League Two 2023/24 season preview: who are the contenders and who is in trouble

The outlook is not looking particularly rosy for Swindon Town as the strongest League Two of all time is set to get underway this weekend. Total Sport’s Joe Acklam looks ahead to the new season.

Another season is upon us and League Two is being described by many as the strongest it has ever been, with two legitimate contenders coming up from the National League as well as a handful of very strongly backed teams making the top look as daunting as it has ever been.

The Swindon outlook

The general consensus looks rather bleak for Swindon at the moment, with most experts like Not The Top 20, Gab Sutton, and Alex Vlogs having them in the lower mid table range, although their title odds are the tenth best, largely due to being a brand name in the league.

Due to Town having a squad with a handful of good players but hugely lacking in depth on the eve of the season, it is hard to think radically different from that unless you spend your free time wearing a sandwich board and ringing a bell, or you get all of your football news directly from the club website or programme.

There is a chance that perceptions could change by the end of the summer transfer window, but it would take a massive effort from Michael Flynn in the market to turn Swindon into a team who are seen as true play-off challengers.

The top table

The top of the League Two betting odds reads like a script for the first two seasons of Welcome to Wrexham, with The Red Dragons starting their first League Two campaign in 15 years as out right favourites with their main nemeses of the past two years Stockport County and Notts County right behind them.

Other contenders seem to be the side worst impacted by Wrexham’s promotion as they now have to share the TV slots in Salford City, as well as Gillingham, whose newfound investment has given Neil Harris some better toys to play with.

The play-off places are projected to give League Two fans everywhere a very bad sense of déjà vu as Bradford City and Mansfield Town are in the picture once again, with relegated MK Dons the only team who were in League One last season looking set to challenge, alongside a Doncaster Rovers team who are still wearing name tags at training due to the number of new signings they have brought in.

Relegation fodder

As usual with League Two, there are a few sides that look like they will greatly be impacted by off the field troubles and will struggle because of them.

Scott Lindsey’s Crawley Town have had a mess of a summer with lots of key players leaving for League Two rivals to be replaced by players with almost no pedigree in the EFL, a situation with which Lindsey may well be familiar, as their Cryptobro owners seem to have lost patience in their project after just one year.

Newport County are another side who have had a tough summer as a reduced budget has seen many familiar faces, particularly at the back, leaving for pastures new and Morecambe have had a similar situation as they let almost every out-of-contract player walk following relegation from League One last season and have had to scramble together a squad quickly.

There are very few who don’t have two of those three in their relegation zone, but other teams whose necks might be a bit sore by May from looking over their shoulders are Harrogate Town, Crewe Alexandra, and Colchester United.