The 92 Shuffle

With the 2022/23 season now behind us the time is nigh to look forward to the new season in August.

As a new season dawns the 92 teams in the league system gets shuffled around a bit. The most eye-catching of these shuffles being Luton Town being promoted to the Premier League.

Burnley’s Turf Moor (21,944) and Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane (32,050) will be joining the 10,358 capacity Kenilworth Road in replacing Southampton’s St. Marys’ (32,384), Leeds United’s Elland Road (37,890) and ex-champions Leicester City’s King Power Stadium (32,261) in the top division.

So whilst away fans in the top tiers find their allocations reduced at the new stadiums they will frequent next season, it’s good news for the fans of Sheffield Wednesday, Ipswich Town and Plymouth Argyle. Not that they didn’t have enough to celebrate with their promotions to the Championship anyway.

Sunderland’s Stadium of Light (49,000) will be a far cry from their Home Park (17,900) for the Devonians, but at least Hillsborough (39,732) and Portman Road (29,673) will be familiar from their visits last season.

Blackpool’s Bloomfield Road (16,616), Reading’s Select Car Leasing Stadium (24,161) and Wigan’s DW (25,138) will not be on the Argyle fans travel list though as they dropped down into League one. Their grounds will instead play host to fans of Leyton Orient, Stevenage, Northampton Town and Carlisle United who have jumped up from the bottom tier of the 92.

As Brisbane Road (9,271), Broadhall Way (7,800), Sixfields (7,798) and Brunton Park (17,949) move up out of League 2, Wrexham’s incredible fans will be visiting Milton Keynes’ Stadium MK (30,500), Morecambe’s Mazuma Stadium (6,476), The Crown Stadium of Accrington Stanley (5,450) and Forest Green’s New Lawn (5,414) instead.

The fans of Notts County will be back in the 92 as well next season, following the oldest league club in the world from the 19,841 County Ground.

Fans of both the Magpies and the Red Dragons will doubtless enjoy themselves on their return to the 92, but for them to return others must of course drop out. The unfortunate ones looking enviously up at the 92 again next season will be Harrogate Town and Rochdale AFC, who return to non-league after 102 years away from those levels.

This is how the 92 shuffle has shaken out this summer and soon, but not soon enough the battle to avoid dropping down in the next 92 summer shuffle will commence once more.

Roll on the 2023/24 season