Every year as we near the EFL season run-in, FFT unveils a list of the best players in the Football League – and we do it by consulting you, our readers.
We polled fans of all 72 Football League clubs, from Accrington Stanley to Wycombe Wanderers, asking supporters to identify the standout performers in their team’s division – not including those in their own side.
Championship fans submitted a ranked list of their top 10 operators, with first place pocketing 10 points, second receiving nine, down to a single point for 10th. In Leagues One and Two, supporters sent us their top five, with five points for first, down to one point for fifth. The tallies were then totted up, and a weighting given to each division, to reveal our final half-century.
This being football, of course, no grading of players will ever be met with universal agreement – everyone has different opinions, and that’s the way it should be. Let us know what yours is on X – include the hashtag: #FLTOP50
So, without further ado, here are the 50 finest players outside the Premier League this season...
The top 50 Football League players this season
50. Jobe Bellingham
Club: Sunderland
Position: Midfielder
Age: 18
Though he’s fared admirably as a false nine due to Sunderland’s issues up top, Jobe is doubtless best deployed in an attacking midfield role. The 18-year-old’s glorious first touch is like glue.
THEY SAID: “He doesn’t want to live off the back of his brother’s name,” said Tony Mowbray, then Sunderland manager. “He wants to be the footballer that he is.”
49. Mickey Demetriou
Club: Crewe Alexandra
Position: Defender
Age: 35
Free transfers don’t come much better. Demetriou departed Newport to lend Crewe’s crèche his experience – but more than that, he’s been transformative and led their promotion charge.
DID YOU KNOW? As of March 1, only 12 League Two players had contributed to more non-penalty goals than the central defender.
48. Matt Smith
Club: Salford City
Position: Forward
Age: 34
Where might they be without Smith? Despite the Ammies’ struggles, their veteran is in Golden Boot contention while being a reliable outball: he’s contested 250 more headers than anyone else in the fourth tier and boasts the best aerial win rate of any frontman.
HIGHLIGHT October’s hot streak of eight goals in just five games.
47. Dan Kemp
Club: MK Dons
Positon: Midfielder
Age: 25
Kemp’s deadly double act with fellow loanee Jake Young inspired Swindon through the first half of the season, and following their respective recalls Kemp carried on his form for MK. His finishing has been superb: 17 goals as of March 6, and 10 assists to boot.
THEY SAID: “Best League Two player by a mile” – Charlie Austin.
46. Colby Bishop
Club: Portsmouth
Postion: Forward
Age: 27
Normally Bishops can only move diagonally, but this one can drop into the hole, link up play and graft in the channels. The former Accrington striker provides goals, but it’s his all-round game that’s been crucial to Pompey’s title tilt.
HIGHLIGHT He loves a cheeky backheeled finish – Stevenage learned the hard way in January.
45. Jamie Reid
Club: Stevenage
Position: Forward
Age: 29
Stevenage’s unlikely bid for back-to-back promotions is built on Reid’s effort, movement and finishing. He’s scoring more in League One than in League Two.
DID YOU KNOW? Last season, the talisman was known locally as ‘Big Goal Reidy’ for his knack of netting in crunch matches. This term… ‘Regular Goal Reidy’?
44. Ali Al-Hamadi
Club: Ipswich Town
Position: Forward
Age: 22
Too good for League Two, Al-Hamadi left AFC Wimbledon in January for a Championship promotion battle – some leap. He’s already having an impact with his runs in behind and goals off the bench.
DID YOU KNOW? His family fled Iraq when he was one after his parents stood up to the Saddam regime, ending up in Liverpool.
43. Cameron Brannagan
Club: Oxford United
Position: Midfielder
Age: 27
Brannagan is a leader now. Into his seventh season at Oxford, the driven midfielder takes on more defensive duties which frees up Marcus McGuane to create. He’d have several more goals himself but for the dastardly woodwork.
THEY SAID: “A Championship player playing in League One” – Stevenage supremo Steve Evans.
42. Elliot Lee
Club: Wrexham
Position: Midfielder
Age: 29
HE TOLD FFT: "Scoring goals is both something I’m always working on and something that comes naturally to me. Growing up in the West Ham academy, I was a striker.
"Now I’m more of a No.8, but I want to add goals wherever I’m playing. I’m delighted with my goal return, although football is statistics-based these days – everyone’s so obsessed with the numbers that they forget to actually watch a game of football and acknowledge talented players. Winning is most important: if it meant we got promoted this season, I’d happily not score another goal."
