The Championship 2025/26

Having lived cheek by jowl with Leicester and Ipswich, you all know about them. Sadly, Ipswich seem to have held onto McKenna but Leicester only replaced RVN with Marti Cifuentes (ex QPR) on 15th July.

Those Here Last Time

• West Brom (5th and 9th)
  • The Baggies are a solid top-half side. Their manager, Carlos Corberan, was poached by Valencia last winter and kept the Bats in Spain's top flight. Former Spurs player and coach Ryan Mason was appointed on June 25.
• Norwich City (6th and 13th)
  • Canaries fans saw their side drop from the playoffs to mid-table under Danish coach Hoff Thorup, who replaced David Wagner last Summer. They’ll expect better, prising Liam Manning from Bristol City midway through a 4 year contract.
• Hull City (7th and 21st)
  • Liam Rosenior had built a decent squad, but a “difference of opinion” with Hull’s owner saw him leave last Summer. Replacement Tim Walter inherited a far weaker squad as players were sold and high-profile loans recalled. He was fired in November, and Ruben Selles was brought in to keep Hull up. Selles has now moved to the Blades, and Bosnian Segej Jakirovic has been brought in from the Turkish Super Lig.
• Boro (8th and 10th)
  • Comfortably top half but Smoggies have been used to better fayre during their 150-year (next March) history. Michael Carrick extended his contract last Summer but was sacked in June. They have now appointed Rob Edwards, who got Luton into the Prem in his first season, but who are now in League 1!
• Frank Lampard’s Coventry City (9th and 5th)
  • Last time we faced Cov, they were coached by Mark Robins, who’d taken them to Wembley twice but lost to Luton (playoffs) and Man Utd (FA Cup semi) respectively. Frank is a smart fellow (as opposed to a fart smeller) and took the Sky Blues back to the playoffs in May. They’ll be decent again if they can keep their star players.
• Preston (10th and 20th)
  • The former Invincibles had 3 decent seasons under Ryan Lowe, who resigned one game into last season and has recently reappeared at Wigan. He was replaced by Paul Heckingbottom from across the Pennines. PNE were hard to beat but had too many draws last season.
• Bristol City (11th and 6th)
  • A playoff place was City’s reward for last season’s improvement under Liam Manning. He has since moved to Norwich. The new coach is Austrian Gerhard Struber, who has been with Barnsley, RBNY, RB Salzburg and last season took Köln back to the Bundesliga at the first attempt. They then sacked him…
• Millwall (13th and 8th)
  • The Lions’ 23/24 season was bracketed by deaths. First, the owner/chairman died in a car crash, so his son took over. Next summer, their keeper Matija Sartic died of a heart attack on international duty with Montenegro. During that season, Neil Harris replaced Joe Edwards as coach. Harris left Millwall last December, and Alex Neil had them in play-off contention till the final day. He extended his contract this summer.
• Swansea (14th and 11th)
  • Michael Duff replaced Russ when he came to us. He lasted till December, then Luke Williams had just over a year before he too was sacked. Alan Sheehan took over as caretaker, and Swansea had their best run in years. He was rewarded with a 3-year contract as Head Coach.
• Watford (15th and 14th)
  • Watford are a warning to clubs relegated from the Prem, getting back the next season, then getting relegated again and disappearing without a trace whilst going through coaches at an alarming rate. In the past 3 seasons, Rob Edwards, Slaven Bilic, Chris Wilder, Valerien Ismael and Tom Cleverley have entered and exited the Vicarage Road dugout. Next up is Uruguayan Paulo Pezzolano, whose path has been Uruguay, Mexico, Brazil, Spain and, er, Watford.
• Stoke (17th and 18th)
  • The Potters had poached Steve Schumacher from Argyle last time we were here, but he was gone by last September. Pelach lasted till Xmas, but Mark Robins seems to have steadied the ship, having been the longest-serving Championship manager before being sacked by Cov. He has 3 more years on his contract.
• QPR (18th and 15th)
  • Rangers spent most of 23/24 in the bottom 3, but Marti Cifuentes finally got a tune out of them and their 4-0 stuffing delayed Leeds’ promotion by a season. Minor improvements last season did not keep his job, and QPR appointed ex-Rennes boss Julien Stephan in June.
• Blackburn (19th and 7th)
  • Having flirted with relegation until John Eustace arrived in Feb ‘24, Blackburn had a much better 24/25. They occupied a playoff place when Eustace left in February ‘25, but, despite being unbeaten in their last 6 games, Valerien Ismael could not claim a playoff berth for Rovers.
• Owls (20th and 12th)
  • Wednesday are in crisis with players unpaid and not owning their stadium. Whether a takeover will save them and whether the players will allow Rohl back after saying he was leaving remain possibilities at the time of writing. Meanwhile, the EFL have charged the club for breaking their rules, and the owner Chansiri was named in the Westminster debate as HMG ratified the introduction of an Independent Regulator for Football. Good tip for relegation, I suspect.
• Birmingham (R and P)
  • Last time we faced The Blues, they were headed for League 1, but last season became champions and now sit top of the (albeit alphabetical) Championship table. They had 6 different coaches during their relegation season, and Tony Mowbray had to leave for health reasons. Last Summer, Brum appointed Chris Davies, who has been Assistant to Brendan Rodgers at Swansea, Liverpool, Celtic and Leicester before working with Ange at Spurs. Brum amassed a record 106 points last season and is a club with much momentum.

