2026–27 EFL Championship

EFL Championship
Season	2026–27
Dates	14 August 2026 – ; 1 May 2027
Matches	69
Goals	195 (2.83 per match)
Top goalscorer	Will Lankshear ; (Middlesbrough) ; Cyle Larin ; (Southampton) ; (5 goals)
Biggest home win	Southampton 5–1 ; Millwall ; (29 August 2026) ; Millwall 4–0 ; Bolton Wanderers ; (5 September 2026) ; Stoke City 4–0 ; Charlton Athletic ; (5 September 2026)
Biggest away win	Derby County 0–3 ; Swansea City ; (29 August 2026) ; Millwall 0–3 ; Wrexham ; (2 September 2026)
Highest scoring	Southampton 5–1 ; Millwall ; (29 August 2026) ; West Ham United 4–2 ; Wolverhampton Wanderers ; (1 September 2026)
Longest winning run	Bristol City ; Charlton Athletic ; (3 games)
Longest unbeaten run	Birmingham City ; Southampton ; Swansea City ; (5 games)
Longest winless run	Burnley ; Cardiff City ; (6 games)
Longest losing run	Preston North End ; (4 games)
Highest attendance	62,264 ; West Ham United 1–2 ; Charlton Athletic ; (22 August 2026)
Lowest attendance	10,267 ; Lincoln City 0–0 ; Blackburn Rovers ; (1 September 2026)
Total attendance	1,551,898
Average attendance	23,163
	← 2025–26 2027–28 → All statistics correct as of 9 September 2026.

The 2026–27 EFL Championship (referred to as the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the 11th season of the EFL Championship under its current title and the 35th season under its current league division format. This is the first season following the expansion of the post season play-offs from four teams to six.^[1]

Season2026–27

Dates14 August 2026 –
1 May 2027

Matches69

Goals195 (2.83 per match)

Quick facts Season, Dates ...

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The 2026–27 season consists of 46 matchdays in total, with the fixture list released on 25 June 2026 at 12:00 BST.^[2] The opening round of the league commenced between 14–17 August 2026.^[3]

[1]

[2]

[3]

