Where AI thinks all Lancashire clubs will finish in their respective league in 26/27 | OneFootball

Football League World has consulted AI-based chatbot, ChatGPT, to see where every Lancashire club in the EFL could finish in the 2026/27 campaign

When it comes to footballing counties, perhaps none are more steeped in EFL footballing tradition than the county of Lancashire.

The Red Rose county had no fewer than six teams occupying spots in the first ever Football League season in 1888-89, with Preston North End running out the first winners - and they did it with an unbeaten season.

There's so much footballing history in the expansive area of the North West that still remains in the EFL, and despite some clubs being taken away to the likes of Cumbria, Greater Manchester and Merseyside when it comes to postcodes, some fans still see their teams as being part of the county of Lancashire.

Taking that into account, there is seven Lancashire clubs plying their trade within the EFL this coming season - but where does AI think they will all finish? Let's take a look...

7 ? ? Accrington Stanley - 11th in League Two

Since their return to the EFL in 2006, Accrington Stanley have managed to continuously punch above their weight and stay within the top four divisions - even reaching League One in 2018 and staying there for five years.

Surrounded by much bigger clubs in the form of Blackburn Rovers to the west and Burnley to the east on the M65, Stanley do well to keep afloat under owner Andy Holt, and last season was actually an improvement from their 21st-placed finish in 2024-25, as they finished the campaign in 16th under John Doolan, who is doing good work in his first managerial job after a long coaching career.

Accy are used to delving into non-league to try and find some gems, and they've done so again this summer by landing centre-back Tom Moore and attacking midfielder Stefan Mols from Southport and Tamworth respectively, and they've been joined by the League Two experience of Joe Anderson and Cole Stockton from Barrow and Salford City.

If Doolan is able to get in more bodies and replace the quality of departees such as Isaac Heath, who has stepped up to sign for Cambridge United after a loan stint from Everton last year, then the predicted AI finish of 11th could be in their grasp.

6 ? ? Blackburn Rovers - 7th in the Championship

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November will see the Venky's reach their 16th year as owners of Blackburn Rovers - and it is safe to say that they are likely never going to see a return on their investment into the Lancashire outfit.

Rovers dropped out of the Premier League quite quickly after the Indian poultry giants' arrival at Ewood Park, with most of their football played at Championship level, with the odd season in League One too.

The last few years for Blackburn have been truly hit and miss, with several managerial sagas to boot. Jon Dahl Tomasson departed in acrimonious circumstances and John Eustace traded a play-off push in 2025 for a relegation battle with Derby - although last season showed he probably made the right call.

Rovers struggled in 2025-26 and just about stayed up by five points, but the return of Tony Mowbray in the dugout has lifted spirits somewhat around the fanbase - just how much influence he holds as a manager still in 2026 remains to be seen.

AI though thinks that Rovers are actually going to make a good go of it in 2026-27, and is tipping them to finish inside the newly-expanded Championship play-offs in seventh position, where they would have to travel away to sixth in the standings in an eliminator, one-legged match to move on to the semi-finals, although it is predicted that Blackburn will lose out at the first stage.

Ian Evatt will be taking charge of his first full campaign in the Blackpool dugout after being hired in October of last year, and AI believes that the Tangerines are going to ruffle more than a few feathers by upsetting the odds to gatecrash the play-off picture next time out.

Blackpool steered away from a relegation dogfight by winning seven of their remaining nine matches at the back-end of the previous campaign to wind up in 13th after successive top-half finishes in the two seasons prior, and while Evatt's side perhaps aren't generally viewed as serious top-six contenders, AI has a strong term in mind at Bloomfield Road and predicts the momentum to continue going into 26/27.

Optimistic supporters among the Tangerines faithful will believe that the building blocks for tangible success in the upcoming season have been placed, and ex-Bolton Wanderers boss Evatt has already bolstered his squad with eye-catching additions in Dion Charles Ilmari Niskanen.

Indeed, it's AI's view that they will make it all the way to the play-off final.

Wembley has been a particularly happy hunting ground for Blackpool, who have won the showpiece affair on three separate occasions in three different divisions, although the prediction is for the Tangerines to lose out in the final - which would mark a sense of deja vu for Evatt after overseeing Bolton's heartbreaking defeat to a Josh Murphy-inspired Oxford United two years ago.

4 ? ? Bolton Wanderers - 13th in the Championship

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Speaking of Bolton, the Trotters have been predicted to enjoy a steadying return to life in the Championship by ending their seven-year exile from the second-tier after avenging the aforementioned play-off final defeat to Oxford with a 3-1 victory over Stockport County at Wembley in May.

