Spots in the top 2 earn automatic promotion to the Championship, and teams who are promoted will hope to mirror Ipswich Town and achieve back-to-back promotions to the promised land of the Premier League.
The race is tight and chaotic, but the top 5 teams will believe they have the chance to earn promotion. This guide will go through the form, key men, and realistic expectations for these sides for the rest of the season.
Birmingham City
The Blues suffered a dramatic relegation on the final day of the Championship last season, but they look set to achieve an immediate return to the second tier of English football.
Having spent big in the summer, including up to £15 million on striker Jay Stansfield from Fulham, anything other than immediate promotion would constitute a failure for manager Chris Davies. Birmingham look more than on track to achieve that aim, sitting 4 points clear of second place Wycombe with 2 games in hand.
Birmingham feel they have the opportunity to copy Ipswich and secure a first return to the Premier League since 2011. Players like midfielders Paik Seung-Ho and Tomoki Iwata have been instrumental in their impressive form that has only seen them lose 2 league games all season, and they will hope that the momentum they have built will be enough to see them promoted.
Wycombe Wanderers
The Chairboys have had an impressive campaign so far following last season’s disappointing 10th place. They currently sit in second, 4 points clear of Wrexham.
New manager Mike Dodds has recently been brought in to replace Matt Bloomfield, who left for Luton Town. Wycombe added 11 signings to their squad in January, including Scandinavian pair Magnus Westergaard in midfield and Anders Hegelsjaer at centre back, meaning that Adams Park has seen a lot of changes from the team that won 11 consecutive games earlier in the season.
Most significantly perhaps for Wycombe is that top scorer Richard Kone stayed with the club beyond the transfer window. The 21-year-old, who signed from Athletic Newham in the Essex senior league, has scored 16 League One goals already this season, although he is currently out recovering from a knee injury.
Wanderers will need to make sure they can continue their form under Dodds, who is taking his first full time job as a manager. If they keep winning games, Wycombe stand a strong chance at being in the Championship next season.
Wrexham
Since being taken over by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, the story of Wrexham has been remarkable.
Having already secured back-to-back promotions from the National League and League Two, the Red Dragons have already surpassed what many expected they would achieve following the Hollywood takeover. They are currently third in League One, nearly in striking distance of automatic promotion.
Phil Parkinson’s side have added Premier League experience to their squad by adding striker Jay Rodriguez to their squad, as well as Reading forward Sam Smith. However, it is defensively where Wrexham have been outstanding, with centre backs Eoghan O’Connell and Max Cleworth instrumental to them only conceding 25 goals this season. Only Birmingham have conceded less.
Wrexham have lost 3 of their last 6 games, representing a short downturn in form. If they can recapture the momentum that saw them earn their previous two promotions, then they stand a great chance at continuing the Hollywood miracle and securing three promotions in a row.
Stockport County
Stockport were promoted to League One last season alongside Wrexham, although the Hatters did so stylishly by clinching the league title.
Dave Challinor has overseen a remarkable few years with County. He guided them to promotion from the National League in his first season, followed by a trip to the League Two play off final the season after, and then the league title the following year.
Having lost superstar loanee Louie Barry after his recall January, many expected County to lose some momentum and fall a few places down the table. However, Stockport are the form team in the division right now, having won their last 5 consecutive matches.
Stockport developed a regular habit of winning runs during their league two campaigns, including a 12 in a row winning streak last season. Should County continue their current form into the business end of the season, their final day trip to Wycombe Wanderers might be crucial in determining who secures promotion.
Huddersfield Town
Following their recent relegation from the Championship, it is of little surprise that Huddersfield are in the promotion race.
However, a five-game winless run as seen the Terriers fall massively behind their rivals. Michael Duff’s men have mostly lost to promotion hopefuls in that run, but a frustrating defeat to relegation threatened Northampton has derailed their promotion charge. This season has been disappointing for Huddersfield fans so far, especially as they lost in the first round of the FA Cup to National League side Tamworth.
Huddersfield have scored the least number of goals out of any of the above teams. In a bid to rectify this, Town added Northern Ireland striker Dion Charles from Bolton Wanderers and Joe Taylor from Luton Town. If either of these strikers can find their form, that might be enough to get Huddersfield out of the rut that they currently find themselves in.
The Race for the Playoffs
Although any other teams would need an unlikely sequence of results to secure automatic promotion, with the play off places going down to 6th, many other sides fancy their chances at securing promotion.
Charlton Athletic are unbeaten in 5 and have been a resurgent side under Nathan Jones. The Addicks are flying in 6th place following last season’s disappointing 17th and will be hoping to secure a return to the second tier of English football.
Bolton Wanderers have recently appointed former Stoke City manager Steven Schumacher to replace Ian Evatt. The Trotters lost last years play off final to Oxford United and they will be hoping to go one better this time around despite their poor start to the campaign.
Reading were firmly in play off contention, but a run of only one win in 6 has seen the Royals fall down the table.
Leyton Orient almost caused an upset against Manchester City in the FA Cup 4th round and will hope to build on that impressive display to mount a final push to the play offs.
Summary
With each team having about a third of their season still to play, there is a lot to play for between now and May.
Each of the outlined teams will be dreaming of earning promotion and achieving their goals. The business end of the League One season has plenty of twists and turns to come, and it will be fascinating viewing for the rest of the season.
