Championship 2025/26 Season

[Sol thewall Bamba]

14 hours ago, Noahfence said:

What a diabolical division the championship is. I really don’t get how it gets so much hype. 

The "I prefer the Championship to the Premier League anyway" is just pure copium. 

 

This league is dross.

[Number 6]

To be fair the standard might be poor, but a lot of Prem games have become dour chess matches on grass.

 

Both leagues struggling to be a fun watch for different reasons but the play off aspect does mean there's generally more to play for late on in the Champ season.

[JimJams]

@Sol thewall Bamba

Well that POV basically boils down to "I prefer winning to losing".

Edited 23 September 2025 by JimJams

[TheGoldenGod]

16 minutes ago, JimJams said:

@Sol thewall Bamba

Well that POV basically boils down to "I prefer winning to losing".

That's how I feel unapologetically! Sue me...

[FrankieADZ]

1 hour ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

The "I prefer the Championship to the Premier League anyway" is just pure copium. 

 

This league is dross.

tbf some do, i know i do, cos the premier league is so predictable now

 

surprised theres been no verdict yet in regards the Blackburn Ipswich game

Edited 23 September 2025 by FrankieADZ

[Noahfence]

Might just be a me problem because I find the Prem & Championship equally unwatchable 

[Stuntman_Mike]

18 hours ago, FrankieADZ said:

anyone seen any news in regards the Blackburn and Ipswich game?

Nothing yet.

 

I can't believe there isn't a rule already in place to decide what happens in this situation.

 

Those points could be the difference between losing millions by the end of the season and they're just working it out as they go.

[Stuntman_Mike]

1 hour ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

The "I prefer the Championship to the Premier League anyway" is just pure copium. 

 

This league is dross.

Depends if you mean the standard or the league itself. 

 

I personally prefer this league as a match day fan, particularly away games.

[Fox92]

1 hour ago, Number 6 said:

To be fair the standard might be poor, but a lot of Prem games have become dour chess matches on grass.

 

Both leagues struggling to be a fun watch for different reasons but the play off aspect does mean there's generally more to play for late on in the Champ season.

Tbf last season the race for Europe in the Premier League was wide open right up until the last day.

 

Can't remember the last time either league had a title race right up until the last day. Probably three or four years back when Liverpool ended up in 2nd but 1 point off winning the league.

[Foxin_Mad]

The Premier League is also shite this year, well it was last but the fact dross like Leeds, Sunderland and Burnley are winning show. I hope that the other teams swing into action as its not that those teams are any good, wolves absolutely rolled over for Leeds at the weekend. 

[Stuntman_Mike]

[foxgas]

5 minutes ago, Fox92 said:

Tbf last season the race for Europe in the Premier League was wide open right up until the last day.

 

Can't remember the last time either league had a title race right up until the last day. Probably three or four years back when Liverpool ended up in 2nd but 1 point off winning the league.

Was that the season we beat them 1-0 with Salah missing a penalty? Hope so.

[TheGoldenGod]

1 hour ago, Stuntman_Mike said:

I think it'd be a shocker of a decision to be honest! Imagine the team finishing 8th in a 46 game season gets promoted to the PL....they'd be nowhere near equipped to deal with that league. Many teams have almost accidently been promoted too early through the P-Os and it's shown in the PL.

 

I also think it'll encourage more clubs to spend outside their means and gamble to push for a play off spot as more clubs are being data driven and will see it as an opportunity.

Edited 23 September 2025 by TheGoldenGod

[JimJams]

Why play a league system? The championship, league one and league two can dissolve away leaving a 72 team knockout competition.

If you knock a team out, their players are automatically up for transfer, there's no window, so you can buy up any player throughout the season.

 

 

 

Oh, and MULTIBALL! 

[Blue ROI]

19 hours ago, MancFox24 said:

Yeah, maybe Villa is a bit of a stretch. It was just after watching them at the weekend and they were utter dross that made me think they could do what we did a couple of years ago and think they're too good to go down

Unlike us they wouldn't change the manager until after the March international break for a start. 

[Fox92]

2 minutes ago, Foxin_Mad said:

The Premier League is also shite this year, well it was last but the fact dross like Leeds, Sunderland and Burnley are winning show. I hope that the other teams swing into action as its not that those teams are any good, wolves absolutely rolled over for Leeds at the weekend. 

