 | |
| Founded |
|
|---|---|
| Country | England |
| Other club(s) from | Wales |
| Number of teams | 24 |
| Level on pyramid | 2 |
| Promotion to | Premier League |
| Relegation to | EFL League One |
| Domestic cup(s) | |
| League cup(s) | |
| International cup(s) |
|
| Current champions | Leicester City 2nd title and 8th Second tier title (2023–24) |
| Most championships |
|
| TV partners | List of broadcasters |
| Website | Official website |
| Current: 2024–25 EFL Championship | |
The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship in England and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship,[1] is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the English football league system, after the Premier League, and is currently contested by 24 clubs.
Introduced for the 2004–05 season as the Football League Championship, the division is a rebrand of the former Football League First Division, which itself is a rebrand of the now-defunct Football League Second Division prior to the 1992 launch of the Premier League. The winning club of this division each season receives the EFL Championship trophy, which was the previous trophy awarded to the winners of the English top-flight prior to the launch of the Premier League. As with other divisions of professional English football, Welsh clubs can be part of this division, thus making it a cross-border league.
Each season, the two top-finishing teams in the Championship are automatically promoted to the Premier League. The teams that finish the season in 3rd to 6th place enter a playoff tournament, with the winner also gaining promotion to the Premier League. The three lowest-finishing teams in the Championship are relegated to League One.
The Championship is the wealthiest non-top-flight football division in the world, the ninth-richest division in Europe,[2] and the 12th best-attended division in world football (with the second highest per-match attendance of any secondary league – after the German 2.Bundesliga).[3] Its average match attendance for the 2022–23 season was 18,787.[4]
Cardiff City have spent more seasons in this division than any other team, and Bristol City, Preston North End and Queens Park Rangers currently hold the longest tenure in this division, having last been absent in the 2014–15 season. Barnsley became the first club to attain 1,000 wins in second-tier English league football with a 2–1 home victory over Coventry City on 3 January 2011. They also became the first club to play 3,000 games in second-level English league football following another 2–1 home victory, this time against Brighton & Hove Albion on 12 March 2013[5] The current champions of the league are Leicester City.
- ^ "Sky Bet to sponsor The Football League". English Football League (The Football League]]. 18 July 2013. Archived from the original on 21 July 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
- ^ "Cumulative revenue of Europe's 'big five' leagues grew by 5% in 2012/13 to €9.8 billion". deloitte.com. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited. Archived from the original on 4 February 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
- ^ A referenced list of all leagues ranking above the Championship is available at the Major League Soccer attendance page.
- ^ "Championship 2022/2023 – Attendance". worldfootball.net. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
- ^ "Barnsley 2–1 Brighton". BBC Sport. 12 March 2013. Archived from the original on 22 November 2018. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
Barnsley became the first team to play 3,000 games in second level league football.