EFL Championship guide

The Championship is the second tier of English football, one level below the Premier League.

It has 24 clubs, and each plays 46 matches, home and away, which makes it one of the longest league seasons in Europe. A win earns three points and a draw one. The season runs from August to May.

The top two clubs are promoted automatically to the Premier League. The clubs in third to sixth place play a two-leg semi-final and then a one-match final at Wembley for the last promotion place.

The bottom three clubs are relegated to League One. Because the stakes at both ends of the table are so high, the Championship is known for being unpredictable. Follow every match and the table on ScoreHub.

Scores & fixtures League table

Coming up

• Wolverhampton v Portsmouth 2026-10-20
• Bolton v Middlesbrough 2026-10-23
• Sheffield Utd v Derby County 2026-10-24
• Portsmouth v Millwall 2026-10-24
• Charlton v Norwich 2026-10-24
• Blackburn v Wrexham 2026-10-24
• Preston NE v West Brom 2026-10-24
• Cardiff v Birmingham 2026-10-24
• QPR v Swansea 2026-10-24
• Wolverhampton v Watford 2026-10-24