RESEARCH SHOWS EFL FANS PREDICTiONS

A poll to over 6,000 fans conducted by Goodform on behalf of the EFL, has seen supporters predict it will be Newcastle United, Sheffield United and Portsmouth that win silverware as Sky Bet EFL divisional champions at the end of the season.

Newcastle fans themselves predicted they would finish in first place in the Sky Bet Championship, and it was a view matched by fans of every other Championship club, with a huge 74% saying it will be the Magpies who lift the famous Lady trophy in May.

In Sky Bet League One, Sheffield United (24%) are the fans’ predicted champions, though there was also strong backing for two teams looking for promotion back to the Championship at the first attempt – Charlton Athletic (20%) and Bolton Wanderers (18%).

In Sky Bet League Two, Portsmouth are the strong favourites among fans to win the division with 42% of supporters backing them, followed by newcomers Doncaster Rovers (18%) and last season’s defeated Sky Bet Play-Off finalists, Plymouth Argyle (12%).

Newcastle United fans have also been revealed as the most optimistic supporters in the EFL ahead of the start of the 2016/17 season. With an average optimism rating of 4.78 out of 5, more fans of Newcastle supporters than any other club say they are feeling ‘very optimistic’ ahead of the new campaign.

Having suffered relegation last season, the new sense of optimism among Magpies fans has seen them predict they will finish top of the division and seal an immediate return to the top flight.

Just behind Newcastle in the Championship optimism table were Sheffield Wednesday fans (4.69), with Derby County third (4.41).

The most optimistic fans among teams in Sky Bet League One are Scunthorpe United supporters (4.43), followed by Millwall (4.39) and Sheffield United (4.31). Among fans in Sky Bet League Two, those most optimistic about their team’s chances this season are Portsmouth fans (4.73), followed by Luton Town (4.53) and Doncaster Rovers (4.40)

The results are based on an EFL survey, conducted by Goodform, of 6,128 supporters across all 72 EFL clubs, which also asked fans what position they think their team will finish in, which team they thought would win the division, which fixture they are most looking forward to, who would be top scorer and which player from another team in their division they would most like to sign.

The full results of the EFL fan survey can be found at http://www.efl.com/news/article/2016/fans-predict-newcastle-sheffield-united-portsmouth-to-win-divisions-3225302.aspx#cGhTg2JkQEqruHpa.99