Old friends, new rivalries and Ollie cutting loose – what a season lies in store in the EFL.
From the race for promotion to the Premier League, right down to the battle to stay in the Football League, there are narratives, rivalries, storylines and characters galore among the EFL’s 72 teams.
FourFourTwo takes a look at some of the key storylines to watch out for in the Championship, League One and League Two over the next nine months.
FOXES’ VISIT TO HAYES LANE
A decade after winning the Premier League, and 15 months after playing in it, Leicester City kick off in League One.
As every newspaper and website article will soon tell you, there were 7,000 league positions between Bromley and the Foxes in 2016 (all right, 105), but on Tuesday, October 20, they will face off at Hayes Lane in a third-tier fixture. The Ravens have flown to the highest perch in their history, and gaffer Andy Woodman’s direct tactics will be quite the contrast to those employed by new Leicester boss Russell Martin.
If that wasn’t enough of a culture shock, the Foxes’ opening two games are against unwanted new local rivals. Goodbye, Nottingham Forest and Derby; hello, Notts County and Burton Albion.
TRIPPER AND JIMENEZ AT WOLVES
Wolves and West Ham’s relegation has meant there’s no team beginning with W in the top flight for the first time ever.
The Molineux side’s decision to sack Rob Edwards and replace him with a gaffer who’s spent his whole career in Portugal was a surprise – not least to Edwards, who only found out via social media – but very much on brand. Under Cesar Peixoto, Jorge Mendes & Co hope for a repeat of Nuno Espirito Santo’s 2018 promotion.
They’ve signed two stars who appear above the level – though 35, Kieran Trippier started in the Champions League last term, while Raul Jimenez scored three at the World Cup.
STEVE MCCLAREN: MILLER TIME
As Schteve’s home city of York climbed into League Two, alongside Rochdale, he fancied getting involved in the division, too.
McClaren resigned from managing Jamaica in November after Curacao pipped them to World Cup qualification, before becoming Rotherham United’s head of football and – after some delay – hiring Alex ‘son of Steve’ Bruce as head coach. The Millers haven’t been at this level since 2013, and fans are expectant.
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY REBORN
The Owls finished on exactly zero points in last term’s Championship, ‘beating’ the Football League’s previous low of eight (Loughborough in 1899-1900 and Doncaster 1904-05).
Admittedly, they’d been deducted 18 points for not paying players and entering administration. It took a final-day win for Wednesday to avoid being the first team to go a whole league season without winning at home.
A happy conclusion was made better still by a US consortium’s takeover being confirmed on the same day – then the EFL completed the hat-trick by deciding the club had exceptional reasons for not meeting obligations to pay all unsecured creditors (specifically ex-owner Dejphon Chansiri) 25p in the pound. With no 15-point deduction after all, they can rebuild with hope and confidence.
STEVE EVANS, SUPERFAN
The newly slimline Scot entered Bristol Rovers’ dugout in December – then left it during their final home game to stand on the terrace with Gas fans for the last 10 minutes. Just as he did so, his team went 4-0 up, and jubilant supporters duly mobbed the 63-year-old gaffer.
Evans has spoken of feeling revitalised after losing more than six stone in six months prior to taking the job. Bristol Rovers were in League Two’s relegation zone when he arrived on a contract to the end of the season, but won 11 of their last 14 games and now aim to go up after handing him a two-year deal.
THE SPYGATE REMATCH
Southampton do start with a deduction, of four points, for their shenanigans in the Spygate saga – an awful situation for fans of the clubs involved, but highly entertaining for neutrals. Middlesbrough took their place in the play-off final then lost to Hull, so they’ll face Saints again on November 28 and March 13. Spicy.
RAMSEY VS WILSHERE
Former Arsenal team-mates go head to head in the League One promotion race.
Aaron Ramsey has made his move into management, with Oxford United, eight months after Wilshere made his with Luton Town. He had a slow start there, but a late-season surge – not quite enough for the top six – suggested the Hatters could be a real threat this year.
Both former midfielders suffered extensive injury problems during their 10 years together with the Gunners. The winner of their duel could be whoever completes the match without pulling a hamstring in the technical area.
LINCOLN CITY IN THE SECOND TIER
Precisely nobody expected the Imps to win League One with 103 points.
They did, and they’ll play in the second tier for the first time in 65 years. Having created a remarkably effective winning machine, Michael Skubala left for Bristol City, but Lincoln immediately made coaches Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw the club’s joint managers, sporting director Jez George saying, “They were very close to being in these roles already.”
Intriguing…
SALFORD CITY SPIN THE WHEEL
The future’s orange for the Ammies, who revert to their historical colours this season, having worn red since the Class of ’92 takeover in 2014.
But the future’s no longer with Karl Robinson, sacked for losing the League Two play-off final 3-0to Notts County after guiding the club to their highest ever league position.
His successor is almost as left-field an appointment as having joint-managers. Australian Peter Cklamovski, previously an assistant to Ange Postecoglou, was managing Malaysia before coming to Salford. He is their sixth permanent boss since they reached League Two in 2019.
WREXHAM’S PREMIER LEAGUE PUSH
The Welsh club overtook Salford some time ago, and almost made it into the Championship play-offs last term – in their first season at the level, following a record-breaking three successive promotions.
They missed out on the top six on the final day, but seventh was still mightily impressive, and you know they’ll be strengthening their squad again this summer to have another crack at it.
A CALMER IAN HOLLOWAY?!
All was going well for Ollie halfway through last season. Swindon were second in League Two, a year after he had rescued them from a relegation battle. Then, er, he combusted.
During an EFL Trophy win at Luton, Swindon inadvertently fielded not one but two ineligible players, for two different reasons, and were kicked out (Luton were reinstated and went on to win the competition). Holloway didn’t take it well, going on the rant of all rants in a defence of his club secretary, screaming into BBC Radio Wiltshire’s microphone to do so.
As the Robins’ form then nosedived, he seemed to get increasingly aggy, and they missed out on the play-offs on the last day. Either he’ll be more serene after a summer to calm down, or we may get another rant, followed by a swift exit. Radio reporters, beware…
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