2014–15 Football League Championship

Football League Championship 2014-15
Season information
Winners	Bournemouth (1st divisional title)
Promoted	Bournemouth Watford Norwich City
Relegated	Millwall Wigan Athletic Blackpool
Season statistics
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1474
Top goalscorer	Daryl Murphy (27 goals)
Biggest home win	Derby County 5–0 Wolverhampton (8 November 2014) Birmingham City 6–1 Reading (13 December 2014) Norwich City 5–0 Huddersfield Town (13 December 2014) Norwich City 6–1 Millwall (26 December 2014) Watford 5–0 Charlton Athletic (17 January 2015) Watford 7–2 Blackpool (24 January 2015) Wolverhampton 5–0 Rotherham (21 February 2015)
Biggest away win	Birmingham City 0–8 Bournemouth (25 October 2014)
Highest scoring	Watford 7–2 Blackpool (24 January 2015)
← 2013-14	2015-16 →

The 2014–15 Football League Championship (referred to as the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the eleventh season of the Football League Championship under its current title and the twenty-second season under its current league division format. The season is set to begin on 9 August 2014.

Changes from last season

Team changes

The following teams have changed division since the 2013–14 season.

To Championship

Promoted from League One

• Wolverhampton Wanderers
• Brentford
• Rotherham United

Relegated from Premier League

• Norwich City
• Fulham
• Cardiff City

From Championship

Relegated to League One

• Doncaster Rovers
• Barnsley
• Yeovil Town

Promoted to Premier League

• Leicester City
• Burnley
• Queens Park Rangers

Rule changes

Changes to the Championship's financial fair play system allow clubs:

• Acceptable losses of £3 million during the 2014–15 season
• Acceptable shareholder equity investment of £3 million during the 2014–15 season (down from £5 million during the 2013–14 season).
• Sanctions for exceeding the allowances take effect from the set of accounts due to be submitted on 1 December 2014 for the 2013–14 season.

Team overview

Stadia and locations

Team	Stadium	Capacity
Birmingham City	St Andrew's	30,016
Blackburn Rovers	Ewood Park	31,154
Blackpool	Bloomfield Road	17,338
Bolton Wanderers	Macron Stadium	28,100
Bournemouth	Dean Court	12,000
Brentford	Griffin Park	12,763
Brighton	Falmer Stadium	30,750
Cardiff City	Cardiff City Stadium	33,000
Charlton Athletic	The Valley	27,111
Derby County	Pride Park	33,597
Fulham	Craven Cottage	25,700
Huddersfield Town	John Smith's Stadium	24,500
Ipswich Town	Portman Road	30,311
Leeds United	Elland Road	39,460
Middlesbrough	Riverside Stadium	34,742
Millwall	The Den	20,146
Norwich City	Carrow Road	27,244
Nottm Forest	City Ground	30,576
Reading	Madejski Stadium	24,224
Rotherham United	New York Stadium	12,021
Reading	Hillsborough	39,812
Watford	Vicarage Road	17,477 (Increasing to 21,277)
Wigan Athletic	DW Stadium	25,133
Wolves	Molineux	31,700

