League 1 Winner Odds 22/23: Back Wednesday to win the title

The League One season kicks-off on Saturday 30 July, and today at BettingOdds.com we’ve taken a look at the winner market for the 2022/2023 campaign. Below you can find previous winners along with who we think could go well this time round. It’s worth noting that most firms are offering three places each-way at 1/4 odds.

Previous Winners

• 2021-22 - Wigan Athletic
• 2020-21 - Hull City
• 2019-20 - Coventry City
• 2018-19 - Luton Town
• 2017-18 - Wigan Athletic
• 2016-17 - Sheffield United
• 2015-16 - Wigan Athletic
• 2014-15 - Bristol City
• 2013-14 - Wolves
• 2012-13 - Doncaster Rovers

How many had been relegated the season before?

• 2021-22 - Wigan Athletic - No
• 2020-21 - Hull City - Yes 
• 2019-20 - Coventry City - No
• 2018-19 - Luton Town - No 
• 2017-18 - Wigan Athletic - Yes 
• 2016-17 - Sheffield United - No
• 2015-16 - Wigan Athletic - Yes 
• 2014-15 - Bristol City - No
• 2013-14 - Wolves - Yes
• 2012-13 - Doncaster Rovers - Yes

Of the last ten League One winners, five had been relegated from the Championship in the season prior. Luton are the only side who had achieved promotion from League Two in the season before. 

The Favourites 

Priced at 9/2 and favourites across the board are South Yorkshire side Sheffield Wednesday. The Owls finished fourth in the table last term, winning 14 of their final 20 fixtures under Darren Moore, but were dumped out of the play-offs by Sunderland in the semi-finals, losing 2-1 on aggregate. Wednesday look to have made some smart signings this summer, bringing in striker Michael Smith and centre back Michael Ihiekwe, both from just down the road at Rotherham.
Will Vaulks has also arrived through the gates at Hillsborough after departing Cardiff and although it may have taken a while to acclimatise in the third tier, Wednesday look poised to make a charge on the League One title in the season ahead. 

Next up we have Ipswich who are another who can be classed as a massive club to be down in the depths of League One. The Tractor Boys are a slightly bigger price than Wednesday at 5/1, with Kieran McKenna set to begin his first full season in charge after Paul Cook was sacked at the start of December. The East Anglian Club finished 11th in the table last season and they do look a little short in this market in our opinion. 

Derby County are the shortest priced of the relegated teams from the Championship last season and can be found at a current best price of 15/2 with William Hill. After the turbulence of the last few years Derby will be looking to bring stability to Pride Park and appear to have made some strong signings in James Chester, Conor Hourihane, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and David McGoldrick. However, Liam Rosenior’s appointment is still only on an interim basis and with issues still on-going off the field, there’s a large amount of uncertainty still with Derby.

The last two seasons that Peterborough have participated in League One, they have finished as the top scorers in the division. After relegation from the Championship in 2021/2022 Posh are being offered at 12/1 with Unibet to lift the League One title, although other firms such as Sky Bet and William Hill are taking a more conservative approach at 7’s and 8’s. Manager Grant McCann has won the League One title previously, when doing so in 2020/21 with Hull, and with Jonson Clarke-Harris in his side, Posh can rack up the goals. 

At 14/1 are the trio of Bolton, MK Dons and Portsmouth. The Trotters were beaten in just three of their final 22 fixtures in the 2021/2022 campaign and Ian Evett has strengthened his defence this summer by adding Conor Bradley from Liverpool and Jack Iredale from Cambridge. 

MK Dons reached the play-offs last season under Liam Manning and came unstuck against Wycombe in the play-offs. The Dons have lost two of their best players this summer with Scott Twine leaving for Burnley and Harry Darling departing for Swansea. 

Portsmouth finished 10th in the table last season and 10 points outside the play-offs. Danny Cowley remains the man tasked with returning Pompey to the second-tier of English football, but he has been a little quiet in the transfer window so far. Barnsley, Wycombe and Oxford United can all be found at 16/1, rounding off those at shorter than 20/1 in the market. 

Who to back?

The team we like the look of to make a real assault on the English third-tier in the season ahead is Sheffield Wednesday. Although they may be a little short at 9/2, after opening up a point or so bigger, Darren Moore looks to have an excellent squad at his disposal. The likes of Josh Windass, Barry Bannan and Lee Gregory can help propel the Owls back to the Championship this term, in a squad that has been bolstered by some notable signings during the transfer window such as Will Vaulks. Wednesday were one of the inform sides for the majority of the second half of the most recent campaign, losing just three of their final 20 fixtures and winning 14 of those. If they can carry on that form into the start of the new season, we fancy them to be hard to beat. We’d recommend backing with bet365 here, as they offer an Early Payout should the team you back go ahead by 10 points in the table at any point in the season.