Championship 🏆 2025/26

[EastAnglianFox]

6 minutes ago, henry56 said:

Genuinely think Coady could do a job for us as CB and captain . Help to bring on younger players . 

Smashing the ale on a Sunday lunch time

 

Respect that massively

[Vazman]

16 minutes ago, henry56 said:

Genuinely think Coady could do a job for us as CB and captain . Help to bring on younger players . 

Yeah because he has stepped up to the plate this season, not... 

[Unabomber]

17 minutes ago, henry56 said:

Genuinely think Coady could do a job for us as CB and captain . Help to bring on younger players . 

The waster couldn’t even start for us in the championship season we signed him for

[MattFox]

42 minutes ago, henry56 said:

Genuinely think Coady could do a job for us as CB and captain . Help to bring on younger players . 

Couldn’t do a job 2 years ago but will somehow be good enough next season?

 

Guy is a complete donkey 

[Pliskin]

6 hours ago, Ashley said:

Honestly think with the squad we have albeit some departures it's play offs minimum for us next season. 

The size of the club we are, we shouldn’t even be there. My expectation is to win it at a canter, however, I just don’t trust the board to get it right….. 

[Bilo]

Next season's Championship will likely be competitive, but I still expect a minimum play-off finish. 

 

Ipswich will do well if they can keep McKenna and key players and I can see Birmingham having a real go, but I'm less convinced by Southampton and anyone else who's already there. 

[Tommy Fresh]

2 minutes ago, Bilo said:

Next season's Championship will likely be competitive, but I still expect a minimum play-off finish. 

 

Ipswich will do well if they can keep McKenna and key players and I can see Birmingham having a real go, but I'm less convinced by Southampton and anyone else who's already there. 

Ideally we need Burnley, Leeds and Sheffield United to all go up

[FrankieADZ]

if Ricky P stays, i want him as club captain, not coady(hopefully goes)

[Bilo]

6 minutes ago, Tommy Fresh said:

Ideally we need Burnley, Leeds and Sheffield United to all go up

Not sure I rate Sheffield United all that highly, but it would get Choudhury off the books.

[Tommy Fresh]

31 minutes ago, Bilo said:

Not sure I rate Sheffield United all that highly, but it would get Choudhury off the books.

Regardless they'll have the ability to strengthen an already decent squad and they're one of the best 3 in the league

[Mickyblueeyes]

Conor Coady in his time at Leicester has contributed, giving 2 penalties to the opposition, being Cannon’s mate and 256 podcasts. If he is even in contention for first team place, let alone bloody club captain, give up on the season from now. 

[Tomo260]

Ideally we should sell, Faes, Vestergaard, Coady, Winks, BDCR, Ayew, Soumare and maybe VK as well. Mads we should sell as he'll make us good cash and Jakub is more than capable for championship.

 

I'd pay someone to take Ward personally. Maybe he'd play for Wrexham as a 2nd keeper if he's lucky.

 

Knowing Jon Rudkin he'll sign them all for longer with inflated pay checks

 

We could have this as potentially our strongest lineup on current players next season which to me doesn't look too bad. Something to look forward to I suppose. I put Skipp in there because I think we're yet to see his potential. I think he's been used as a scape goat for part of this season. He's had no real howlers or chances under either manger.

 

 

[LCFCJohn]

2 hours ago, Tommy Fresh said:

Ideally we need Burnley, Leeds and Sheffield United to all go up

I think Sunderland would be a bigger threat than. Sheffield Utd if they stay down.

[LVFox]

28 minutes ago, LCFCJohn said:

I think Sunderland would be a bigger threat than. Sheffield Utd if they stay down.

Agree with this, Sunderland are getting transfer windows consistently right. Have a good young base of a squad and have a good coach.

 

I expect Ipswich win it relatively comfortably next year and for it to be between us, Saints, Sunderland and Birmingham for 2nd place.

 

Presuming Top 3 go up as is, which is unlikely

[LCFCJohn]

1 minute ago, LVFox said:

Agree with this, Sunderland are getting transfer windows consistently right. Have a good young base of a squad and have a good coach.

 

I expect Ipswich win it relatively comfortably next year and for it to be between us, Saints, Sunderland and Birmingham for 2nd place.

