Football Wiki
Advertisement
Football Wiki
EFL Championship
EFL Championship
Country England England (22)
Flag of Wales Wales (2)
Confederation UEFA
Founded 2004–present
1992–2004 (as Division One)
1892–1992 (as Division Two)
Number of teams 24
Promotion to Premier League
Relegation to EFL League One
Levels on pyramid 2
Domestic cup(s) FA Cup
EFL Cup
UEFA cup(s) UEFA Europa League (via FA Cup)
UEFA Europa Conference League (via EFL Cup)
Current champions Leicester City
2nd title and 8th Second tier title (2023–24)
Most successful club Leicester City (8 titles)
TV List of broadcasters
Website Official website
Football current event 2024–25

The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the highest division of the English Football League and second-highest overall in the English football league system, after the Premier League. Each year, the top finishing teams in the Championship are promoted to the Premier League, and the lowest finishing teams are relegated to League One.

The Football League Championship, which was introduced for the 2004–05 season, was previously known as the Football League First Division (1992–2004), and before that was known as Division Two (1892–1992). The winners of the Championship receive the Football League Championship trophy, the same trophy as the old First Division champions were handed prior to the Premier League's inception in 1992.

The Championship is the wealthiest non-top flight football division in the world and the seventh richest division in Europe. With an average match attendance for the 201415 season of 17,857, the Championship ranked slightly ahead of the German 2. Bundesliga as the most-watched secondary league in the world.

In the 2015–16 season, Burnley were the division champions, Middlesbrough were the runners up, and Hull City were promoted via the play-offs. At present, Ipswich Town hold the longest tenure in the Championship, last being out of the division in the 2001–02 season when they were relegated from the Premier League.

Clubs participating in the 2024–25 season[]

The following 24 clubs will compete in the EFL Championship during the 2024–25 season.

Team Location Stadium Capacity
Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Ewood Park 31,367
Bristol City Bristol Ashton Gate Stadium 27,000
Burnley Burnley Turf Moor 21,944
Cardiff City Cardiff Cardiff City Stadium 33,280
Coventry City Coventry Coventry Building Society Arena 32,609
Derby County Derby Pride Park Stadium 32,956
Hull City Kingston upon Hull MKM Stadium 25,586
Leeds United Leeds Elland Road 37,608
Luton Town Luton Kenilworth Road 12,000
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough Riverside Stadium 34,742
Millwall London (Bermondsey) The Den 20,146
Norwich City Norwich Carrow Road 27,359
Oxford United Oxford Kassam Stadium 12,500
Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Home Park 17,900
Portsmouth Portsmouth Fratton Park 20,899
Preston North End Preston Deepdale 23,404
Queens Park Rangers London (Shepherd's Bush) Loftus Road 18,439
Sheffield United Sheffield Bramall Lane 32,050
Sheffield Wednesday Hillsborough Stadium 39,732
Stoke City Stoke-on-Trent bet365 Stadium 30,089
Sunderland Sunderland Stadium of Light 49,000
Swansea City Swansea Swansea.com Stadium 21,088
Watford Watford Vicarage Road 22,200
West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich The Hawthorns 26,850

Results[]

League champions, runners-up and play-off finalists[]