Why does that mean the league is shite? Perhaps those three are just better than us/Southampton/Ipswich from the previous season. Burnley were always going to be interesting, given how few they conceded in the Championship, and Le Bris has proved himself to be a decent manager at Sunderland so in the long term it will be interesting to see how they go on too. I wouldn't call Wolves rolling over for Leeds either, Wolves are shit and if it wasn't for the bottom three being so shit last season then they'd have been in a genuine relegation battle (plus they lost two key players this summer).

[filbertway]

Looks like I'm in the minority but I like the idea. Gives more teams a chance at promotion. Teams in 3rd and 4th have the luxury of playing a team that's had to play an extra game.

Absolutely love the play offs and if there's 5 or 6 teams with a chance of getting into that lottery on the final day, even better.

[AKCJ]

Just now, filbertway said:

Looks like I'm in the minority but I like the idea. Gives more teams a chance at promotion. Teams in 3rd and 4th have the luxury of playing a team that's had to play an extra game.

Absolutely love the play offs and if there's 5 or 6 teams with a chance of getting into that lottery on the final day, even better.

Shunning sporting merit in favour of television viewing figures doesn't sound very good to me.

[Fox92]

It's bad enough Sunderland got promoted after finishing 14 points behind Sheffield United, and Sheffield United having to beat Bristol City to get to Wembley despite finishing 22 points above them.

[MancFox24]

39 minutes ago, Fox92 said:

Why does that mean the league is shite? Perhaps those three are just better than us/Southampton/Ipswich from the previous season. Burnley were always going to be interesting, given how few they conceded in the Championship, and Le Bris has proved himself to be a decent manager at Sunderland so in the long term it will be interesting to see how they go on too. I wouldn't call Wolves rolling over for Leeds either, Wolves are shit and if it wasn't for the bottom three being so shit last season then they'd have been in a genuine relegation battle (plus they lost two key players this summer).

I think the big difference is that some of those mid table teams like Wolves, Brentford and West Ham are alot worse this year and that gives you a genuine chance of survival. We were obviously shite last year but we also got a bit unlucky that those mid table teams were pretty strong 

[filbertway]

36 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

Shunning sporting merit in favour of television viewing figures doesn't sound very good to me.

Can't imagine they're doing this thinking "we're gonna make millions from these extra 2 games"

 

Saying that, there are usually plenty of people crying that top 3 don't go straight up at the end of the season. Lots of different opinions on what's right.

 

Adding a couple of extra qualifiers where highest team gets home advantage, between 8th and 5th and 6th and 7th isn't a big deal for me.

[AjcW]

52 minutes ago, Fox92 said:

It's bad enough Sunderland got promoted after finishing 14 points behind Sheffield United, and Sheffield United having to beat Bristol City to get to Wembley despite finishing 22 points above them.

I was thinking the only way the 8 team thing would be fair is if the 3rd place team automatically gets into the final and it's 5th/6th/7th and 8th that do semi's and a pre final. If that's the case they'd likely have to make both the semi's and the pre final one leg.

 

I think the National league (and north/south) do something similar?

 

 

 

*i've missed a team out... **** knows then  assume the thinking is that 3rd and 4th pre qualify for a semi?

Edited 23 September 2025 by AjcW

[filbertway]

3 minutes ago, AjcW said:

I was thinking the only way the 8 team thing would be fair is if the 3rd place team automatically gets into the final and it's 5th/6th/7th and 8th that do semi's and a pre final. If that's the case they'd likely have to make both the semi's and the pre final one leg.

 

I think the National league (and north/south) do something similar?

 

 

 

*i've missed a team out... **** knows then  assume the thinking is that 3rd and 4th pre qualify for a semi?

Yeah, the plan is to copy the national league 

Single game
5th v 8th - M1
6th v 7th - M2

 

Two legged play offs

 3rd v winner of M2

4th v winner of M1

If they do this along with making it 3 drop from League two as well then that'd be a good trade off.

[Weller Wing]

1 hour ago, Fox92 said:

It's bad enough Sunderland got promoted after finishing 14 points behind Sheffield United, and Sheffield United having to beat Bristol City to get to Wembley despite finishing 22 points above them.

TBF we finished about a dozen points behind Portsmouth in the early 90's before beating them in the semis.

 

No wonder they were upset at Fratton Park after the 2nd leg😄

[Lutterworth Fox]

2 hours ago, Noahfence said:

Might just be a me problem because I find the Prem & Championship equally unwatchable 

It's not just a you problem, I'm the same!