Five Things To Look Out For In League One Next Season

With the season over for the majority of the football league, attention will quickly turn to next season, and the surprises, twists and shocks that it will bring with it.

League One is shaping up nicely, with big teams such as Cardiff coming down from the Championship and recent Premier League side Luton. Some big names from League Two are also joining the division, with Doncaster and Bradford ending their time in the fourth tier. So, what does League One have in store for football fans next season?

Bradford Are Back

A first League One season since 2018-19, and a very overdue one. Bradford have finally made it back into League One after some very frustrating seasons in the fourth tier.

In their six seasons in League Two, Bradford have only managed one playoff campaign, after finishing 6th in the 22-23 season, in which Andy Cook scored a remarkable 31 goals, but somehow failed to get promoted, losing against Carlisle United in the playoff semi-final.

The 23-24 season saw Bradford miss out on the playoffs again, finishing 9th, whilst Andy Cook continued to score goals, grabbing 19 this time.

Last season, though, they finally made that jump and managed to finish in third place, being promoted automatically to League One.

The fans have played a massive part in this. With average attendance not dropping under 16,000 in the last three seasons, a bumper crowd of 24,033 turned up to watch Bradford earn promotion in dramatic circumstances in their final home game against Fleetwood Town.

Bradford have also shown that they can cause damage against some of the clubs already in League One this season. They beat Stockport, Rotherham and Mansfield in the EFL Trophy, whilst pushing Birmingham all the way, narrowly losing 2-1.

Will Bradford be able to push on next season? They certainly have a strike force who can score goals, with Andy Cook grabbing 15 goals in 29 appearances, and Calum Kavanagh scoring 13 throughout the season as well.

With some good additions, Bradford could be an extremely tough place to visit near season, with attendances higher than most League One clubs already. Bradford finally feels like a club on the up again.

Catastrophe For Cardiff

It is a massive shame that the Championship are losing such a big club like Cardiff. 2018-19 was the last time they played in the Premier League, and seven years later, following one playoff campaign in that time, they will be playing League One football.

It has been an absolute disaster for Cardiff from start to finish last season, after losing six of their first seven games, and failing to pick up a single win, Cardiff's highest position in the entire season was 17th, and that was following a run of four wins a two draws.

Cardiff may feel hard done by, however, as the results do not look as bad on paper. Following the start of the year, Cardiff have only lost three games by a two-goal cushion, including a 7-0 thrashing at the hands of Leeds.

The other games were all settled by the odd goal, with 2-1 losses against Portsmouth and Luton, and a 1-0 loss against Stoke being the most damaging.

As unfortunate as it might seem, Cardiff have still not been good enough. Their defence has been disastrous at times, conceding a total of 73 goals throughout the season.

Goals have not been too much of an issue, with Callum Robinson managing to pick up 13 goals, and Yousef Salech getting eight himself, but there have been few others contributing in that department.

With attention turning to next season, Cardiff will have a big question mark hanging over them. It is hard to predict who will leave their squad and who will come in. Do they have the money to spend to make an instant return to the Championship, and will they be able to get over this losing mentality that they have?

Can Luton End Losing Run?

The Premier League days for Luton must seem like they were a decade ago. What a torrid few seasons they have had, suffering back-to-back relegations.

They may have felt hard done by when being relegated from the Premier League. They pushed until the very last few weeks, but ultimately, it was not enough. The recruitment throughout the season gave Luton a very strong squad going back into the Championship, however.

But, it did not work out that way for them. Instead, suffering a terrible start to the season, losing three out of their first four games. They also went 12 games without a win between Boxing Day and late February, which saw the Hatters bottom of the league.

A 1-0 win against Portsmouth reignited some hope of staying in the division, and it spurred them on to win six of their last 12 games, but they left it too late, and following a 5-3 loss against West Brom on the final game of the season, saw themselves get relegated to League One on goal difference.

There will be two major issues facing Luton next season. The first is what kind of squad they will have. Back-to-back relegations usually mean a complete squad overhaul, with players getting poached by teams in a higher division.

The Luton squad next season could be unrecognisable from that of two years ago, and it will be interesting to see whether a relatively new squad will perform in League One.

The season issue will be getting over the losing mentality at the club. Every player and every club wants to win matches, but suffering back-to-back relegations can stunt a club and a player's growth.

If Luton opens up next season with a loss, then heads may drop instantly, and the fans could start turning on the club. It feels like a huge turning point for the future of Luton.

Reading Ready For The Championship?

Reading have had a turbulent time of late. Following relegation from the Championship in the 22/23 season, Reading were made to play League One football for the first time since 1991-92, when it was known as Division Three.

The 23-24 season did not get much better for The Royals, as off-the-field issues led to Reading earning themselves a six-point deduction throughout the season, which pushed them closer to the bottom of the table.

A relatively good run of form saved Reading from back-to-back relegations, as three wins in March and a further two in April helped them climb up to 17th place, and even if those points deductions did not count, they still would have only finished in 15th.

Last season proved much more fruitful for Reading, finishing in 7th place, just three points outside the playoff spots. It was a complete contrast to the prior season, as Reading only sat in the bottom half of the table for a total of three matchdays.

Even the sale of star striker Sam Smith to Wrexham did not affect the Royals that badly, who were still competing with off-field issues to do with the owner.

With Reading finishing so highly last season, their expectations will be to at least secure a playoff spot next year, in a division that should be relatively easier without the likes of Wrexham and Birmingham.

It also seems as if the off-field issues are slowly resolving themselves as well, as Redwood Holdings Limited have officially announced that they have taken over the club.

Next season is shaping up nicely for Reading, and with a bit of investment, they could be the ones to watch out for.

Are Burton Dark Horses Once Again?

A few seasons back, Burton Albion were dubbed the dark horses going into every season. A few strong matches at the start of the season may have got fans' hopes up, but that soon ended.

Last season, the Brewers completed the great escape. Seemingly down and out for large parts of the season, Burton and Gary Bowyer put together an incredible run of form that saw them stay in the division by just a single point, ahead of Crawley.

In April alone, Bowyer saw his side see off playoff chasing Leyton Orient and Huddersfield, beating relegation threatened Cambridge, and they even pushed league leaders Birmingham with a narrow 2-1 loss.

One player who certainly helped them stave off relegation was Rumarn Burrell. Signed from Cove Rangers in 2024, Burrell did not set Burton alight in his first few games. He barely even played for the club until he completed his first 90 minutes in a 1-0 away win against Peterborough in December.

He then scored his first goal, against Peterborough, on New Year's Day, and kicked on from there, scoring six goals in eight league games. Burrell also finished the season with five goals in the last nine league games, finishing on 11 goals for the season.

This is a brilliant return for someone who was not even on the pitch for the first half of the season, let alone in a struggling side trying to stay in the division. If Burton can keep hold of Burrell and build a side around him, Burton may have a very fruitful season next year.

We could be set for a fantastic season in League One next year, just looking at these five teams, without even looking at sides like Bolton, Blackpool under Steve Bruce, Doncaster, two of Wycombe, Charlton or Leyton Orient, Rotherham, Peterborough, Plymouth and Huddersfield.

It will be a season full of shocks, twists and a few surprise packages. Next year, we could see one of the best and closest League One seasons.