Addicks smacked by Posh, Wrexham seal big win, and why Bradford are the EFL's only sleeping giant...
24 March 2025 | Weekend Notes brings you the biggest stories, stats and insights from the EFL weekend.
● BIG STORIES ● CHEAT SHEET ● 5IVELIGHTS ● THE VIEW FROM ● FORM BOOK ● FANTASY FOOTBALL ●
Back to the Future…
Missing in action for a few weeks, I return to find “Scott Lindsey’s Crawley” and an MK Dons side winning. Who fired up the DeLorean?
The EFL and its cast of characters are full of surprises. Even the international break delivers. What’s that? Thelo Aasgaard on the scoresheet next to Erling Haaland. A record number of goals in League Two (for all the wrong reasons). Posh shocking — in a good way. And things getting handsy in the big game amongst League One’s carnivores.
Welcome to Weekend Notes.
🚨 Big Stories
A selection of decisive moments from across the EFL
🦖 T-Wrex roar into second — Wrexham 1-0 Stockport — (I didn’t want to labour Huw’s dinosaur pun for the second week running, but it made sense…). Tyrannical teachings from my school days drilled in one key fact about the T-Rex: tiny arms. Ibou Touray has normal-sized arms, and when James McClean nodded the ball back, it hit them. Penalty? No. McClean gestured wildly to the assistant. Penalty? Yes. After the flap, Jay Rodriguez’s spot-kick was saved, but his rebound made it 1-0.
Chances went back and forth. Arthur Okonkwo’s fingertip save kept Stockport out, Ollie Rathbone should’ve doubled Wrexham’s lead, and Jayden Fevrier came close to an equaliser. Then, Brad Hills saw a second yellow, easing the final ten minutes for Wrexham. The win moves them into second, ahead of Wycombe, who didn’t play. Stockport look set for the play-offs.
🏖️ Peter out — Peterborough 3-0 Charlton — After weathering some early set-pieces, Posh put themselves realistically if not mathematically out of reach from relegation danger with a consequential win against the Addicks. It all began with a problem of Charlton’s own making, a rare-but-always-fun backpass that was picked up — Kwame Poku eventually found the head of Sam Hughes from the resulting free-kick. A lovely Abraham Odoh strike on the counter made it 2-0, and by the time Mothersille (she’s fine don’t worry) scored the third late on, Posh had already spurned chances to be further ahead. Charlton’s heaviest defeat of the season must be a shock to their system. Ferguson & Co. will be happy to see the season peter out towards the beach.
🪽 Brad bull gives you wings — Bradford 4-1 Colchester — Top of the form table over the last 10 games, with 24 points and up to 8th in League Two, Colchester travelled to Bradford with that crucial intangible: momentum. And surely, momentum would be helped by Bradford missing their four best attacking players (Messrs Cook, Sarcevic, Pointon, Pattison)? No. Bradford found joy in the wide areas, making driving runs and thriving on crosses. They deserved their lead, but at 2-1, it could’ve swung the other way if Owura Edwards had squared the ball for a tap-in instead of forcing the Bradford keeper into a big save — a pivotal moment.
The pendulum swung again. Calum Kavanagh’s second, in behind down the right wing, was Bradford’s third. Then, rinse and repeat on the left wing, as George Lapslie’s brace capped off the 4-1 scoreline — a huge win for the Bantams, with leaders Walsall drawing. Colchester were left to wait for the results of those around them, such as…
🐟 Fishy misses, but Grimsby land the catch — Grimsby 1-0 Newport — It may be an exaggeration to say Grimsby missed a billion chances before scoring a spammy winner from a deflected free-kick, but it must’ve been at least a thousand million. Saves, blocks, bad finishing and crossbars meant the Mariners weren’t further ahead when George McEachran did score midway through the second half. Dave Artell’s side jumped back into 7th spot with ColU and Crewe just a point behind.
🕳️ Crawl space? — Crawley 1-0 Bristol Rovers — The heart monitor still blips for Crawley’s season, thanks to Kamari Doyle. His first-half goal takes him to seven goal contributions (4G 3A) in 11 games — the most prolific teenager in the top four tiers since his January loan from Brighton (he missed a near-open net too). Teenage dreams live on, and there were real Scott Lindsey Crawley moments in this game: flicks, tricks, whirls and spins, high pressing at a blistering pace. They couldn’t…? Gas, meanwhile, were dreadful and have now followed two wins with two defeats.
