Championship Grounds

The Championship is the second-highest division in English football and hosts a vast amount of footballing talent. In the Championship, 3 teams at the top of the table are promoted whilst 3 teams at the are relegated.

By securing promotion from the Championship to the Premier League, teams can secure a huge cash prize and bolster their teams to fight to avoid relegation in the next season. The bonus in broadcasting per match is staggering for the Premier League compared to the Championship.

The Championship is currently the richest second-tier league in the world alongside being the 7th wealthiest league in Europe and is currently sponsored by Sky Bet, the Champions League replaced the old first division in 2004 and ever since then has built its respectful reputation in the football world.

Ticket Prices

Stadium Season Ticket Price (Adult) Season Ticket Price (Conc) Season Ticket Price (Junior) Match Ticket Price (Adult) Match Ticket Price (Conc)
AFC Bournemouth £550 – £950 £340 – £690 £115 – £330 £32 – £55 £19 – £40
Barnsley £390 – £475 £215 – £270 £35 – £115 £23 – £36 £16 – £28
Birmingham City £265 – £505 £265 – £280 £50 – £170 £15 – £40 £10 – £30
Blackburn Rovers £399 – £499 £269 – £349 £60 – £90 £25 – £42 £20 – £35
Blackpool £339 – £649 £299 – £649 £23 – £649 £16 – £48 £12 – £48
Bristol City £355 – £636 £294 – £483 £50 – £199 £25 – £43 £22 – £40
Cardiff City £249 – £479 £149 – £359 £49 – £249 £15 – £34 £10 – £27
Coventry City £375 – £375 £289 – £289 £90 – £175 £20 – £30 £15 – £25
Derby County £319.2 – £431.2 £239.4 – £323.4 £79.8 – £215.6 £19.5 – £37 £13.5 – £27
Fulham £399 – £809 £349 – £709 £59 – £299 £25 – £40 £25 – £35
Huddersfield Town £329 – £329 £329 – £329 £69 – £159 £25 – £25 £20 – £20
Hull City £360 – £360 £234 – £334 £36 – £108 £20 – £30 £18 – £23
Luton Town £350 – £500 £290 – £335 £60 – £145 £20 – £32 £12 – £24
Middlesbrough £530 – £691 £358 – £491 £184 – £184 £27 – £35 £18 – £27
Millwall £420 – £560 £260 – £330 £30 – £200 £27 – £36 £18 – £26
Nottingham Forest £365 – £525 £255 – £370 £35 – £90 £20 – £30 No Info
Peterborough United £399 – £529 £299 – £409 £119 – £219 £24 – £28 £21 – £25
Preston North End £400 – £535 £280 – £380 £80 – £125 £24 – £30 £16 – £23
Queens Park Rangers £248 – £674 £149 – £452 £72 – £220 £19 – £44 £13 – £33
Reading £319 – £445 £235 – £295 £23 – £120 £23 – £29 £16 – £20
Sheffield United £387.5 – £543.5 £275 – £361 £71.25 – £75.75 £35 – £40 £13 – £36
Stoke City £459 – £609 £349 – £465 £269 – £329 £25 – £35 £19 – £27
Swansea £439 – £489 £299 – £339 £69 – £169 £30 – £30 £17.5 – £17.5
West Bromwich Albion £359 – £469 £299 – £379 £55 – £149 £23 – £25 £18 – £20

Championship Stadiums

Out of all of the football leagues in the world, the English Championship has the most diverse mix of stadiums many big teams from the Premier League drop into the Championship every year which means the Championship gets to show off some of their huge modern stadiums.

For a second-tier division in Europe, the attendance in the English Championship is very high in absolute terms and overall capacity. An example of this would be in the 2014-15 season the attendance was recorded as 17,857 which was a massive testament to the stadiums and the teams that play in them.

The majority of the famous and traditional English grounds that are used by some of the most famous clubs have been unable to modernise or develop their grounds without the help of the Premier Leagues’ cash. The smaller Championship grounds have started to also host teams that have emerged from lower divisions.

Wembley Stadium is the most famous and the most expensive stadium there is with a net worth of £1 billion, it is England’s home and the site of the EFL Cup and FA Cup finals. It also hosted the 2020 Euros final.