Personnel and sponsoring

Team	Manager	Kit Manufacturer	Sponsor
Birmingham City	Clark, LeeLee Clark	Carbrini	Zapaygo
Blackburn Rovers	Bowyer, GaryGary Bowyer	Nike	Zebra Claims Ltd.
Blackpool	Riga, JoseJose Riga	Erreà	Wonga
Bolton Wanderers	Freedman, DougieDougie Freedman	Macron	FibrLec
Bournemouth	Howe, EddieEddie Howe	Carbrini	Energy Consulting
Brentford	Warburton, MarkMark Warburton	Adidas	SkyeX
Brighton & Hove Albion	Hyypiä, SamiSami Hyypiä	Nike	merican Express
Cardiff City	Solskjær, Ole GunnarOle Gunnar Solskjær	Cosway Sports	Malaysia
Charlton Athletic	Peeters, BobBob Peeters	Nike	University of Greenwich (front) Andrews Sykes (back) Mitsubishi Electric (shorts)
Derby County	McClaren, SteveSteve McClaren	Umbro	JUST EAT
Fulham	Magath, FelixFelix Magath	Adidas	Marathonbet
Huddersfield Town	Robins, MarkMark Robins	Puma	Rekorderlig Cider (home) RadianB (away) Cavonia (third)
Ipswich Town	McCarthy, MickMick McCarthy	Adidas	Marcus Evans
Leeds United	Hockaday, DaveDave Hockaday	Macron	Enterprise Insurance (front) Help Link Direct (back)
Middlesbrough	Karanka, AitorAitor Karanka	Adidas	Ramsdens
Millwall	Holloway, IanIan Holloway	Macron	Euro Ferries
Norwich City	Adams, NeilNeil Adams	Erreà	Aviva
Nottingham Forest	Pearce, StuartStuart Pearce	Adidas	Fawaz International Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Company
Reading	Adkins, NigelNigel Adkins	Puma	Waitrose (front) Marussia F1 (back)
Rotherham United	Evans, SteveSteve Evans	Puma	Parkgate Shopping (home) Shedlands (away) TGB Sheds (third)
Sheffield Wednesday	Gray, StuartStuart Gray	Sondico	Azerbaijan Land of Fire
Watford	Sannino, GiuseppeGiuseppe Sannino	Puma	138.com (front) Football Manager (back)
Wigan Athletic	Rösler, UweUwe Rösler	MiFit	Intersport
Wolverhampton Wanderers	Jackett, KennyKenny Jackett	Puma	What House?

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Blackpool	Ferguson, BarryBarry Ferguson	End of contract	9 May 2014	Pre-season	Riga, JoséJosé Riga	11 June 2014
Brighton & Hove Albion	García, ÓscarÓscar García	Resigned	12 May 2014		Hyypiä, SamiSami Hyypiä	6 June 2014
Charlton Athletic	Riga, JoséJosé Riga	End of contract	27 May 2014		Peeters, BobBob Peeters	27 May 2014
Leeds United	McDermott, BrianBrian McDermott	Mutual consent	31 May 2014		Hockaday, DavidDavid Hockaday	19 June 2014
Huddersfield Town	Robins, MarkMark Robins		10 August 2014	24th	Powell, ChrisChris Powell	3 September 2014
Leeds United	Hockaday, DavidDavid Hockaday	Sacked	28 August 2014	21st	Milanič, DarkoDarko Milanič	23 September 2014
Watford	Sannino, GiuseppeGiuseppe Sannino	Resigned	1 September 2014	2nd	García, ÓscarÓscar García	2 September 2014
Cardiff City	Solskjær, Ole GunnarOle Gunnar Solskjær		18 September 2014	17th	Slade, RussellRussell Slade	6 October 2014
Fulham	Magath, FelixFelix Magath	Sacked	18 September 2014	24th	Symons, KitKit Symons	29 October 2014
Watford	García, ÓscarÓscar García	Resigned due to ill health	29 September 2014	4th	McKinlay, BillyBilly McKinlay	29 September 2014
Bolton Wanderers	Freedman, DougieDougie Freedman	Mutual consent	3 October 2014	23rd	Lennon, NeilNeil Lennon	12 October 2014
Watford	McKinlay, BillyBilly McKinlay		7 October 2014	3rd	Jokanović, SlavišaSlaviša Jokanović	7 October 2014
Birmingham City	Clark, LeeLee Clark	Sacked	20 October 2014	21st	Rowett, GaryGary Rowett	27 October 2014
Leeds United	Milanič, DarkoDarko Milanič		26 October 2014	18th	Redfearn, NeilNeil Redfearn	1 November 2014
Blackpool	Riga, JoséJosé Riga		27 October 2014	24th	Clark, LeeLee Clark	30 October 2014
Wigan Athletic	Rösler, UweUwe Rösler		13 November 2014	22nd	Mackay, MalkyMalky Mackay	19 November 2014
Reading	Adkins, NigelNigel Adkins		15 December 2014	16th	Clarke, SteveSteve Clarke	16 December 2014
Brighton & Hove Albion	Hyypiä, SamiSami Hyypiä	Resigned	22 December 2014	22nd	Hughton, ChrisChris Hughton	31 December 2014
Norwich City	Adams, NeilNeil Adams		5 January 2015	7th	Neil, AlexAlex Neil	9 January 2015
Charlton Athletic	Peeters, BobBob Peeters	Sacked	11 January 2015	14th	Luzon, GuyGuy Luzon	13 January 2015
Nottingham Forest	Pearce, StuartStuart Pearce		1 February 2015	12th	Freedman, DougieDougie Freedman	1 February 2015
Millwall	Holloway, IanIan Holloway		10 March 2015	23rd	Harris, NeilNeil Harris	29 April 2015
Wigan Athletic	Mackay, MalkyMalky Mackay		6 April 2015	23rd	Caldwell, GaryGary Caldwell	7 April 2015

