2016–17 EFL Championship

Championship 2016-17
Season information
Winners	Newcastle United
Promoted	Brighton & Hove Albion Huddersfield Town
Relegated	Rotherham United Wigan Athletic Blackburn Rovers
Season statistics
Matches played	441
Goals scored	1145
Average	(2.45 per match)
Top goalscorer	Chris Wood (25 goals)
Biggest home win	Norwich City 7–1 Reading (8 April 2017)
Biggest away win	QPR 0–6 Newcastle Utd (13 September 2016)
Highest scoring	Wolverhampton 4–4 Fulham (10 December 2016) Burton Albion 3–5 Brentford (18 March 2017) Norwich City 7–1 Reading (8 April 2017)
← 2015-16	2017–18 →

The 2016–17 EFL Championship (referred to as the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the thirteenth season of the Football League Championship under its current title and it will be the twenty-fifth season under its current league structure. The season started on 5 August 2016 an is scheduled to conclude on 6 May 2017. The fixtures were announced on 22 June 2016.

Teams

A total of 24 teams are contesting the league, including 18 sides from the 2015–16 season, three relegated from the 2015–16 Premier League and three promoted from the 2015–16 Football League One. The 2016–17 season is the first in which former European Cup winners Aston Villa are competing outside of the top flight since the beginning of the Premier League era in 1992.

Team changes

To Championship Promoted from League One Wigan Athletic Burton Albion Barnsley Relegated from Premier League Newcastle United Norwich City Aston Villa

From Championship Relegated to League One Charlton Athletic Milton Keynes Dons Bolton Wanderers Promoted to Premier League Burnley Middlesbrough Hull City

Stadia and locations

Team	Stadium	Capacity
Aston Villa	Villa Park	42,682
Barnsley	Oakwell	23,009
Birmingham City	St Andrew's	30,016
Blackburn Rovers	Ewood Park	31,367
Brentford	Griffin Park	12,300
Brighton & Hove Albion	AMEX Stadium	30,750
Bristol City	Ashton Gate	27,000
Burton Albion	Pirelli Stadium	6,912
Cardiff City	Cardiff City Stadium	33,280
Derby County	iPro Stadium	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	37,914
Newcastle United	St James' Park	52,405
Norwich City	Carrow Road	27,244
Nottingham Forest	City Ground	30,445
Preston North End	Deepdale	23,404
Queens Park Rangers	Loftus Road	18,439
Reading	Madejski Stadium	24,161
Rotherham United	New York Stadium	12,021
Sheffield Wednesday	Hillsborough	39,732
Wigan Athletic	DW Stadium	25,138
Wolverhampton Wanderers	Molineux	31,700

Personnel and sponsoring

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Sponsor
Aston Villa	Bruce, SteveSteve Bruce	Tommy Elphick	Under Armour	Intuit QuickBooks
Barnsley	Heckingbottom, PaulPaul Heckingbottom	Conor Hourihane	Puma	C.K. Beckett
Birmingham City	Rowett, GaryGary Rowett	Paul Robinson	Adidas	888sport
Blackburn Rovers	Coyle, OwenOwen Coyle	Jason Lowe	Umbro	Dafabet
Brentford	Smith, DeanDean Smith	Dean, HarleeHarlee Dean	Adidas	888sport
Brighton & Hove Albion	Hughton, ChrisChris Hughton	Bruno	Nike	American Express
Bristol City	Johnson, LeeLee Johnson	Aaron Wilbraham	Bristol Sport	Lancer Scott
Burton Albion	Clough, NigelNigel Clough	John Mousinho	TAG	Tempobet
Cardiff City	Warnock, NeilNeil Warnock	Sean Morrison	Adidas	Visit Malaysia
Derby County	McClaren, SteveSteve McClaren	Richard Keogh	Umbro	JUST EAT
Fulham	Jokanović, SlavišaSlaviša Jokanović	Scott Parker	Adidas	Visit Florida
Huddersfield Town	Wagner, DavidDavid Wagner	Mark Hudson	Puma	PURE Legal (home), RadianB (away), Cavonia (third)
Ipswich Town	McCarthy, MickMick McCarthy	Luke Chambers	Adidas	Marcus Evans
Leeds United	Monk, GarryGarry Monk	Liam Bridcutt	Kappa	32red
Newcastle United	Benítez, RafaelRafael Benítez	Jamaal Lascelles	Puma	Wonga
Norwich City	Neil, AlexAlex Neil	Russell Martin	Erreà	Aviva
Nottingham Forest	Montanier, PhilippePhilippe Montanier	Chris Cohen	Adidas	888sport
Preston North End	Grayson, SimonSimon Grayson	Tom Clarke	Nike	888sport
Queens Park Rangers	Floyd Hasselbaink, JimmyJimmy Floyd Hasselbaink	Nedum Onuoha	Dryworld	Smarkets
Reading	Stam, JaapJaap Stam	Paul McShane	Puma	Carabao
Rotherham United	Kenny Jackett	Lee Frecklington	Puma	Hodge Clemco (home), APOGEE (away/third)
Sheffield Wednesday	Carvalhal, CarlosCarlos Carvalhal	Glenn Loovens	Sondico	Chansiri
Wigan Athletic	Vacant	Stephen Warnock	Kappa	Intersport
Wolverhampton Wanderers	Vacant	Danny Batth	Puma	The Money Shop