Team	Manager(s)	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor(s)
Team	Manager(s)	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Main	Other(s)
Birmingham City	Chris Davies	Christoph Klarer	Nike	Coral^[4]	List Back: Visit Birmingham, Alabama Sleeve: None Shorts: SheMed
Blackburn Rovers	Tony Mowbray	Todd Cantwell	Umbro	Watson Ramsbottom Solicitors^[5]	List Back: Suits Me^[6] Sleeve: Venky's Shorts: Venky's
Bolton Wanderers	Steven Schumacher	Eoin Toal	Macron	Victorian Plumbing^[7]	List Back: Ebuyer Sleeve: Whites Beaconsfield Shorts: Destinology
Bristol City	Michael Skubala	Jason Knight	O'Neills	Victorian Plumbing^[8]	List Back: GoSkippy Sleeve: Exacta Technologies Shorts: Digital NRG
Burnley	Nicky Hayen	Josh Cullen	Castore	Vertu Motors¹^[9]	List Back: Trainline Sleeve: None Shorts: None
Cardiff City	Brian Barry-Murphy	Calum Chambers	Castore	Visit Malaysia	List Back: DragonBet Sleeve: Affluent Time Shorts: Nyne Capital
Charlton Athletic	Nathan Jones	TBD	Reebok	RSK Group	List Back: University of Greenwich Sleeve: Christopher Ward Shorts: None
Derby County	John Eustace	Lewis Travis	Puma	Loaded^[10]	List Back: HSG UK Sleeve: Tonic Weight Loss Surgery Shorts: HSG UK
Lincoln City	Chris Cohen & Tom Shaw	Tendayi Darikwa	Oxen^[11]	Home: Branston^[12] Away: Nana Tate^[13]	List Back: Gen2 Energy^[14] Sleeve Home: Easy Heat Pumps Sleeve Away: Logicool Shorts Home: None Shorts Away: IFI Group
Middlesbrough	Kim Hellberg	Luke Ayling	Castore^[15]	Midnite^[16]	List Back: Perco Foods Sleeve: Telcoss Shorts: NOCO
Millwall	Alex Neil	Jake Cooper	Erreà	Wiggett Group^[17]	List Back: Wiggett Group Sleeve: FXD Capital Shorts: None
Norwich City	Philippe Clement	Kenny McLean	Joma	Blakely Clothing^[18]	List Back: Green Light Consultancy Group Sleeve: Willy's Pies Shorts: BetWright
Portsmouth	John Mousinho	Marlon Pack	Nike	University of Portsmouth	List Back: Aura.com (H) / TotalAV (A) Sleeve: BeeBu Shorts: MG Richmond
Preston North End	Paul Heckingbottom	Ali McCann	Castore	SpudBros^[19]	List Back: Pub Casino Sleeve: CPC Shorts: Dr. Oetker^[20]
Queens Park Rangers	Julien Stéphan	Jimmy Dunne	Erreà	MrQ^[21]	List Back: Xtra Maintenance Sleeve: Cubefunder Shorts: MyGuava Business
Sheffield United	Chris Wilder	Japhet Tanganga	Adidas^[22]	Midnite^[23]	List Back: None Sleeve: Village Hotel Club Shorts: NOCO
Southampton	Tonda Eckert	Jack Stephens^[24]	Puma^[25]	P&O Cruises^[26]	List Back: Midnite Sleeve: Garmin Shorts: Midnite
Stoke City	Mark Robins	Viktor Johansson	Macron	bet365	List Back: None Sleeve: None Shorts: None
Swansea City	Vítor Matos	Ben Cabango	Joma	AG1^[27]	List Back: Swansea Building Society Sleeve: ASI:One by Fetch
Watford	Alessio Dionisi	Mattie Pollock	Kelme	BOXT^[28]	List Back: Koka Sleeve: University of Hertfordshire Shorts: Asus
West Bromwich Albion	James Morrison	George Campbell	Macron	Ideal Heating^[29]	List Back: Mega Riches Sleeve: BarberBoss Shorts: None
West Ham United	Nuno Espírito Santo	Jarrod Bowen^[30]	New Balance	BoyleSports^[31]	List Back: Athletes Elevated Sleeve: Lilley Plummer Risks Shorts:
Wolverhampton Wanderers	César Peixoto	Toti Gomes	Sudu	Midnite^[32]	List Back: None Sleeve: Wolf Competitions Shorts: None
Wrexham	Phil Parkinson	Dominic Hyam	Macron	Firefox^[33]	List Back: Royal Bank of Canada^[34] Sleeve: Nex Playground Shorts: None

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in the table	Incoming manager(s)	Date of appointment
Blackburn Rovers	Michael O'Neill^[36]	End of contract	2 May 2026	Pre-season	Tony Mowbray^[37]	5 June 2026
Bristol City	Roy Hodgson^[38]	End of interim spell	2 May 2026		Michael Skubala^[39]	29 May 2026
Watford	Edward Still^[40]	Sacked	3 May 2026		Alessio Dionisi^[41]	15 June 2026
Burnley	Mike Jackson^[42]	End of interim spell	24 May 2026		Nicky Hayen^[43]	10 July 2026
Lincoln City	Michael Skubala^[44]	Signed by Bristol City	29 May 2026		Chris Cohen & Tom Shaw^[45]	29 May 2026
Wolverhampton Wanderers	Rob Edwards^[46]	Sacked	11 June 2026		César Peixoto^[47]	15 June 2026

