2008–09 Football League Championship

The 2008–09 Football League Championship (known as the Coca-Cola Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the sixth season of the league under its current title and seventeenth season under its current league division format.

Football League Championship
Season2008–09
ChampionsWolverhampton Wanderers
(3rd divisional title)
PromotedWolverhampton Wanderers
Birmingham City
Burnley
RelegatedNorwich City
Southampton
Charlton Athletic
Matches played552
Goals scored1,350 (2.45 per match)
Top goalscorerSylvan Ebanks-Blake
(25 goals)
Biggest home winReading 6–0 Sheffield Wednesday,
Preston North End 6–0 Cardiff City
Biggest away winCharlton Athletic 2–5 Sheffield United
Highest scoringNorwich City 5–2 Wolverhampton Wanderers,
Watford 3–4 Blackpool,
Charlton Athletic 2–5 Sheffield United
Longest winning run7 games[1]
Wolverhampton Wanderers (achieved twice)
Longest unbeaten run13 games[1]
Cardiff City,
Swansea City
Longest winless run18 games[1]
Charlton Athletic
Longest losing run6 games[1]
Doncaster Rovers
Highest attendance33,079[2]
Derby County v Wolverhampton Wanderers
Lowest attendance6,648[2]
Blackpool v Charlton Athletic
Average attendance17,938[2]

Wolverhampton Wanderers won the division to return to the Premier League after a five-year absence. They secured the Championship title on 25 April, one week after having confirmed their promotion with a victory over QPR.[3][4]

Birmingham City were promoted at the first attempt following their relegation. They secured their return to the top flight on the final day of the season by winning at promotion rivals Reading 2–1.[5] Norwich City, Southampton and Charlton Athletic were relegated;[6]

Burnley won the play-offs to reach the Premier League for the first time after a 1–0 win in the play-off final against Sheffield United, who had been in with a chance of automatic promotion on the final day.[7]

Team changes from previous season
Joining the Championship

Relegated from the Premier League:

Promoted from League One:

Leaving the Championship

Promoted to the Premier League:

Relegated to League One:

Team overview

Stadium and locations
Locations of the Championship 2008–09 teams
Team Stadium Capacity
BarnsleyOakwell23,009
Birmingham CitySt Andrew's30,009
BlackpoolBloomfield Road9,788
Bristol CityAshton Gate21,497
BurnleyTurf Moor22,546
Cardiff CityNinian Park22,008
Charlton AthleticThe Valley27,111
Coventry CityRicoh Arena32,609
Crystal PalaceSelhurst Park26,309
Derby CountyPride Park33,597
Doncaster RoversKeepmoat Stadium15,231
Ipswich TownPortman Road30,311
Norwich CityCarrow Road26,034
Nottingham ForestCity Ground30,602
Plymouth ArgyleHome Park19,500
Preston North EndDeepdale24,500
Queens Park RangersLoftus Road19,128
ReadingMadejski Stadium24,161
Sheffield UnitedBramall Lane32,609
Sheffield WednesdayHillsborough39,814
SouthamptonSt Mary's Stadium32,689
Swansea CityLiberty Stadium20,532
WatfordVicarage Road19,920
Wolverhampton WanderersMolineux28,525

Personnel and sponsoring
Team Manager Kit maker Sponsor
Barnsley Simon Davey Lotto Barnsley Building Society
Birmingham City Alex McLeish Umbro F&C Investments
Blackpool Tony Parkes Carlotti Floors 2 Go/Carbrini
Bristol City Gary Johnson Puma AG D.A.S.
Burnley Owen Coyle Erreà Holland's Pies
Cardiff City Dave Jones Joma Vans Direct.co.uk
Charlton Athletic Phil Parkinson Joma Carbrini
Coventry City Chris Coleman Puma AG Cassidy Group
Crystal Palace Neil Warnock Erreà GAC Logistics
Derby County Nigel Clough Adidas Bombardier
Doncaster Rovers Sean O'Driscoll Vandanel Wright Investments
Ipswich Town Roy Keane Mitre Marcus Evans
Norwich City Bryan Gunn Xara Norwich Union
Nottingham Forest Billy Davies Umbro Capital One
Plymouth Argyle Paul Sturrock Puma AG Ginsters
Preston North End Alan Irvine Diadora Enterprise plc
Queens Park Rangers Paulo Sousa Lotto Gulf Air
Reading Steve Coppell Puma AG Waitrose
Sheffield United Kevin Blackwell Le Coq Sportif Visit Malta.com
Sheffield Wednesday Brian Laws Lotto PlusNet
Southampton Mark Wotte Umbro Flybe
Swansea City Roberto Martínez Umbro Swansea.com
Watford Brendan Rodgers Diadora Beko
Wolverhampton Wanderers Mick McCarthy Le Coq Sportif Chaucer Consulting