41. Jordan Rhodes
Club: Blackpool
Position: Forward
Age: 34
Relegated Blackpool didn’t lack forwards but did lack a reliable marksmen, and all roads led to Rhodes. In his first campaign at this level since hitting 36 league goals for Huddersfield back in 2011/12, the poacher’s poacher poached 15 before Christmas.
HE SAID: “I know there aren’t too many years left in me. I’m doing what I can before it’s all over.”
40. Max O'Leary
Club: Bristol City
Position: Goalkeeper
Age: 27
O’Leary has started every single game in all competitions since being made first-choice in late 2022. Good in the air and off his line, he’s also improving in his contribution to counter-attacks.
HIGHLIGHT Repelling nine shots on target to enable a 1-0 victory against Sunderland in December, including two impressive saves.
39. Macaulay Langstaff
Club: Notts County
Position: Forward
Age: 27
It’s a joy to play up top for Luke Williams – the chances just keep coming – so Langstaff did suffer when his gaffer left. But once he pops, you can’t stop him: six braces and a hat-trick in his 23 goals before March. Voracious.
DID YOU KNOW? He doesn’t do injuries (cue injury). Langstaff is the only League Two forward to start every game up to March 15.
38. John Swift
Club: West Bromwich Albion
Position: Midfielder
Age: 28
Every team could do with a Swift – a player who shows for the ball and recycles it, but always looks for the forward option first. If all else fails, he’ll twang in a beauty.
HIGHLIGHT August’s stunning solo goal to beat Middlesbrough, September’s free-kick to draw at Watford, October’s first-time 20-yarder against Birmingham...
37. Dion Charles
Club: Bolton Wanderers
Position: Forward
Age 28
Using his intelligent movement, the ex-Accy striker formed an effective partnership alongside Victor Adeboyejo for most of the season. Charles is integral to Bolton’s promotion hopes – his injury in February coincided with a pair of costly Lancashire derby defeats to Blackpool and Wigan.
HIGHLIGHT Scoring as Northern Ireland shocked Denmark 2-0.
36. Jodi Jones
Club: Notts County
Position: Wing-back
Age: 26
The most assists in an English league season had been 20, a record held by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne. Wing-back Jodi Jones had 21 before March began. His delivery, preposterously good for this level, is catnip to County’s forwards – including our No.39.
HE SAID: “Assisting is as hard as scoring. It isn’t just about you.”
35. Barry Bannan
Club: Sheffield Wednesday
Position: Midfielder
Age: 34
Bannan’s back balling in the Championship, after two seasons in League One and two months looking lost under Xisco Munoz. He’s been revived by Danny Röhl – only eight months his senior.
HE SAID: “I’ve worked under lots of managers who I thought were very good, but there’s something a little different about this guy.”
34. Harrison Burrows
Club: Peterborough United
Position: Defender
Age: 22
Burrows is at left-back again this year through circumstance, but he’ll be hoping to earn an advanced role once Ephron Mason-Clark departs in the summer. Strong in the tackle and with top-notch crossing, he drives Posh forward.
THEY SAID: “He’s showing a real maturity” – Darren Ferguson, on making Burrows vice-captain.
33. Viktor Johansson
Club: Rotherham United
Position: Goalkeeper
Age: 25
The Swede is a shining light in a season that can’t end soon enough for Millers fans. He literally packs a punch, commanding his area, and his shot-stopping is superb – plus he knows how to pick out Cohen Bramall with a big throw.
HIGHLIGHT Brilliantly denying Boro’s Sam Greenwood (and others) in a 1-0 Boxing Day raid.
32. Davis Keillor-Dunn
Club: Mansfield Town
Position: Forward
Age: 26
HE TOLD FFT: "When you miss out by a goal, you think about chances you’ve missed, wondering, ‘What if?’. The manager said he didn’t want any play-offs this time – he wanted to be in the top three. That’s been our motivation. League Two is the toughest it’s ever been, but I’ve enjoyed it. Recently we’ve beaten Harrogate 9-2 and Salford 5-1 – goals galore."
Read our full interview with Davis Keillor-Dunn.
31. Yaser Asprilla
Club: Watford
Position: Winger
Age: 20
Even as the Hornets dropped their levels, the same couldn’t be said of Asprilla. The Colombian firework has brought courage, flair and a ferocious left-footed drive – see his pair of rockets against Norwich and Rotherham, scored within the same week.
