The 2023/24 League One campaign has almost finished for another season, but with one game left this weekend, who has made our Team of the Season?
This weekend will see Ian Evatt’s Bolton Wanderers facing Des Buckingham’s Oxford United for a place in the Championship next season, The winner will be promoted alongside Portsmouth and Derby County into the second tier.
Our writing and podcast team have come together to vote on our official Team of the Season for League One, using a 4-3-3 formation. We have previously voted on a National League and League Two side and now it’s the turn of the third tier.
Let’s take a look at which eleven players and manager have made our squad…
Goalkeeper: Lukas Jensen
Between the sticks is Lincoln City’s Lukas Jensen, following his impressive campaign in the third tier despite Michael Skubala’s side missing out on a top six finish on the final day of the season.
Following his summer arrival, Jensen made 45 league appearances for the Imps, keeping an eye-catching 19 clean sheets in League One. Similarly, the 25-year-old also managed 2.9 saves per game and conceded just 0.8 goals per 90 minutes.
After a closely fought battle between Jensen and Bolton’s Nathan Baxer, the Imps shot-stopper edged the vote by picking up 40%, which was only 8% better than Baxter’s.
Right-Back: Lasse Sorensen
Moving into the back four, Lincoln City feature yet again as Danish full-back Lasse Sorensen takes a well-deserved place in this squad.
The 24-year-old featured 44 times in League One last season, scoring four goals and providing an additional eight assists. Similarly, Sorensen also managed 1.1 key passes per 90 minutes as well as four ball recoveries and 1.5 shots per game, which for a full-back is extremely impressive.
Sorensen secured his spot with 48% of our votes, edging out Bolton’s Josh Dacres-Cogley and Derby’s Kane Wilson to confirm his place.
Centre-Back: Ronnie Edwards
Beginning with the centre-backs, Peterborough United’s Ronnie Edwards takes his place in our squad and is likely to attract significant attention this summer.
The 21-year-old made 45 league appearances for Darren Ferguson’s side, scoring once and helped top secure the club’s EFL Trophy success at Wembley. Also, Edwards has managed a pass completion rate of 92% which is outstanding, as well as 5.6 ball recoveries and was only dribbled past 0.3 times on average per game.
Despite some very strong competition, Edwards won the votes with 36%, narrowly beating three fellow defenders for his place.
Centre-Back: Eiran Cashin
Admittedly a well deserved but surprising entry sees Derby’s Eiran Cashin beat Stevenage’s Carl Piergianni to take the final centre-back position in our team.
The Irish international made 44 league appearances for the Rams last season, scoring three goals and providing an additional assist. Similarly, Cashin managed 20 clean sheets for Paul Warne’s side as well as 5.6 ball recoveries and 2.1 tackles per game.
Cashin was our second highest-voted centre-back with 26% of the votes, beating Piergianni by a single vote.
Left-Back: Harrison Burrows
Completing the back four is one of England’s best performing full-backs in the form of Peterborough’s Harrison Burrows.
The full-back made 45 league appearances for Posh last season, scoring six goals and providing an additional 14 assists, averaging a goal contribution every 2.25 games. Also, Burrows managed 2.6 key passes per 90 minutes as well as a pass completion rate of 83% and 6.s ball recoveries.
Burrows breezed to victory in the most one-sided poll in this squad, earning 80% of our votes and now faces an exciting summer as the battle for his signature begins.
Central Midfield: Cameron Brannagan
Moving into midfield, it is no surprise to see Oxford United star Cameron Brannagan made our squad as a result of his impressive performances for Des Buckingham’s side.
The former Liverpool midfielder has made 43 league appearances for the Yellows, scoring 12 times and providing an additional nine assists. Brannagan also managed two key passes per game as well as 3.7 duel wins per 90 minutes and a passing success rate of 84%.
In a very tight battle, Brannagan edged our votes with 28% and now looks ahead to this weekend’s play-off final.
Central Midfield: Josh Sheehan
Speaking of the play-off final, Bolton’s Josh Sheehan also makes our midfield, narrowly beating Peterborough’s Hector Kyprianou.
Sheehan has made 43 appearances for Bolton so far this season, scoring two goals and providing 12 assists for Ian Evatt’s men. The 29-year-old midfielder has averaged 1.4 key passes per match for Bolton as well as 4.4 ball recoveries and an 84% passing success rate.
The Welshman secured his place with 20% of our votes, one vote higher than Kyprianou and could be spending next season in the second tier.
Attacking Midfield: Ruben Rodrigues
Returning to the yellow side of Wembley, Oxford United’s summer signing Ruben Rodrigues completes our midfield following his impressive campaign since arriving from the National League.
The Portuguese playmaker contributed to 12 goals in 41 league starts and proved that the step-up from the fifth tier to League One is more than do-able. Rodrigues also averaged 1.5 key passes for Oxford United as well as 1.1 successful dribbles per game and 6 duel wins per 90 minutes.
In truth, it was a constant battle between Rodrigues or Barnsley’s John McAtee, but the Portuguese playmaker narrowly edged it.
Right Winger: Kwame Poku
Moving onto the front three, Peterborough’s Kwame Poku takes the right-winger position in our squad, beating someone by a single vote.
Poku has made 37 league appearances for Posh during the 2023/24 season, scoring 11 goals and providing seven additional assists. The 22-year-old also averaged 1.5 key passes per game as well as 1.4 successful dribbles and 4.3 duel wins per game.
The winger was the second-highest voted player with 20%, beating Derby’s Nathaniel Mendez-Laing by a single vote.
Left Winger: Ephron Mason-Clark
On the opposite side, Poku’s teammate Ephron Mason-Clark seals our second forward position and will be a Championship footballer next season.
The 25-year-old made 43 league appearances for Peterborough last season, scoring 14 goals and providing seven additional assists, averaging a goal contribution almost every two matches. He also managed 2.1 key passes per game as well as 5.3 duel wins and 1.8 successful dribbles in each of those 43 matches.
In terms of the voting, Mason-Clark earned 44% of our votes, cruising into the squad and can now look forward to linking up with Coventry City this summer.
Striker: Alfie May
Completing our squad is Charlton Athletic’s Alfie May who had another outstanding campaign in League One despite his side finishing in the bottom half.
From his 43 league games, May managed 23 goals for Nathan Jones’ side in his debut campaign. He also managed 1.3 shots on target per game as well as 0.9 key passes and had a 100% penalty conversion rate last season.
May secured his spot in our team with 52% of the votes, fending off competition from Bolton’s Dion Charles and Stevenage’s Jamie Reid.
Manager: John Mousinho
Finally, John Mousinho has won our League One Manager of the Season award after guiding Portsmouth to the League One title. Mousinho secured 48% of our votes, beating Steve Evans and Michael Skubala to our spot in this squad.