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
QPR Northern Ireland Iain Dowie Sacked 24 October 2008[8] Portugal Paulo Sousa 19 November 2008[9] 9th
Watford England Aidy Boothroyd Mutual consent 3 November 2008[10] Northern Ireland Brendan Rodgers 24 November 2008[11] 21st
Charlton Athletic England Alan Pardew Mutual consent 22 November 2008[12] England Phil Parkinson 31 December 2008[13] 22nd
Blackpool England Simon Grayson Signed by Leeds United 23 December 2008[14] England Ian Holloway 21 May 2009 16th
Nottingham Forest Scotland Colin Calderwood Sacked 26 December 2008[15] Scotland Billy Davies 1 January 2009[16] 22nd
Derby County England Paul Jewell Resigned 28 December 2008[17] England Nigel Clough 6 January 2009[18] 18th
Norwich City England Glenn Roeder Sacked 14 January 2009[19] Scotland Bryan Gunn 21 January 2009[20] 21st
Southampton Netherlands Jan Poortvliet Resigned 23 January 2009[21] Netherlands Mark Wotte 23 January 2009[21] 23rd
QPR Portugal Paulo Sousa Sacked 9 April 2009[22] Northern Ireland Jim Magilton 3 June 2009 10th
Ipswich Town Northern Ireland Jim Magilton Sacked 22 April 2009[23] Republic of Ireland Roy Keane 23 April 2009[24] 9th
Reading England Steve Coppell Resigned 12 May 2009[25] Northern Ireland Brendan Rodgers 4 June 2009 4th, Play-off semi-final

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Wolverhampton Wanderers (C, P) 46 27 9 10 80 52 +28 90 Promotion to the Premier League
2 Birmingham City (P) 46 23 14 9 54 37 +17 83
3 Sheffield United 46 22 14 10 64 39 +25 80 Qualification for Championship play-offs
4 Reading 46 21 14 11 72 40 +32 77
5 Burnley (O, P) 46 21 13 12 72 60 +12 76
6 Preston North End 46 21 11 14 66 54 +12 74
7 Cardiff City 46 19 17 10 65 53 +12 74
8 Swansea City 46 16 20 10 63 50 +13 68
9 Ipswich Town 46 17 15 14 62 53 +9 66
10 Bristol City 46 15 16 15 54 54 0 61
11 Queens Park Rangers 46 15 16 15 42 44 −2 61
12 Sheffield Wednesday 46 16 13 17 51 58 −7 61
13 Watford 46 16 10 20 68 72 −4 58
14 Doncaster Rovers 46 17 7 22 42 53 −11 58
15 Crystal Palace 46 15 12 19 52 55 −3 56[lower-alpha 1]
16 Blackpool 46 13 17 16 47 58 −11 56
17 Coventry City 46 13 15 18 47 58 −11 54
18 Derby County 46 14 12 20 55 67 −12 54
19 Nottingham Forest 46 13 14 19 50 65 −15 53
20 Barnsley 46 13 13 20 45 58 −13 52
21 Plymouth Argyle 46 13 12 21 44 57 −13 51
22 Norwich City (R) 46 12 10 24 57 70 −13 46 Relegation to Football League One
23 Southampton (R) 46 10 15 21 46 69 −23 45[lower-alpha 2]
24 Charlton Athletic (R) 46 8 15 23 52 74 −22 39
Updated to match(es) played on 3 May 2009. Source: The Football League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Crystal Palace were give a one-point deduction for using an ineligible player during a match against Sheffield United on 3 May 2009.[26]
  2. Southampton were given a ten-point deduction for breaching insolvency regulations, regarding their holding company. As they finished in the bottom three in the 2008–09 season, the points deduction was applied during the 2009–10 season in League One.[27]

