EFL Championship

Publication date: 08 Jul 2025

About the English Football League Championship

The English Football League Championship is the top division of the Premier League and the second highest division after the Premier League. It takes place every year. The season starts in July and finishes in May. There are 24 teams in the tournament.

Official EFL Championship website

2025/26 English Football League Championship

The 2025/26 English Championship season will start on 8 August 2025 and will run until 2 May 2026. The tournament will bring together 24 teams that will compete for promotion to the Premier League.

This season, the championship will feature clubs that remained in the league, as well as several new teams – for example, Leicester City, who returned from the Premier League, as well as Ipswich Town and Southampton. In addition, such teams as Birmingham City, Wrexham and Charlton Athletic have risen from League 1.

The matches will be held in different cities of England, and the season will be filled with intense games and a fight for every point. The final round is scheduled for 2 May 2026, after which the playoffs will begin, where the teams will fight for a place in the elite of English football.

History of the Tournament

The English Football League Championship was founded in 2004 to replace the Football League First Division. After the alterations, the Sunderland team won the first season of the Championships.

Coca-Cola was a sponsor of the Premier League until the 2009/2010 season.

From 2010, Npower was announced as the new title sponsor and from the 2010/2011 season the championship was called the Npower Championship.

From 2013, the Sky Bet betting company announced the signing of a five-year contract to sponsor the EFL Championship. The prefix Sky Bet appeared in the Football League’s name.

Interesting facts about the Championship

1. One of the most visited second divisions in the world. On average, about 20,000 spectators come to Championship matches, which makes it more popular than many of Europe’s elite leagues.
2. The playoff final is called the “most expensive match” in the world. The winner gets the right to play in the Premier League and receives hundreds of millions of pounds in television payments.
3. The Championship has given the world many top players. Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy and Jack Grealish all played in this division at one time.
4. The most titled club is Sunderland. The team has won the Championship 6 times.

Previous EFL Championship season results

2026/27 EFL Championship

Information on dates and venues for the next season of the EFL Championship is being clarified.

Keep an eye on the dates of football tournaments and other events in our Sports Events Calendar.