League Table

2014–15 Football League Championship table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Bournemouth	46	26	12	8	98	45	+53	90	Promotion to the Premier League
2	Watford	46	27	8	11	91	50	+41	89
3	Norwich City	46	25	11	10	88	48	+40	86	Qualification to the Championship Play-offs
4	Middlesbrough	46	25	10	11	68	37	+31	85
5	Brentford	46	23	9	14	78	59	+19	78
6	Ipswich Town	46	22	12	12	72	54	+18	78
7	Wolves	46	22	12	12	70	56	+14	78
8	Derby County	46	21	14	11	85	56	+29	77
9	Blackburn Rovers	46	17	16	13	66	59	+7	67
10	Birmingham City	46	16	15	15	54	64	−10	63
11	Cardiff City	46	16	14	16	57	61	−4	62
12	Charlton Athletic	46	14	18	14	54	60	−6	60
13	Reading	46	14	18	14	43	49	−6	60
14	Nottm Forest	46	15	14	17	71	69	+2	59
15	Leeds United	46	15	11	20	50	61	−11	56
16	Huddersfield Town	46	13	16	17	58	75	−17	55
17	Fulham	46	14	10	22	62	83	−21	52
18	Bolton Wanderers	46	13	12	21	54	67	−13	51
19	Reading	46	13	11	22	48	69	−21	50
20	Brighton	46	10	17	19	44	54	−10	47
21	Rotherham United	46	11	16	19	46	67	−21	49
22	Millwall	46	9	14	23	42	76	−34	41	Relegation to the Football League One
23	Wigan Athletic	46	9	12	25	39	64	−25	39
24	Blackpool	46	4	14	28	36	91	−55	26

Updated to games played on 21 March 2015
Source: Statto.com
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round; (Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament

Play-offs

See also: 2015 Football League play-offs

		Semi–Finals				Final
	3	Norwich City
	6	Ipswich Town
						3	Norwich City	2
						4	Middlesbrough	0
	4	Middlesbrough
	5	Brentford

