Having looked all but decided in the early months of 2023, the battle for the League One title ended up going to the final two weeks of the season, with each of Ipswich Town, Plymouth Argyle and Sheffield Wednesday battling it out to finish in the top two – a battle that was ultimately won with Plymouth finishing as champions and Ipswich finishing second; one season after seeing influential manager Ryan Lowe depart and then narrowly missing out on a top-six finish, the Pilgrims continued their climb back up the Football League and returned to the Championship after a 13-year absence, even managing to break the 100-point mark in the process, whilst the Tractor Boys scored over 100 goals to finish with comfortably the highest goal-scoring record in the division (as well as breaking club records for wins and points in a season) to end a four-season exile from the second tier, achieve their first promotion since 2000 and earn manager Kieran McKenna, in his first full season as manager, his first promotion. Wednesday made amends in the playoffs and were promoted in the most dramatic of circumstances, overturning a 4–0 deficit in their semi final against Peterborough United to win on penalties and then winning the final in the last minute of extra time, denying Yorkshire rivals Barnsley in the process.
