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Wolves dominate League One betting

| 01.08.2013
SPORTSBOOK ODDS

Every supporter of the most – and least – successful football clubs should remember one thing: nothing is forever. The dawn of Sky and the Premier League may seem like ancient history to young fans, but in fact it is only 20 years ago and back then the pecking order was very different.

Riding high were champions Leeds United and also boasting seats at the top table around that time were Wimbledon, Oldham, Notts County and Luton, all now floundering in the lower divisions or out of the Football League altogether.

And then there was Coventry. The Sky Blues had their very own armchair in the old First Division and then the Premier League, spending 34 consecutive years in the top flight before being relegated in 2001.

Now they are seriously on the slide, demoted from the Championship at the end of 2012 and in such deep financial trouble that they were docked 10 points last season for going into administration. Even worse for their loyal fans, they now have to play their home games at Northampton, 45 miles away. And it might get worse still before it gets better. Coral rate them a 25/1 chance to get back into the Championship, but more tellingly they are twice the price to be promoted (8/1) as they are to be relegated to Division Two (4/1).

Wolves were big hitters once, as well, but now find themselves in Division One after two successive demotions. The difference here is that the West Midlands club is in a much healthier financial state and in new boss Kenny Jackett, they have a manager with a proven track record of delivering promotion.

Coral make Wolves favourites at 7/2 ahead of Peterborough (8/1), another club relegated from the Championship. If Darren Ferguson’s Posh had performed as well in the second half of last season as they did in the first, they would have been in contention for a promotion play-off place – as it was they were unfortunate to go down with as many as 54 points – and if they can maintain that momentum they have every chance of bouncing straight back.

Surely nobody will begrudge Brentford promotion (3/1 to go up, 9/1 as champions) this time around after their cruel near miss last May and there seems no reason why basically the same side shouldn’t challenge again under Uwe Rosler.

Of the four teams introduced from Division Two last season, Bradford City (22/1), who went up via the play-offs, might fare better than the three who gained automatic promotion, Gillingham (33/1), Rotherham (22/1) and Port Vale (40/1).

Bradford’s League form was pretty ordinary for much of the season and they only just scraped into the play-offs, but of course they also enjoyed a fantastic League Cup run – all the way to a Wembley Final.

The Bantams look as if they are on a roll again after sinking to the bottom tier in no time after being part of the Premier League as recently as 2001. They were, by the way, relegated that year with Manchester City and Coventry. Which is where we came in.

Written by Jon Freeman

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Author

Ben Woodward