Ranked! The top 50 Football League players 2023

As the season’s run-in approaches, it can only mean one thing: with help from our readers, it’s time for FFT’s annual list of the finest stars outside the top flight

30. Ross Stewart

Sunderland striker Ross Stewart in action during the Sky Bet Championship between Sunderland and Queens Park Rangers at Stadium of Light on August 13, 2022 in Sunderland, England

Sunderland striker Ross Stewart in action against Queens Park Rangers (Image credit: Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Club:Sunderland
Position:Forward
Age:26

Blessed with two great nicknames (‘Loch Ness Drogba’ and ‘Highland Haaland’), Stewart was cursed with two cruel injuries, breaking up his 10 goals and three assists from just 13 league games, then ending his season in January.

DID YOU KNOW?He averaged a Championship-best 0.86 goals per 90 minutes this campaign.

29. Teemu Pukki

Teemu Pukki of Norwich City shoots during the Sky Bet Championship match between Norwich City and Sunderland at Carrow Road on March 12, 2023 in Norwich, England.

Teemu Pukki of Norwich City shapes up to shoot against Sunderland (Image credit: Stephen Pond/Getty Images)

Club:Norwich City
Position:Forward
Age:33

One word defines the fabulous Finn in this division: inevitable. At 33, Pukki remains a menace to defenders with his one-touch shooting and eye for an open team-mate. In a season he’d call disappointing, he still offered 17 goals and assists before March.

HE SAID“I’ve always felt loved at Norwich.” Will he be kept on?

28. Carlton Morris

Carlton Morris of Luton Town during the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round match between Luton Town and Grimsby Town at Kenilworth Road on January 28, 2023 in Luton, England.

Carlton Morris of Luton Town in action against Grimsby Town (Image credit: Tony Marshall/Getty Images)

Club:Luton Town
Position:Forward
Age:27

Simultaneously a club-record signing and an absolute bargain at around £2m, Morris arrived from relegated Barnsley to be the perfect striker for Luton’s renewed play-off charge: strong, mobile and newly prolific. He’d been with Norwich aged 11 to 25 but played for them just once due to endless loans away; now settled, he’s oozing confidence.

27. Conor Hourihane

Conor Hourihane of Derby County walks out the tunnel during the Sky Bet League One between Port Vale and Derby County at Vale Park on January 24, 2023 in Burslem, England.

Conor Hourihane of Derby County walks out the tunnel ahead of a fixture against Port Vale (Image credit: Naomi Baker/Getty Images)

Club:Derby County
Position:Midfielder
Age:32

HE TOLDFFT"I turned 32 in February, and I’ve been really fortunate to play for some big clubs in my career. Before the season began, I was asking myself: ‘What would excite me in my next move?’ Derby came along and I viewed it as a great opportunity to help a huge club to rebuild and get back to where they belong. It ticked every box."

26. Michael Cooper

Goalkeeper Michael Cooper punches the ball during the Sky Bet League 1 match between Ipswich Town and Plymouth Argyle at Portman Road, Ipswich on Saturday 14th January 2023.

Plymouth Argyle goalkeeper Michael Cooper punches the ball against Ipswich Town (Image credit: Kevin Hodgson/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Club:Plymouth Argyle
Position:Goalkeeper
Age:23

Rarely does a terrific goalkeeper play 120 League One games before being poached. If Argyle pull off an incredible promotion, their match-winning local hero will be why; if they don’t, his February injury will be why not.

DID YOU KNOW?He’d prevented a league-high 6.8 goals (per xG) before his untimely knee knack.

25. Marcelino Nunez

Marcelino Nunez of Norwich City celebrates after scoring the team's second goal during the Sky Bet Championship match between Norwich City and Birmingham City at Carrow Road on February 21, 2023 in Norwich, England.

Marcelino Nunez of Norwich City after scoring against Birmingham City (Image credit: Stephen Pond/Getty Images)

Club:Norwich City
Position:Midfielder
Age:23

毁掉阴谋家强劲的开始消退,之后12 months of non-stop football due to Chile’s calendar. February’s Goal of the Season contender against Birmingham helped to reignite his first campaign in England.

DID YOU KNOW?Nunez冠军登场six days after playing in Chile, then played for Norwich five times in 14 days.

24. Aaron Collins

Aaron Collins of Bristol Rovers during the Sky Bet Football League One match between Bristol Rovers and Shrewsbury Town at The Memorial Stadium on August 27, 2022 in Shrewsbury, England

Aaron Collins of Bristol Rovers in action against Shrewsbury Town (Image credit: James Baylis - AMA/Getty Images)

Club:Bristol Rovers
Position:Forward
Age:25

Step up? What step up? After representing six teams in League Two, Collins has been effortlessly brilliant in his first stab at League One – quick, creative and clinical.

DID YOU KNOW?The Welshman reached ‘the double double’ (10 goals, 10 assists) on January 1. Two months later, no one else in the whole EFL had managed it.

23. Jed Wallace

Jed Wallace of West Bromwich Albion celebrates victory following the Sky Bet Championship between West Bromwich Albion and Coventry City at The Hawthorns on February 03, 2023 in West Bromwich, England.

Jed Wallace of West Bromwich Albion celebrates scoring against Coventry City (Image credit: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

Club:West Bromwich Albion
Position:Forward
Age29

The legendary Lion became a Baggie and emerged with credit from Steve Bruce’s lackadaisical reign before thriving for Carlos Corberan. Loved for his industry, leadership and off-pitch work, Wallace has real quality as well.

HIGHLIGHTA millimetre-perfect cross, while sprinting, for Daryl Dike’s clincher at Sunderland.

22.丹·巴尔拉斯大使

Middlesbrough player Dan Barlaser in action during the Sky Bet Championship between Middlesbrough and Stoke City at Riverside Stadium on March 14, 2023 in Middlesbrough, England.

Middlesbrough star Dan Barlaser in action against Stoke City (Image credit: Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Club:Middlesbrough
Position:Midfielder
Age:26

Returning to his native North East in January after his Rotherham performances wowed Boro, the ‘Geordie Pirlo’ dictates the pace of a game with an elan that few in the Championship can match.

HIGHLIGHTA first-half hat-trick of assists, with two laser-guided passes from deep, in the Millers’ 4-0 August mauling of Reading.

21. Jonson Clarke-Harris

Jonson Clarke-Harris of Peterborough United scores the second goal from the penalty spot during the Sky Bet League One between Peterborough United and Portsmouth at London Road Stadium on January 28, 2023 in Peterborough, England.

Jonson Clarke-Harris of Peterborough United scores from the penalty spot against Portsmouth (Image credit: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

Club:Peterborough United
Position:Forward
Age:28

Though Peterborough haven’t matched high expectations, their captain is clinical in open play and deadly from 12 yards (penalties make up a quarter of his career tally for the Posh). He’s set for a second League One Golden Boot – one for each foot.

DID YOU KNOW?Call him ‘The Orthodontist’, because he has five braces this season already.

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Huw Davies

Huw was on theFourFourTwostaff from 2009 to 2015, ultimately as the magazine's Managing Editor, before becoming a freelancer and moving to Wales. As a writer, editor and tragic statto, he still contributes regularly toFFTin print and online, though as a match-going #WalesAway fan, he left a small chunk of his brain on one of many bus journeys across France in 2016.

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