Season Champions Runner-up Play-off winner score Play-off runner-up
2004–05 Sunderland 94 Wigan Athletic 87 West Ham United 73 (6th) 1-0 Preston North End 75 (5th)
2005–06 Reading 106 Sheffield United 90 Watford 81 (3rd) 3-0 Leeds United 78 (5th)
2006–07 Sunderland 88 Birmingham City 86 Derby County 84 (3rd) 1-0 West Bromwich Albion 76 (4th)
2007–08 West Bromwich Albion 81 Stoke City 79 Hull City 75 (3rd) 1-0 Bristol City 74 (4th)
2008–09 Wolverhampton Wanderers 90 Birmingham City 83 Burnley 76 (5th) 1-0 Sheffield United 80 (3rd)
2009–10 Newcastle United 102 West Bromwich Albion 91 Blackpool 70 (6th) 3-2 Cardiff City 76 (4th)
2010–11 Queens Park Rangers 88 Norwich City1 84 Swansea City 80 (3rd) 4-2 Reading 77 (5th)
2011–12 Reading 89 Southampton 88 West Ham United 86 (3rd) 2-1 Blackpool 75 (5th)
2012–13 Cardiff City 87 Hull City 79 Crystal Palace 72 (5th) 1-0 (a.e.t) Watford 72 (5th)
2013–14 Leicester City 102 Burnley2 93 Queens Park Rangers 80 (4th) 1-0 Derby County 85 (3rd)
2014–15 Bournemouth 90 Watford 89 Norwich City 86 (3rd) 2-0 Middlesbrough 85 (4th)
2015–16 Burnley 93 Middlesbrough 89 Hull City 83 (4th) 1-0 Sheffield Wednesday 74 (6th)
2016–17 Newcastle United 94 Brighton & Hove Albion 93 Huddersfield Town 81 (5th) 0–0 (4–3 pen) Reading 85 (3rd)
2017–18 Wolverhampton Wanderers 99 Cardiff City 90 Fulham 88 (3rd) 1–0 Aston Villa 83 (4th)
2018–19 Norwich City 94 Sheffield United 89 Aston Villa 76 (5th) 2–1 Derby County 74 (6th)
2019–20 Leeds United 93 West Bromwich Albion 83 Fulham 81 (4th) 2–1 (a.e.t.) Brentford 81 (3rd)
2020–21 Norwich City 97 Watford 91 Brentford 87 (3rd) 2–0 Swansea City 80 (4th)
2021–22 Fulham 90 Bournemouth 88 Nottingham Forest 80 (4th) 1–0 Huddersfield Town 82 (3rd)
2022–23 Burnley 101 Sheffield United 91 Luton Town 80 (3rd) 1–1 (6–5 pen.) Coventry City 70 (5th)
2023–24 Leicester City 97 Ipswich Town2 96 Southampton 87 (4th) 1–0 Leeds United 90 (3rd)

1 When Norwich City gained promotion to the Premier League they were the first team to be relegated to, relegated from, promoted to and promoted from the Championship.
2 When Burnley were promoted they gained the most points for a second placed team.

Relegated teams (from Championship to League One)[]

Season Clubs
2004–05 Gillingham (50), Nottingham Forest (44), Rotherham United (29)
2005–06 Crewe Alexandra (42), Millwall (40), Brighton & Hove Albion (38)
2006–07 Southend United (42), Luton Town (40), Leeds United (36)
2007–08 Leicester City (52), Scunthorpe United (46), Colchester United (38)
2008–09 Norwich City (46), Southampton (45), Charlton Athletic (39)
2009–10 Sheffield Wednesday (47), Plymouth Argyle (41), Peterborough United (34)
2010–11 Preston North End (42), Sheffield United (42), Scunthorpe United (42)
2011–12 Portsmouth (40), Coventry City (40), Doncaster Rovers (36)
2012–13 Peterborough United (54), Wolverhampton Wanderers (51), Bristol City (41)
2013–14 Doncaster Rovers (44), Barnsley (39), Yeovil Town (37)
2014–15 Millwall (41), Wigan Athletic (39), Blackpool (26)
2015–16 Charlton Athletic (40), Milton Keynes Dons (39), Bolton Wanderers (30)
2016–17 Blackburn Rovers (51), Wigan Athletic (42), Rotherham United (23)
2017–18 Barnsley (41), Burton Albion (41), Sunderland (37)
2018–19 Rotherham United (40), Bolton Wanderers (32), Ipswich Town (31)
2019–20 Charlton Athletic (48), Wigan Athletic (47), Hull City (45)
2020–21 Wycombe Wanderers (43), Rotherham United (42), Sheffield Wednesday (41)
2021–22 Peterborough United (37), Derby County (34), Barnsley (30)
2022–23 Reading (44), Blackpool (44), Wigan Athletic (42)
2023–24 Birmingham City (50), Huddersfield Town (45), Rotherham United (27)

Relegated teams (from Premier League to Championship)[]