 

Presuming Top 3 go up as is, which is unlikely

Is there a reason people seem to be expecting Birmingham to do so well? I know they have money but they will be under restrictions in the Championship that they haven’t had in League 1. I’m also not sure Chris Davies is all that, he was Rodger’s assistant after all!

 

But I agree about Sunderland. Ipswich should win it but it depends how they cope after the hype of their first top flight season for so long and the crash back down to earth, a bit like Luton in that respect.

[BenTheFox]

8 hours ago, Jazzy_Jeff said:

Gk - Stolarcyzk, New, Youth

 

Fullback - Coulibaly, Aluko, New, Justin/Thomas

 

Centreback - Souttar, Nelson, Okoli, New

 

Centre-Mid - Skipp, Winks, Ricardo, Choudhury

 

Winger - Fatawu, Mavididi, Monga, Mcateer, Alves

 

10 - BEK, New

 

Striker - New, New, Evans

 

This would rely on us shifting Mads, Coady, Faes, Vestergaard, Kristiensen, Soumare, Ndidi, BDCR, Ayew and Daka. Vardy, Ward and Iversen to leave at end of contract. 
 

If any don’t leave they could fill in the gaps. 

Unpopular opinion, but Ayew and BDR will be decent options for us in the championship. I'm not saying they should start every game, but they can certainly contribute. No one is taking them off us so we may as well make use of them. 

[Pliskin]

1 hour ago, Tomo260 said:

Ideally we should sell, Faes, Vestergaard, Coady, Winks, BDCR, Ayew, Soumare and maybe VK as well. Mads we should sell as he'll make us good cash and Jakub is more than capable for championship.

 

I'd pay someone to take Ward personally. Maybe he'd play for Wrexham as a 2nd keeper if he's lucky.

 

Knowing Jon Rudkin he'll sign them all for longer with inflated pay checks

 

We could have this as potentially our strongest lineup on current players next season which to me doesn't look too bad. Something to look forward to I suppose. I put Skipp in there because I think we're yet to see his potential. I think he's been used as a scape goat for part of this season. He's had no real howlers or chances under either manger.

 

 

With a different striker, even that team should piss the championship. 

[TJB-fox]

2 hours ago, Bilo said:

Next season's Championship will likely be competitive, but I still expect a minimum play-off finish. 

 

Ipswich will do well if they can keep McKenna and key players and I can see Birmingham having a real go, but I'm less convinced by Southampton and anyone else who's already there. 

I think you’ll be in for a fright. 

[Bilo]

5 minutes ago, TJB-fox said:

I think you’ll be in for a fright. 

The Championship is utter rubbish in terms of quality. Don't let our terrible season fool you, we'll still have enough quality to compete for promotion.

[Pliskin]

6 minutes ago, TJB-fox said:

I think you’ll be in for a fright. 

We’ve got no choice I don’t think, otherwise as Tom Perry said, “free falling”.

[LVFox]

30 minutes ago, LCFCJohn said:

Is there a reason people seem to be expecting Birmingham to do so well? I know they have money but they will be under restrictions in the Championship that they haven’t had in League 1. I’m also not sure Chris Davies is all that, he was Rodger’s assistant after all!

 

But I agree about Sunderland. Ipswich should win it but it depends how they cope after the hype of their first top flight season for so long and the crash back down to earth, a bit like Luton in that respect.

Not often a club dominates league 1 like they have and doesn't do well in the championship. Plus there's not much known about their spending power next season. I don't expect them to be automatic hopefuls, but I didn't expect Ipswich to be last year. Similarly, can really see them being in the play offs.

[Bilo]

22 minutes ago, LVFox said:

Not often a club dominates league 1 like they have and doesn't do well in the championship. Plus there's not much known about their spending power next season. I don't expect them to be automatic hopefuls, but I didn't expect Ipswich to be last year. Similarly, can really see them being in the play offs.

League One can be an interesting barometer, yes. But Plymouth actually beat Ipswich to the 22-23 League One title and were miles off it the following season.

 

If we have a look at the champions over the last decade and a half, we get:

 

1) Portsmouth (23-24) currently 19th in Championship.

