It is an amazing world beneath the Premier League but it is an even more amazing world on the opening weekend. This Saturday, the 2023-24 EFL campaign gets underway, and with optimism in the air every fan will be hoping their club can get off to a winning start.
League One welcomes Blackpool, Reading and Wigan Athletic following their relegations from the Championship, the latter two facing not insignificant off-field issues. The Tics won League One in three out their last four seasons in the division, but will start this campaign on an eight point deduction. Meanwhile at Reading, Rubén Sellés takes charge of The Royals while the club is facing a transfer embargo and HMRC investigations.
The heavyweights of the third tier have recruited strongly, with Derby County, Portsmouth, Bolton Wanderers, and Charlton Athletic undertaking significant transfer business in preparation for what will be a tireless battle for promotion, but can a less-fancied side break into the mix?
One tier below, League Two is debatably the strongest it has ever been. Newly promoted Wrexham and Notts County have grabbed all the headlines following their centurion campaigns in the National League, and the pair are both being backed to repeat their successes and make it back-to-back promotions. This will not be made easy for the pair, with big spending Stockport County and Gillingham also looking very strong alongside Salford City and MK Dons, whilst Grimsby Town and Barrow’s summer windows have impressed. With this many sides fancying themselves to compete, who will be celebrating in May?
We’ve previewed what we expect to be the top fixtures in League One and League Two this weekend and offered an insight into the eight teams we’ll see in action.
League One
Bolton Wanderers vs Lincoln City
Title favourites host the underdog specialists.
Mark Kennedy has made some astute additions this summer despite two crucial departures in Regan Poole and Carl Rushworth. The highly rated Alistair Smith is one of the new faces at Sincil Bank, alongside Lukas Jensen in net being shielded by a pragmatic Imps defence which Jaden Brown has joined the ranks of.
Most notably however, is former loan talisman Tyler Walker. Now entering his prime, the 26-year-old returned to Lincolnshire following his release from Coventry in the summer. The striker will partner the impressive yet selfless Ben House.
Holding the title of draw specialists last term, Kennedy’s Lincoln side avoided defeat on nine out of twelve occasions against top six opposition last term while coming out with shock victories against Plymouth Argyle, Ipswich Town and Barnsley. With additional goal threat and a strengthened core, it is easy to understand why The Imps are seen as the dark horses for the coming season.
However, the home side continued their progression last season, from a top half finish upon their immediate return to the third tier, to achieving a play off spot in their 22/23 campaign before being eliminated by Barnsley. Many believe this is the year for Ian Evatt’s side to go one further, and a return to Championship football is the aim for The Whites.
Possessing one of the highest quality squads in the division, the home side will rightly be confident for any match in League One, but they face a pragmatic Imps side that are notorious against the top sides. Can The Imps spoil Bolton’s opening day party?
Score prediction: 1-1
Blackpool vs Burton Albion
Two big summer rebuilds, but what are both of these sides capable of this term?
Following their relegation from the Championship, The Seasiders welcomed back former manager Neil Critchley who guided the Lancashire club to play-off glory only two years ago.
The work has not stopped there. Bloomfield Road has been host to multiple departures and incomings. With talisman Jerry Yates being poached by Swansea City with Jordan Thorniley, Curtis Nelson, and Chris Maxwell taking their leave, Critchley has had a vast rebuild on his hands if he is to mount The Tangerines for an immediate challenge at the sharp end of the table.
With Kyle Joseph, Matthew Pennington, Albie Morgan and Oliver Norburn joining their ranks, Blackpool have added a multitude of proven League One performers to their side with a crop of players that took the side out of the division last time out. It will be very interesting to see how far the FY1 outfit can challenge the likes of Derby County, Bolton Wanderers and Portsmouth this year.
Travelling to Lancashire on the opening weekend will be Burton Albion. The Brewers languished in the relegation zone for large parts of the 22/23 season, with a revival from the passionate Dino Maamria seeing the Staffordshire outfit sail to safety, finishing in 15th place on 56 points, well clear of any relegation threat in the final stages of the season.
