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.
Contents
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.
- AFC Bournemouth – Fitness First Stadium (Dean Court)
- Barnsley – Oakwell
- Birmingham City – St Andrews
- Blackburn Rovers – Ewood Park
- Bristol City – Ashton Gate
- Cardiff City – Cardiff City Stadium
- Championship Grounds
- Coventry City – The Ricoh Arena
- Derby County – Pride Park
- Huddersfield Town – Galpharm Stadium
- Leicester City
- Middlesbrough – Riverside Stadium
- Millennium Stadium
- Millwall – The New Den
- Norwich City – Carrow Road
- Nottingham Forest – The City Ground
- Preston North End – Deepdale
- Queens Park Rangers – Loftus Road
- Reading – Madejski Stadium
- Rotherham United – New York Stadium
- Sheffield Wednesday – Hillsborough
- Stoke City – Britannia Stadium
- Swansea City – The Liberty Stadium
- Watford – Vicarage Road
- Wycombe Wanderers – Causeway Stadium (Adams Park)