2026–27 EFL Championship
English football tournament
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2026–27 EFL Championship, referred to as the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes, will be the 11th season of the EFL Championship under its current title and the 35th season under its current league division format. This will be the first season following the expansion of the post season play-offs from four teams to six.[1]
May 2027
| Season | 2026–27 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 14 August 2026 – May 2027 |
← 2025–26 2027–28 →
All statistics correct as of 19 May 2026. | |
The 2026–27 season will consist of 46 matchdays in total with the fixture list set to be released on 25 June 2026 at 12:00 BST.[2] The opening round of the league will take place between 14 and 16 August. [3]
Team changes
The following teams will change division after the 2025–26 season:
To ChampionshipPromoted from League One Relegated from the Premier League |
From ChampionshipPromoted to the Premier League Relegated to League One
|
Stadiums and locations
Personnel and sponsoring
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main | Other(s) | ||||
| Birmingham City | Nike | Undefeated[4] | List
| ||
| Blackburn Rovers | TBC | Macron | Watson Ramsbottom Solicitors[5] | ||
| Bolton Wanderers | Macron | Victorian Plumbing[6] | List
| ||
| Bristol City | TBC | O'Neills | Fever[7] | List
| |
| Burnley | TBC | Castore | TBC | List
| |
| Cardiff City | Castore | Visit Malaysia | List
| ||
| Charlton Athletic | Reebok | RSK Group | List
| ||
| Derby County | Puma | Loaded[8] | List
| ||
| Lincoln City | Oxen | TBC | List
| ||
| Middlesbrough | Castore[9] | TBC | List
| ||
| Millwall | Erreà | Wiggett Group[10] | List
| ||
| Norwich City | Joma | Blakely Clothing | List
| ||
| Portsmouth | Nike | University of Portsmouth | List
| ||
| Preston North End | Castore | TBC | List
| ||
| Queens Park Rangers | Erreà | TBC | List
| ||
| Sheffield United | Adidas[11] | TBC | List
| ||
| Southampton | Puma[13] | TBC | List
| ||
| Stoke City | Macron | bet365 | List
| ||
| Swansea City | Joma | TBC | List
| ||
| Watford | TBC | Kelme | BOXT[14] | List
| |
| West Bromwich Albion | Macron | Ideal Heating[15] | List
| ||
| West Ham United | New Balance | TBC | List
| ||
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | Sudu | TBC | List
| ||
| Wrexham | Macron | United Airlines[17] | List
| ||
Managerial changes
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in the table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackburn Rovers | End of interim spell | 2 May 2026 | Pre-season | |||
| Bristol City | ||||||
| Watford | Sacked | 3 May 2026 | ||||
| Burnley | End of interim spell | 24 May 2026 |
League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Promotion to the Premier League |
| 2 | Blackburn Rovers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | Bolton Wanderers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Qualification for Championship play-off semi-finals |
| 4 | Bristol City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | Burnley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Qualification for Championship play-off quarter-finals |
| 6 | Cardiff City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 7 | Charlton Athletic | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 8 | Derby County | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 9 | Lincoln City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | Middlesbrough | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 11 | Millwall | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 12 | Norwich City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 13 | Portsmouth | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | Preston North End | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 15 | Queens Park Rangers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 16 | Sheffield United | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 17 | Stoke City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 18 | Swansea City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 19 | Watford | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 20 | West Bromwich Albion | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 21 | West Ham United | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 22 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Relegation to EFL League One |
| 23 | Wrexham | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 24 | Southampton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −4[a] |
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)[21]
Notes:
- Southampton were deducted four points due to multiple breaches of EFL regulations related to the unauthorised filming of other clubs' training.[20]
Results
Play-offs
Bracket
| Eliminators | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||||||||
| Lowest-seeded eliminators winner | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | TBC | 3 | TBC | |||||||||||||
| 8 | TBC | |||||||||||||||
| Highest-seeded eliminators winner | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | TBC | 4 | TBC | |||||||||||||
| 7 | TBC | |||||||||||||||
Season statistics
- As of Pre-season
Top scorers
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|
Hat-tricks
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
|---|
Clean sheets
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
|---|
Discipline
Player
- Most yellow cards: 0
- Most red cards: 0
Club
- Most yellow cards: 0
- Most red cards: 0
- Fewest yellow cards: 0
- Fewest red cards: 0
Awards
Monthly
| Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August | |||||
| September | |||||
| October | |||||
| November | |||||
| December | |||||
| January | |||||
| February | |||||
| March | |||||
| April | |||||