DID YOU KNOW? Barcelona are interested – some compliment...
30. Alfie May
Club: Charlton Athletic
Position: Forward
Age: 30
Hitting 20 league goals (24 total) by March 15 is quite something in an underperforming team, and he’s even been shunted wide at times. His movement, link-up play and work ethic are also key.
THEY SAID: “He’s sending you down” – Charlton fans after May, rather more anguished, notched against former club Cheltenham.
29. Taylor Harwood-Bellis
Club: Southampton
Position: Defender
Age: 22
Taylor Harwood-Bellis is an assured defensive presence and his vision makes a difference to Russ Martin’s possession-heavy Saints side – while short passing is the default, he loves a cute diagonal into Adam Armstrong to keep his opponents honest.
HIGHLIGHT Joining an England senior team training session in November. A taste of the future?
28. Will Keane
Club: Preston North End
Position: Forward
Age: 31
Keane secured the short move from Wigan to Deepdale last summer and scored four goals in his first five league games as North End started like a house on fire. His clinical finishing is an asset; so, too, his close control and excellent decision-making.
HIGHLIGHT A delicious spinning backheel against Watford to put PNE 1-0 up... before losing 5-1.
27. Herbie Kane
Club: Barnsley
Position: Midfielder
Age: 25
With his passing range and eye for a through-ball, Kane is the free-scoring Tykes’ creative hub. He sees team-mates’ movement and takes up intelligent positions himself to convert critical goals – eight pre-March, including three equalisers and a trio of winners.
DID YOU KNOW? He was a 2018 Golden Boy nominee with Trent Alexander-Arnold, his fellow Red.
26. Finn Azaz
Club: Middlesbrough
Position: Midfielder
Age: 23
When Aston Villa recalled Azaz from Plymouth and sold him to Boro for £2.5m, it fitted perfectly for everyone but Argyle. In the South West and the North East, he’s been a dangerous dribbler, prolific shooter and artistic ace.
DID YOU KNOW? Azaz spent every Wednesday across a five-month period visiting patients at St Luke’s Hospice in Plymouth.
25. Devante Cole
Club: Barnsley
Position: Forward
Age: 28
When you’re the son of the fourth-most prolific striker in Premier League history, the pressure of finding the net on a regular basis must weigh heavy. Fortunately, Devante Cole seems to have inherited the instincts that helped his dad, Andy, enjoy a glittering career back in the 1990s and early 2000s.
As spring 2024 rolled around, the Barnsley forward was sitting near the top of League One’s scoring charts thanks to a blistering campaign in which he has averaged roughly a goal every other game. Cole has already guaranteed this season will be his most productive, with his effort against Carlisle in January meaning he had surpassed last term’s personal best league tally of 15.
24. Liam Millar
Club: Preston North End
Position: Wing-back
Age: 24
Even as a right-footer playing as a left-sided wing-back, there’s an air of the chalk-on-the-boots oldschool winger to the loanee from Basel: all dribbling, all crossing.
HIGHLIGHT An incredible solo winner against Leeds on Boxing Day, having also created North End’s opener, during a run of five goals or assists in four matches.
23. Ilias Chair
Club: QPR
Position: Winger
Age: 26
Marti Cifuentes has the Moroccan maestro at his best again. Amid consistency issues – and off-field issues – he’s the Championship’s most watchable player on form.
HIGHLIGHT Responding to a rare benching, away at Preston, by emerging at half-time to register two brilliant assists. Point made – and three valuable points won.
22. Ephron Mason-Clark
Club: Peterborough United
Position: Forward
Age: 24
Sorry, Kwame Poku, in the eyes of our voters the extra physicality of your fellow Posh wideman gives him the edge. Coventry agree: in January they signed Mason-Clark and loaned him back for the rest of this goal-laden campaign.
HIGHLIGHT An acrobatic strike and ice-cool finish for a brace to beat Charlton. EMC, squared.
21. Nathaniel Mendez-Laing
Club: Derby County
Position: Forward
Age: 31
HE TOLD FFT: "When you’ve got a striker who’s on fire, like Collo [James Collins], it makes your job so much easier. I’ve always been one who prides their game on assists.
"I was asked earlier in the season if I preferred to score or assist, and people didn’t believe me when I said it’s to assist, but my role is to create opportunities and I’ve been able to do that – as well as scoring goals."
Read our full interview with Nathaniel Mendez-Laing.