2) Plymouth (22-23, 101 pts) finished 21st in Championship 

3) Wigan (21-22) 24th in Championship 

4) Hull (20-21) 19th in Championship

5) Coventry (19-20) 16th in Championship 

6) Luton (18-19) 19th in Championship 

7) Wigan (17-18) 18th in Championship 

8) Sheffield United (16-17) 10th in Championship 

9) Wigan (15-16) 23rd in Championship 

10) Bristol City (14-15) 18th in Championship 

11) Wolves (13-14) 7th in Championship 

12) Doncaster (12-13) 22nd in Championship

13) Charlton (11-12) 9th in Championship

14) Brighton (10-11) 10th in Championship

15) Norwich (09-10) 2nd in Championship 

 

If you include runners-up and play-offs since 2010, it's three. Norwich in 2011, Southampton in 2012 and Ipswich in 2023. 

 

The breakdown of 45 teams gives 3 promotions, 10 relegations, 2 play-off finishes without promotion and the rest stayed up.

 

Edited 13 April by Bilo

[Tomo260]

51 minutes ago, Pliskin said:

With a different striker, even that team should piss the championship. 

I hope so. Just need the right manager 

[pmcla26]

Is there a world where Nathan Opoku is part of the squad next season? 

[Bilo]

I CBA with calculating the rest, but AI did!

 

To find the median finishing position in the EFL Championship for newly promoted League One clubs from the 2010–11 to 2023–24 seasons, we’ll analyze the data for all promoted clubs, then break it down by category: League One champions (1st place), runners-up (2nd place), and play-off winners. The median is the middle value in an ordered list of finishing positions, reflecting the typical performance of these clubs in their first Championship season.

Step 1: Data Collection

From 2010–11 to 2023–24 (14 seasons), three clubs were promoted each season from League One to the Championship: the champion, runner-up, and play-off winner, totaling 42 promotion instances. We’ll list each club’s finishing position in the Championship the following season, categorized by their League One finish. The Championship has 24 teams, so finishing positions range from 1st to 24th.

Promoted Clubs and Championship Finishing Positions:

• 2010–11 (2011–12 Championship):
  • Champion: Brighton & Hove Albion → 10th
  • Runner-up: Southampton → 2nd (promoted)
  • Play-off: Peterborough United → 18th
• 2011–12 (2012–13 Championship):
  • Champion: Charlton Athletic → 9th
  • Runner-up: Sheffield Wednesday → 18th
  • Play-off: Huddersfield Town → 19th
• 2012–13 (2013–14 Championship):
  • Champion: Doncaster Rovers → 22nd (relegated)
  • Runner-up: Bournemouth → 10th
  • Play-off: Yeovil Town → 24th (relegated)
• 2013–14 (2014–15 Championship):
  • Champion: Wolverhampton Wanderers → 7th
  • Runner-up: Brentford → 5th
  • Play-off: Rotherham United → 21st
• 2014–15 (2015–16 Championship):
  • Champion: Bristol City → 18th
  • Runner-up: Milton Keynes Dons → 23rd (relegated)
  • Play-off: Preston North End → 11th
• 2015–16 (2016–17 Championship):
  • Champion: Wigan Athletic → 23rd (relegated)
  • Runner-up: Burton Albion → 20th
  • Play-off: Barnsley → 14th
• 2016–17 (2017–18 Championship):
  • Champion: Sheffield United → 10th
  • Runner-up: Bolton Wanderers → 21st
  • Play-off: Millwall → 8th
• 2017–18 (2018–19 Championship):
  • Champion: Wigan Athletic → 18th
  • Runner-up: Blackburn Rovers → 15th
  • Play-off: Rotherham United → 22nd (relegated)
• 2018–19 (2019–20 Championship):
  • Champion: Luton Town → 19th
  • Runner-up: Barnsley → 21st
  • Play-off: Charlton Athletic → 22nd (relegated)
• 2019–20 (2020–21 Championship):
  • Champion: Coventry City → 16th
  • Runner-up: Rotherham United → 23rd (relegated)
  • Play-off: Wycombe Wanderers → 22nd (relegated)
• 2020–21 (2021–22 Championship):
  • Champion: Hull City → 19th
  • Runner-up: Peterborough United → 22nd (relegated)
  • Play-off: Blackpool → 16th
• 2021–22 (2022–23 Championship):
  • Champion: Wigan Athletic → 24th (relegated)
  • Runner-up: Rotherham United → 19th
  • Play-off: Sunderland → 6th
• 2022–23 (2023–24 Championship):
  • Champion: Plymouth Argyle → 21st
  • Runner-up: Ipswich Town → 2nd (promoted)
  • Play-off: Sheffield Wednesday → 20th
• 2023–24 (2024–25 Championship):
  • Champion: Portsmouth → Ongoing
  • Runner-up: Derby County → Ongoing
  • Play-off: Oxford United → Ongoing
  • Note: Excluded from median calculation as the season is incomplete.