Results

Home \ Away

BIR

BLA

BPL

BOL

BOU

BRE

BHA

CDC

CHA

DER

FUL

HUD

IPS

LEE

MID

MIL

NWC

NTF

REA

ROT

REA

WAT

WIG

WOL

Birmingham City

2–2

1–0

0–1

0–8

1–0

1–0

0–0

1–0

0–4

1–2

1–1

2–2

1–1

1–1

0–1

0–0

2–1

6–1

2–1

0–2

2–1

3–1

2–1

Blackburn Rovers

1–0

1–1

1–0

3–2

2–3

0–1

1–1

2–0

2–3

2–1

0–0

3–2

2–1

0–0

2–0

1–2

3–3

3–1

2–1

1–2

2–2

3–1

0–1

Blackpool

1–0

1–2

1–1

1–6

1–2

1–0

1–0

0–3

0–1

0–1

0–0*

0–2

1–1

1–2

1–0

1–3

4–4

1–1

1–1

0–1

0–1

1–3

0–0

Bolton Wanderers

0–1

2–1

1–1

1–2

3–1

1–0

3–0

1–1

0–2

3–1

1–0

0–0

1–1

1–2

2–0

1–2

2–2

1–1

3–2

0–0

3–4

3–1

2–2

Bournemouth

4–2

0–0

4–0

3–0

1–0

3–2

5–3

1–0

2–2

2–0

1–1

2–2

1–3

3–0

2–2

1–2

1–2

3–0

1–1

2–2

2–0

2–0

2–1

Brentford

1–1

3–1

4–0

2–2

3–1

3–2

1–2

1–1

2–1

2–1

4–1

2–4

2–0

0–1

2–2

0–3

2–2

3–1

1–0

0–0

1–2

3–0

4–0

Brighton

4–3

1–1

0–0

2–1

0–2

0–1

1–1

2–2

2–0

1–2

0–0

3–2

2–0

1–2

0–1

0–1

2–3

2–2

1–1

0–1

0–2

1–0

1–1

Cardiff City

2–0

1–1

3–2

0–3

1–1

2–3

0–0

1–2

0–2

1–0

3–1

3–1

3–1

0–1

0–0

2–4

2–1

2–1

0–0

2–1

2–4

1–0

0–1

Charlton Athletic

1–1

1–3

2–2

2–1

0–3

3–0

0–1

1–1

3–2

1–1

3–0

0–1

2–1

0–0

0–0

2–3

2–1

3–2

1–1

1–1

1–0

2–1

1–1

Derby County

2–2

2–0

4–0

4–1

2–0

1–1

3–0

2–2

2–0

5–1

3–2

1–1

2–0

0–1

0–0

2–2

1–2

0–3

1–0

3–2

2–2

1–2

5–0

Fulham

1–1

0–1

2–2

4–0

1–5

1–4

0–2

1–1

3–0

2–0

3–1

1–2

0–3

4–3

0–1

1–0

3–2

2–1

1–1

4–0

0–5

2–2

0–1

Huddersfield Town

0–1

2–2

4–2

2–1

0–4

2–1

1–1

0–0

1–1

4–4

0–2

2–1

1–2

1–2

2–1

2–2

3–0

3–0

0–2

0–0

3–1

0–0

1–4

Ipswich Town

4–2

1–1

3–2

1–0

1–1

1–1

2–0

3–1

3–0

0–1

2–1

2–2

4–1

2–0

2–0

0–1

2–1

0–1

2–0

2–1

1–0

0–0

2–1

Leeds United

1–1

0–3

3–1

1–0

1–0

0–1

0–2

1–2

2–2

2–0

0–1

3–0

2–1

1–0

1–0

0–2

0–0

0–0

0–0

1–1

2–3

0–2

1–2

Middlesbrough

2–0

1–1

1–1

1–0

0–0

4–0

0–0

2–1

3–1

2–0

2–0

2–0

4–1

0–1

3–0

4–0

3–0

0–1

2–0

2–3

1–1

1–0

2–1

Millwall

1–3

2–2

2–1

0–1

0–2

2–3

0–0

1–0

2–1

3–3

0–0

1–3

1–3

2–0

1–5

1–4

0–0

0–0

0–1

1–3

0–2

2–0

3–3

Norwich City

2–2

3–1

4–0

2–1

1–1

1–2

3–3

3–2

0–1

1–1

4–2

5–0

2–0

1–1

0–1

6–1

3–1

1–2

1–1

2–0

3–0

0–1

2–0

Nottm Forest

1–3

1–3

2–0

4–1

2–1

1–3

0–0

1–2

1–1

1–1

5–3

0–1

2–2

1–1

2–1

0–1

2–1

4–0

2–0

0–2

1–3

3–0

1–2

Reading

0–1

0–0

3–0

0–0

0–1

0–2

2–1

1–1

0–1

0–3

3–0

1–2

1–0

0–2

0–0

3–2

2–1

0–3

3–0

2–0

0–1

0–1

3–3

Rotherham United

0–1

2–0

1–1

4–2

0–2

0–2

1–0

1–3

1–1

3–3

3–3

2–2

2–0

2–1

0–3

2–1

1–1

0–0

2–1

2–3

0–2

1–2

1–0

Reading

0–0

1–2

1–0

1–2

0–2

1–0

0–0

1–1

1–1

0–0

1–1

1–1

1–1

1–2

2–0

1–1

0–0

0–1

1–0

0–0

0–3

2–1

0–1

