July has seen the end of the World Cup and the beginning of the pre season fixtures and I, like thousands of you across the country am now looking forward to the start of the season.
Every pre-season, we get excited over the prospect of new signings lighting up your team to win promotion or win the league, when in reality this can only happen to a few.
With this excitement, I have compiled a prediction for the coming season, like many of you will have, based on some knowledge but mainly pure guess work and hunches.
Last season, I predicted that my team (Charlton Athletic) would finish just outside the play offs, and they eventually finished 18th, after flirting with relegation all season.
This season I’m putting my predictions out there for all to see from Premier League all the way down to Conference South.
I will inevitably be wrong and create arguments as to why a team should finish higher than I’ve predicted. I’ll be back at the end of the season to see how well I’ve done. Hopefully, I’ll get something right.
Premier League
- Chelsea
- Man City
- Arsenal
- Man United
- Liverpool
- Tottenham
- Everton
- West Ham
- Southampton
- Stoke
- Swansea
- Sunderland
- Crystal Palace
- Hull
- Newcastle
- West Brom
- QPR
- Aston Villa
- Leicester
- Burnley
Championship
- Wigan
- Norwich
- Derby
- Brighton
- Nottingham Forest
- Rotherham
- Reading
- Ipswich
- Cardiff
- Charlton
- Fulham
- Blackburn
- Brentford
- Wolves
- Bournemouth
- Watford
- Bolton
- Huddersfield
- Middlesbrough
- Sheffield Wednesday
- Leeds
- Millwall
- Birmingham
- Blackpool
League 1
- Sheffield United
- Preston
- Bristol City
- Coventry
- Doncaster
- Leyton Orient
- MK Dons
- Yeovil
- Walsall
- Peterborough
- Fleetwood
- Barnsley
- Chesterfield
- Crawley
- Gillingham
- Scunthorpe
- Swindon
- Rochdale
- Notts County
- Bradford
- Crewe
- Colchester
- Port Vale
- Oldham
League 2
- Luton
- Burton
- Oxford
- Portsmouth
- Stevenage
- Southend
- Carlisle
- Newport
- Northampton
- Tranmere
- York
- Shrewsbury
- Plymouth
- Dagenham
- Afc Wimbledon
- Mansfield
- Cambridge
- Cheltenham
- Bury
- Accrington
- Hartlepool
- Morecambe
- Exeter
- Wycombe.
Conference
- Grimsby
- Barnet
- Forest Green
- Kidderminster
- Eastleigh
- Altrincham
- Halifax
- Gateshead
- Nuneaton
- Woking
- Wrexham
- Bristol Rovers
- Lincoln
- Southport
- Chester
- Welling
- Aldershot
- Torquay
- Dover
- Alfreton
- Braintree
- Telford
- Dartford
- Macclesfield
Conference south
- Ebbsfleet
- Sutton
- Chelmsford
- Farnborough
- Havant & Waterlooville
- Basingstoke
- Bromley
- Eastbourne
- Whitehawk
- Bishop’s Stortford
- Hayes and Yeading
- Staines
- Wealdstone
- Gosport Boro
- Maidenhead
- Eastbourne
- Boreham Wood
- Concord Rangers
- Salisbury ( depending on whether they have team to start season)
- St Albans City
- Hemel Hempstead
- Weston Super Mare.
So as you can see, I’ve predicted some tough times ahead for the Kent clubs this year, with wage budgets causing a lot of the problems for the teams in the ConferencePpremier. I expect Ebbsfleet to win the Conference South with the experience learnt in going close last year.
With the league clubs we cover, I see Gillingham have another season of mid table obscurity with their form at Priestfield keeping them clear of any danger, and Charlton, I see a big improvement on the field but just lacking the depth for a sustained play off push.
Here’s to a good season and sorry to you guys who support Ryman League sides about not doing your leagues predictions. Roll on August.