EFL Championship

Sunderland won the league in the first season since re-branding, with Wigan Athletic finishing second to win promotion to the top flight of English football for the first time in their history. They had only been elected to the Football League twenty-seven years previously; playing in the fourth tier as recently as eleven years before their promotion. West Ham United won the first Championship play-off final that season, following a 1–0 victory over Preston North End at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. The 2004–05 season saw the Football League Championship announce a total attendance (including postseason) of 9.8 million, the fourth-highest total attendance for a European football division, behind the FA Premier League (12.88 million), Spain's La Liga (11.57 million) and Germany's Bundesliga (10.92 million).[6][7][8] Additionally, Millwall, competing in the inaugural Championship season, qualified for the UEFA Cup, only to lose in the first qualifying round. In the 2005–06 season, Reading broke the Football League points record for a season, finishing with 106 points, exceeding the record set by Sunderland in 1999.[9]

Sunderland won their second Championship title in the 2006–07 season, after being relegated from the top division the previous season. On 4 May 2007, Leeds United became the first side since the re-branding of the division to enter administration; they were deducted 10 points and were relegated as a result.[10][11] On 28 May 2007, Derby County won the first Championship play-off final at the new Wembley Stadium, beating West Bromwich Albion 1–0.[12] West Brom would go on to win the Championship in the following season.

Burnley, who finished fifth in 2009, defeated Sheffield United to earn their first season in the newly-branded Premier League, last being in the Football League First Division in 1976.[13]

On 30 September 2009, Coca-Cola announced they would end their sponsorship deal with the Football League, which began in 2004, at the end of the 2009–10 season.[14] On 16 March 2010, npower were announced as the new title sponsors of the Football League, and from the start of the 2010–11 Football League season until the end of the 2012–13 season, the Football League Championship was known as the Npower Championship.[15] Crystal Palace became the second Championship club to enter administration in 2010.[16]

After winning the 2011 League Cup Final, Birmingham City became the first Championship club to compete in the group stage of the UEFA Cup/Europa League, finishing third in the group, only one point behind Portuguese club Braga. Birmingham City eventually finished fourth in the Championship that season, and would lose to fifth-place Blackpool in the play-off. Wigan Athletic became the second club to participate in the Europa League group stage after winning the 2013 FA Cup, only to accumulate one win and lose their last three group matches.[17]

On 18 July 2013, UK bookmaker Sky Bet announced that they signed a five-year agreement to sponsor the league.[18]

On 24 May 2014, the Championship play-off final between Derby County and Queens Park Rangers saw the highest crowd for any Championship fixture – 87,348 witnessed a Bobby Zamora stoppage time winner for QPR to win promotion for the London club.[19]

For the 2016–17 season, the Football League was re-branded as the English Football League. The league had a cumulative attendance of more than 11 million – excluding play-off matches – with more than two million watching Newcastle United and Aston Villa home fixtures alone, both of whom had been relegated from the Premier League in the previous season. This was included in the highest crowds for the second to fourth tier in England since the 1958–59 season.[20] Newcastle won the title in 2016-17, while Aston Villa finished 13th, eventually returning to the Premier League in 2019.[21]

On 13 March 2020, Championship play was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a suspension lasting until 4 April. It was then extended to the end of April, with the league eventually restarting on 20 June. Leeds United were confirmed as champions on 17 July 2020, being promoted to the Premier League for the first time in 16 years.[22]

Brentford, being in League Two in 2009 and gaining promotion to the Championship five years later, were promoted following a play-off victory against Swansea City on 29 May 2021, after losing the play-off to Fulham the previous year.[23] On 29 May 2022, Nottingham Forest, having been in the Championship for 14 consecutive seasons, ended their 23-year absence from the top flight by beating Huddersfield Town in the play-off final, after being last in the league as late as round 8 of the 2021–22 season.[24]

The EFL Championship will take a four-week break in November and December 2022 for the winter World Cup.[25]

The league comprises 24 teams. Over the course of a season, which runs annually from August to the following May, each team plays twice against the others in the league, once at 'home' and once 'away', resulting in each team competing in 46 games in total. Three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw, and zero for a loss. The teams are ranked in the league table by points gained, then goal difference, then goals scored, and then their head-to-head record for that season (including away goals record). If two or more teams finish the season equal in all these respects, then teams are separated by alphabetical order, unless a promotion, relegation, or play-off place (see below) is at stake, when the teams are separated by a play-off game, though this improbable situation has never arisen in all the years the rule has existed.[26]

At the end of the season, the top two teams and the winner of the Championship play-offs are promoted to the Premier League and the bottom three teams are relegated to Football League One. The Football League Championship play-offs is a knock-out competition for the teams finishing the season in third to sixth place with the winner being promoted to the Premier League. In the play-offs, the third-placed team plays against the sixth-placed team and the fourth-placed team plays against the fifth-placed team in two-legged semi-finals (home and away). The winners of each semi-final then compete in a single match at Wembley Stadium with the prize being promotion to the Premier League and the Championship play-off trophy.