Watford

1–0

1–0

7–2

3–0

1–1

2–1

1–1

0–1

5–0

1–2

1–0

4–2

0–1

4–1

2–0

3–1

0–3

2–2

4–1

3–0

1–1

2–1

0–1

Wigan Athletic

4–0

1–1

1–0

1–1

1–3

0–0

2–1

0–1

0–3

0–2

3–3

0–1

1–2

0–1

1–1

0–0

0–1

0–0

2–2

1–2

0–1

0–2

0–1

Wolves

0–0

3–1

2–0

1–0

1–2

2–1

1–1

1–0

0–0

2–0

3–0

1–3

1–1

4–3

2–0

4–2

1–0

0–3

1–2

5–0

3–0

2–2

2–2

Updated to games played on 2 May 2015
Source: BBC Sport
¹The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Blackpool/Huddersfield match was abandoned, and was subsequently awarded as a 0-0 draw.

Top scorers

As of 2 May 2015

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Daryl Murphy	Ipswich Town	27
2	Troy Deeney	Watford	21
	Jordan Rhodes	Blackburn Rovers
4	Rudy Gestede	Blackburn Rovers	20
	Odion Ighalo	Watford
	Callum Wilson	Bournemouth
7	Cameron Jerome	Norwich City	18
	Chris Martin	Derby County
9	Patrick Bamford	Middlesbrough	17
	Ross McCormack	Fulham

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of Football League Championship hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Mason, JoeJoe Mason	Bolton Wanderers	Rotherham United	3–2	16 September 2014
Assombalonga, BrittBritt Assombalonga	Nottingham Forest	Fulham	5–3	17 September 2014
Pugh, MarcMarc Pugh	Bournemouth	Birmingham City	8–0	25 October 2014
Deeney, TroyTroy Deeney	Watford	Fulham	5–0	5 December 2014
Vossen, JelleJelle Vossen	Middlesbrough	Millwall	5–1	6 December 2014
Gray, DemaraiDemarai Gray	Birmingham City	Reading	6–1	13 December 2014
Donaldson, ClaytonClayton Donaldson	Birmingham City	Wigan Athletic	3–1	10 January 2015
McCormack, RossRoss McCormack	Fulham	Nottingham Forest	3–2	21 January 2015
Ighalo, OdionOdion Ighalo4	Watford	Blackpool	7–2	24 January 2015
Hooper, GaryGary Hooper	Norwich City	Blackpool	4–0	7 February 2015
Toral, JonJon Toral	Brentford	Blackpool	4–0	24 February 2015
Pitman, BrettBrett Pitman	Bournemouth	Blackpool	4–0	14 March 2015
Gestede, RudyRudy Gestede	Blackburn Rovers	Nottingham Forest	3–3	18 April 2015
Gregory, LeeLee Gregory	Millwall	Derby County	3–3	25 April 2015
McCormack, RossRoss McCormack	Fulham	Middlesbrough	4–3	25 April 2015

⁴ Player scored 4 goals

Monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month
	Manager	Club	Player	Club
August	Kenny Jackett	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Igor Vetokele	Charlton Athletic
September	Mick McCarthy	Ipswich Town	Tyrone Mings	Ipswich Town
October	Eddie Howe	Bournemouth	Callum Wilson	Bournemouth
November	Mark Warburton	Brentford	Andre Gray	Brentford
December	Eddie Howe	Bournemouth	Daryl Murphy	Ipswich Town
January	Aitor Karanka	Middlesbrough	Lee Tomlin	Middlesbrough
February	Alex Neil	Norwich City	Henri Lansbury	Nottingham Forest
March	Eddie Howe	Bournemouth	Troy Deeney	Watford
April	Slaviša Jokanović	Watford	Tom Ince	Derby County

External links