Top 8 EFL League One strikers you simply need to watch out for in 2026/27 | OneFootball

Football League World looks at eight third-tier frontmen who could be in for standout campaigns next season

The 2026/27 League One campaign is already shaping up to be one that won't lack storylines.

There will be plenty of sides who fancy themselves pre-season to make a push for the play-offs, while the newly promoted quartet have numerous qualities between them that make them candidates to stay up, and perhaps even push for back-to-back promotions, in some cases.

But, regardless of what every team's pre-season expectations are, they'll all want to have a frontman ready to score between 15 and 20 goals to help achieve them.

And, the storylines surrounding those talisman are incredibly intriguing, too.

From players set to appear in their first third-tier campaigns, to loanees returning to their parent clubs, ready to make an impact, and even young stars who will be looking to build on brilliant foundations that they set in the season just gone, here are eight strikers in League One that you need to look out for next season.

Michael Cheek

The rise of Bromley from the National League to League One has been nothing short of heroic. Leading the line and flying the flag throughout it all has been Michael Cheek, who hadn't played in the EFL until the Ravens secured promotion from the fifth tier in 2024.

In that first League Two campaign, Cheek scored 25 goals and won the division's Player of the Season. Last year, he scored 16 to help Andy Woodman's side win the fourth tier and secure this place in League One for the first time.

Cheek will turn 35 in the opening weeks of the campaign, but he's proven recently that, despite his age, he's been able to keep up with the demands of EFL football.

A lot of neutrals will be keen to see how Bromley as a whole does in the first third-tier campaign in their history, but alongside that, the performances of Cheek, who wouldn't have imagined himself to be playing this high up seven years ago when he signed for the club from Ebbsfleet United, will be under the magnifying glass, too.

Joe Taylor

Any doubts that Joe Taylor wasn't worth the £3 million that Huddersfield Town splashed on him in January 2025 were quickly shut down during the 23-year-old's loan spell at Wigan Athletic in the second half of the 2025/26 campaign.

Taylor netted 11 in 21 third-tier outings for the Tics, spearheading the surge away from the relegation zone under Gary Caldwell, and now all eyes will be on whether that goalscoring form can be replicated back at the Accu Stadium.

The ex-Luton Town man has shown that, if you play to his strengths, he can easily score a goal every other game, which will be key to helping Huddersfield achieve their promotion ambitions at the third time of asking.

Now, the onus is on new Terriers boss Martin Drury to see that come to fruition in West Yorkshire.

Dom Ballard

Statistically, there wasn't a better player in League One last season than Dom Ballard. The Leyton Orient frontman took home the Golden Boot, netting 23 times in 40 games, alongside the third tier's Player and Young Player of the Year at the EFL Awards.

The former Southampton youth prospect has truly come into his own under Richie Wellens, following a few dud loan spells at the likes of Reading, Blackpool and Cambridge United in the 18 months predating his move to Brisbane Road.

Because of that, there'll be critics ready to judge Ballard on whether this past campaign was a one-season wonder, or whether the 21-year-old truly is one of the hottest prospects in the entire EFL.

If the O's are to climb closer to where they finished the 2024/25 campaign, you'd imagine that more of the latter will be required from their talisman.

Elijah Adebayo

Elijah Adebayo hasn't properly been seen on a football pitch since April 2025, when he suffered an ACL injury in a Championship matchup against Leeds United. He made a couple of cameo bench appearances last season, but would be sidelined once more in March until the end of the campaign.

The towering frontman is still only 28, and as he enters his prime years, there'll still be some Luton fans reminiscing over the double-digit scoring campaign he managed during their sole season in the Premier League two years ago.

With a full pre-season behind him, providing he's fit throughout it, Adebayo will be out to prove a point, as he looks to make up for lost time and score the goals Luton need to help them get back into the Championship at the second time of asking.

Harry Leonard

Harry Leonard's first season with Peterborough United was very productive, as he netted 16 times in League One, landing him a place in the top five of the goalscoring charts.

More importantly, all of those goals came in the 30 games that he played under Luke Williams, after the former Swansea City boss came to London Road in late October.

Leonard still has plenty of room to grow, and with Williams' expansive, free-flowing attacking style, the 22-year-old is only bound to receive more chances and get better and better in front of goal.

While not at the level of fanfare that Ballard has, the young striker is definitely someone who may catch the eye of some Championship clubs as the year goes on.

Bim Pepple

We've tried to keep the list limited to one player per team, and Plymouth Argyle's representative stands to be Bim Pepple, just due to the fact that the Canadian may be the likelier out of him and Lorent Tolaj to remain at Home Park this summer.

Nevertheless, the 23-year-old's emergence into the spotlight after Tolaj went down with an injury in the early months of 2026 was very impressive. Pepple scored 10 times in an 11-game stretch between mid-January and mid-March, helping push the Pilgrims away from the relegation zone and into top-six contention.

He ended the campaign with 16 goals with just 23 starts and has left plenty of Plymouth fans and neutral League One enjoyers excited to see what he can do as one of the main options throughout a whole campaign.

Plymouth will have expectations to build on their momentum in 2026 to hit the ground running, and along with that comes an expectation that Pepple can be one of the best strikers in the division.

George Brown

There are plenty of Sheffield Wednesday youngsters across the pitch to look out for in the upcoming League One campaign, as the players who were thrown in at the deep end in the Championship are set to use that experience to stake a claim for regular minutes in the division below.

One player who wasn't afforded much of that experience was George Brown, who was unfortunately sidelined pretty early on in the campaign with a hamstring injury, and a setback in April saw him out for the remainder of the season.

If he can be back in time for the pre-season, though, the 20-year-old could be one of the brighter stars in the Wednesday squad. He scored twice in seven Championship outings last season, one of which came in one of only two wins across the year against Portsmouth.

With new ownership in place and the expectation that the squad will be reinforced with plenty of quality and experience, perhaps leaving a space for Brown up front could be something that Wednesday should do during their rebuild.

Adama Sidibeh

The winds of change are blowing at Stockport County already this offseason.

Influential CEO Simon Wilson announced that he was to leave at the end of the campaign. Following that, the Hatters lost the League One play-off final against Bolton Wanderers, and in the wake of it, Dave Challinor's five-year reign as manager has come to an end, too.

Questions are, understandably, being asked about what the squad will look like next season following that seismic shift off-field, and County fans will be hoping that it doesn't mean the end of Adama Sidibeh's short relationship with the club.

The 28-year-old was playing in the seventh tier of English football a little over two years ago, and his rise from Warrington Rylands to Stockport via St Johnstone has been more than impressive.

10 goals in 25 outings, including two Wembley strikes in the Vertu Trophy and play-off finals, understandably has Championship clubs looking at him, per FLW reports, but if he stays at Edgeley Park, there'll be plenty of eyes on what he can do in his first full campaign.