The Newcomers

• Sheffield United (R and 3rd) “The Blades”
  • Founded: 1889. Founding member of FL Div 2 in 1892.
  • Ground: Bramall Lane (Cap: 32,050)
  • Honours: Champions of all 4 Divisions (once each). Four FA Cup wins - last in 1925.
    • We’ve avoided United for 3 years, but their failure to win the playoffs means a second season in the Champ. They were 14 points clear of winners Sunderland and had matched Leeds and Burnley till the last few weeks of the season. Thankfully, their 2 point penalty was not decisive. Chris Wilder was replaced by Ruben Selles, recently sacked by Hull despite keeping them up.
    • The Blades squad are one of the best in this Division.
• Portsmouth (P and 16th) “Pompey or Skates”
  • Founded: 1898. Founder Member of FL Div 3 in 1920.
  • Ground: Nottarf Krap (Cap: 20,899)
  • Honours: Champions - Old SL x 2. FL Div 1 x 2. FL Div 2 x 1. Tier 3 x 4. Tier 4 x1. FA Cup x 2.
    • Despite other clubs trying to make rivals of us, all fans of SFC and PFC know there is only one that matters. Despite us generally playing at a higher level, Pompey have won more silverware.
    • Since we last met in the league (2012), Pompey have been down to Tier 4 and almost out of business. Their Supporters’ Trust was key to stabilising their club and allowed Michael Eisner to take over in 2017. Since then, they have been flirting with promotion, which was finally achieved last year under John Mousinho.
    • Pompey’s home form was key to staying in the Championship.
• Derby (P and 19th) “The Rams”
  • Founded: 1884. Founder Member of FL 1888.
  • Ground: Pride Park (Cap: 33,597)
  • Honours: Champions - FL Div 1 x 2. FL Div 2 x 4. Tier 3 x 1. FA Cup 1946.
    • Derby followed PFC to the Championship last year as runners-up after also being in administration, finding a new owner and having a transfer embargo lifted in 2023. Current manager John Eustace gave up his role at Blackburn to join Derby midseason as he felt there were “better long-term prospects” at Pride Park!
• Oxford United (P and 17th) “The U’s”
  • Founded in 1893 as Headington Utd. The name changed in 1960. Joined EFL from SL in 1962.
  • Ground: Kassam Stadium (Cap: 12,573)
  • Honours: Champions SL x 3. FL Div 2 x 1. FL Div 3 x 2. League Cup 1986.
    • United won the L1 playoff last season to return to Tier 2 for the first time in 25 years (including dropping into the Conference in the 00s). Coach Des Buckingham was sacked last December, and Gary Rowett lifted them to 17th place by season’s end.
• Wrexham (P L2 and P) “The Dragons”
  • Founded: 1864 (first in Wales, 3rd oldest in the world). Founder member, Div 3 North 1921.
  • Ground: Racecourse Ground (Cap: 10,771)
  • Honours: Tier 3 x 1. National League x1. Welsh Cup x 23.
    • From National League to Championship in 3 seasons and all streamed to a slavering fanbase, the McElhenney/Reynolds era has boosted not just the club but the whole Wrexham area. Wrexham under Phil Parkinson certainly have momentum and begin their Championship campaign at SMS. It would be good to see Jay Rod again.
• Charlton Athletic (16th L1 and P) “Addicks or Valiants”
  • Founded: 1905. Founder member of Div 3 South in 1921.
  • Ground: The Valley (Cap: 27,111)
  • Honours: Champions Div 2 x 1. Tier 3 x 3. FA Cup in 1947.
    • Addicks fans’ heads must be spinning after a decade moving between tiers 2 and 3 with many changes of ownership and even more managers. The current owners came in 2 years ago and appointed Nathan Jones in February ’24. The Welsh Wizard steadied the ship before leading Charlton to a play-off win over Orient, a 2nd promotion on his CV. Nathan seems to have found his home as he rebuffed attempts to take him to Cardiff and signed a 5 year extension at The Valley.