20. Wilfred Ndidi
Club: Leicester City
Position: Midfielder
Age: 27
Without the fi nesse to sit deeper under Enzo Maresca, the Nigerian was given an advanced role and he’s excelled with his newfound freedom. As a tackling specialist, he’s also a monster in the press.
THEY SAID: “We always look for players to arrive in the penalty box, and I noticed in Wilfred the capacity to do that” – Maresca.
19. Wilfried Gnonto
Club: Leeds United
Position: Forward
Age: 20
Gnonto refused to play back in August, only for four Everton offers to be rejected. Now the Italian is part of Leeds’ electric frontline, taking on defenders, attacking the box and finding the corners.
THEY SAID: “He was always the poster boy so it isn’t easy on the bench, but he’s fi rst to celebrate if we score” – boss Daniel Farke.
18. Ben Sheaf
Club: Coventry City
Position: Midfielder
Age: 26
Given more breathing space in a box-to-box role after Gus Hamer’s exit, the ex-Arsenal man is City’s most consistent player – and the one they miss most if absent.
DID YOU KNOW? Five of Sheaf’s immediate family members have got a professional background in either football or volleyball. Very active holidays, we imagine…
17. Stephy Mavididi
Club: Leicester City
Position: Winger
Age: 25
The fast, strong wide forward is horrible for defenders, especially in those ominous one-on-ones, and it’s not much easier for the goalkeepers: he sure knows how to curl a shot into the far corner.
THEY SAID: “He must improve his behaviour” – manager Enzo Maresca after Mavididi taunted Birmingham fans, having scored.
16. Joe Rodon
Club: Leeds United
Position: Defender
Age: 26
Leeds perhaps lack the same type of creativity in deep centre-midfield that Daniel Farke’s title-winning Norwich sides had, so defenders are crucial to ball-progression. Rodon’s pings to the flank are ideal, then – and he’s a warrior.
DID YOU KNOW? A huge tattoo of a Gladiator scene covers his back. Yes, Joe, we’re entertained.
15. Leif Davis
Club: Ipswich Town
Position: Defender
Age: 24
Hardly a conventional left-back, the Geordie is given the licence to make the flank all his own, while still forming part of a four-man defence. Talk about lung-busting.
HIGHLIGHT Having set up two goals, he slotted an 89th-minute winner in March’s 3-2 victory at home to Bristol City, sparking utter bedlam at Portman Road.
14. Gabriel Sara
Club: Norwich City
Position: Midfielder
Age: 24
No midfi elder in the Championship has fired more shots than Sara – and after August’s rocket against Southampton, who can blame him? In a deeper role, the brilliant Brazilian had nine goals and 11 assists by mid-March, not including the attacks he starts.
THEY SAID: “The full package” – City team-mate Kenny McLean.
13. Conor Chaplin
Club: Ipswich Town
Position: Forward
Age: 27
Following a 26-goal promotion season, Chaplin is thriving as the striker who isn’t a striker – Ipswich’s main goal threat, yet operating behind George Hirst or Kieffer Moore. He creates, but he mainly gives keepers no respite.
DID YOU KNOW? He’s taken the league’s most shots inside the penalty box (71 by mid-March).
12. Callum O'Hare
Club: Coventry City
Position: Midfielder
Age: 25
A game-changer, capable of bending reality to his will and making a match entirely his own, O'Hare's return to the Coventry side this term following a serious Boxing Day 2022 injury has been nothing short of mesmerising.
Floppy-haired, socks rolled right down and calves on display, he carries visual echoes of another Aston Villa youth star with Irish ancestry and hypnotic dribbling, though comparing him to Jack Grealish would only serve to spoil the individuality of their talents. After five seasons with Mark Robins’ Coventry, O’Hare is likely to leave on a free this summer. Gentlemen, start your engines.
11. Ethan Ampadu
Club: Leeds United
Position: Defender/Midfielder
Age: 23
After four loans of varying turbulence in Germany, England and Italy, the dynamic Welshman instantly looked at home with his permanent switch to Leeds. He has been exceptional, first in midfi eld and then in defence.
DID YOU KNOW? He played 89 or more minutes in 42 of Leeds’ opening 43 games. Undroppable.
10. Harry Winks
Club: Leicester City
Position: Midfielder
Age: 28
If it’s a surprise to see Winks in the second tier, it’s no surprise to see him treat it like his plaything. His positional discipline is vital to Enzo Maresca’s 4D chess and he has also scored two late winners, including a stunner against QPR.
