attendances, plus the fact they are the primary football club in the county of Kent, makes them a relatively big club for the level they currently find themselves at.

6 ? ? Bristol Rovers

Bristol is a big sporting city nowadays, but there has always been a bitter footballing rivalry between Rovers and City - which the latter have been winning for a considerable period of time now.

Rovers have not been above City in a league table since the year 2000, and whilst the Robins have flirted with the chance of promotion to the Premier League, the Gas have fluctuated from the third tier to the National League in the 21st century.

Steve Evans' side are among the highest-watched clubs in the fourth tier in 2025-26, showing that there is still an appetite from the terraces for the club to move back up the leagues, and their size and scope puts them in League Two's current top six for size.

5 ? ? Oldham Athletic

There are perhaps a number of forgotten names from the early stages of the Premier League's formation in 1992, with Oldham Athletic being one of those.

The Latics are actually unfortunately known as the first club who played in the Premier League to end up being relegated into non-league, and it was some 32 years ago that they were in England's top flight, where they were for the first two years of the competition's existence.

In-fact, Oldham haven't even been in the second tier since 1997, with 21 years in a row spent in League One until relegation in 2018, and the years that followed under the ownership of Abdallah Lemsagam being particularly tumultuous, and it ended with the drop into the National League.

Having recovered since then though after a takeover from local businessman Frank Rothwell, Athletic returned to the EFL in 2025, and are among the top attended clubs in the entirety of League Two, with over half of Boundary Park on average filled on a matchly basis.

With not much in the way of professional competition surrounding them, Swindon Town are the pride of Wiltshire, and, like the aforementioned Oldham, are a former Premier League club - albeit for only one season in the 1990s.

The Robins haven't even seen the Championship (or the previously known First Division) since the year 2000, but they've had plenty of promotions and relegations between League One and Two in that time.

You get the sense though that right now under Ian Holloway, Town are on the way back up and there's a feel-good factor around the County Ground, which finds itself as one of the best-attended stadiums in the fourth tier in 2025-26.

Tranmere Rovers unfortunately have the big-hitters of Liverpool and Everton just across the River Mersey, and they were actually formed before the Reds in the 1880s.

They have however not managed to have the success that the current Premier League duo have developed - instead, Rovers have suffered in the lower reaches of the EFL for many a year and even dropped into non-league in 2015 - some 14 years after being relegated from the second tier.

The Championship feels a long way off for the Super White Army right now, but it's where they once were at the start of the 21st century, and between 2000 and 2004, they had three runs to the FA Cup quarter-finals, where they mingled with some of the biggest club in the nation.

Attendance-wise, Tranmere are still in the top half of League Two despite their recent struggles, and history over the last 25 years suggests that they are among the biggest fourth tier clubs right now.

2 ? ? Notts County

Notts County are another sleeping giant of League Two that have in recent years dropped out of the EFL entirely, yet have risen up once more, with a goal to keep on progressing through the ranks.

It has been 31 years since the Magpies last graced the second tier of English football, and they are of course eclipsed nowadays by their cross-Trent rivals Nottingham Forest on the pitch, but that doesn't deter from the fact that County are among the biggest of current fourth tier clubs.

Their attendances are far and away the highest in the 2025-26 edition of League Two, and to many, they probably are the biggest of the division - not in the eyes of AI, however.

1 ? ? Milton Keynes Dons

MK Dons are the youngest club in the EFL structure, but according to AI, they are also the biggest that currently reside in English football's fourth tier.

AI cites the Dons' 30,500-seater stadium and infrastructure as the main reason for their top spot on this list, but it's likely to be a contentious decision, despite the fact they have spent a brief season in the Championship within the last 10 years.

A new era was ushered in at Stadium MK in 2024 with Kuwaiti businessman Fahad Al-Ghanim buying the club from Pete Winkleman, some 20 years after he established it out of Wimbledon's demise, and sums of money have been pumped into Paul Warne's playing squad to get them back to League One.

Time will tell if that leads to success, and they among the top-attended League Two clubs despite not even a quarter of their rather large stadium being filled on a regular basis. Based on a combination of recent history, stadium size and finances, there's an argument for MK Dons to be top of the pile, but there will be many who do not agree.