Report: Forget Wigan, Wycombe And Wednesday, Based On Team Value The Best Performing Club In League One Is…
On the weekend that rounded off April, the 2021/22 League One season became the first division at the top of the English football pyramid to conclude its campaign. The final gameweek saw Wigan Athletic crowned champions, just about seeing off perpetual bungee-danglers Rotherham United who accompanied their EFL Trophy claim with a swift return to the Championship after just one year away (if that feels like deja vu, it’s because it’s the Millers have sandwiched their third promotion in four years in between three relegations. Never change, lads). Who will accompany the two northern sides will be decided over the course of the play-offs, with a victor out of Milton Keynes Dons, Sheffield Wednesday, Sunderland and Wycombe Wanderers being declared at Wembley Stadium on May 21. League One also said goodbye to Gillingham, Doncaster Rovers, AFC Wimbledon and Crewe Alexandra who all descended down to the third team of the English Football League.
But who has performed the best for the season? Which teams have been punching above their weight, and which have made heavy weather of it all? Of course, the final table in itself is an easy indicator, but as any football fan worth their salt knows, it doesn’t tell the whole story.
Using an algorithm that has broken down Team Value into individual position (Goalkeeper / Defence / Midfield / Forward) to produce an average weighted score (the four average values of each individual positional field ranked in ascending order, combined and divided to produce an average) and measured it against their final position in League One for 2021/22 we have revised the League One table into order of best to worst performers.
For example, Sunderland have the second-highest team value (£16.43m) from a 25-man squad. Their three registered goalkeepers have an average value of £0.21m (6th / 6 points), six defenders average £0.41m (2nd/ 2 points), midfield £0.42m from seven players (5th/ 5 points) and the highest average forward value in the league, £1.37m (1st/ 1 point) from their seven bonafide attackers.
This created an overall points tally for Sunderland of 3.5. Weighed up against their final position of 5th, the Black Cats finished -1.5 places lower than expected of them (12th in our overall table).
As a result, though Accrington Stanley finished 39 points off champions Wigan and 24 points from a possible play-off place, Accy and owner Andy Holt were the best performing EFL League One team based on the difference between Predicted Position and Final Position, finishing a mammoth 10.75 places above where they should have been expected to based on the value of their players.
The worst performing team out of the 24 was in fact none of the four eventually relegated. Lincoln City finished safely in 17th place, but with a Team Value Points Predicted Position of 9.25, the Imps ended up bottom of our ranking from a difference of -7.75. Take a look at the full results below.
League One Teams Ranked By Position To Team Value
| club | final position | team value points predicted position | difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Accrington Stanley | 12th | 22.75 | +10.75 |
| 2. Plymouth Argyle | 7th | 15.5 | +8.5 |
| 3. Bolton Wanderers | 9th | 16 | +7 |
| 4. Milton Keynes Dons | 3rd | 9.75 | +6.75 |
| 5. Cambridge United | 15th | 21.5 | +6.5 |
| 6. Wigan Athletic | 1st | 6.5 | +5.5 |
| 7. Wycombe Wanders | 6th | 10.75 | +4.75 |
| 8. Rotherham United | 2nd | 6.5 | +4.5 |
| 9. Oxford United | 8th | 10.5 | +2.5 |
| 10. Cheltenham Town | 16th | 16.25 | +0.25 |
| 11. Burton Albion | 17th | 16.25 | -0.75 |
| 12. Sunderland | 5th | 3.5 | -1.5 |
| 13. Sheffield Wednesday | 4th | 2 | -2.0 |
| 14. Portsmouth | 10th | 7.75 | -2.25 |
| 15. AFC Wimbledon | 23rd | 20.5 | -2.5 |
| 16. = Morecambe | 19th | 15.5 | -3.5 |
| 16. = Fleetwood Town | 20th | 16.5 | -3.5 |
| 18. Shrewsbury Town | 18th | 14.25 | -3.75 |
| 19. Charlton Athletic | 14th | 8.5 | -5.5 |
| 20. Crewe Alexandra | 24th | 18 | -6 |
| 21. Ipswich Town | 11th | 4 | -7 |
| 22. = Doncaster Rovers | 22nd | 14.5 | -7.5 |
| 22. = Gillingham | 21st | 13.5 | -7.5 |
| 24. Lincoln City | 17th | 9.25 | -7.75 |
Team Value Points Predicted Positions
1. Sheffield Wednesday Total Team Value £24.48m Number of Players 26 Average Player Value £0.94m Goalkeepers £0.59m (2) Defence £1.02m (1) Midfield £1.06m (2) Forwards £0.83m (3) Team Value Points Average 2
2. Sunderland Total Team Value £16.43m Number of Players 25 Average Player Value £0.66m Goalkeepers £0.21m (6) Defence £0.41m (2) Midfield £0.42m (5) Forwards £0.83m (1) Team Value Points Average 3.5