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Blackburn Rovers	Lambert, PaulPaul Lambert	Mutual consent	7 May 2016	Pre-season	Coyle, OwenOwen Coyle	2 June 2016
Cardiff City	Slade, RussellRussell Slade	Promoted to head of football	8 May 2016		Trollope, PaulPaul Trollope	18 May 2016
Nottingham Forest	Williams, PaulPaul Williams	Mutual consent	12 May 2016		Montanier, PhilippePhilippe Montanier	27 June 2016
Rotherham United	Warnock, NeilNeil Warnock	End of contract	18 May 2016		Stubbs, AlanAlan Stubbs	1 June 2016
Reading	McDermott, BrianBrian McDermott	Sacked	27 May 2016		Stam, JaapJaap Stam	13 June 2016
Derby County	Wassall, DarrenDarren Wassall	End of contract	27 May 2016		Pearson, NigelNigel Pearson	27 May 2016
Leeds United	Evans, SteveSteve Evans	Sacked	31 May 2016		Monk, GarryGarry Monk	2 June 2016
Aston Villa	Black, EricEric Black	End of caretaker spell	2 June 2016		Di Matteo, RobertoRoberto Di Matteo	2 June 2016
Wolverhampton Wanderers	Kenny Jackett	Sacked	29 July 2016		Zenga, WalterWalter Zenga	30 July 2016
Aston Villa	Di Matteo, RobertoRoberto Di Matteo		3 October 2016	19th	Bruce, SteveSteve Bruce	12 October 2016
Cardiff City	Trollope, PaulPaul Trollope		4 October 2016	23rd	Warnock, NeilNeil Warnock	5 October 2016
Derby County	Pearson, NigelNigel Pearson	Mutual consent	8 October 2016	20th	McClaren, SteveSteve McClaren	12 October 2016
Rotherham United	, Alan StubbsAlan Stubbs	Sacked	19 October 2016	24th	Kenny Jackett	21 October 2016
Wolverhampton Wanderers	Zenga, WalterWalter Zenga		25 October 2016	18th	Paul Lambert	5 November 2016
Wigan Athletic	Caldwell, GaryGary Caldwell		25 October 2016	23rd	Warren Joyce	2 November 2016
Queens Park Rangers	Floyd Hasselbaink, JimmyJimmy Floyd Hasselbaink		5 November 2016	17th	Holloway, IanIan Holloway	11 November 2016
Rotherham United	, Kenny JackettKenny Jackett	Resigned	28 November 2016	24th	, Paul WarnePaul Warne	5 April 2017
Birmingham City	Rowett, GaryGary Rowett	Sacked	14 December 2016	7th	Zola, GianfrancoGianfranco Zola	14 December 2016
Nottingham Forest	Montanier, PhilippePhilippe Montanier		14 January 2017	20th	Brazil, GaryGary Brazil (caretaker)	14 January 2017
Blackburn Rovers	Coyle, OwenOwen Coyle		21 February 2017	23rd	Mowbray, TonyTony Mowbray	22 February 2017
Norwich City	Neil, AlexAlex Neil		10 March 2017	8th	Irvine, AlanAlan Irvine (caretaker)	10 March 2017
Derby County	McClaren, SteveSteve McClaren		12 March 2017	10th	Rowett, GaryGary Rowett	14 March 2017
Wigan Athletic	Warren Joyce		13 March 2017	23rd	Barrow, GrahamGraham Barrow (caretaker)	13 March 2017
Nottingham Forest	Brazil, GaryGary Brazil	End of caretaker spell	14 March 2017	19th	Warburton, MarkMark Warburton	14 March 2017
Birmingham City	Zola, GianfrancoGianfranco Zola	Resigned	17 April 2017	20th	Harry Redknapp	18 April 2017