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	West Bromwich Albion	6	4	1	1	9	6	+3	13	Promotion to the Premier League
2	West Ham United	6	3	2	1	14	9	+5	11	Promotion to the Premier League
3	Swansea City	6	3	2	1	8	4	+4	11	Qualification for Championship play-off semi-finals
4	Queens Park Rangers	6	3	2	1	7	4	+3	11	Qualification for Championship play-off semi-finals
5	Charlton Athletic	6	3	2	1	6	7	−1	11	Qualification for Championship play-off quarter-finals
6	Middlesbrough	5	3	1	1	8	5	+3	10
7	Bristol City	5	3	1	1	9	7	+2	10
8	Millwall	5	3	0	2	10	8	+2	9
9	Norwich City	6	3	0	3	10	9	+1	9
10	Sheffield United	6	2	3	1	8	8	0	9
11	Wolverhampton Wanderers	5	2	2	1	13	10	+3	8
12	Watford	6	2	2	2	6	7	−1	8
13	Southampton	6	3	2	1	14	7	+7	7^[a]
14	Wrexham	6	1	4	1	7	5	+2	7
15	Birmingham City	6	1	4	1	8	8	0	7
16	Stoke City	6	2	1	3	9	10	−1	7
17	Portsmouth	5	2	0	3	7	8	−1	6
18	Blackburn Rovers	6	1	2	3	7	9	−2	5
19	Lincoln City	5	1	2	2	4	6	−2	5
20	Cardiff City	6	0	4	2	7	10	−3	4
21	Bolton Wanderers	6	1	1	4	6	12	−6	4
22	Derby County	6	1	1	4	5	11	−6	4	Relegation to EFL League One
23	Burnley	6	0	3	3	7	13	−6	3
24	Preston North End	6	1	0	5	6	12	−6	3

Home \ Away	BIR	BLB	BOL	BRI	BUR	CAR	CHA	DER	LIN	MID	MIL	NOR	POR	PNE	QPR	SHU	SOU	STO	SWA	WAT	WBA	WHU	WOL	WRX
Birmingham City	—			2–2													1–1						2–2
Blackburn Rovers		—			a					2–1					1–2	1–2
Bolton Wanderers			—						0–1					2–1								2–3
Bristol City				—		a					0–2		2–1
Burnley		a		1–2	—					1–1												2–2
Cardiff City				a		—										2–2		1–1	a					1–1
Charlton Athletic							—	2–1			a			1–0	0–0							a
Derby County						2–2		—											0–3		0–1
Lincoln City		0–0							—				1–3				1–1
Middlesbrough									2–1	—											3–1
Millwall			4–0				a				—	3–0			a							a		0–3
Norwich City	2–1				4–1							—									1–2
Portsmouth						2–0		0–2					—		1–3		a
Preston North End		2–1		1–3										—									1–3
Queens Park Rangers			0–0			2–1	a			0–1	a				—							a
Sheffield United	0–0		3–2									1–3				—
Southampton											5–1		a				—	3–1	3–1
Stoke City							4–0					1–0						—	1–2
Swansea City						a										0–0			—	2–0				0–0
Watford														2–1			2–1			—		1–1
West Bromwich Albion					3–1		1–1													1–0	—		a
West Ham United							1–2	3–0			a				a							—	4–2
Wolverhampton Wanderers		2–2																4–1			a		—
Wrexham	1–2				1–1															1–1				—

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Will Lankshear	Middlesbrough	5
1	Cyle Larin	Southampton	5
3	Jarrod Bowen	West Ham United	3
	Tyreece Campbell	Charlton Athletic
	Ethan Galbraith	Stoke City
	Callum Lang	Preston North End
	Fer López	Wolverhampton Wanderers
	Jimmy-Jay Morgan	West Bromwich Albion
	Mohamed Touré	Norwich City

2026–27 EFL Championship

Team changes

To Championship

From Championship

Stadiums and locations

Personnel and sponsoring

Managerial changes

League table

Results

Play-offs

Bracket

Season statistics

Top scorers

Hat-tricks

Clean sheets

Discipline

Player

Club

Awards

Monthly

References

Related Articles

Timelines

Top Qs

Fact Checks

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Lawrence Vigouroux	Swansea City	4
2	Pierce Charles	Queens Park Rangers	2
	Michael Cooper	Sheffield United
	Lukas Jensen	Millwall
	Viktor Johansson	Stoke City
	Arthur Okonkwo	Charlton Athletic
	Max O'Leary	West Bromwich Albion
	Anthony Patterson	Wrexham
	George Wickens	Lincoln City

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month		Ref
August	Vítor Matos	Swansea City	Cyle Larin	Southampton	^[50]
September
October
November
December
January
February
March
April

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