Phil Agius examines the four remaining teams bidding for a spot in the Championship and makes his pick for promotion.
The League One playoffs begin this weekend with some fresh faces competing for a place in the Championship next season.
None of the four contenders have been in the second tier for at least four seasons and they have earned their top-six spots through some hugely differing campaigns.
Stockport County finished third behind champions Birmingham and runners-up Wrexham, and they are aiming to emulate the Welsh club by securing back-to-back promotions after coming up from League Two last season.
Charlton Athletic finished with a strong run to claim fourth place on the final day, dropping a fading Wycombe Wanderers to fifth after the Chairboys had been in contention for a top-two place for much of the season.
Leyton Orient secured the final playoff place on the last day of the regular season as their six-game winning streak kept Reading at bay. Here, we examine the football betting odds for the League One play-offs and pick out the best bet.
Best bet
Charlton to be promoted 9/4
Addicks ready to return to second tier
At the halfway stage of the season few would have named Charlton as likely promotion candidates in League One after a poor run in the autumn saw them down in 12th place in the standings after 24 of their 46 matches.
The Addicks never really looked back after that, though, as Nathan Jones’s side really hit their stride at the end of January and won 16 of their final 22 league matches, with three draws and three defeats.
They have shown up extremely well against their fellow playoff contenders, taking 14 points from those six league games by beating Orient and Wycombe at home and away and drawing twice with Stockport.
Charlton’s excellent home record also makes them grabbing fourth place on the final day a huge factor in their favour.
With the second leg of their semi-final against Wycombe now being played at The Valley, they will be heading into that key match with the knowledge that they have gone 15 home league games unbeaten (12 wins and three draws) since they lost in south-east London.
The draw is also ideal for them after they went to Wycombe as recently as Easter Monday and won 4-0 in a result that sent out a message that they meant business in the playoffs.
Charlton’s one bad day recently was a 3-0 defeat to Wrexham in their next match but they finished off strongly with a 3-1 home win over Burton to make the top four and they look to have an excellent chance of returning to the second tier after spending five seasons in League One.
Confident County can target place at Wembley
Stockport look the biggest dangers to Charlton in the promotion hunt. County spent most of the season in the playoff places without ever really looking likely to get involved in the battle for the top two.
However, once Birmingham had gone clear at the top, leaving Wrexham and Wycombe to apparently battle it out for second place, Dave Challinor’s side really got going and they won seven of their last eight games to finish on the podium in third place.
A poor period in the depths of winter ultimately prevented Stockport from finishing higher, but they were ruthless towards the end of the season, particularly at Edgeley Park, where they won their last five matches.
A worry for Stockport is their defensive record, as both teams scored in their last five matches, but they went to Wycombe and won 3-1 on the final day with three goals in the last 20 minutes, which would give them confidence if Wanderers are their final opponents.
Wycombe’s late slump does not augur well for the playoffs
County have a tricky semi-final pairing with in-form Leyton Orient. The Os, who showed up well in their 2-1 FA Cup defeat to Manchester City in February, looked to have blown their playoff chances with a run of five consecutive losses in February and early March.
However, Richie Wellens’ team found a second wind and ended the campaign with six straight wins during which they scored 17 goals. If they can come through a tough two-legged test against Stockport, they would be hard to rule out in a one-off match.
Wycombe looked to have overcome the mid-season loss of manager Matt Bloomfield, who ironically will be back in League One next term after his Luton team were relegated.
New manager Mike Dodds appeared to have kept the ship on a straight course at first, but results took a downturn in the last few weeks of the season and they finished on a run of three straight losses to their three fellow playoff teams.
Stranger things have happened in playoff tournaments but the wind really looks to have gone out of Wycombe’s sails and Charlton are fancied to get past the Chairboys on their way to a Wembley success.
- SCCG Management. The Gambling Industry’s Global Connector. Access Here.
- Source: https://blog.betway.com/football/football-league/league-one-play-off-outright-tips-2025/