League Table

2016–17 Football League Championship table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Newcastle United  (C) (P)	46	29	7	10	85	40	+45	94	Promotion to the Premier League
2	Brighton & Hove Albion  (P)	46	28	9	9	74	40	+34	93
3	Reading	46	26	7	13	68	64	+4	85	Qualification to the Championship Play-offs
4	Sheffield Wednesday	46	24	9	13	60	45	+15	81
5	Huddersfield Town  (P)	46	25	6	15	56	58	−2	81
6	Fulham	46	22	14	10	85	57	+28	80
7	Leeds United	46	22	9	15	61	47	+14	75
8	Norwich City	46	20	10	16	85	69	+16	70
9	Derby County	46	18	13	15	54	50	+4	67
10	Brentford	46	18	10	18	75	65	+10	64
11	Preston North End	46	16	14	16	64	63	+1	62
12	Cardiff City	46	17	11	18	60	61	−1	62
13	Aston Villa	46	16	14	16	47	48	−1	62
14	Barnsley	46	15	13	18	64	67	−3	58
15	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	16	10	20	54	58	−4	58
16	Ipswich Town	46	13	16	17	48	58	−10	55
17	Bristol City	45	14	9	22	60	66	−6	51
18	Queens Park Rangers	46	15	8	23	52	66	−14	53
19	Birmingham City	46	13	14	19	45	64	−19	53
20	Burton Albion	46	13	13	20	49	63	−14	52
21	Nottingham Forest	46	14	9	23	62	72	−10	51
22	Blackburn Rovers  (R)	46	12	15	19	53	65	−12	51	Relegation to the Football League One
23	Wigan Athletic  (R)	46	10	12	24	40	57	−17	42
24	Rotherham United  (R)	46	5	8	33	40	98	−58	23

Updated to games played on 7 May 2017
Source: EFL.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: 2017 Football League play-offs

		Semi-finals				Final
	3	Reading	1 1 (2)
	6	Fulham	1 0 (1)
							Reading	0 (3)
							Huddersfield Town	0 (4)
	4	Sheffield Wednesday	0 1 (1 (3))
	5	Huddersfield Town	0 1 (1 (4))

The four teams that finished from third to sixth play off, with the winning team gaining the final promotion spot to the Premier League.

In the play-off semi-finals the third-placed team will play the sixth-placed team and the fourth-placed team will play the fifth-placed team. The team that finished in the higher league position will play away in the first leg and will play at home in the second leg. If the aggregate score is level after both legs, then extra time will be played. If the scores are still level, a penalty shoot-out decides the winner. The away goals rule applies in the semi-finals.

The winners from the two semi-finals play at Wembley Stadium in the play-off final. The game is known as the richest game in football as the winning club is guaranteed significantly increased television rights payments estimated to be in the order of £170M.