London

West Midlands

Lancashire

Bristol City

Cardiff
City

Huddersfield Town

Hull City

Luton Town

Middlesbrough

Norwich
City

Reading

Rotherham United

Sheffield United

Stoke City

Sunderland

Swansea City

Teams around LondonMillwall
Queens Park Rangers
Watford

West Midlands teamsBirmingham City
Coventry City
West Bromwich Albion

Lancashire teamsBlackpool
Blackburn Rovers
Burnley
Preston North End
Wigan Athletic

Locations of the 2022–23 EFL Championship teams

Watford

Millwall

Queens Park Rangers

Location of EFL Championship clubs around Greater London

Preston North End

Blackpool

Blackburn Rovers

Burnley

Wigan Athletic

Location of EFL Championship clubs around Lancashire

The following 24 clubs will compete in the EFL Championship during the 2022–23 season.

Birmingham City

Coventry City

West Bromwich Albion

Location of the West Midland's EFL Championship clubs

The EFL Championship is the second most-watched second-tier domestic sports league in the World, behind the German 2. Bundesliga (20,372), with an average of 18,585 spectators per game in the 2019–20 season.[29] The EFL Championship was the seventh most-watched domestic football league in Europe in 2019-20, behind the Premier League, Bundesliga (1 and 2), La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1. In the 2016–17 season, the EFL Championship was the third most watched domestic league in Europe, behind the Premier League and the 1. Bundesliga.[30]

The highest average league attendance was in 2017–18 season, when 11.3 million fans attended Championship matches, at an average of 20,489 per game.[31] The lowest average league attendance came in the 2013–14 season, when 9.1 million spectators watched at an average of 16,605 per game.[32] The highest seasonal average for a club was 51,106 for Newcastle United in the 2016–17 season.[33]

Since the restructuring into the Championship in 2004, 55 teams have spent at least one season in the division, including 13 of the 20 teams in the 2022–23 Premier League. Cardiff City and Derby County have both spent the longest in the league with 17 seasons each. The 15-season spell for Ipswich Town between 2004 and 2019 is the longest consecutive spell of any team in the division. The team with the current longest tenure is Reading, which has been a Championship team for ten consecutive seasons. Norwich City has had six separate spells in the Championship; the most of any team. There have been 13 different winners of the EFL Championship, with five teams (Newcastle United, Sunderland, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Reading and Norwich City) having won it twice.

Norwich City has been promoted out of the Championship on four occasions, with five teams (Burnley, Fulham, Hull City, Watford, West Brom) having been promoted on three occasions. Rotherham United has been relegated from the Championship on four occasions, with three teams (Barnsley, Charlton Athletic and Wigan Athletic) having been relegated on three occasions. 14 teams have been both promoted out of and relegated from the Championship.

Key

•    Teams with this background and symbol in the "Club" column will be competing in the 2022–23 EFL Championship
•    Team will be competing in the 2022–23 Premier League
•    The club competed in the EFL Championship during that season (the number is the club's final league position)

