No division has been tougher than this one in recent times – the likes of Ipswich, Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland all needed years to get out of it. Now they’ve gone, will it be any easier? Don’t bet on it… 2023-24
Gabriel Sutton
In recent years, League One has become the EFL’s ultimate test of character. Plymouth Argyle missed out on the play-offs with as many as 80 points in 2021-22, but bounced back emphatically to win the title last term, combining with Ipswich to deny Sheffield Wednesday a top-two berth, even though the Owls finished on 96. Brutal.
Instead of going up comfortably, the Owls had to overturn the biggest first-leg deficit in play-off semifinal history, before Josh Windass’ 123rd-minute winner at Wembley completed the mission.
It shows the path to the Championship is gruelling and unforgiving – so who can stay the course?
Having gone very close last year, Bolton look as well equipped as any: the Trotters made early signals of their intent to spend this summer, to add to an already healthy squad, and they’ve retained manager Ian Evatt, who only knows success.
No such luck for Barnsley, who lost gaffer Michael Duff, but if they keep squad turnover to a minimum, they can challenge after play-off final heartbreak.
Also beaten in last term’s coda were Peterborough, for whom Darren Ferguson stays on, targeting an astonishing fifth promotion with one club. The Posh, though, have lost star midfielder Jack Taylor to Ipswich, plus reliable right-sider Joe Ward to Derby – the Rams missed out on the top six last season, but can prepare more smoothly this time around, without the takeover uncertainty of 12 months ago.
Portsmouth have one of the EFL’s top sporting directors in Richard Hughes. He’ll hope boss John Mousinho can repay a show of faith to poach the rookie from his role as player-coach at Oxford in January. The Yellows, themselves, have a revamped recruitment strategy, and with the exciting addition of Ruben Rodrigues should improve drastically on last season’s disappointing 19th-place finish.
Expectations are more guarded for two of the teams coming down, as Wigan and Reading require huge rebuilds. Blackpool have more hope after reappointing their 2020-21 promotion-winning boss, Neil Critchley.
Coming up are Leyton Orient, where Richie Wellens won his second League Two title. Following the O’s are Steve Evans’ solid Stevenage, along with Carlisle and Northampton, where respective bosses Paul Simpson and Jon Brady guided their sides up through chronic injury crises. Those three could be in the dogfight with Cambridge, who needed five