Season Clubs
2004–05 Crystal Palace (33), Norwich City (33), Southampton (32)
2005–06 Birmingham City (34), West Bromwich Albion (30), Sunderland (15)
2006–07 Sheffield United (38), Charlton Athletic (34), Watford (29)
2007–08 Reading (36), Birmingham City (35), Derby County (11)
2008–09 Newcastle United (34), Middlesbrough (32), West Bromwich Albion (32)
2009–10 Burnley (30), Hull City (30), Portsmouth (19)
2010–11 Blackpool (39), Birmingham City (39), West Ham United (33)
2011–12 Bolton Wanderers (36), Blackburn Rovers (31), Wolverhampton Wanderers (25)
2012–13 Wigan Athletic (36), Reading (28), Queens Park Rangers (25)
2013–14 Norwich City (33), Fulham (32), Cardiff City (30)
2014–15 Hull City (35), Burnley (33), Queens Park Rangers (30)
2015–16 Newcastle United (37), Norwich City (34), Aston Villa (17)
2016–17 Hull City (34), Middlesbrough (28), Sunderland (24)
2017–18 Swansea City (33), Stoke City (33), West Bromwich Albion (31)
2018–19 Cardiff City (34), Fulham (26), Huddersfield Town (16)
2019–20 Bournemouth (34), Watford (34), Norwich City (21)
2020–21 Fulham (28), West Bromwich Albion (26), Sheffield United (23)
2021–22 Burnley (35), Watford (23), Norwich City (22)
2022–23 Leicester City (34), Leeds United (31), Southampton (25)
2023–24 Luton Town (26), Burnley (24), Sheffield United (16)

[]

Season Clubs
2004–05 Luton Town (98), Hull City (86), Sheffield Wednesday (Play-off winners) (72)
2005–06 Southend United (82), Colchester United (79), Barnsley (Play-off winners) (72)
2006–07 Scunthorpe United (91), Bristol City (85), Blackpool (Play-off winners) (83)
2007–08 Swansea City (91), Nottingham Forest (82), Doncaster Rovers (Play-off winners) (80)
2008–09 Leicester City (96), Peterborough United (89), Scunthorpe United (Play-off winners) (76)
2009–10 Norwich City (95), Leeds United (86), Millwall (Play-off winners) (85)
2010–11 Brighton & Hove Albion (95), Southampton (92), Peterborough United (Play-off winners) (79)
2011–12 Charlton Athletic (101), Sheffield Wednesday (93), Huddersfield Town (Play-off winners) (81)
2012–13 Doncaster Rovers (84), Bournemouth (83), Yeovil Town (Play-off winners) (77)
2013–14 Wolverhampton Wanderers (103), Brentford (94), Rotherham United (Play-off winners) (86)
2014–15 Bristol City (99), Milton Keynes Dons (91), Preston North End (Play-off winners) (89)
2015–16 Wigan Athletic (87), Burton Albion (85), Barnsley (Play-off winners) (74)
2016–17 Sheffield United (100), Bolton Wanderers (87), Millwall (Play-off winners) (73)
2017–18 Wigan Athletic (98), Blackburn Rovers (96), Rotherham United (Play-off winners) (79)
2018–19 Luton Town (94), Barnsley (91), Charlton Athletic (Play-off winners) (88)
2019–20 Coventry City (88.71), Rotherham United (77.94), Wycombe Wanderers (Play-off winners) (76.35)
2020–21 Hull City (89), Peterborough United (87), Blackpool (Play-off winners) (80)
2021–22 Wigan Athletic (92), Rotherham United (90), Sunderland (Play-off winners) (84)
2022–23 Plymouth Argyle (101), Ipswich Town (98), Sheffield Wednesday (Play-off winners) (96)
2023–24 Portsmouth (97), Derby County (92), Oxford United (Play-off winners) (77)

Top scorers[]