Club	Total Seasons	Number of Spells	Longest Spell (Seasons)	Highest Position	Lowest Position	Season
						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
AFC Bournemouth	4	2	2	1	10																													10	1						6	2
Aston Villa	3	1	3	4	13													13	4	5
Barnsley	13	3	8	5	24			20	18	20	18	17	21	21	23			14	22		21	5	24
Birmingham City	14	3	12	2	21			2		2			4	12	21	10	10	19	19	17	20	18	20	-
Blackburn Rovers	10	2	5	8	22									17	8	9	15	22		15	11	15	8	-
Blackpool	9	3	4	5	24				19	16	6		5	15	20	24							16	-
Bolton Wanderers	6	2	4	7	24									7	14	18	24		21	23
Brentford	7	1	7	3	11											5	9	10	9	11	3	3
Brighton & Hove Albion	8	2	6	2	24	20	24						10	4	6	20	3	2
Bristol City	14	2	8	4	24				4	10	10	15	20	24			18	17	11	8	12	19	17	-
Burnley	11	4	5	1	17	13	17	15	13	5		8	13	11	2		1							-
Burton Albion	2	1	2	20	23													20	23
Cardiff City	17	3	9	1	18	16	11	13	12	7	4	4	6	1		11	8	12	2		5	8	18	-
Charlton Athletic	7	3	4	9	24				11	24				9	18	12	22				22
Colchester United	2	1	2	10	24			10	24
Coventry City	11	2	8	8	23	19	8	17	21	17	19	18	23									16	12	-
Crewe Alexandra	2	1	2	21	22	21	22
Crystal Palace	8	1	8	5	21		6	12	5	15	21	20	17	5
Derby County	17	2	14	3	23	4	20	3		18	14	19	12	10	3	8	5	9	6	6	10	21	23
Doncaster Rovers	5	2	4	12	24					14	12	21	24		22
Fulham	6	3	4	1	20											17	20	6	3		4		1
Gillingham	1	1	1	22	22	22
Huddersfield Town	9	2	5	3	20									19	17	16	19	5			18	20	3	-
Hull City	12	5	3	2	24		18	21	3			11	8	2			4		18	13	24		19	-
Ipswich Town	15	1	15	3	24	3	15	14	8	9	15	13	15	14	9	6	7	16	12	24
Leeds United	13	2	10	1	24	14	5	24				7	14	13	15	15	13	7	13	3	1
Leicester City	9	2	5	1	22	15	16	19	22		5	10	9	6	1
Luton Town	6	2	4	6	23		10	23													19	12	6	-
Middlesbrough	13	2	7	2	17						11	12	7	16	12	4	2		5	7	17	10	7	-
Millwall	13	3	6	8	23	10	23					9	16	20	19	22			8	21	8	11	9	-
Milton Keynes Dons	1	1	1	23	23												23
Newcastle United	2	2	1	1	1						1							1
Norwich City	11	6	4	1	22		9	16	17	22		2				3		8	14	1		1		-
Nottingham Forest	15	2	14	3	23	23				19	3	6	19	8	11	14	16	21	17	9	7	17	4
Peterborough United	5	2	4	16	24						24	16	18	22									22
Plymouth Argyle	6	1	6	10	23	17	14	11	10	21	23
Portsmouth	1	1	1	22	22								22
Preston North End	15	2	8	4	22	5	4	7	15	6	17	22					11	11	7	14	9	13	13	-
Queens Park Rangers	16	3	8	1	21	11	21	18	14	11	13	1			4		12	18	16	19	13	9	11	-
Reading	16	3	10	1	21	7	1			4	9	5	1		7	19	17	3	20	20	14	7	21	-
Rotherham United	7	5	3	21	24	24										21	21	24		22		23		-
Scunthorpe United	3	2	2	20	24				23		20	24
Sheffield United	10	4	4	2	23	8	2		9	3	8	23							10	2			5	-
Sheffield Wednesday	14	2	9	4	24		19	9	16	12	22			18	16	13	6	4	15	12	16	24
Southampton	5	2	4	2	23		12	6	20	23			2
Southend United	1	1	1	22	22			22
Stoke City	9	2	5	2	16	12	13	8	2											16	15	14	14	-
Sunderland	4	4	1	1	24	1		1											24					-
Swansea City	8	2	5	3	15					8	7	3								10	6	4	15	-
Watford	12	3	8	2	18	18	3		6	13	16	14	11	3	13	2						2		-
West Bromwich Albion	7	4	2	1	10			4	1		2									4	2		10	-
West Ham United	2	2	1	3	6	6							3
Wigan Athletic	7	5	2	2	23	2									5	23		23		18	23			-
Wolverhampton Wanderers	10	3	5	1	23	9	7	5	7	1				23		7	14	15	1
Wycombe Wanderers	1	1	1	22	22																	22
Yeovil Town	1	1	1	24	24										24

• English football league system
• EFL Championship Manager of the Month
• List of English football club owners
• List of attendance figures at domestic professional sports leagues – Championship attendance in a worldwide context
• List of professional sports teams in the United Kingdom

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Football League Championship.

• Official website Football League
• Championship Stadia The Championship Stadia