Stadium Stats

Stadium Year Opened Capacity Ave Attendance Record Attendance Record Attendance Match
Ashton Gate
Bristol City
1887 27,000 21,080 43,335 Bristol City v Preston (1935)
Bet365 Stadium
Stoke City FC
1997 30,089 25,200 30,022 Stoke vs Everton (17/03/2018)
Bloomfield Road
Blackpool
1899 16,616 5,517 38,098 Blackpool v Wolves (1955)
Bramall Lane
Sheffield United
1855 32,050 26,177 68,287 Sheffield United v Leeds (1936)
Cardiff City Stadium
Cardiff City / Wales
2009 33,280 21,614 33,280 Wales v Belgium (2015)
Coventry Building Society Arena
Coventry City
2005 32,609 9,118 31,407 Coventry v Chelsea (2009)
Craven Cottage
Fulham
1896 25,700 24,371 49,335 Fulham v Milwall Dockers (1938)
Deepdale
Preston North End
1878 23,404 14,789 42,684 Preston v Arsenal (1938)
Ewood Park
Blackburn Rovers
1882 31,367 14,552 61,783 Blackburn v Bolton (1929)
John Smiths Stadium
Huddersfield Town
1994 24,500 23,340 24,169 Huddersfield v West Brom (2017)
Kenilworth Road
Luton Town
1905 10,356 9,516 30,069 Luton Town v Blackpool (1959)
Liberty Stadium
Swansea AFC
2005 21,088 18,737 20,972 Swansea City v Liverpool (2016)
Loftus Road
Queens Park Rangers
1904 18,439 13,866 35,353 QPR v Leeds United (1974)
Madjeski Stadium
Reading
1998 24,161 14,991 24,184 Reading v Everton (2012)
Oakwell Stadium
Barnsley
1888 23,287 12,527 40,255 Barnsley v Stoke City (1936)
Pride Park
Derby County
1997 33,597 26,626 33,598 England v Mexico (2001)
Riverside Stadium
Middlesbrough FC
1995 34,742 23,217 35,000 England v Slovakia (2004)
St Andrew’s
Birmingham City
1906 29,409 22,483 67,341 Birmingham v Everton (1939)
The City Ground
Nottingham Forest
1898 30,445 27,724 49,946 Notts Forest v Man United (1967)
The Den
Millwall
1993 20,146 13,981 20,093 Millwall v Arsenal (1994)
The Hawthorns
West Bromwich Albion FC
1900 26,688 24,053 64,815 West Brom v Arsenal (1937)
The MKM Stadium
Hull City AFC
2002 25,400 11,553 25,280 England v Netherlands U21 (2004)
Vitality Stadium
AFC Bournemouth
1910 11,364 11,096 28,799 Man U v Bournemouth (1957)
Weston Homes London Road
Peterborough United
1913 15,314 7,365 30,096 Peterborough v Swansea (1965)

About The League

The Championship League is made up of 24 teams that play a total of 46 matches throughout the duration of the season which is usually the first week in August right the way through to mid-May time. The Championship starts just a week before the Premier League and the winner of the Championship automatically qualifies for the Premier League and so does the runner-up.

As it is the 7th richest league in the world and is the richest second-tier division in Europe the Championship league and its teams are highly respected around the world, It is televised in major European counterparts such as the Spanish Segunda. Sky signed a three-year deal to broadcast all of the 75 league matches for £195m.

Manchester City and Leicester City are the two teams that have won the English second-tier league the most amount of times both winning 7 times each, the Championship playoff final has a larger prize than winning the Champions League with £125m payouts to the winning club.

It is not hard to notice how and why they are the 7th richest league in the world, all of the money is put back into the players, the stadiums, the managers, and the facilities they have on offer.

Team Stats

Team Year Founded Nickname Team Owner
AFC Bournemouth 1890 The Cherries Maxim Demin
Barnsley 1887 The Tykes, The Reds Chien Lee, Pacific Media Group, James Cryne, Neerav Parekh
Birmingham City 1875 The Blues Birmingham Sports Holdings
Blackburn Rovers 1875 Rovers, The Blue, and Whites, The Riversiders Venky’s London Ltd.
Blackpool 1887 The Seasiders, The ‘Pool, The Tangerines Simon Sadler
Bristol City 1897 The Robins Stephen Lansdown
Cardiff City 1899 The Bluebirds Vincent Tan
Coventry City 1883 The Sky Blues Otium Entertainment Group
Derby County 1884 The Rams Mel Morris
Fulham 1879 Cottagers, Whites, Black and White army Shahid Khan
Huddersfield Town 1908 The Terriers Phil Hodgkinson
Hull City 1904 The Tigers Assem Allam
Luton Town 1885 The Hatters Luton Town Football Club 2020 Ltd
Middlesbrough 1876 The Boro, Smoggies Steve Gibson
Millwall 1885 The Lions (Formerly known as The Dockers) Millwall Holdings plc
Nottingham Forest 1865 Forest Evangelos Marinakis
Peterborough United 1934 The Posh Darragh MacAnthony, Kelgary Sports & Entertainment
Preston North End 1880 The Lilywhites, PNE, The Whites, Preston, The Invincibles Trevor Hemmings
Queens Park Rangers 1886 The Hoops, The Rs, QPR Tune Group, Total Soccer Growth
Reading 1871 The Royals Dai Yongge and Dai Xiuli
Sheffield United 1889 The Blades, Red, and White Wizards Abdullah bin Musa’ed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Kevin McCabe
Stoke City 1863 The Potters Bet365
Swansea 1912 The Swans Stephen Kaplan & Jason Levien, Swansea City Supporters Trust
West Bromwich Albion 1878 The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion Lai Guochuan

Championship History

Originally there were 12 members in the second division of the Championship and it was established in 1892 which was four years after the first division was established. Some of the original 12 members included Manchester city, Bootle, Burton Swifts, Crewe Alexandrea, Birmingham City, Sheffield United, and Lincon City.

This number increased over the years going from 12 to 16 teams in 1894, then increasing again in 1898 to 18, then to 20 in 1905, 22 in 1919, 23 in 1987, and finally 4 in 19888 which is the number of teams that are involved today. Initially, teams that won the Championship did not automatically qualify for the Premier League like today.

The top teams from the second division had to play a series of matches to be able to progress on to the premier league however, this system was later abolished in 1898 after a match-fixing incident between Stoke and Burnley ended in 0-0. The clubs purposely drew the test match playoff ensuring Burnely was promoted but Stoke could not be relegated.

The League has now run this way for over 100 years and in 2004 it was rebranded as the Coca-Cola Championship as part of a new sponsorship deal, the sponsorship ran for 5 years before Coca-Cola ended it and Npower was the new sponsor until 2013 until the new and current sponsors sky bet signed a 5-year deal.

James Dooley avatar