Results

Home \ Away

AST

BAR

BIR

BLA

BRE

BHA

BRC

BRT

CDC

DER

FUL

HUD

IPS

LEE

NEW

NWC

NTF

PNE

QPR

REA

ROT

SHW

WIG

WOL

Aston Villa

1–3

1–0

2–1

1–1

2–0

2–1

3–1

1–0

1–0

1–1

0–1

1–1

1–1

2–0

2–2

2–2

1–0

1–3

3–0

2–0

1–0

1–1

Barnsley

1–1

2–2

2–0

1–1

0–2

2–2

0–0

2–0

2–4

1–1

1–1

3–2

0–2

2–1

2–5

0–0

3–2

1–2

4–0

1–1

0–0

1–3

Birmingham City

1–1

0–3

1–0

1–3

1–2

1–0

0–2

0–0

1–2

1–0

2–1

1–3

0–0

3–0

0–0

2–2

1–4

0–1

4–2

2–1

0–1

1–3

Blackburn Rovers

0–2

1–1

3–2

2–3

1–1

2–2

1–1

1–0

0–1

1–1

0–0

1–2

1–0

1–4

2–1

2–2

1–0

2–3

4–2

0–1

1–0

1–1

Brentford

3–0

0–2

1–2

3–3

2–0

2–1

2–2

4–0

0–2

0–1

2–0

2–0

1–2

0–0

1–0

5–0

3–1

4–1

4–2

1–1

0–0

1–2

Brighton & Hove Albion

1–1

2–0

3–1

1–0

0–2

4–1

1–0

3–0

2–1

1–0

1–1

2–0

1–2

5–0

3–0

2–2

3–0

3–0

3–0

2–1

2–1

1–0

Bristol City

3–1

3–2

1–0

0–1

0–2

0–0

2–3

1–1

0–2

4–0

2–0

1–0

0–1

1–1

2–1

1–2

2–1

2–3

1–0

2–2

2–1

3–1

Burton Albion

1–1

0–0

2–0

1–1

3–5

0–1

1–2

2–0

1–0

0–2

0–1

1–2

2–1

1–2

2–1

1–0

0–1

1–1

2–1

3–1

0–2

2–1

Cardiff City

1–0

3–4

1–1

2–1

2–1

0–0

2–1

1–0

0–2

2–2

3–2

3–1

0–2

0–1

1–0

2–0

0–2

0–1

5–0

1–1

0–1

2–1

Derby County

0–0

2–1

1–0

1–2

0–0

0–0

3–3

0–0

3–4

4–2

1–1

0–1

1–0

0–2

1–0

3–0

1–1

1–0

3–2

3–0

2–0

0–0

Fulham

3–1

2–0

0–1

2–2

a

1–2

0–4

1–1

2–2

2–2

5–0

3–1

1–1

1–0

2–2

3–2

3–1

1–2

5–0

2–1

1–1

3–2

1–3

Huddersfield Town

1–0

2–1

1–1

1–1

2–1

3–1

2–1

0–1

1–0

1–4

2–0

2–1

1–3

3–0

2–1

3–2

2–1

1–0

2–1

0–1

1–2

1–0

Ipswich Town

0–0

4–2

1–1

3–2

1–1

0–0

2–1

2–0

1–1

0–3

0–2

0–1

1–1

3–1

1–1

0–2

1–0

3–0

2–2

2–2

3–0

0–0

Leeds United

2–0

2–1

1–2

2–1

1–0

2–0

2–1

2–0

0–2

1–0

1–1

0–1

1–0

0–2

2–0

3–0

0–0

2–0

3–0

1–0

1–1

0–1

Newcastle United

2–0

4–0

0–1

3–1

2–0

2–2

1–0

2–1

1–0

1–3

1–2

3–0

1–1

4–3

3–1

2–2

4–1

4–0

0–1

2–1

0–2

Norwich City

1–0

2–0

2–0

2–2

5–0

2–0

1–0

3–1

3–2

3–0

1–3

1–2

1–1

2–3

2–2

5–1

0–1

7–1

3–1

0–0

2–1

3–1

Nottingham Forest

2–1

0–1

3–1

0–1

2–3

3–0

1–0

4–3

1–2

2–2

1–1

2–0

3–1

2–1

1–2

1–1

1–1

3–2

2–0

1–2

4–3

0–2

Preston North End

2–0

1–2

2–1

3–2

4–2

2–0

5–0

1–1

3–0

0–1

1–2

3–1

1–1

1–4

1–2

1–3

1–1

2–1

3–0

1–1

1–0

0–0

Queens Park Rangers

0–1

2–1

1–1

1–1

0–2

1–2

1–0

1–2

2–1

0–1

1–1

1–2

2–1

3–0

0–6

2–1

0–2

1–1

5–1

1–2

2–1

1–2

Reading

1–2

0–0

0–0

3–1

3–2

2–2

2–1

3–0

2–1

1–1

1–0

1–0

2–1

1–0

0–0

3–1

2–0

1–0

0–1

2–1

2–1

2–1

Rotherham United

0–2

0–1

1–1

1–1

1–0

0–2

2–2

1–2

1–2

0–1

2–3

1–0

1–2

0–1

2–1

2–2

1–3

1–0

0–1

0–2

3–2

2–2

Sheffield Wednesday

1–0

2–0

3–0

2–1

1–2

1–2

3–2

1–1

1–0

2–1

2–0

1–2

0–2

2–1

5–1

2–1

2–1

1–0

0–2

1–0

2–1

0–0

Wigan Athletic

0–2

3–2

1–1

3–0

2–1

0–1

0–1

0–0

0–0

0–1

0–0

0–1

2–3

0–2

2–2

0–0

0–0

0–1

0–3

3–2

0–1

2–1

Wolverhampton Wanderers

1–0

0–4

1–2

0–0

3–1

0–2

3–2

1–1

3–1

2–3

4–4

0–0

0–1

0–1

1–2

1–0

1–2

2–0

1–0

0–2

0–1

Updated to games played on 23 April 2017
Source: BBC Sport
¹The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers

As of matches played 22 April 2017

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Chris Wood	Leeds United	26
2	Tammy Abraham	Bristol City	23
3	Glenn Murray	Brighton & Hove Albion	22
	Dwight Gayle	Newcastle United
5	Jonathan Kodjia	Aston Villa	19
6	Yann Kermorgant	Reading	17
7	Cameron Jerome	Norwich City	16
8	Anthony Knockaert	Brighton & Hove Albion	15
	Scott Hogan	Aston Villa
10	Lasse Vibe	Brentford	14

