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2024/25: The three promoted teams

We take a look at the newly-promoted teams we'll face next season.

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Ahead of the Sky Bet Championship fixture release day on Wednesday 26th June 2024, we’ve taken a look at the six new teams who will join the league next season.

Coming up from Sky Bet League one will be Portsmouth, Derby County and Oxford United. You can see an in depth break down below of everything you need to know, ahead of facing them.

Portsmouth - 1st place finish

John Mousinho's first full season at Portsmouth proved to be quite the introduction into management, as the south coast outfit stormed to the Sky Bet League One title, amassing 97 points to end their 12-year exile from the second tier.

The former defender was named the division's Manager of the Season after his team's scintillating campaign, with Pompey forward Colby Bishop's tally of 21 goals seeing the 27-year-old narrowly miss out on the golden boot.

Portsmouth turned their Fratton Park home into a fortress over the course of the season, winning 15 of 23 matches and drawing five. A last-gasp header from former United defender Conor Shaughnessy ultimately got Mousinho's side over the line, capping off a superb late comeback against Barnsley to win 3-2 and spark wild celebrations across the city.

The Whites are unbeaten in their previous four clashes with Pompey, with Danny Pugh's goal enough to separate the two sides at Elland Road in 2011.

Derby County - 2nd place finish

After enduring a sustained period in England’s third tier, Derby County finally booked their return to the Sky Bet Championship, edging past third-place Bolton Wanderers and finishing five points behind champions Portsmouth.

After narrowly missing out on the Play-Offs the season previously, the Rams would add an extra 16 points to their haul to go up automatically, with experienced campaigners Tom Barkhuizen, Craig Forsyth and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing making an impact at Pride Park.

Former Republic of Ireland international James Collins top scored for Paul Warne's side, which included grabbing the opener in a final day victory over Carlisle United to seal promotion.

The last time the two sides met, the Rams gave the Whites a guard of honour in the penultimate match of the 2019/20 season, with Marcelo Bielsa’s side having already wrapped up the league title.

After falling behind to a Chris Martin opener, a rotated Leeds side would fight back to run out 3-1 winners on what was a memorable afternoon at Pride Park.

Oxford United - 5th place finish

Having edged past Peterborough United in the Play-Off semi-finals, Oxford United went into the Wembley final as underdogs, facing a Bolton Wanderers side that had picked up 10 points more than the Yellows and had ran out 5-0 victors when the two sides met just two months prior.

Winger Josh Murphy mustn't have read the script however, with the former Norwich and Cardiff wide man grabbing a first half brace as Oxford upset the odds under the famous arch.

Play-Off Final success rounded off a whirlwind few months for manager Des Buckingham, who took over in November after plying his trade in India with Mumbai City. Prior to that, Buckingham led Melbourne City to a domestic double in 2021, capped off with the club's first A-League Grand Final victory at the end of the campaign.

The two sides have only ever met on 12 occasions, with Leeds winning five. Our previous encounter came in the 2012 League Cup, as a superb chipped effort from young full-back Sam Byram inspired the Whites to a 3-0 success.

The three sides will replace Birmingham City, Huddersfield Town and Rotherham United who were all relegated from the Sky Bet Championship last campaign.

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