At the start of each season across the English Football League, the main talking point will be which teams are in the running for promotion, and which teams will be keen to avoid the drop. Each season begins with a sense of promise and expectation, but reality often quickly hits, and it doesn’t usually take long to work out which outfits should be on course for a good season, and which could find themselves struggling.
Of course, this is football, and everything can change in the blink of an eye. A team could be looking good for promotion, hit a bad run of form, and quickly slide out of contention. Or, the opposite could happen, with a team putting a number of good results together to get themselves in the mix.
Championship Promotion Odds
In the Championship, English football’s second tier, there are two automatic promotion slots available, with promotion also available via the playoffs. As usual, the frontrunners to get promoted include teams that were relegated from the Premier League the season prior. Ipswich Town and Southampton are two of those teams, and they currently lead the betting according to the latest Championship winner odds.
Also, teams that performed well in the Championship last season are typically tipped to do well the following season. Sheffield United, who were beaten in the playoff final by Sunderland, and Coventry City, also involved in the playoffs last term, are also strongly fancied for promotion in 2025/26.
Championship Relegation Odds
The race to stay in the Championship is as important to many teams as the battle to secure promotion to the top flight. Ahead of the new season, Sheffield Wednesday and Hull City, both facing off-pitch problems and transfer embargoes, are tipped to be relegated.
It’s often the case that newly promoted teams are seen as relegation candidates, with Charlton Athletic being one at present. Teams that didn’t perform great or end the season well in 2024/25 are also in danger, with the odds suggesting Oxford United, Preston, and QPR as potential strugglers.
League 1 Promotion Odds
Like the Championship, League One has two automatic promotion places available, and then another via the playoffs. And again, the teams that make up the top of the betting are the ones that were relegated from the second tier last term. Luton Town, who have suffered back-to-back relegations, are the favourites to be promoted with League One winner betting. They’re joined by Cardiff City and Plymouth Argyle, who were also relegated from the Championship last season.
Huddersfield Town, who missed out on promotion last season, have been strengthening throughout the summer as they look to go again under new manager Lee Grant. They, and Bolton Wanderers, managed by Steven Schumacher, accompany the recently relegated teams as the sides seen as most likely to be in the promotion race.
League 1 Relegation Odds
Unfortunately for teams operating in the third tier, there are four relegation places rather than the three seen in the Championship. This means an extra team will be relegated to the fourth tier, so clubs have to be on their guard from the first kick of the season. As the new season dawns, two of the promoted clubs, AFC Wimbledon and Port Vale, are tipped to be in a relegation battle in 2025/26. As are Northampton Town, Exeter City, and Stevenage.
Teams know that when they drop down to the fourth tier, they’re only one more relegation away from exiting the Football League, which always serves as a huge hammer blow.
League 2 Promotion Odds
In League Two, three teams will be automatically promoted to the third tier by the end of the season, and one more will make the step up via the playoffs. This makes for a highly competitive football division, with the automatic promotion race often open until the final day of the season. According to League Two winner odds, there are two teams well ahead of the rest ahead of the 2025/26 campaign, and they are MK Dons and Chesterfield.
But with three automatic promotion spots and one via the playoffs up for grabs, it’s not going to be that straightforward. Other teams expected to be in the mix include Notts County, Bristol Rovers, and Gillingham.
League 2 Relegation Odds
No team wants to be in a relegation battle in League Two. Fall out of League Two, and you’re out of the Football League, and it can often be a hard and long road back. Unfortunately, two teams each season will fall through the trap door and into the National League, and that will once again be the case in 2025/26.
As things stand, the teams expected to be looking over their shoulder include Newport County, Harrogate Town, and Accrington Stanley, to name several. These teams, and the others tipped to struggle, will be hoping to upset the odds and stay clear of a relegation battle.
Relegation & Promotion Betting
As the new season dawns in the English Football League, the promotion and relegation pictures are pencilled in. However, this doesn’t mean things will play out as expected, because football remains one of the most unpredictable sports around. Teams who are expected to do well can struggle, as seen with Luton Town last season. They were tipped to bounce back from the Premier League relegation with a promotion push, but instead were relegated to League One, completing back-to-back relegations.
It’s also possible for teams to be underperforming in the first half of the season, have a great January transfer window, and then kick on in the second half of the campaign. We’ve seen this sort of thing happen season after season, where teams come out of nowhere with good runs of form to get into the promotion picture against the odds.
And of course, promotion and relegation continue to be of huge importance to clubs throughout the EFL. Promotion to the Premier League can literally transform a club, while teams getting promoted to the Championship from League One know they’re only one more step away from the promised land. And, at the other end of the pyramid, clubs dropping out of League Two also lose their EFL status, which serves as a devastating blow.
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