Continuing their upwards trend, Burton have added the highly rated Cole Stockton to the squad. The striker was League One’s third top scorer in 2021-22 and has been subject to interest from all levels of the EFL since. He will form a partnership with the energetic Josh Walker who hit double figures for Barrow last season, the two should work well together with their complementary skill sets.
The reliable Jake Caprice and Jamal Blackman in goal will improve the backline, as will Ryan Sweeney.
One question that remains for both sides in this tie, is just how far either side can go this season. Will the opening day fixture reflect their obvious attempts at improvement?
Score prediction: 1-2
League Two
Stockport County vs Gillingham
The two form sides of 2023 meet.
It has been a rollercoaster 18 months for Gillingham. Boxing Day 2022 saw the Kent outfit sit rock bottom of the League Two table, with only six goals all season and questions being asked of the ownership regime and even the highly rated Neil Harris.
Since then, the Galinsons’ ownership has seen The Gills spend big on the likes of Semi Dieng, Oliver Hawkins, and George Lapslie, who stirred the Kent side to safety with a 17th place finish, and Neil Harris’s position no longer in question.
This summer Gillingham have continued to show their financial prowess, securing the signatures of Ashley Nadesan, Shadrach Ogie, Max Clark, Conor Masterson, and Scott Malone. They also beat Bradford City to the signing of Wales international Jonathon Williams.
Many fancy Gillingham as contenders for automatic promotion and given their improvement in 2023 combined with one of the strongest summer windows in the fourth tier, it is easy to see why.
Hosting the Kent outfit on opening day will be Stockport County. The Hatters are hoping to go one further after their first year back in the football league after an eleven year absence, where they narrowly missed out on back-to-back promotions after losing on penalties to Carlisle United in the League Two Play-Off Final at Wembley.
Like Gillingham, County had a slow start to the season, languishing in mid-table in the early season before finishing the year top of the 2023 form table. Boasting one of the heaviest budgets in the division with an already impressive squad, Dave Challinor’s men are huge favourites for the 2024 League Two title.
Debatably signing the best player in the division, Stockport hit many headlines this window as former Manchester United player Nick Powell joined on his release from Stoke City this summer. He will add to an already unbelievable midfield that boasts Will Collar, Ryan Croasdale and Callum Camps.
With both sides heavy favourites for automatic promotion, is it too early to call this fixture an opening day six-pointer? I believe not.
Score prediction: 2-0
Wrexham vs MK Dons
Opening day’s headline act.
After 15 years in the fifth tier, Wrexham have returned to the football league under the well documented ownership of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. The North Wales outfit have grabbed many headlines as they broke the National League points record to claim the title despite close pressure from Notts County.
With Ben Foster, Paul Mullin, and Elliott Lee amongst the big names at the Cae Ras, Wrexham are overwhelming favourites for a second straight promotion to League One. Whether the attention is centred on one club or not, international fans of the sport have never been more interested in lower league football.
With a full crowd, the Red Dragons will welcome MK Dons who were relegated from League One last year. Usually never sticking around in League Two, Graham Alexander’s side will be hoping for more of the same as they target a return to League One. Arguably they could not have had a more difficult start; Wrexham have not lost a home game since their play-off semi final defeat to Grimsby in May 2022. Not only that, Phil Parkinson’s side only dropped points at home on one occasion last season when they drew with Woking, part of a record of 22-1-0 in their record breaking Vanarama campaign.
Wrexham don’t dominate this weekend’s storyline alone. MK have signed a manager who knows the division well, with an impressive summer window where they have added the necessary quality in the form of MJ Williams, Alex Gilbey, and Cameron Norman to name a few. If the Buckinghamshire outfit can get Mo Eisa firing then their prospects this season could be big.
This division has traditionally not proven especially difficult for National League sides to adapt to, but this season’s League Two is arguably the most competitive it has been in over a decade. With a great deal of pressure on both clubs to compete at the sharp end of the table, it will be interesting to see how they rise to the occasion for the first EFL home game hosted at the Racecourse in 15 years.
Score prediction: 3-1
