Don Goodman issues prediction involving Birmingham City, Huddersfield Town and Bolton Wanderers | OneFootball

Don Goodman outlines the clubs he expects to be vying for promotion from League One in 2024/25.

The League One season begins this evening with Barnsley's game against Mansfield Town and Don Goodman has had his say on the promotion picture, which includes the likes of Birmingham City, Huddersfield Town, Bolton Wanderers, and Rotherham United.

After Portsmouth and Derby County won promotion alongside Oxford United, you could be forgiven for thinking that League One may be less competitive at the top end of the division, but the teams that have dropped into League One have invested well and the sides coming out of League Two look like strong additions to a competitive 2024/25 League One lineup.

Interest will naturally be centred around the likes of Birmingham, Huddersfield, and Rotherham after relegation last season, whilst Bolton finished third and were beaten at Wembley. That highlights those may well be the sides with the strongest automatic promotion credentials, but there are plenty of others hoping to challenge as well.

Don Goodman's League One predictions for the 24/25 season

The EFL pundit and Sky Sports analyst knows all about what it takes to have success in the third tier. Like many other fans and pundits alike, Goodman sees Blues as the frontrunners for promotion after their summer spending spree and with former Spurs coach Chris Davies at the helm.

However, he's also casting eyes over a handful of other hopefuls, even those who were in the bottom half of the league last season, especially with Charlton Athletic and Nathan Jones this summer, as well as other play-off sides of 2023/24.

He said:

"Four of those eight have cost a seven-figure sum or more. They're not resting on their laurels. They're trying to build a team that's better than the one that got relegated last season with a new and ambitious head coach who I like the sound of.

"I like everything I've read in his interviews about how front-footed he wants to be. Particularly when they haven't got the ball. I think you're going to see a very aggressive Birmingham City team pressing high and trying to win the ball back and I think the fans will buy into that. "I think they've sold something like 17,000 season tickets already in League One, so relegation might provide a complete reset and it might put smiles on the faces of Birmingham City fans because they're winning games on a regular basis rather than losing on a regular basis which has been the case for too many years to mention. So, I do expect them to be up there. "I think Huddersfield have probably gone a little bit under the radar in terms of expectancy because all eyes are on Birmingham and all eyes are on Wrexham but Huddersfield have recruited Michael Duff and I think he's got a good squad to work with there and I would expect that they would be challenging. "Rotherham under Steve Evans will be up there. He has got all that experience at League One and League Two level and knows how to get it done. They’ve got lots of new players, lots of experience and they’re going to be a handful. "Then you've three teams that lost the last two seasons in the play-offs: Bolton, Peterborough and Barnsley. I don't see any reason why those three certainly won't be up there. Bolton froze at Wembley against Oxford, having probably been one of the best two teams in the division, but not getting over the line.

"Then you've got to chuck Charlton in the mix because Nathan Jones is there, he’s made them hard to beat already, and despite losing Alfie May, he has got Matt Godden and he's got all the experience of what it takes at that level as well."

The League One 2024/25 campaign

There's no denying that last season was a golden chance for a side like Bolton to win promotion, especially when you look at some of the clubs who have come down from the Championship since.

Alongside Ian Evatt's side, it is tough to look past Huddersfield and Rotherham looking strong, whilst Birmingham could potentially be unstoppable if things click at St. Andrew's.