3. Ipswich Town Total Team Value £16.13m Number of Players 25 Average Player Value £0.65m Goalkeepers £0.36m (3) Defence £0.31m (8) Midfield £1.10m (1) Forwards £0.59m (4) Team Value Points Average 4
4. = Wigan Athletic Total Team Value £12.38m Number of Players 29 Average Player Value £0.43m Goalkeepers £0.21m (7) Defence £0.29m (9) Midfield £0.64m (3) Forwards £0.39m (7) Team Value Points Average 6.5
4. = Rotherham United Total Team Value £10.06m Number of Players 26 Average Player Value £0.39m Goalkeepers £0.14m (9) Defence £0.36m (5) Midfield £0.56m (4) Forwards £0.38m (8) Team Value Points Average 6.5
6. Portsmouth Total Team Value £7.75m Number of Players 24 Average Player Value £0.32m Goalkeepers £0.27m (4) Defence £0.39m (3) Midfield £0.25m (13) Forwards £0.30m (11) Team Value Points Average 7.75
7. Charlton Athletic Total Team Value £9.36m Number of Players 29 Average Player Value £0.32m Goalkeepers £0.27m (4) Defence £0.36m (4) Midfield £0.24m (14) Forwards £0.44m (5) Team Value Points Average 8.5
8. Lincoln City Total Team Value £6.62m Number of Players 26 Average Player Value £0.25m Goalkeepers £0.23m (5) Defence £0.17m (12) Midfield £0.38m (7) Forwards £0.28m (13) Team Value Points Average 9.25
9. Milton Keynes Dons Total Team Value £8.96m Number of Players 25 Average Player Value £0.36m Goalkeepers £0.14m (10) Defence £0.14m (15) Midfield £0.26m (12) Forwards £0.90m (2) Team Value Points Average 9.75
10. Oxford United Total Team Value £7.22m Number of Players 27 Average Player Value £0.27m Goalkeepers £0.08m (13) Defence £0.26m (10) Midfield £0.27m (10) Forwards £0.38m (9) Team Value Points Average 10.5
11. Wycombe Wanderers Total Team Value £8.73m Number of Players 27 Average Player Value £0.32m Goalkeepers £0.06m (19) Defence £0.35m (6) Midfield £0.41m (6) Forwards £0.29m (12) Team Value Points Average 10.75
12. Gillingham Total Team Value £4.52m Number of Players 22 Average Player Value £0.21m Goalkeepers £0.77m (1) Defence £0.10m (11) Midfield £0.26m (23) Forwards £0.41m (6) Team Value Points Average 13.5
13. Shrewsbury Town Total Team Value £4.19m Number of Players 22 Average Player Value £0.19m Goalkeepers £0.09m (12) Defence £0.13m (16) Midfield £0.28m (9) Forwards £0.09m (20) Team Value Points Average 14.25
14. Doncaster Rovers Total Team Value £6.28m Number of Players 32 Average Player Value £0.20m Goalkeepers £0.08m (14) Defence £0.04m (23) Midfield £0.23m (15) Forwards £0.41m (6) Team Value Points Average 14.5
15. = Plymouth Argyle Total Team Value £4.75m Number of Players 25 Average Player Value £0.19m Goalkeepers £0.08m (15) Defence £0.34m (7) Midfield £0.16m (19) Forwards £0.09m (21) Team Value Points Average 15.5
15. = Morecambe Total Team Value £3.40m Number of Players 25 Average Player Value £0.14m Goalkeepers £0.17m (8) Defence £0.14m (14) Midfield £0.11m (21) Forwards £0.13m (19) Team Value Points Average 15.5
17. Bolton Wanderers Total Team Value £5.06m Number of Players 28 Average Player Value £0.18m Goalkeepers £0.05m (21) Defence £0.15m (13) Midfield £0.14m (20) Forwards £0.32m (10) Team Value Points Average 16.0
18. = Burton Albion Total Team Value £5.15m Number of Players 29 Average Player Value £0.18m Goalkeepers £0.07m (18) Defence £0.23m (11) Midfield £0.17m (18) Forwards £0.17m (18) Team Value Points Average 16.25
18. = Cheltenham Town Total Team Value £4.43m Number of Players 27 Average Player Value £0.16m Goalkeepers £0.08m (16) Defence £0.10m (18) Midfield £0.19m (17) Forwards £0.24m (14) Team Value Points Average 16.25
20. Fleetwood Town Total Team Value £4.30m Number of Players 27 Average Player Value £0.16m Goalkeepers £0.08m (16) Defence £0.12m (17) Midfield £0.20m (16) Forwards £0.21m (16) Team Value Points Average 16.5
21. Crewe Alexandra Total Team Value £4.57m Number of Players 26 Average Player Value £0.18m Goalkeepers £0.02m (24) Defence £0.03m (24) Midfield £0.30m (8) Forwards £0.19m (17) Team Value Points Average 18
22. AFC Wimbledon Total Team Value £2.61m Number of Players 30 Average Player Value £0.09m Goalkeepers £0.03m (22) Defence £0.05m (21) Midfield £0.01m (24) Forwards £0.23m (15) Team Value Points Average 20.5
23. Cambridge United Total Team Value £1.85m Number of Players 26 Average Player Value £0.07m Goalkeepers £0.05m (20) Defence £0.06m (20) Midfield £0.10m (22) Forwards £0.05m (24) Team Value Points Average 21.5
24. Accrington Stanley Total Team Value £1.85m Number of Players 27 Average Player Value £0.07m Goalkeepers £0.01m (24) Defence £0.04m (22) Midfield £0.09m (23) Forwards £0.09m (22) Team Value Points Average 22.7
