Former West Ham United boss fires stern League One warning to Sheffield Wednesday

Former Charlton Athletic and West Ham United boss Alan Curbishley is predicting another fiercely contested promotion battle in League One next season. Only nine points separated the top six teams in the 2021/22 season, with Sheffield Wednesday finishing fourth after a strong second half of the campaign.

Wigan Athletic claimed the title and Rotherham United secured the second automatic promotion spot after a final-day win at Gillingham. Sunderland will go head-to-head with Wycombe Wanders in the play-off final this afternoon, having booked a trip to Wembley after beating the Owls 2-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals.

The third tier of English football is littered with clubs who have previously plied their trade in the Premier League, including Wednesday, Ipswich Town, Charlton, Portsmouth and Bolton Wanderers. They will also be joined by Barnsley and Derby County after they lost their fight to stay in the Championship.

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Speaking to OLBG, Curbishley said: "When I last looked at the League One table, there were 10 former Premier League clubs in that division.

"It's so difficult to get out of, we've seen Sheffield Wednesday fall short and you just need to take a look at Sunderland over the past few years, although they have a chance this year in the playoffs.

"The teams coming down as well such as Derby, it makes the division very difficult to get out of."