Championship Stadiums & Stats

Championship
Derby County Second Division Champions 1968-69 - DncnH / Flikr.com

The Football League Championship, sponsored by Sky Bet, is the highest football league division in England and the second highest league overall after the Premier League. The Championship replaced the old first division in 2004 and is the richest second tier league in the world as well as the 7th richest league overall in Europe.

With three teams promoted and three clubs relegated each year, there is a turnover of 6 new teams and stadiums into the league out of 24 total. The league has a fantastic mix of stadia and teams with some very big teams constantly dropping in from the top league while at the same time smaller clubs and grounds come up from lower divisions to create an enthralling competition. With the Premier League and its riches beckoning there is a lot of passion for promotion in this league with great attendances, away days, and a hell of a lot to play for. On this page find you can find guides to all Championship football grounds as well as stats, ticket prices, history and more.

Stadium Stats

Stadium Year Opened Capacity Ave Attendance Record Attendance Record Attendance Match
Ashton Gate
Bristol City
1887 27,000 20,351 43,335 Bristol City v Preston (1935)
Bet365 Stadium
Stoke City FC
1997 30,089 20,525 30,022 Stoke vs Evertom (17/03/2018)
Cardiff City Stadium
Cardiff City / Wales
2009 33,280 19,455 33,280 Wales v Belgium (2015)
Carrow Road
Norwich City FC
1935 27,359 26,524 43,984 Norwich City v Leicester (1963)
Coventry Building Society Arena
Coventry City
2005 32,753 19,950 32,128 England/Italy & Belgium/South Korea (19th Feb 2023)
Deepdale
Preston North End
1878 23,408 16,119 42,684 Preston v Arsenal (1938)
Elland Road
Leeds United
1897 37,792 36,566 57,892 Leeds v Sunderland (1967)
Ewood Park
Blackburn Rovers
1882 31,367 14,772 61,783 Blackburn v Bolton (1929)
Hillsborough
Sheffield Wednesday
1899 39,732 25,378 72,841 Sheffield Wed v Man City (1934)
Home Park
Plymouth Argyle
1893 16,388 15,580 43,596 Plymouth v Aston Villa (1936)
John Smiths Stadium
Huddersfield Town
1994 24,121 18,974 24,169 Huddersfield v West Brom (2017)
King Power Stadium
Leicester City FC
2002 32,261 31,887 32,241 Leicester v Sunderland (2015)
Liberty Stadium
Swansea AFC
2005 21,088 16,919 20,972 Swansea City v Liverpool (2016)
Loftus Road
Queens Park Rangers
1904 18,439 14,973 35,353 QPR v Leeds United (1974)
New York Stadium
Rotherham United
2012 12,021 10,522 11,758 Rotherham v Sheffield Utd (2013)
Portman Road
Ipswich Town
1884 29,673 26,184 38,010 Ipswich v Leeds (1975)
Riverside Stadium
Middlesbrough FC
1995 34,742 26,012 35,000 England v Slovakia (2004)
St Andrew’s
Birmingham City
1906 29,409 15,500 67,341 Birmingham v Everton (1939)
St Mary’s
Southampton FC
2001 32,384 28,283 32,363 Southampton v Coventry (2012)
The Den
Millwall
1993 20,146 14,586 20,093 Millwall v Arsenal (1994)
The Hawthorns
West Bromwich Albion FC
1900 26,688 22,929 64,815 West Brom v Arsenal (1937)
The MKM Stadium
Hull City AFC
2002 25,586 17,973 25,280 England v Netherlands U21 (2004)
The Stadium Of Light
Sunderland AFC
1997 48,707 39,140 48,353 Sunderland v Liverpool (2002)
Vicarage Road
Watford FC
1922 21,577 19,172 34,099 Watford v Man United (1969)

Team Stats

Team Year Founded Nickname Team Owner
Birmingham City 1875 The Blues Birmingham Sports Holdings
Blackburn Rovers 1875 Rovers, The Blue and Whites, The Riversiders Venky's London Ltd.
Bristol City 1897 The Robins Stephen Lansdown
Cardiff City 1899 The Bluebirds Vincent Tan
Coventry City 1883 The Sky Blues Doug King
Huddersfield Town 1908 The Terriers Dean Hoyle
Hull City 1904 The Tigers Acun Medya
Ipswich Town 1878 Blues, Tractor Boys, "Pride of East Anglia" Gamechanger 20 Ltd
Leeds United 1919 The Whites, United, The Peacocks Aser Group Holding
Leicester City 1884 The Foxes King Power International
Middlesbrough 1876 The Boro, Smoggies Steve Gibson
Millwall 1885 The Lions (Formerly known as The Dockers) Millwall Holdings plc
Norwich City 1902 The Canaries, Yellows Delia Smith & Michael Wynn Jones
Plymouth Argyle 1886 The Pilgrims, Argyle, The Green Army Simon Hallett
Preston North End 1880 The Lilywhites, PNE, The Whites, Preston, The Invincibles Craig Hemmings
Queens Park Rangers 1886 The Hoops, The Rs, QPR Tune Group, Total Soccer Growth
Rotherham United 1925 The Millers Tony Stewart
Sheffield Wednesday 1867 The Owls Dejphon Chansiri
Southampton 1885 The Saints Sport Republic
Stoke City 1863 The Potters Bet365
Sunderland 1879 The Black Cats Kyril Louis-Dreyfus
Swansea 1912 The Swans Stephen Kaplan, Jason Levien, Jake Silverstein
Watford 1881 The Hornets, The Golden Boys, Yellow Army, The 'Orns Gino Pozzo
West Bromwich Albion 1878 The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion Lai Guochuan

