2025–26 EFL Championship

EFL Championship

Season	2025–26
Dates	8 August 2025 – 2 May 2026
Matches played	36
Goals scored	96 (2.67 per match)
Top goalscorer	7 players (3 goals each)
Biggest home win	Coventry City 7–1 Queens Park Rangers (23 August 2025)
Biggest away win	Sheffield United 1–4 Bristol City (9 August 2025) Millwall 0–3 Middlesbrough (16 August 2025) Sheffield Wednesday 0–3 Stoke City (16 August 2025)
Highest scoring	Derby County 3–5 Coventry City (16 August 2025) Coventry City 7–1 Queens Park Rangers (23 August 2025)
Longest winning run	Middlesbrough Stoke City (3 games)
Longest unbeaten run	7 teams (3 games)
Longest winless run	7 teams (3 games)
Longest losing run	Oxford United Sheffield United (3 games)
Highest attendance	31,102 Leicester City 2–1 Sheffield Wednesday (10 August 2025)
Lowest attendance	10,628 Wrexham 2–2 Sheffield Wednesday (23 August 2025)
Total attendance	825,539
Average attendance	22,932
← 2024–25 2026–27 → All statistics correct as of 23 August 2025.

The 2025–26 EFL Championship (referred to as the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the 10th season of the EFL Championship under its current title and the 34th season under its current league division format. The season will end on 2 May 2026.

The 2025–26 season consists of 33 weekend rounds, 9 midweek rounds, and 4 bank holiday rounds.^[1]

Team changes

The following teams have changed division since the 2024–25 season:

To Championship Promoted from League One Birmingham City Wrexham Charlton Athletic Relegated from the Premier League Leicester City Ipswich Town Southampton

From Championship Promoted to the Premier League Leeds United Burnley Sunderland Relegated to League One Luton Town Plymouth Argyle Cardiff City

Stadiums and locations

Team Location Stadium Capacity Birmingham City Birmingham (Bordesley) St Andrew's 29,409 Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Ewood Park 31,367 Bristol City Bristol Ashton Gate 26,462 Charlton Athletic London (Charlton) The Valley 27,111 Coventry City Coventry Coventry Building Society Arena 32,609 Derby County Derby Pride Park 32,926 Hull City Kingston upon Hull MKM Stadium 25,586 Ipswich Town Ipswich Portman Road 30,056 Leicester City Leicester King Power Stadium 32,259 Middlesbrough Middlesbrough Riverside Stadium 34,742 Millwall London (Bermondsey) The Den 20,146 Norwich City Norwich Carrow Road 27,359 Oxford United Oxford Kassam Stadium 12,500 Portsmouth Portsmouth Fratton Park 20,899 Preston North End Preston Deepdale 23,408 Queens Park Rangers London (Shepherd's Bush) Loftus Road 18,439 Sheffield United Sheffield (Highfield) Bramall Lane 32,050 Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield (Hillsborough) Hillsborough Stadium 39,732 Southampton Southampton St Mary's Stadium 32,384 Stoke City Stoke-on-Trent bet365 Stadium 30,089 Swansea City Swansea Swansea.com Stadium 21,088 Watford Watford Vicarage Road 22,200 West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich The Hawthorns 26,850 Wrexham Wrexham Racecourse Ground 10,771

Birmingham City Blackburn Rovers Bristol City Coventry City Derby County Hull City Ipswich Town Leicester City Middlesbrough Norwich City Oxford United Preston North End Portsmouth Sheffield United Sheffield Wednesday Southampton Stoke City Swansea City Watford West Bromwich Albion Wrexham Charlton Athletic Millwall Queens Park Rangers class=notpageimage| Locations of the 2025–26 EFL Championship teams

