The English Football League never ceases to entertain with dramatic storylines and intense events, with promotions, relegations and high-scoring goalfests continuously bringing the action each and every season.
Sometimes, though, there are occasions when a title race is a formality and the relegation picture becomes largely clear before the final throes of the campaign. League One largely epitomises that this season, with Birmingham the runaway league leaders and both Shrewsbury and Burton Albion condemned to relegation a lot earlier than they would’ve liked.
League Two also looked to be following in a similar vein back in January, but what has since transpired is arguably one of the greatest collapses in EFL history.
2024/25 has seen one of the biggest collapses in EFL history
After the 27th game of the season on January 18, Walsall were 12 points clear of second-placed Crewe at the top of the League Two table and were a full 15 points ahead of AFC Wimbledon in fourth place. The Saddlers had lost just three times all season and had just beaten MK Dons 4-2 as part of a nine-game winning streak.
Promotion to League One looked an inevitability.
Since then, though, Walsall have won just two times in 19 games – form that would have invariably had them in the two relegation spots if it continued throughout the season. Heading into the final match of 2024/25, Walsall are now fourth and look like having to settle for a play-off spot – though they could still break into the top three if they better Bradford’s result on the final day of the season.
Such a demise can be traced back to the departure of Nathan Lowe in January. The teenage forward scored 15 goals in 22 games in League Two during his loan spell from Stoke, with the Potters recalling him on January 12. During his half-season at Bescot Stadium, Lowe did enough to win the League Two Young Player of the Season award.
And while the youngster has been used sparingly at Stoke since returning, making just nine appearances, Walsall managed just one win before their wretched downturn in form started once Lowe left.
There is also the issue of manager Mat Sadler. Though he signed a new three-and-a-half-year deal with Walsall on January 7, a day after the Saddlers reportedly rejected Plymouth Argyle’s approach to speak with the manager, it’s difficult to ascertain just how much of an effect the interest from a Championship side.
Saddler must certainly have recognised that, while there’s a two-league gap between them right now, both clubs could still end up facing each other in League One in 2025/26. That’s certainly no guarantee with the drama the play-offs can throw up, though.
In FourFourTwo‘s view, Walsall are still exceeding expectations even as they sit fourth in League Two, regardless of their dominant first half of the campaign. At the start of 2024/25, FFT predicted that Walsall would finish 11th – if they weren’t so consistently brilliant and then so consistently terrible, there wouldn’t have been any mention of a collapse on their end.