Play-offs
Main article: 2009 Football League play-offs
Semi-finals Final
        
3 Sheffield United 1 1 2
6 Preston North End 1 0 1
3 Sheffield United 0
5 Burnley 1
4 Reading 0 0 0
5 Burnley 1 2 3

Results
Home \ Away BAR BIR BLP BRI BUR CAR CHA COV CRY DER DON IPS NWC NOT PLY PNE QPR REA SHU SHW SOU SWA WAT WOL
Barnsley 1–1 0–1 0–0 3–2 0–1 0–0 1–2 3–1 2–0 4–1 1–2 0–0 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–1 0–1 1–2 2–1 0–1 1–3 2–1 1–1
Birmingham City 2–0 0–1 1–0 1–1 1–1 3–2 0–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–2 1–0 1–3 1–0 3–1 1–0 0–0 3–2 2–0
Blackpool 1–0 2–0 0–1 0–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–2 3–2 2–3 0–1 2–0 1–1 0–1 1–3 0–3 2–2 1–3 0–2 1–1 1–1 0–2 2–2
Bristol City 2–0 1–2 0–0 1–2 1–1 2–1 2–0 1–0 1–1 4–1 1–1 1–0 2–2 2–2 1–1 1–1 1–4 0–0 1–1 2–0 0–0 1–1 2–2
Burnley 1–2 1–1 2–0 4–0 2–2 2–1 1–1 4–2 3–0 0–0 0–3 2–0 5–0 0–0 3–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–4 3–2 0–2 3–2 1–0
Cardiff City 3–1 1–2 2–0 0–0 3–1 2–0 2–1 2–1 4–1 3–0 0–3 2–2 2–0 1–0 2–0 0–0 2–2 0–3 2–0 2–1 2–2 2–1 1–2
Charlton Athletic 1–3 0–0 2–2 0–2 1–1 2–2 1–2 1–0 2–2 1–2 2–1 4–2 0–2 2–0 0–0 2–2 4–2 2–5 1–2 0–0 2–0 2–3 1–3
Coventry City 1–1 1–0 2–1 0–3 1–3 0–2 0–0 0–2 1–1 1–0 2–2 2–0 2–2 0–1 0–0 1–0 0–0 1–2 2–0 4–1 1–1 2–3 2–1
Crystal Palace 3–0 0–0 0–1 4–2 0–0 0–2 1–0 1–1 1–0 2–1 1–4 3–1 1–2 1–2 2–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 3–0 2–0 0–0 0–1
Derby County 0–0 1–1 4–1 2–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 2–1 1–2 0–1 0–1 3–1 1–1 2–1 2–2 0–2 0–2 2–1 3–0 0–1 2–2 1–0 2–3
Doncaster Rovers 0–1 0–2 0–0 1–0 2–1 1–1 0–1 1–0 2–0 2–1 1–0 1–1 0–0 1–0 0–2 2–0 0–1 0–2 1–0 0–2 0–0 1–2 0–1
Ipswich Town 3–0 0–1 1–1 3–1 1–1 1–2 1–1 2–1 1–1 2–0 1–3 3–2 2–1 0–0 1–2 2–0 2–0 1–1 1–1 0–3 2–2 0–0 0–2
Norwich City 4–0 1–1 1–1 1–2 1–1 2–0 1–0 1–2 1–2 1–2 2–1 2–0 2–3 1–0 2–2 0–1 0–2 1–0 0–1 2–2 2–3 2–0 5–2
Nottingham Forest 1–0 1–1 0–0 3–2 1–2 0–1 0–0 1–0 0–2 1–3 2–4 1–1 1–2 2–0 2–1 2–2 0–0 0–1 2–1 3–1 1–1 3–2 0–1
Plymouth Argyle 1–2 0–1 1–2 0–2 1–2 2–1 2–2 4–0 1–3 0–3 0–3 1–3 1–2 1–0 1–0 1–1 2–2 2–2 4–0 2–0 0–1 2–1 2–2
Preston North End 2–1 1–0 0–1 2–0 2–1 6–0 2–1 2–1 2–0 2–0 1–0 3–2 1–0 2–1 1–1 2–1 2–1 0–0 1–1 2–3 0–2 2–0 1–3
Queens Park Rangers 2–1 1–0 1–1 2–1 1–2 1–0 2–1 1–1 0–0 0–2 2–0 1–3 0–1 2–1 0–0 3–2 0–0 0–0 3–2 4–1 1–0 0–0 1–0
Reading 0–0 1–2 1–0 0–2 3–1 1–1 2–2 3–1 4–2 3–0 2–1 0–1 2–0 0–1 2–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 6–0 1–2 4–0 4–0 1–0
Sheffield United 2–1 2–1 2–2 3–0 2–3 0–0 3–1 1–1 2–2 4–2 0–1 2–0 1–0 0–0 2–0 1–0 3–0 0–2 1–2 0–0 1–0 2–1 1–3
Sheffield Wednesday 0–1 1–1 1–1 0–0 4–1 1–0 4–1 0–1 2–0 0–1 1–0 0–0 3–2 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–0 1–2 1–0 2–0 0–0 2–0 0–1
Southampton 0–0 1–2 0–1 0–1 2–2 1–0 2–3 1–1 1–0 1–1 1–2 2–2 2–0 0–2 0–0 3–1 0–0 1–1 1–2 1–1 2–2 0–3 1–2
Swansea City 2–2 2–3 0–1 1–0 1–1 2–2 1–1 0–0 1–3 1–1 3–1 3–0 2–1 3–1 1–0 4–1 0–0 2–0 1–1 1–1 3–0 3–1 3–1
Watford 1–1 0–1 3–4 2–4 3–0 2–2 1–0 2–1 2–0 3–1 1–1 2–1 2–1 2–1 1–2 2–1 3–0 2–2 0–2 2–2 2–2 2–0 2–3
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2–0 1–1 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–2 2–1 2–1 2–1 3–0 1–0 0–0 3–3 5–1 0–1 1–3 1–0 0–3 1–1 4–1 3–0 2–1 3–1
Source: The Football League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers
PosPlayerTeamGoals
1 Sylvan Ebanks-Blake Wolverhampton Wanderers 25
2 Ross McCormack Cardiff City 21
Jason Scotland Swansea City
4 Kevin Doyle Reading 18
5 Tommy Smith Watford 16
6 Rob Hulse Derby County 14
Chris Iwelumo Wolverhampton Wanderers
Marcus Tudgay Sheffield Wednesday
Kevin Phillips Birmingham City

