The 2025/26 League One table predicted as Cardiff City get immediate verdict on promotion chances
Cardiff now know the full line-up for next season's League One programme
Cardiff City will be in League One next season
(Image: Adam Fradgley/West Bromwich Albion FC via Getty Images )
The League Two play-off final between AFC Wimbledon and Walsall is done and dusted, meaning Cardiff City now know their full list of opponents in next season's League One campaign.
Victory for Wimbledon sees them join the Bluebirds in the third tier next term. Join the Cardiff City breaking news and top stories WhatsApp community
Cardiff will be facing off against a host of new clubs, including some traditional heavyweights of yesteryear.
Former Premier League sides Reading, Bolton, Blackpool and Wigan Athletic will be on the fixture list released later this summer, while there will also be trips to places like Burton and Lincoln City to contend with.
No Bluebirds supporter would have liked to have seen their club relegated last term but now that situation is a reality, eyes will be already be turning to getting straight back up at the first time of asking. Sign up to our daily Cardiff City newsletter here.
And the bookmakers are putting the Bluebirds (9/4) right in the mix for promotion, behind favourites Luton Town.
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Fellow relegated side Plymouth Argyle (3/1) are also fancied, with Bolton (7/2), Stockport County (7/2) and Huddersfield Town (4/1) also backed to be in the promotion mix.
How the 2025/26 League One table is predicted to finish
Luton 6/5
Cardiff 9/4
Plymouth 3/1
Bolton 7/2
Stockport 7/2
Huddersfield 4/1
Wycombe 9/2
Reading 11/2
Rotherham 11/2
Barnsley 6/1
Blackpool 6/1
Leyton Orient 6/1
Bradford 8/1
Lincoln City 10/1
Peterborough 10/1
Wigan 10/1
Doncaster 12/1
Mansfield 14/1
Stevenage 14/1
Burton Albion 18/1
Exeter 18/1
Port Vale 18/1
Northampton 22/1
Wimbledon 28/1
Odds via Bet365 - please gamble responsibly
Despite the bookies' predictions, EFL pundit Don Goodman has poured cold water on a promotion push for the Bluebirds.
He believes it's all "a bit of a mess" at the club right now and that promotion out of the third tier is nowhere near a given.
"I would say, at this stage, it's probably going to be hard to back Cardiff City to get promoted or be in contention in League One next season under these circumstances," Goodman told Football League World.
"They don't have a head coach, we don't know which players are staying, which players are going.
"We don't know what the budget is for them to bring players in, it's all a bit of a mess really.
"It would be very, very hard to predict that they will be automatic promotion contenders at this stage.
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"Maybe as the summer goes on and we find out who the head coach is and how many of the better players are staying.
"But at this point, it's hard to say."
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