2024/25
Second at Christmas: Wycombe Wanderers (44 points)
It’s fair to say Wycombe flew early part of last season, with 44 points from 20 games leaving them in second. They looked like nailed-on promotion candidates, but the wheels came off dramatically.
Post-Christmas they picked up 40 points from 26 games and finished fifth, losing in the play-offs.
Wrexham, third at Christmas with 42 points from 21 matches, were promoted in second place.
2023/24
Second at Christmas: Peterborough United (44 points)
Ouch, another team second at Christmas with 44 points, this time from 22 games, that failed to earn promotion. They were only six clear of seventh having played a game more.
Like Wycombe, they picked up 40 points in the second half of the season, and finished fourth. That took them to the play-offs and a semi-final exit, with Oxford going up.
Derby, who finished second, were fourth at Christmas with 40 points from 21 matches,
2022/23
Second at Christmas: Ipswich Town (45 points)
There is a definite pattern here, 44/45 points being the norm. It means this season, there are a lot more teams below closer to the pack.
In 2022/23, Ipswich Town were second at Christmas, and they finished second. They did well second half of the season, 53 points from 24 matches, more than two per game, which is a mad total.
2021/22
Second at Christmas: Wigan Athletic (45 points)
Another top two side that finished in the top six, which is four years out of four. Wigan had 45 points from 21 matches, a gap of seven between them and the final play-off place. That sounds familiar.
Like Ipswich, they won the division, with Rotherham, top at Christmas, finishing second.
2020/21
Second at Christmas: Lincoln City (35 points)
We had fewer points in 2020/21, but we’d also only played 18 matches, and that left us second to Pompey, with a game in hand. It all looked so very positive.
In the end, we finished fifth, which is still a play-off place, and we ended up at Wembley in the play-off final. I’ll be honest, I forgot that we’d been in this position. I think Covid took a lot of the realism out of Michael Appleton’s big season.
2019/20
Second at Christmas: Peterborough United (36 points)
Finally, a team with a lower PPG than we have now. Posh had 36 points from 21 matches in 2019/20, a season where the final table is a little skewed, given the campaign concluded on PPG rather than 46 matches.
Given that, it’s perhaps a surprise that Posh fell away. They got just 23 points from the next 14 games, finishing seventh. Remember, Wycombe had the same points but had played a game fewer when the season ended, meaning technically, Posh were in the top six when it concluded.
Rotherham, the team that finished second, were eighth at Christmas with 32 points from 21 matches.
While this season is an outlier in terms of how it finished, it was as close as this season. It was actually closer, just five points separated Shrewsbury (11th) and Posh in second.
2018/19
Second at Christmas: Luton Town (47)
How odd, the Covid season is the lowest total at Christmas, and yet up to that point, it was the same as the others. I love little quirks like that.
In 2018/19, as we were wrapping up our second promotion in three seasons, Luton Town were second in League One with 47 points from 23 matches. They finished top, adding an identical 47 points from 23 games for a total of 94.
Barnsley, sixth at Christmas, finished second with 52 extra points from 24 remaining matches.
2017/18
Second at Christmas: Shrewsbury Town (47)
It’s less than a decade ago, but the top of League One back then was Wigan, Shrewsbury, Blackburn and Scunthorpe. How fortunes change.
Salop were second with 47 points from 22 games, again more than this season by a margin. That was 12 clear of seventh, showing the gap, and Shrewsbury did keep it up, finishing third with 87 points.
Like us in 2020/21, they made the play-off final, losing 2-1 to Rotherham.
2016/17
Second at Christmas: Sheffield United (44)
It does seem a tally of more than 40 points is usually required to be second at Christmas, with the Blades grabbing 44 from 22 games in 2016. We were top of the National League at the time, and I barely looked in League One!
The Bramall Lane outfit collected 56 points from the next 24 games, amassing 100 points and sitting 14 clear of Bolton at the end of the season.
Fun fact – Scunthorpe were top of League One at Christmas 2016, and they finished third. Ho ho ho.
2015/16
Second at Christmas: Walsall (42)
Another team with more than 40 points at Christmas, Walsall also had a game in hand over top side Burton Albion and an eight-point cushion between them and Southend United in seventh.
The outcome? Third place, with 42 more points coming from their remaining 25 matches. Of course, as with all the other clubs that were second at Christmas, they lost in the play-offs. Burton, the team that finished second, were top at Christmas.
Just as an aside, the top 12 in League One included Burton, Walsall, Gillingham, Wigan, Peterborough, Southend, Bradford, Bury and Rochdale. Port Vale, Swindon, Doncaster, Scunthorpe, Chesterfield, Fleetwood, Shrewsbury, Oldham, Crewe and Colchester were also in the division.
Feels like a different level now, doesn’t it?
Conclusion
Aside from 2019/20, when the division was decided on points per game, the team in second at Christmas had always finished in the top six. Four have gone up automatically, but only one was second at Christmas and finished second.
The usual outcome is play-offs, with a handful (including us) beaten play-off finalists.
While this all means nothing, how cool is it to even have to do an article like this as a Lincoln City fan?
(Answer: very cool)
Up the Imps
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