DID YOU KNOW? Most passes in midfield? Tick. Best success rate? Tick. Pass pass pass pass pass...
9. Kyle Walker-Peters
Club: Southampton
Positon: Defender
Age: 26
Kyle is another of the ‘What are you doing here?’ brigade, having played for England in 2022. Solid defensively, penetrative in attack and a top dribbler, he’s a Premier League full-back in all but name (and still has two-thirds of one).
HE SAID: “I’ve been kicked more times than I’ve ever been kicked. My ankles are in absolute bits.”
8. Morgan Whittaker
Club: Plymouth Argyle
Position: Forward
Age: 23
While Whittaker is near the top of the charts for chance-creating carries and shot-ending carries, alongside several assists for team-mates, the former England youth international is also challenging for the division's Golden Boot after a host of screamers - notably carbon-copy strikes against Norwich, Ipswich and Sunderland, which saw Whittaker drift in from the right flank before unleashing a left-footed humdinger beyond a helpless goalkeeper.
DID YOU KNOW? Argyle rejected an eight-figure bid from Champions League side Lazio for Whittaker in January, after spending just £1m on him last summer.
7. Jaden Philogene
Club: Hull City
Position: Winger
Age: 22
Philogene is showing elite potential, with eight goals and six assists from his first 22 starts in spite of a six-week lay-off. He’s tricky and elusive – Aston Villa’s £15m buy-back fee was smart.
HIGHLIGHT Sitting down poor Ollie Rathbone before conjuring an iconic rabona for Rotherham to deflect into their own goal.
6. Georginio Rutter
Club: Leeds United
Position: Forward
Age: 21
Rutter’s endurance, space-awareness and link-up work for Leeds are sublime, but he’s not exactly prolific (six goals from 11 xG). After thriving as a false nine, he dropped into a 10 role so Patrick Bamford could poach – selfless.
DID YOU KNOW? Rutter’s first professional goal came in the Champions League. Nicely done.
5. Sammie Szmodics
Club: Blackburn Rovers
Position: Forward
Age: 28
Did SAS leave stardust on the pitch? Because Ewood Park produces marksmen. After Ben Brereton Diaz, now Szmodics is a surprise frontrunner for the Golden Boot, despite Rovers’ travails this term.
HE SAID: “Not much has really changed from last season – I’ve just been given more freedom to get a bit higher up the pitch.”
4. Adam Armstrong
Club: Southampton
Position: Forward
Age: 27
The 5ft 8in goal-getter is clearly held in very high regard by his gaffer – Russel Martin has credited Armstrong’s attitude, describing him as being “like a warrior” and praising his bravery, aggression and willingness to win the ball back from the front.
The Saints supremo has even revealed that playing clips of his No.9 recovering has become a regular theme of his team meetings, highlighting the importance of Armstrong to the side.
3. Jack Clarke
Club: Sunderland
Positon: Winger
Age: 23
Pacy and direct with an eye for goal, Clarke has again got tongues wagging across English football. The Sunderland wideman is enjoying his best-ever campaign for goals, matching last term’s tally of nine way back in October and plundering his 15th of the season in February before injury stymied his progress.
But with Sunderland’s hopes of another play-off celebration thwarted by instability in the dugout, Clarke will probably be looking to step up again elsewhere this summer.
2. Crysencio Summerville
Club: Leeds United
Position: Winger
Age: 22
Summerville doesn’t lose the ball easily, something most would consider an occupational hazard for a productive, risk-taking attacker, and uses his explosivity wisely. Given a yard of space, he’ll make the most of it, but he’s equally happy to create space for team-mates via his movement and willingness to stretch rearguards.
On top of all of that, the selfless wideman sits atop the Championship metrics for goals, assists, chances created, big chances created and successful take-ons. There’s very little he doesn’t offer. Look out, Premier League...
1. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
Club: Leicester City
Position: Midfielder
Age: 25
HE TOLD FFT: "No one expected us to start that well, as a lot changed at the club over the summer. When the new manager came in, we hit the ground running and we needed that. We needed the players to get their confidence back after last season. Starting so well meant the lads were enjoying their football.
"Personally, getting into double figures for both goals and assists has been a massive positive, as a pre-season target I really wanted to hit. Scoring twice on the first weekend was a good start, then I got another header against West Brom. I’d never scored a header in my career; now, if the ball comes into the penalty area, [Mimes header] I’ll give it a good go."