Ticket Prices

Stadium Season Ticket Price (Adult) Season Ticket Price (Conc) Season Ticket Price (Junior) Match Ticket Price (Adult) Match Ticket Price (Conc)
Birmingham City £315 - £590 £285 - £365 £115 - £260 £15 - £40 £10 - £30
Blackburn Rovers £429 - £529 £299 - £379 £60 - £120 £20 - £35 £16 - £29
Bristol City £375 - £675 £310 - £525 £55 - £199 £25 - £45 £22 - £40
Cardiff City £299 - £529 £199 - £409 £79 - £279 £16 - £36 £12 - £31
Coventry City £400 - £500 £360 - £500 £125 - £500 £20 - £33 £15 - £28
Huddersfield Town £249 - £249 £249 - £249 £49 - £129 £25 - £25 £20 - £20
Hull City £300 - £420 £198 - £270 £0 - £138 £20 - £28 £13.5 - £18
Ipswich Town £543 - £733 £384 - £500 £158 - £162 £20 - £30 £16 - £22
Leeds United £508 - £710 £400 - £540 £72 - £194 £32 - £47 £25 - £32
Leicester City £435 - £935 £345 - £770 £45 - £467 £27 - £53 £25 - £46
Middlesbrough £590 - £751 £428 - £561 £234 - £234 £26 - £37 £17 - £29
Millwall £441 - £588 £231 - £347 £32 - £210 £24 - £36 £18 - £26
Norwich City £612 - £686.5 £374 - £422 £85.5 - £238.5 £26 - £40 £16 - £30
Plymouth Argyle £370 - £475 £290 - £365 £10 - £96 £23 - £28 £19 - £23
Preston North End £400 - £535 £310 - £420 £0 - £140 £28 - £34 £20 - £26
Queens Park Rangers £278 - £749 £168 - £507 £84 - £266 £25 - £40 £18 - £31
Rotherham United £396 - £485 £261 - £315 £40 - £165 £25 - £29 £18 - £22
Sheffield Wednesday £595 - £825 £330 - £455 £23 - £150 £27 - £59 £17 - £49
Southampton £379 - £599 £339 - £549 £60 - £419 £15 - £50 £15 - £50
Stoke City £359 - £519 £269 - £399 £23 - £179 £20 - £40 £15 - £32
Sunderland £420 - £525 £290 - £345 £48 - £190 £25 - £40 £18 - £18
Swansea £345 - £399 £265 - £265 £79 - £139 £32.5 - £32.5 £20 - £20
Watford £438 - £567 £260 - £418 £76 - £156 £20 - £35 £18 - £28
West Bromwich Albion £349 - £469 £289 - £379 £23 - £99 £28 - £28 £23 - £23

Championship Stadiums

The English Championship possibly has the most diverse mix of football stadiums in the world. Many big teams from the richest league in the world, the Premier League, drop into the Championship each year and this means that even England's second tier can show off some huge modern super stadia.

Alongside these there are great traditional British grounds from famous clubs that have been unable to develop their grounds without Premier League cash, and finally there are some fantastic small stadiums hosting teams that have emerged from lower divisions. Take a look at some of the stats tables on this page and you will immediately see the diversity in capacities, attendances and ages the Stadiums range from.

Birmingham City St Andrews Park Tilton Road End
Bruker:TuborgLight [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Attendances in the English Championship both in absolute terms and as a proportion of overall capacity are incredibly high compared to many second tier divisions in Europe; in 2014-15, for example, this was 17,857. This is testament to the stadiums, the teams that play in them, and the quality of football on offer in this division. With teams like Sunderland (49,000) and Newcastle (52,405) having spent time in the division of late alongside the likes of Brentford (12,763) and Rotherham (12,021) you can see why two away days in this division are never the same.