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Ward, GrantGrant Ward	Ipswich Town	Barnsley	4–2	6 August 2016
Hogan, ScottScott Hogan	Brentford	Preston North End	5–0	17 September 2016
Gayle, DwightDwight Gayle	Newcastle United	Norwich City	4–3	28 September 2016
Murray, GlennGlenn Murray	Brighton & Hove Albion	Norwich City	5–0	29 October 2016
Lansbury, HenriHenri Lansbury	Nottingham Forest	Barnsley	5–2	25 November 2016
Gayle, DwightDwight Gayle	Newcastle United	Birmingham City	4–0	10 December 2016
Oliveira, NélsonNélson Oliveira	Norwich City	Derby County	3–0	2 January 2017
Jota	Brentford	Rotherham United	4–2	25 February 2017
Nugent, DavidDavid Nugent	Derby County	Fulham	4–2	4 April 2017
Powell, NickNick Powell	Wigan Athletic	Barnsley	3–2	13 April 2017

Monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month
	Manager	Club	Player	Club
August	David Wagner	Huddersfield Town	Conor Hourihane	Barnsley
September	Alex Neil	Norwich City	Scott Hogan	Brentford
October	Rafael Benítez	Newcastle United	Sone Aluko	Fulham
November	Steve McClaren	Derby County	Henri Lansbury	Nottingham Forest
December	Chris Hughton	Brighton & Hove Albion	Sam Winnall	Barnsley
January	Jaap Stam	Reading	Chris Wood	Leeds United
February	David Wagner	Huddersfield Town	Aiden McGeady	Preston North End
March	Paul Lambert	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Tom Barkhuizen	Preston North End

Attendances

Team	Stadium	Capacity	Average	Minimum	Maximum	Percentage Full
Aston Villa	Villa Park	42,788	31,901	21,111	41,337	75%
Barnsley	Oakwell	23,009	13,843	11,613	18,597	60%
Birmingham City	St Andrew's	30,009	18,137	15,212	29,656	60%
Blackburn Rovers	Ewood Park	31,367	11,853	9,976	18,524	38%
Brentford	Griffin Park	12,763	10,288	9,035	12,052	81%
Brighton & Hove Albion	Falmer Stadium	30,750	27,619	24,166	30,230	90%
Bristol City	Ashton Gate	27,000	18,953	16,444	22,512	70%
Burton Albion	Pirelli Stadium	6,912	5,078	3,725	6,746	73%
Cardiff City	Cardiff City Stadium	33,280	16,335	13,894	22,776	49%
Derby County	Pride Park Stadium	33,597	29,104	26,301	32,616	87%
Fulham	Craven Cottage	25,700	18,665	13,735	24,300	73%
Huddersfield Town	Kirklees Stadium	25,554	20,343	18,333	23,213	83%
Ipswich Town	Portman Road	30,311	16,555	14,719	23,350	55%
Leeds United	Elland Road	40,204	26,779	19,009	36,002	67%
Newcastle United	St James' Park	52,389	51,111	47,907	52,231	98%
Norwich City	Carrow Road	27,244	26,272	25,275	27,107	96%
Nottingham Forest	City Ground	30,576	19,207	15,770	23,012	63%
Preston North End	Deepdale	24,408	12,888	9,216	21,255	55%
Queens Park Rangers	Loftus Road	18,360	14,426	11,635	17,404	79%
Reading	Madejski Stadium	24,200	17,280	12,655	23,121	71%
Rotherham United	New York Stadium	12,021	9,786	8,348	11,653	81%
Sheffield Wednesday	Hillsborough	39,814	26,580	24,151	30,549	67%
Wigan Athletic	DW Stadium	25,138	11,540	10,071	15,117	46%
Wolves	Molineux	30,852	21,944	17,156	27,541	71%

Attendances accurate as of 12/03/2017.

Play-offs

The playoffs are held in May 2017 to determine the final promotion spot. Teams placed third through sixth qualify. The semifinals consist of two legs with the matchups being 3 v 6 and 4 v 5. The aggregate winners play in a final at Wembley Stadium with the winner of the final being promoted to the 2017-18 Premier League. Huddersfield Town qualified for the play-offs on 25 April 2017. The other 3 places will be taken up by three of the following four teams: Reading, Sheffield Wednesday, Fulham and Leeds United.

External links