As the 2021-22 League One season gradually draws to its close, it has been another thrilling campaign – and it’s all still to play for. For those pushing on at the right end of the table, the promise of Championship football is a mouth-watering prospect, and with some teams playing more than others, the table could change at the flick of a switch.
For those battling for their lives, the threat of being a Football League basement club beckons – and with the gulf between Leagues One and Two constantly getting bigger, it makes it all the harder to bounce back.
While fans peruse the market with online betting on skybet.com, we thought we’d round up some of the main talking points of this long and arduous season.
- Beast Mode On: Wycombe’s promotion push
Earlier this month, Wycombe Wanderers celebrated the career of their 39-year-old striker, Adebayo Akinfenwa, who announced his retirement at the end of this season. Nicknamed ‘The Beast’, Akinfenwa is well known throughout the Football League’s bottom two divisions, and has made over 750 appearances in all competitions throughout his career. He is also The Chairboys all-time leading goal scorer, with 59 goals (at the time of writing) – and five of them coming this campaign.
However, there could be bigger celebrations to come, as Wycombe currently sit sixth in the table, occupying the final play-off place. Manager Gareth Ainsworth believes the veteran still has a part to play, and the club go into the run-in in good form – unbeaten in seven matches. Should they be successful in their quest, Wanderers will have returned to the second tier at the first time of asking.
- The sorry season of Crewe Alexandra
After they gained promotion back to League One on the points-per-game rule in a shortened 2019-20 campaign, Crewe Alexandra had a decent first spell back in the third tier. This season has been anything but. The Railwaymen have spent virtually the whole campaign in the relegation zone, and several lengthy runs without a win have seen them five points adrift of nearest rivals, Doncaster Rovers – and a further eight points from safety. Relegation is a case of when, not if.
The club have stuck by manager David Artell, who has been at the helm since 2017 – and won the Manager of the Season award in 2019-20, for instrumental in their promotion to League One. However, the Alex have won just once since January 12th, and the story of their season has been not enough fire power, as well as a leaky defence.
- Wigan Athletic: the ultimate yo-yo club
While they won’t like to be reminded of it, it’s still less than a decade since Wigan Athletic graced the Premier League and since their relegation back in 2012-13, they’ve since yo-yoed between the second and third tiers of English football. In that time, they’ve won the League One title twice, and the Latics could make a third success in seven years. The first two promotions came courtesy of the goal scoring prowess of Will Grigg (remember this anthem?), and it’s another Will hoping to fire them to glory this time around, with Irish international, Will Keane notching 15 for the campaign thus far.
However, should Wigan’s good form continue and they do indeed win promotion to the second tier as champions, midfielder Max Power (in his second stint with the club) could land a unique hat-trick of his own – three League One promotions, in three different Latics sides, under three different managers!