Personnel and sponsoring

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor(s)
				Main	Other(s)
Birmingham City	Chris Davies	Christoph Klarer[2]	Nike	Undefeated[3]	List Back: Visit Birmingham, Alabama Sleeves: None Shorts: None
Blackburn Rovers	Valérien Ismaël	Todd Cantwell	Macron	Watson Ramsbottom Solicitors	List Back: None Sleeves: Venky's Shorts: Venky's
Bristol City	Gerhard Struber	Jason Knight	O'Neills	Fever[4]	List Back: GoSkippy Sleeves: Exacta Technologies Shorts: Digital NRG
Charlton Athletic	Nathan Jones	Greg Docherty[5]	Reebok[6]	RSK Group[7]	List Back: University of Greenwich Sleeves: None Shorts: None
Coventry City	Frank Lampard	Ben Sheaf	Hummel[8]	Monzo[9]	List Back: Monzo Business Sleeves: XL Motors[10] Shorts: None
Derby County	John Eustace	Ebou Adams[11]	Puma	FanHub	List Back: HSG UK Sleeves: None Shorts: HSG UK
Hull City	Sergej Jakirović	Lewie Coyle	Kappa	Corendon Airlines[12]	List Back: None Sleeves: Anex Tour Shorts: None
Ipswich Town	Kieran McKenna	Dara O'Shea[13]	Umbro	Halo Service Solutions[14]	List Back: None Sleeves: Tingley Ted's Shorts: Fleximize
Leicester City	Martí Cifuentes	Ricardo Pereira	Adidas[15]	TBA	List Back: None Sleeves: Bia Saigon Shorts: None
Middlesbrough	Rob Edwards	None[16]	Castore[17]	Unibet[18]	List Back: Perco Foods Sleeves: Telcoss Shorts: NOCO
Millwall	Alex Neil	Jake Cooper	Erreà	MyGuava	List Back: Wiggett Group Sleeves: FXD Capital Shorts: None
Norwich City	Liam Manning	Kenny McLean	Joma[19]	Blakely Clothing[20]	List Back: Green Light Consultancy Group Sleeves: None Shorts: None
Oxford United	Gary Rowett	Elliott Moore	Macron	Baxi	TBA
Portsmouth	John Mousinho	Marlon Pack	Nike	University of Portsmouth	List Back: Aura.com (H) / TotalAV (A) Sleeves: BeeBu Shorts: MG Richmond
Preston North End	Paul Heckingbottom	Benjamin Whiteman	Castore	SpudBros[21]	List Back: Pub Casino Sleeves: None Shorts: None
Queens Park Rangers	Julien Stéphan	Jimmy Dunne	Erreà[22]	CopyBet[23]	List Back: Xtra Maintenance Sleeves: MyGuava Shorts: MyGuava Business
Sheffield United	Rubén Sellés	Jack Robinson	Erreà	Midnite[24]	List Back: None Sleeves: None Shorts: NOCO
Sheffield Wednesday	Henrik Pedersen	Barry Bannan	Macron	Mr Vegas[25]	TBA
Southampton	Will Still	Jack Stephens[26]	Puma[27]	P&O Cruises[28]	List Back: Midnite Sleeves: Garmin Shorts: Midnite
Stoke City	Mark Robins	Ben Gibson	Macron	bet365	TBA
Swansea City	Alan Sheehan	Ben Cabango	Joma[29]	Reviva Coffee[30]	List Back: Swansea Building Society Sleeves: Visit Central Florida Shorts: First Grade Projects
Watford	Paulo Pezzolano	Moussa Sissoko	Kelme	MrQ.com	List Back: Koka Sleeves: University of Hertfordshire Shorts: Asus
West Bromwich Albion	Ryan Mason	Jed Wallace	Macron[31]	Ideal Heating	List Back: Mega Riches Sleeves: BarberBoss Shorts: None
Wrexham	Phil Parkinson	James McClean	Macron[32][33]	United Airlines[34][35]	List Back: Meta Quest Sleeves: HP Shorts: None

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in the table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Norwich City	Jack Wilshere	End of interim spell	3 May 2025	Pre-season	Liam Manning[36]	3 June 2025
West Bromwich Albion	James Morrison				Ryan Mason[37]	2 June 2025
Watford	Tom Cleverley[38]	Sacked	6 May 2025		Paulo Pezzolano[39]	13 May 2025
Hull City	Rubén Sellés[40]		15 May 2025		Sergej Jakirović[41]	11 June 2025
Southampton	Simon Rusk	End of interim spell	25 May 2025		Will Still[42]	25 May 2025
Bristol City	Liam Manning[36]	Signed by Norwich City	3 June 2025		Gerhard Struber[43]	19 June 2025
Middlesbrough	Michael Carrick[44]	Sacked	4 June 2025		Rob Edwards[45]	24 June 2025
Sheffield United	Chris Wilder[46]	Mutual consent	18 June 2025		Rubén Sellés[47]	18 June 2025
Queens Park Rangers	Martí Cifuentes[48]		24 June 2025		Julien Stéphan[49]	25 June 2025
Leicester City	Ruud van Nistelrooy[50]		27 June 2025		Martí Cifuentes[51]	15 July 2025
Sheffield Wednesday	Danny Röhl[52]		29 July 2025		Henrik Pedersen[53]	31 July 2025

