A decade after Leicester won the Premier League, the club find themselves in a very different race: trying to turn a reset into immediate promotion in Football League One. That alone tells you how strange this preview feels. The division is not just about who has the biggest name, but about who has the clearest plan, and Leicester's case begins with Russell Martin.
Martin takes charge of a new-look side that is expected to challenge near the top, and the logic is easy enough to follow. When a club of Leicester's size drops into the third tier after major mismanagement, the pressure does not disappear; it changes shape. The expectation is no longer simply survival or stability. It is to respond quickly, impose order and prove the squad can handle the weight of being the team everyone else measures themselves against.
Why Leicester stand out
The biggest reason Leicester are being framed as promotion contenders is the combination of profile and reset. They are one of the few clubs in the division with recent Premier League pedigree, but that history comes with a warning label rather than a guarantee. The challenge for Martin is to make the past useful without letting it become a burden. In a league where margins are often defined by consistency, that matters more than any individual headline.
Other clubs also enter the 2026-27 picture with questions that shape the race around Leicester. Stockport, after losing the playoff final, changed course by replacing Dave Challinor with Jimmy McNulty. Oxford managed two incomings before the EFL imposed a transfer embargo. Those details do not settle anything on their own, but they do show how much of League One's story will be written before the first long run of results even arrives.
The wider promotion picture
That is what makes this season feel so open. Promotion contenders are not just being judged on talent, but on whether their structures are stable enough to survive the league's demands. Leicester appear to have the clearest case because they combine expectation with a manager tasked with building a new identity. Stockport's change in the dugout adds uncertainty, while the context around Oxford suggests that depth and planning may be tested early.
The season preview also hints at the opposite end of the table, where mismanagement, disruption and squad limitations can quickly become a problem. In League One, that gap between ambition and readiness is often what decides whether a club rises or stalls. Leicester are being tipped to compete for promotion because they should have more of the pieces than most. The harder part is turning that advantage into results.
If Martin gets that balance right, Leicester will not merely be one of the stories of Football League One. They will be the benchmark. If he does not, the reminder will be blunt: reputation can attract attention, but it does not win a promotion race by itself.
