League One 2025-26 preview: Who will win promotion this season? Which teams are facing relegation?

The 2025-26 League One season will get underway when recently relegated Luton Town play host to AFC Wimbledon in Friday's curtain-raiser.

A host of teams will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Birmingham City, Wrexham and Charlton Athletic by winning promotion to the Championship.

At the opposite end of the table, there will be an almighty scrap to avoid being one of the four teams to suffer the pain of relegation.

Here, Sports Mole offers a detailed preview of the new League One campaign, including potential promotion contenders, dark horses and the candidates for the drop.

Who are the main contenders for the League One title?

Luton Town

Luton will be desperate to halt their recent slide after suffering back-to-back relegations. Matt Bloomfield has been trusted to lead their promotion bid despite failing to keep the Hatters in the second tier last term.

The Luton boss went nine games without a win following his appointment in January, before he oversaw six victories and three draws in the final 12 games of the season, suggesting that he was finally getting to grips with the task at hand, even if it was not enough to preserve Luton’s second-tier status.

Bloomfield knows how to enjoy success in League One after overseeing 15 victories in the Wycombe Wanderers' first 25 matches of last season (D6, L4), before he left the Chairboys in second place to take on the top job at Kenilworth Road.

Huddersfield Town

Like Luton, Huddersfield are expected to operate in the upper echelons of League One this season. The Terriers have been busy strengthening the squad over the summer, recruiting a number of players who were playing Championship football last term, including Lyden Gooch, Marcus Harness, Murray Wallace and Jack Whatmough.

Huddersfield's squad may contain plenty of experience, but the same cannot be said about the man in the manager's hot seat. The Terriers have taken a gamble on the appointment of Lee Grant, who is moving into senior management after spending the past three years on Kieran McKenna's backroom staff at Ipswich Town.

The 42-year-old will be aware of the pressure on his shoulders, with Huddersfield looking to make a significant improvement on last season's 10th-placed finish.

A squad of Huddersfield's calibre should be at the business end of the League One table when the curtain comes down on the 2025-26 campaign in May.

Cardiff City

Undoubtedly, Cardiff are one of the biggest names in League One after dropping down from the second tier. The Bluebirds head into the new season under the guidance of Brian Barry-Murphy, who has recently worked with Manchester City's academy and on the backroom staff at Leicester City.

Barry-Murphy is back in senior management for the first time since leaving Rochdale in 2021, with the 47-year-old tasked with leading Cardiff into their first season in the third tier since 2002-03.

The Bluebirds are yet to add to their squad, but they still boast a wealth of talent that should be able to compete at the top of the table.

Cardiff's biggest concern is that they lack depth in some positions, although there is still time to rectify that situation in the transfer market.

Stockport County

Last term, Stockport threatened to follow Wrexham in achieving the impressive feat of back-to-back promotions. However, Dave Challinor's side ultimately fell agonisingly short in the playoffs after they secured third spot in the regular season.

The Hatters played out a 3-3 aggregate scoreline in their semi-final clash with Leyton Orient, before they netted just one of their three spot kicks in a disappointing penalty shootout.

They will look to use that defeat as motivation for another promotion bid, with Stockport looking to return to the second tier for the first time since 2001-02.

Challinor will expect to mount another promotion bid, especially as he has never finished outside the top six in 14 full seasons as a manager.

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Who else could feature in the League One promotion race?

Bolton Wanderers have finished no lower than ninth position since they won promotion from League Two in 2020-21.

Steven Schumacher was unable to steer the Trotters into the playoffs after taking over the reins from Ian Evatt in January, and will be aware that there will be pressure on his shoulders to better last season's eighth-placed finish.

Schumacher will look to draw inspiration from the 2022-23 League One campaign, when he guided Plymouth Argyle to the title with a mammoth 101-point tally.

The Pilgrims will also be hoping to repeat that success after their two-season stay in the Championship came to an end last term.

Miron Muslic tried in vain to keep Plymouth in the division after replacing Wayne Rooney halfway through the season, although the club were prepared to back the 42-year-old to lead their promotion bid.

However, Muslic disappointed Plymouth fans by leaving his post for 2.Bundesliga outfit Schalke, leading the Pilgrims to turn to former Watford boss Tom Cleverley.

The 35-year-old has been given a raft of new signings to put him in a strong position to enjoy success in his first season at Home Park.

While Plymouth have opted for an up-and-coming manager, Blackpool have placed their faith in the experience of Steve Bruce.

The 64-year-old, who took over last September, will be targeting a playoff berth as a minimum objective after guiding the club to a ninth-placed finish last term.

Jordan Brown, George Honeyman, Michael Ihiekwe and Bailey Peacock-Farrell have all arrived to aid Blackpool's pursuit of Championship football.

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Can Wycombe and Leyton Orient go again?

Wycombe Wanderers and Leyton Orient were arguably two of the surprise packages of the 2024-25 League One campaign, meaning there is the obvious question about whether they can replicate last season's promise.