In our stadium guides you can read about the history of these stadiums and the teams that play in them, see all of the key stats and trivia, find out all of the information you need on how to get there, how to get tickets, tours, seating plans, future developments, hospitality and more. Take a look at our photo galleries too that will give you a great feel for what it is like to visit these English Championship grounds.

About The League

The football league was unified until 1992 when the 22 teams from the old Division One resigned on mass to set up a new league known as the Premier League. The old Division Two that had existed as such for 100 years (1892-1992) immediately became the highest football league division and was renamed the Football League First Division. Teams were still able to move between the first division and the Premier League as before but the two leagues became separate from a financial and administrative perspective. The first division was again re-branded in 2004 becoming the Football League Championship. The league is often termed the English Championship but can also include Welsh teams; both Cardiff and Swansea play or have played in this division previously.

TV Camera Football Stadium

As the seventh richest league in the world and the highest attended second division in Europe, the Championship and its teams command a lot of global respect. More games are televised from the Championship compared to major European counterparts such as the Spanish Segunda or Italian Serie B. In 2009 Sky signed a £195m three-year deal to broadcast 75 league matches and all play-off games. The league also commands a global audience since broadcast rights for the Championship are also held by at least 24 other nations around the world.

With 24 teams and 46 matches to be played the Championship usually begins in the first week of August, one week before the start of the Premier League, and runs to mid-May. The winner of the Championship earn automatic promotion to the Premier League each year along with the Football League Championship Trophy. The runner-up is promoted directly too, with 3rd through to 6th place competing in a playoff for the third promotion place. Conversely, the three lowest Premier League teams each year are relegated to the Championship and the three lowest Championship teams relegated to League One, with three League One teams promoted to take their place.

Cheque

The play-off involves a two legged semi-final that takes place home and away. The 3rd placed team plays 6th place and 4th and 5th are drawn together. The remaining two teams then compete for the final play off place at Wembley Stadium. This is serious business too with Fulham, the winners of the 2020 play-off final, earning around £125m in prize money, enough to make or break a clubs ambitions. In fact, the Championship play off final is worth more in prize money than winning the Champions League. Even teams that are relegated from the Premier League now receive parachute payments of around £25m in year one, £20m in year two and £10m in year three following the drop. You can easily see now why the Championship is the seventh richest league in the world. All this money means there are some fantastic grounds too as well as top players, managers and facilities on offer.

Leicester City and Manchester City have won the English second tier league on the most occasions both with 7 each.

Championship History

The history of the Old First Division (1892-1992) before it changed is covered on our Premier League page. The English Championship, despite taking on the name of the first division between 1993 and 2004, actually derives from the old English Second Division. The 2nd division was established in 1892, four years after the old First Division, when a rival division called the Football Alliance was merged with the existing football league to create a new football league second division. The three top Alliance clubs entered into the 1st division with the 2nd tier mainly made up of Alliance teams. The old football alliance was contested between 1889 and 1892 and hosted 12 teams, many of which have since gone out of existence or have been renamed. The Alliance was won by The Wednesday (now Sheffield Wednesday) in 1889, Stoke (now Stoke City) in 1890, and Nottingham Forest in 1892.

The original 12 members of the second division were Ardwick (now Manchester City), Bootle, Burton Swifts, Crewe Alexandra, Darwen, the valiant Grimsby Town, Lincoln City, Northwich Victoria, Port Vale, Sheffield United, Small Heath (now Birmingham City), and Walsall. In 1893 three more teams were added expanding the league to 15 teams, this increased again to 16 in 1894, 18 in 1898, 20 in 1905, 22 in 1919, 23 in 1987 and finally 24 teams in 1988.

Initially, automatic promotion did not happen, instead, the top teams from the second division and the bottom teams from division one played a series of matches. Sheffield United became the first team to be promoted from division two in 1894 because Small Heath, the champions in 1893, were denied promotion after losing their test match to Newton Heath. This system was abolished in 1898 due to match fixing between Stoke and Burnley and automatic promotion and relegation was introduced. The clubs deliberately drew the test match play-off 0-0 ensuring Burnley were promoted but Stoke could not be relegated.

The league ran this way for 100 years, with breaks for the two world wars, before taking the name of the First Division in 1993 as the old first division became defunct with the creation of the Premier League. In 2004 the league was re-branded the Coca-Cola Championship in a new sponsorship deal, the second division (the old third division) becoming League One and the third division (the old fourth division) becoming League Two. Confusing much?

Coca-Cola ended their sponsorship in 2009 and was replaced by Npower until 2013 when current sponsors Sky Bet took on a five-year deal. The latest re-branding in 2004 also came with a new trophy for winning the league, the Football League Championship Trophy.

Fulhams's Aleksandar Mitrović is the top goalscorer netting 43 goals in the 2021-22 season.