Total teams: 14 seasons × 3 = 42, but we calculate medians for 13 seasons (39 teams) due to 2024–25 being ongoing.

Step 2: Median Calculation

The median is found by ordering the finishing positions and selecting the middle value. For odd numbers, it’s the central position; for even numbers, it’s the average of the two central positions. We’ll compute the overall median, then medians for champions, runners-up, and play-off winners.

Overall Median (All 39 Teams)

List of finishing positions (ordered): 2, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 16, 18, 18, 18, 18, 19, 19, 19, 19, 20, 20, 21, 21, 21, 21, 22, 22, 22, 22, 23, 23, 23, 24, 24

• Count: 39 (odd).
• Middle position: (39 + 1) / 2 = 20th value.
• Ordered list position 20: 19.
• Overall median: 19th.

League One Champions (13 Teams)

Finishing positions:

• Brighton (10th), Charlton (9th), Doncaster (22nd), Wolverhampton (7th), Bristol City (18th), Wigan (23rd), Sheffield United (10th), Wigan (18th), Luton (19th), Coventry (16th), Hull (19th), Wigan (24th), Plymouth (21st)

Ordered: 7, 9, 10, 10, 16, 18, 18, 19, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24

• Count: 13 (odd).
• Middle position: (13 + 1) / 2 = 7th value.
• Position 7: 18.
• Champions median: 18th.

League One Runners-Up (13 Teams)

Finishing positions:

• Southampton (2nd), Sheffield Wednesday (18th), Bournemouth (10th), Brentford (5th), MK Dons (23rd), Burton (20th), Bolton (21st), Blackburn (15th), Barnsley (21st), Rotherham (23rd), Peterborough (22nd), Rotherham (19th), Ipswich (2nd)

Ordered: 2, 2, 5, 10, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21, 21, 22, 23, 23

• Count: 13 (odd).
• Middle position: 7th value.
• Position 7: 19.
• Runners-up median: 19th.

Play-Off Winners (13 Teams)

Finishing positions:

• Peterborough (18th), Huddersfield (19th), Yeovil (24th), Rotherham (21st), Preston (11th), Barnsley (14th), Millwall (8th), Rotherham (22nd), Charlton (22nd), Wycombe (22nd), Blackpool (16th), Sunderland (6th), Sheffield Wednesday (20th)

Ordered: 6, 8, 11, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 22, 22, 24

• Count: 13 (odd).
• Middle position: 7th value.
• Position 7: 19.
• Play-off winners median: 19th.

Step 3: Verification

• Data accuracy: Positions were cross-checked with EFL Championship standings from 2011–12 to 2023–24. Each season’s promotions align with League One records.
• Median calculation:
  • Overall: 39 positions, median at 19th, reflects the tendency for promoted teams to finish in the lower half.
  • Champions: Median at 18th, slightly better than the overall, possibly due to stronger squads.
  • Runners-up: Median at 19th, with two promotions (2nd place) balancing poorer finishes.
  • Play-off winners: Median at 19th, consistent with runners-up, showing similar challenges.
• Edge cases: Teams like Wigan and Rotherham appear multiple times, but per the instruction, each instance is treated as unique, so no deduplication affects the median.

Step 4: Final Answer

• Median finishing position for all newly promoted League One clubs: 19th
• Median finishing position for League One champions: 18th
• Median finishing position for League One runners-up: 19th
• Median finishing position for League One play-off winners: 19th