There appears to be some doubt as to whether Mike Dodds is the right man for Wycombe after he failed to build on the solid foundation left by Bloomfield last term.

The Chairboys slipped down to fifth place before they offered a feeble showing in their 1-0 aggregate defeat to Charlton Athletic in the playoff semi-finals.

Having had a pre-season to work with his squad, Dodds will hope that time on the training field can translate into positive results in a competitive setting; otherwise, he could see his position come under scrutiny.

Leyton Orient went one better than Wycombe by successfully negotiating their way to the playoff final, before suffering a narrow defeat to Charlton at Wembley in May.

After experiencing such disappointment just two months ago, the O's now face the tough task of lifting themselves for another arduous campaign in the third tier of the English football pyramid.

Richie Wellens is one of the most highly-rated coaches in the division, and he will need to summon up all of his managerial magic to mount another playoff bid with a squad that has undergone significant changes in the off-season.

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Who are League One's dark horses?

Rotherham United's first season back in the third tier ended in an underwhelming 13th-placed finish.

However, there was certainly reason to be positive at the backend of the campaign after Matt Hamshaw made a positive impact following Steve Evans's departure.

Hamshaw oversaw four wins, two draws and two defeats in eight matches, and will be looking to build upon that positive start in his first full season in senior management.

The 43-year-old has bolstered his squad with eight new additions, and while there may not be too much expectation at New York Stadium, a push for a top-six finish cannot be ruled out for a club that have made a habit of winning promotion in their recent League One campaigns.

Meanwhile, Wigan are another team that have the capacity to perform above expectations in Ryan Lowe's first full season in the dugout at the DW Stadium.

Lowe has experience of winning promotion from the division below, and he will be looking to draw upon those successes with Bury and Plymouth.

Dara Costelloe, Christian Saydee and Callum Wright all look like shrewd additions, while Paul Mullin has the ability to add a clinical touch to Wigan's attacking play following his loan arrival from Wrexham.

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Which teams are at risk of relegation?

Burton

Burton Albion are preparing for their eighth consecutive season in League One after staging a successful escape bid under the tutelage of Gary Bowyer.

The former 54-year-old, who was appointed in December, made a slow start with just three points in his first six games, before he oversaw nine wins in 21 matches (D5, L7) to lead the Brewers to safety.

However, Burton have made a habit of flirting with the drop in recent years, having finished in the bottom half of the table in each of the past five seasons.

There is only so long a club can dice with danger, and this could be the season where their luck finally runs out.

Northampton

Like Burton, Northampton Town were another club that had to work hard to preserve their League One status last term.

Kevin Nolan ultimately did enough to steer the Cobblers to safety, overseeing seven wins, nine draws and nine defeats in 25 matches following his appointment in December.

The 43-year-old is now gearing up for his first full season in the Sixfields dugout, but he faces a tough task to produce another successful survival bid, especially as the squad has seen a significant turnover of players during the summer window.

AFC Wimbledon

In theory, Wimbledon should have a strong foundation to work from after showcasing their defensive resilience in their successful 2024-25 campaign. Johnnie Jackson’s side had the honour of boasting the best defensive record in League Two with just 35 goals conceded in 46 matches.

They then recorded three successive 1-0 victories in the playoffs to secure promotion to the third tier.

However, they only mustered 56 goals in the regular season, representing the second-lowest tally of teams in the top half of the table.

Jackson now faces the tough task of improving his team’s attacking threat, while trying to maintain their defensive resilience. It could be a long season if Wimbledon are unable to strike that crucial balance.

Exeter

Exeter City have finished in 14th, 13th and 16th place in the past three seasons under Gary Caldwell.

Rather than looking down, Caldwell believes his team are in a good position to improve upon their recent league placings, telling BBC Sport: "We do look like a team, especially in transition both defence and attacking, who are much better than we've been in previous years which is a big aspect of League One."

"Long may that continue but we will only find that out when the real games start and that's in a week's time."

However, we think it could be a tough season for a club that are not blessed with a big transfer budget.

Exeter have seen a number of players depart, including Caleb Watts and Demetri Mitchell, while they have largely used the free agent and loan market to strengthen their squad, and we have our doubts about whether their new additions will be able to stave off relegation in 2025-26.

Who are the other teams battling for League One survival?

In addition to Wimbledon, Doncaster Rovers, Port Vale and Bradford City earned promotion from League Two last season.

The newly-promoted sides will all be targeting safety as their first objective, before they even consider looking further up the League One table.

Peterborough United are another team that could be looking over their shoulder after finishing just five points clear of the drop last term.

The departures of Kwame Poku, Emmanuel Fernandez, Ricky-Jade Jones and Hector Kyprianou have all left sizeable voids in the Posh squad, putting pressure on the new additions, like Declan Frith and Brandon Khela, to hit the ground running when the new season gets underway.