Awards
Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month Notes
Manager Club Player Club
August Mick McCarthy Wolverhampton Wanderers Richard Chaplow Preston North End [28][29]
September Owen Coyle Burnley Kevin Doyle Reading [30][31]
October Dave Jones Cardiff City Rob Hulse Derby County [32][33]
November Mick McCarthy Wolverhampton Wanderers Chris Iwelumo Wolverhampton Wanderers [34][35]
December Steve Coppell Reading Stephen Hunt Reading [36][37]
January Roberto Martínez Swansea City Joe Ledley Cardiff City [38][39]
February Chris Coleman Coventry City Jason Scotland Swansea City [40]
March Kevin Blackwell Sheffield United Robbie Blake Burnley [41][42]
April Alan Irvine Preston North End Kyle Naughton Sheffield United
PFA Team of the Year[43]
Pos.PlayerClub
GKKeiren WestwoodCoventry City
DFKyle NaughtonSheffield United
DFRoger JohnsonCardiff City
DFRichard StearmanWolverhampton Wanderers
DFDanny FoxCoventry City
MFMichael KightlyWolverhampton Wanderers
MFStephen HuntReading
MFJoe LedleyCardiff City
MFJordi GómezSwansea City
FWSylvan Ebanks-BlakeWolverhampton Wanderers
FWJason ScotlandSwansea City

Events

Goal controversies
  • On 20 September 2008, during Watford's home game against Reading, the assistant referee Nigel Banister adjudged that a John Eustace own goal had opened the scoring for Reading. In fact, the ball had gone four yards wide of the goal after Eustace challenged Royals forward Noel Hunt and a corner should therefore have been awarded. Referee Stuart Attwell followed the signal by the assistant and awarded the goal.[44] The next day Reading manager Steve Coppell said that he was happy for the game to be replayed,[45] but his offer was turned down when an official said, "the referee's decision is final."
  • On 6 December 2008 an apparent Bristol City goal against Swansea City was not awarded after both the linesman and referee failed to see the ball cross the line. This led Bristol City manager Gary Johnson to add to calls for goal-line technology.[46]

Southampton administration

On 23 April 2009, The Football League announced that Southampton had been placed into administration. The ruling occurred after the deadline for immediate points deduction application, so the ten-point deduction would have to await whether or not Southampton, in 22nd place at the time of the announcement, were relegated.[47] If they had finished above the relegation zone, then the points would have been deducted from their total for the current year to thereby relegate them. However, since their relegation was confirmed following their penultimate match, their point penalty would be applied the next season in League One.[48]

References
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  6. "Ups and downs". BBC Sport. 24 May 2009.
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