🫖 Let it brew — Burton P-P Wigan — Did Burton win the weekend without playing? With Gas and Northampton losing, Gary Bowyer’s side now have a crucial game in hand. A win could put them within three points of safety given they have a superior goal difference to the two sides above.
📊 Monday Morning Cheat Sheet
From the WhatsApp group to the watercooler: stats to keep you ahead of the game.
🔍 Run-in watch: L1 — Bolton have the easiest run-in when accounting for the points-per-game accrued by their remaining opponents (0.96). That’s a big contrast with Huddersfield, whose opponents average 1.69. The toughest fixtures in the league look to be Burton’s: in their final 9 matches, they face opponents averaging 1.87 ppg.
🔍 Run-in watch: L2 — It’s more marginal in the fourth tier, but Donny (1.34) look to have the kindest fixtures in the top 10, whilst Morecambe (1.10 ppg) have comparatively the easiest run-in across the whole division. They’re going to need it.
0️⃣ Zero-sum games — A paltry goalscoring record but a record nonetheless, with the five 0-0 draws in League Two the joint-most ever on a single day in the fourth tier.
🕶️ Goals Bro’ — Peterbro’ scored 3 against Charlton to make it 116 goals scored in their league matches this season (GF 56, GA 60), which is the second-highest tally in the EFL after Argyle.
🏆 One hand on the Brophy — Cambridge United’s winger James Brophy scored against Barnsley for the first time in 160 league games.
📉 Dons but not out — MK have been in dreadful fettle, but won their first away league game since New Year’s Day, keeping their first clean sheet on the road in League Two since April 2024.
🍑 Kiss the Cheek — In his first season in the English Football League, Michael Cheek has more goal contributions (24) than anyone else playing within it.
🃏🃏Two pair — Calum Kavanagh and George Lapslie hit braces for Bradford on Saturday, and were the first Bantams players to do so since 2008 when Michael Boulding and Peter Thorne hit two-pair against this Exeter side:
🎦 5ivelights
In no particular order, a collection of our favourite goals or clips from across the 72.
Barrow wheel away with a lovely last-gasp leveller at Wimbledon.
Picked-up back-pass + indirect freekick + melee + cross + goal = E.F.L …
Wonderful work in Crawley assist as Doyle strikes first goal of new Lindsey era
Ronan Curtis puts Port Vale in charge with a sweet first-time strike.
Aint’ no Valley low enough - Bradford belt out a tune…
The View From…
Leeds, Blackburn, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Coventry, Derby, Stoke, Sunderland: sleeping giants, you ain’t.
The spinning of narratives, the weaving of hard-luck stories, and the lifting up of the underdog whenever one of these latent powers shows any signs of success is factually incorrect. There can only be one “sleeping giant”, and here’s a simple, workable definition of what that looks like:
Must have been a ‘giant’ — i.e. made an impact in the top flight within living memory, with more than a single season in the Premier League.
Must have been asleep — i.e. have been outside the top flight for at least a decade, without any realistic prospect of promotion to the Premier League during that time.
Ladies and gentlemen, Bradford City have hit the snooze button for 20 years. They are the EFL’s only sleeping giant, and they’re stirring. They’re wiping their bleary eyes, scratching their you-know-whats, and preparing for the next big move along the beanstalk.
Two decades outside the Championship, too long in the doldrums and too many false dawns. However, on Saturday, Bradford City set a new record with the highest-ever attendance in League Two (23,381) for a game against a Colchester side that, in recent weeks, has looked like the closest thing to an immovable object. But the Bantams? They’re the unstoppable force.
They’re more than in with a shout to take the saddle from Walsall and ride into the sun, back into League One. Any promotion would be the end of one story, but could it be the start of something bigger? Jack (played by the rest of the EFL) may still be holding the golden eggs, but Bradford City are lumbering forward. For the fans, the journey up the beanstalk must feel sweet again now.
🏆 Fantasy Football
Go head-to-head against team NTT20 in our EFL Fantasy Football league
Ali Maxwell took to the dugout in Boohoo Man trackies, a Ralph Lauren suit jacket and bowling shoes. Nobody knows why. There’s a lot more logic in his picks for the NTT20 side this week.
Now, 50 points might not sound like a huge tally but we tracked just above average and it actually lifts us into 97th place. Of course, the hero at the top remains Mr Browne’s Boys - gu on lads. Whilst DCW United, managed by the England Pod’s very own DCW, have racked up the most points this GW, with 71.
A brief moment of excitement at the prospect of a Blues loanee I'd never heard of doing really well in L2. But no, Kamari Doyle is on loan from Brighton, not Birmingham.