Southampton's Adam Armstrong scored the last, and most lucrative, goal of the 2023-24 EFL season in Sunday's 1-0 Championship playoff final victory over Leeds.
The beaten playoff finalists head the betting for next season's Championship, while Burnley, Luton and Sheffield United are bidding to bounce back after Premier League relegation. Here, we take a look at the early odds for the 2024-25 EFL divisions and suggest an early best bet.
Best bet
Wigan to win League One
1pt each-way 20-1 general
Championship
Leicester, Leeds and Southampton, the three clubs relegated from the Premier League in 2022-23, finished first, third and fourth in the Championship in 2023-24.
Leeds, pipped to promotion by Saints in the playoff final, have been installed as 5-1 favourites for next season's title, although they may struggle to hold on to Championship player of the season Crysencio Summerville, who has been linked with several Premier League clubs, and a number of their other talented young squad.
Burnley, 8-1 shots, are expected to lose Vincent Kompany to Bayern Munich – an unusual career move for a manager who has just been relegated.
Steve Cooper, who led Nottingham Forest to playoff glory in May 2022, is prominent in the next Burnley manager betting, and he would be an interesting appointment for a club that romped to the second-tier title in 2022-23.
Leeds missed out on automatic promotion this season despite earning 90 points, and next term's division looks a fair bit weaker. Luton and Sheffield United have come down from the Premier League, losing playoff semi-finalists Norwich are starting a new era after sacking David Wagner, and Portsmouth, Derby and Oxford have been promoted from League One.
Ipswich won back-to-back promotions, but Pompey and Derby are 9-1 and 10-1 to follow suit, while Wayne Rooney's Plymouth are 20-1.
Bookmakers are not convinced by Hull's decision to sack manager Liam Rosenior despite finishing seventh. The Tigers are 13-2 for promotion, while QPR could be interesting outsiders at 10-1 after losing only four of their last 19 league matches.
The Hoops' defence improved dramatically after Marti Cifuentes took charge in October, and they won their last three league games, including a 4-0 rout of Leeds.
League One
The League One market revolves around 7-2 favourites Birmingham, who were relegated from the Championship despite their final-day win over Norwich.
Four managers had spells in charge of Blues in 2023-24 and that lack of stability suggests they are short enough to win the title.
Working out who are the best-value alternatives to Birmingham is not easy, however, as 13 other clubs are trading at 20-1 or worse for the league.
They include 9-1 Bolton, beaten by Oxford in the playoff final, as well as promoted pair Wrexham, who are 11-1, and 20-1 Stockport.
Charlton are worth considering at 5-1 for promotion after suffering only two defeats in 16 games since Nathan Jones's appointment. The Addicks had a league-high 20 draws, but they are laying solid foundations under former Luton and Southampton boss Jones. Striker Alfie May won the League One Golden Boot in his first season at The Valley.
Michael Skubala's Lincoln just missed out on the playoffs, winning 12 of their last 17 games, and they are 13-2 for promotion.
Shaun Maloney's Wigan, who overcame an eight-point deduction with ease in 2023-24, are an appealing each-way bet, having won six of their eight games against the top four last season.
The Latics appear to have steadied the ship after their financial problems and highly-rated young goalkeeper Sam Tickle, the club's player of the season, signed a new four-year deal last week.
League Two
Chesterfield won 26 of their first 31 matches on their way to the National League title and Paul Cook's men return to the EFL as 13-2 favourites for League Two.
MK Dons are next in the betting despite their 8-1 aggregate defeat to Crawley in the playoff semi-finals, while Doncaster, who won ten of their last 11 regular-season games before a playoff penalty-shootout loss to Crewe, are 14-1.
Notts County, 15-2 third-favourites behind Wrexham and Stockport in the 2023-24 ante-post betting, made a strong start before tumbling down the standings and losing influential manager Luke Williams to Swansea.
They are 12-1, the same price as Bradford, who finished the campaign with five straight wins and could kick on under the experienced Graham Alexander.
Colchester finished only three points clear of the relegation zone but chairman Robbie Cowling told a supporters' forum in April that there would be "a significant investment" over the summer and the Essex side are 33-1 to win the title under Danny and Nicky Cowley.
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