With just over a week until the League One season kicks off on August 1-3, and League Two beginning on the same weekend, the anticipation for the new EFL campaign is building.
Championship fans have a slightly longer wait, with their opening fixtures starting on August 8-10 in Gameweek 2.
While pre-season results should always be viewed with a degree of caution, they offer valuable insights into a club’s current standing. These friendlies are crucial for assessing team cohesion, identifying standout performers, and seeing how new signings are integrating into the squad.
This article specifically highlights EFL clubs that have maintained a perfect winning record throughout their pre-season campaigns, focusing solely on winning streaks rather than merely unbeaten runs.
If you want any more news on pre-season results for the entire 72, check our pre-season results tracker here.
- READ MORE: Ultimate pre-season guide
Note – if you see an ‘N’ listed for a fixture, it signifies a neutral venue, meaning the game was played in a different country.*
CHAMPIONSHIP
| TEAM | MATCH ONE | MATCH TWO | MATCH THREE |
| Blackburn Rovers | 2-1 vs Accrington Stanley (A) | 1-0 vs Everton (H) | 5-1 vs Qatar SC (N) |
| Charlton Athletic | 3-2 vs Dartford (A) | 2-1 vs HNK Gorica (N) | 3-0 vs Wealdstone (A) |
| Leicester City | 3-1 vs Peterborough United (H) | 2-1 vs OH Leuven (H) | |
| Oxford United | 6-3 vs Indonesia All Star (N) | 3-0 vs Arema FC (N) | 1-0 vs Mansfield Town (A) |
| Portsmouth | 2-0 vs Woking (H) | 5-0 vs Farnborough (A) | 1-0 vs Crawley Town (A) |
| Sheffield United | 6-2 vs York City (H) | 5-0 vs Rotherham United (A) | 2-1 vs Burton Albion (A) |
A quick note on our criteria: We’re focusing on teams with more than one pre-season win, so clubs like Southampton and Coventry City, despite winning their only fixture so far, aren’t included in these streak observations.
Additionally, if you see an ‘N’ listed for a fixture, it signifies a neutral venue, meaning the game was played in a different country.*
Observations
The early signs are positive for all six teams vying for promotion this season. Newly relegated Leicester City appear to be embracing Marti Cifuentes’s style of play, which bodes well for their campaign.
Sheffield United, another strong contender for promotion, have also started the season robustly, showcasing a new free-scoring approach. A key factor in their attacking prowess has been Ryan One (F), who has netted four goals in just three appearances, scoring in every match so far. It seems Ruben Selles is successfully unlocking the Blades’ attacking potential, a significant improvement from last season, where they struggled for goals, managing only 63 compared to Burnley’s 69 and Leeds’ 95.
Newly-promoted Charlton Athletic have continued their positive momentum following their play-off final victory. While their initial fixtures haven’t provided the sternest challenges, Ipswich Town (A) on July 29 will indicate the club’s current standing.
Portsmouth has made a truly impressive start to the season, standing as the only club on this list yet to concede a goal. This is a remarkable turnaround, especially considering they conceded 71 goals last year, which was the third-most in their division.
Adding to their strong performance, Pompey’s eight goals so far have come from eight different goal-scorers.
Blackburn Rovers are continuing to impress under the guidance of Valerien Ismael, who famously led them on a late play-off charge last season. One name to keep tabs on is talisman Yuki Ohashi (F). The Japan international has already netted three goals in as many games. Set-piece specialist Todd Cantwell (M) has also quickly found the back of the net, while marquee signing Dion de Neve (F) is off the mark, scoring the winning goal against the Toffees.
LEAGUE ONE
| TEAM | MATCH ONE | MATCH TWO | MATCH THREE | MATCH FOUR |
| Exeter City | 6-0 vs Weston Super-Mare (H) | 4-1 vs FC United of Manchester (A) | ||
| Luton Town | 3-0 vs Boreham Wood (A) | 8-1 vs Triglav Kranj (N) | 2-0 vs Gillingham (A) | 2-0 vs Southend United (A) |
Two notable admissions from here are Bolton Wanderers and Doncaster Rovers, who have won four of their five matches.*
Observations
At present, only two League One sides have won all of their respective pre-season games.
Take Exeter’s results with a pinch of salt, because although they’ve won both matches by an aggregate of 10-1, they haven’t faced a Football League side.
Nonetheless, it’s still good from an attacking perspective, after scoring just 49 goals last campaign. Sonny Cox (F) has scored two in two.
Meanwhile, newly-relegated Luton Town, under manager Matt Bloomfield, are pushing for an immediate return to the Championship.
They’ve had a strong start, scoring 13 goals and conceding only one in four games.
Various players are performing well: Cauley Woodrow (F), who struggled last season, has already scored twice, and new 2025 winter signing Lasse Nordas (F) has three goals. Nakhi Wells (F) also recently made his first start against the Gills.
Their real test comes on July 26 against Spurs (H).
LEAGUE TWO
| TEAM | MATCH ONE | MATCH TWO | MATCH THREE | MATCH FOUR | MATCH FIVE | MATCH SIX |
| Colchester United | 3-0 vs Maldon & Tiptree (A) | 5-0 vs Dagenham & Redbridge (A) | ||||
| Crewe Alexandra | 6-0 vs Kidsgrove Athletic (A) | 7-1 vs Newcastle Town (A) | 5-0 vs Ashton United (A) | 5-1 vs Radcliffe (A) | 4-0 vs Birmingham City (H) | 1-2 vs Stoke City (H) |
While still impressive, similarly to Exeter, we have to take Colchester’s results with a pinch of salt, but they’re starting pre-season as they mean to go on.
They’ve beaten both non-league opposition 8-0 on aggregate, with Teddy Bishop (M) leading the scoring with two goals.
The U’s will be eager for this strong start to translate into league form, especially after missing out on the play-offs by just three points last season.
The other team that deserves a special mention are Crewe Alexandra, who are the only club in the EFL to win five straight pre-season matches. Before losing to Stoke 2-1 in their sixth. Even still, an aggregate score of 28-4 isn’t bad going, eh?
However, four of these were against non-league opposition, most notably Kidsgrove and Newcastle Town are in the eighth tier of the English football league system.
Nevertheless, Lee Bell’s side still deserve their flowers. They followed up the four routings with a 4-0 win over Birmingham City (H), who played a full-strength side.
25/26 signing Josh March (F) has seven goals in that time, scoring in each game. He had 14 goal contributions in 34 last campaign for Harrogate. Behind him, Calum Agius (F) and Luca Moore (M) have three goals apiece.