Season Top scorer Club Goals
2004–05 Nathan Ellington Wigan Athletic 24
2005–06 Marlon King Watford 21
2006–07 Jamie Cureton Colchester United 23
2007–08 Sylvan Ebanks-Blake Plymouth Argyle
Wolverhampton Wanderers
23
2008–09 Sylvan Ebanks-Blake Wolverhampton Wanderers 25
2009–10 Peter Whittingham Cardiff City 20
Nicky Maynard Bristol City
2010–11 Danny Graham Watford 24
2011–12 Rickie Lambert Southampton 27
2012–13 Glenn Murray Crystal Palace 30
2013–14 Ross McCormack Leeds United 28
2014–15 Daryl Murphy Ipswich Town 27
2015–16 Andre Gray Burnley 25
2016–17 Dwight Gayle Newcastle United 11
2017–18 Flag of Czech Republic Matěj Vydra Derby County 21
2018–19 Flag of Finland Teemu Pukki Norwich City 29
2019–20 Flag of Serbia Aleksandar Mitrović Fulham 26
2020–21 Flag of England Ivan Toney Brentford 31
2021–22 Flag of Serbia Aleksandar Mitrović Fulham 43

External links[]

Football League Championship EFL Championship 2024–25

Blackburn Rovers · Bristol City · Burnley · Cardiff City · Coventry City · Derby County · Hull City · Leeds United · Luton Town · Middlesbrough · Millwall · Norwich City · Oxford United · Plymouth Argyle · Portsmouth · Preston North End · Queens Park Rangers · Sheffield United · Sheffield Wednesday · Stoke City · Sunderland · Swansea City · Watford · West Bromwich Albion

EFL Championship seasons Flag of England
1992–93 · 1993–94 · 1994–95 · 1995–96 · 1996–97 · 1997–98 · 1998–99 · 1999–00 · 2000–01 · 2001–02 · 2002–03 · 2003–04 · 2004–05 · 2005–06 · 2006–07 · 2007–08 · 2008–09 · 2009–10 · 2010–11 · 2011–12 · 2012–13 · 2013–14 · 2014–15 · 2015–16 · 2016–17 · 2017–18 · 2018–19 · 2019–20 · 2020–21 · 2021–22 · 2022–23 · 2023–24 · 2024–25 ·
Current EFL League Championship managers

Eustace (Blackburn Rovers) · Manning (Bristol City) · Parker (Burnley) · Riza (Cardiff City) · Lampard (Coventry City) · Warne (Derby County) · Sellés (Hull City) · Farke (Leeds United) · Bloomfield (Luton Town) · Carrick (Middlesbrough) · Neil (Millwall) · Thorup (Norwich City) · Rowett (Oxford United) · Muslic (Plymouth Argyle) · Mousinho (Portsmouth) · Heckingbottom (Preston North End) · Cifuentes (Queens Park Rangers) · Wilder (Sheffield United) · Röhl (Sheffield Wednesday) · Robins (Stoke City) · Le Bris (Sunderland) · Williams (Swansea City) · Cleverley (Watford) · Mowbray (West Bromwich Albion)

Football in England
League competitions The FA Cup competitions
Premier League England (B) (C) FA Cup
Football League (Champ, 1, 2) (U-21) (U-20) Football League Cup
National League (Prem, N, S) (U-19) (U-18) FA Community Shield
Northern Premier (Prem, 1N, 1S) (U-17) (U-16) EFL Trophy
Southern League (Prem, 1C, 1S) List of clubs FA Trophy
Isthmian League (Prem, N, SC, E) List of stadiums Conference League Cup (Defunt)
(by capacity) FA Vase
List of leagues
Records
Second level football leagues of Europe (UEFA)

Albania · Andorra · Armenia · Austria · Azerbaijan · Belarus · Belgium · Bosnia and Herzegovina (Federation and Republika Srpska) · Bulgaria · Croatia · Cyprus · Czech Republic · Denmark · England · Estonia · Faroe Islands · Finland · France · Georgia · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Iceland · Republic of Ireland · Israel · Italy · Kazakhstan · Latvia · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Rep. of Macedonia · Malta · Moldova · Montenegro · Netherlands · Northern Ireland · Norway · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Russia · San Marino (defunct) · Scotland · Serbia · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · Switzerland · Turkey · Ukraine · Wales (North and South)

220px-England crest 2009.svg
Flag of England England
Advertisement