Despite missing out on automatic promotion behind Lincoln City and Cardiff by some margin, Bolton are widely viewed as being the best-equipped of the trio to cope with the new demands of Championship football, even if Steven Schumacher has much work to complete over the summer months and will be tasked with the tall order of replacing talented loan hero Amario Cozier-Duberry.

Bolton have been particularly busy to date, though, with Schumacher having already bolstered the squad at his disposal by bringing in the likes of Ben Davies, Kyliane Dong and David Watson.

Trotters fans will hope the wildcard addition of French winger Dong can go some way to filling Cozier-Duberry's void, while Bolton's summer recruitment thus far has encompassed a healthy blend of up-and-coming talent with seasoned Championship know-how - and AI believes such a culmination will result in an extremely solid campaign at the University of Bolton Stadium.

Under the watch of a manager with fair experience at the level in Schumacher, AI's thinking is that Bolton will be comfortably clear of any potential relegation trouble. A top-eight finish is said to be out of reach, but supporters would snap your hand off for this sort of assuring finish in 26/27.

3 ? ? Burnley - 2nd in the Championship

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Once again, Burnley have returned to the Championship after just one year in the Premier League, but their summer so far has been somewhat of a mess.

The sacking of Scott Parker before the 2025-26 season ended could've meant that Clarets chairman Alan Pace had a plan in place for his successor, but as of the opening week of July, there was still no replacement in position at Turf Moor, but now Belgian coach Nicky Hayen is in place after a deal was agreed with Genk, there may be some movement now.

Burnley didn't quite get their recruitment right in their most recent Premier League stint to stay in the division, and they were the only promoted club to drop straight back down, in what is quite a damning indictment.

Hayen should have a Championship-ready squad when he presumably takes over though, providing that there's no significant fire-sale after Jaidon Anthony's £17 million move to Brentford, as well as potential departures for Lesley Ugochukwu and Maxime Esteve - they should be in a fairly strong position to go for automatic promotion yet again, and AI thinks that they'll do just that.

2 ? ? Preston North End - 13th in the Championship

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For the 12th season in succession, Preston North End will take to the pitch as a Championship club - could this finally be the year they crack the play-offs?

Along with Bristol City and QPR, the Lilywhites hold the current longest stint in the second tier of English football, and they've done so by not getting into the top six in that time, although with the play-offs expanding to six spots for the 2026-27 season, now may be the time where they could kick on under Paul Heckingbottom - a promotion winner already from this level with Sheffield United.

It's quite commonplace for North End to have a strong start to a season, only to fall away in the second half of the campaign when resources run on empty or injuries start to kick in, and that's exactly what happened in 2025-26 - fourth in the table after a January win over Bristol City, Heckingbottom's side went on a poor run of form after that, and ended up finishing 14th.

Change could be coming however at Deepdale. The Hemmings Family are in takeover talks with Saudi-American businessman Amr Zedan and seemingly have been since January, and whilst updates have been sparse, there's reason to believe that a deal could be close - the record-shattering £6 million deal to bring Alfie Devine to the club on a permanent basis after a successful loan spell is perhaps a sign.

AI though thinks that North End, even with a potential takeover, will still be in the middle of the pack for the upcoming campaign, with a prediction of one spot better than last season - and ChatGPT thinks that if a Championship-proven striker and a commanding centre-half at the very least are added, then a flirtation with eighth spot in the standings could be a possibility.

1 ? ? Wigan Athletic - 15th in League One

As for Wigan Athletic, AI has predicted a near-identical league finish to be in store in what would represent another middling and frustrating old campaign at the Brick Community Stadium.

Noting a fairly inconsistent season last time out, which saw the Latics part company with Ryan Lowe before bringing Gary Caldwell back to the club to move away from a relegation scrap and towards mid-table mediocrity with an eventual 16th-placed finish.

Wigan haven't threatened to return to the Championship since suffering relegation in 2023, though, and it's hard to imagine that changing anytime soon with limited investment and what many fans view as a lack of ambition from the hierarchy.

However, Caldwell is already overseeing a summer of change with a few hurdles to navigate. Joe Taylor will need to be strongly replaced following his haul of 11 goals in 21 League One appearances during the second-half of the previous campaign on loan from Huddersfield Town, whereas impressive goalkeeper Sam Tickle has finally left the Latics by joining Bristol City.

Tickle's departure has opened the door for a rebuild of the squad, which has seen the likes of Connor Barrett, Sonny Perkins, Connor Barrett and Joe Walsh all arrive in the early stages of the summer window.