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Stoke City	3	3	0	0	8	2	+6	9	Promotion to the Premier League
2	Middlesbrough	3	3	0	0	6	1	+5	9
3	Coventry City	3	2	1	0	12	4	+8	7	Qualification for the Championship play-offs
4	West Bromwich Albion	3	2	1	0	5	3	+2	7
5	Birmingham City	3	2	1	0	4	2	+2	7
6	Preston North End	3	2	1	0	4	2	+2	7
7	Leicester City	3	2	0	1	4	3	+1	6
8	Millwall	3	2	0	1	3	4	−1	6
9	Bristol City	3	1	2	0	5	2	+3	5
10	Southampton	3	1	1	1	4	4	0	4
11	Portsmouth	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
12	Watford	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
13	Swansea City	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4
14	Charlton Athletic	3	1	1	1	1	1	0	4
15	Hull City	3	1	1	1	3	5	−2	4
16	Blackburn Rovers	3	1	0	2	4	3	+1	3
17	Norwich City	3	1	0	2	4	5	−1	3
18	Ipswich Town	3	0	2	1	2	3	−1	2
19	Wrexham	3	0	1	2	5	7	−2	1
20	Derby County	3	0	1	2	5	9	−4	1
21	Sheffield Wednesday	3	0	1	2	3	7	−4	1
22	Queens Park Rangers	3	0	1	2	3	10	−7	1	Relegation to EFL League One
23	Oxford United	3	0	0	3	2	5	−3	0
24	Sheffield United	3	0	0	3	1	6	−5	0

Updated to match(es) played on 23 August 2025. Source: EFL Official Website
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head results; 5) Wins; 6) Away goals; 7) Penalty points (sec 9.5); 8) Number of 12-point sending off offences; 9) Play-off (only if needed to determine promotion/relegation)^[54]

Results

Home \ Away	BIR	BLA	BRI	CHA	COV	DER	HUL	IPS	LEI	MID	MIL	NOR	OXF	POR	PNE	QPR	SHU	SHW	SOU	STO	SWA	WAT	WBA	WRX
Birmingham City	—							1–1					1–0
Blackburn Rovers	1–2	—
Bristol City			—	0–0
Charlton Athletic				—					0–1		a					a						1–0
Coventry City					—		0–0		a							7–1
Derby County			1–1		3–5	—			a
Hull City		0–3					—						3–2
Ipswich Town								—				a							1–1
Leicester City					a	a			—									2–1
Middlesbrough										—											1–0
Millwall				a						0–3	—					a
Norwich City								a		1–2	1–2	—
Oxford United													—	0–1
Portsmouth												1–2		—					a
Preston North End								1–0	2–1						—
Queens Park Rangers				a							a				1–1	—
Sheffield United			1–4								0–1						—	a
Sheffield Wednesday																	a	—		0–3
Southampton														a					—	1–2				2–1
Stoke City						3–1														—
Swansea City																	1–0				—	1–1
Watford																2–1						—
West Bromwich Albion		1–0												1–1									—
Wrexham																		2–2					2–3	—

Updated to match(es) played on 23 August 2025. Source: efl.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of 23 August 2025

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Carlton Morris	Derby County	3
	Milutin Osmajić	Preston North End
	Isaac Price	West Bromwich Albion
	Josh Sargent	Norwich City
	Victor Torp	Coventry City
	Scott Twine	Bristol City
	Haji Wright	Coventry City
8	11 players		2

Clean sheets

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Sol Brynn	Middlesbrough	2
	Thomas Kaminski	Charlton Athletic
3	12 players		1

Discipline

Player

• Most yellow cards: 3
  • John Swift (Portsmouth)
• Most red cards: 1
  • 5 players

Club

• Most yellow cards: 11
  • Preston North End
• Most red cards: 1
  • 5 teams
• Fewest yellow cards: 0
  • Bristol City
  • Sheffield Wednesday
• Fewest red cards: 0
  • 19 teams

See also

• 2025–26 Premier League
• 2025–26 EFL League One
• 2025–26 EFL League Two
• 2025–26 National League
• 2025–26 EFL Cup
• 2025–26 FA Cup
• 2025–26 EFL Trophy

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