EFL Championship
Season 2026–27
Dates 14 August 2026 –
May 2027
← 2025–26
2027–28 →
All statistics correct as of 19 May 2026.

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

The 2026–27 season will consist of 46 matchdays in total with the fixture list set to be released on 25 June 2026 at 12:00 BST.[2] The opening round of the league will take place between 14 and 16 August. [3]

Team changes

The following teams will change division after the 2025–26 season:

Stadiums and locations

Personnel and sponsoring

Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor(s)
Main Other(s)
Birmingham City Wales Chris Davies Austria Christoph Klarer Nike Undefeated[4]
List
    • Back: Visit Birmingham, Alabama
    • Sleeve: None
    • Shorts: SheMed
Blackburn Rovers TBC England Todd Cantwell Macron Watson Ramsbottom Solicitors[5]
List
    • Back: None
    • Sleeve: Venky's
    • Shorts: Venky's
Bolton Wanderers England Steven Schumacher Northern Ireland Eoin Toal Macron Victorian Plumbing[6]
List
    • Back: Ebuyer
    • Sleeve: Whites Beaconsfield
    • Shorts: Destinology
Bristol City TBC Republic of Ireland Jason Knight O'Neills Fever[7]
List
    • Back: GoSkippy
    • Sleeve: Exacta Technologies
    • Shorts: Digital NRG
Burnley TBC Republic of Ireland Josh Cullen Castore TBC
List
    • Back: None
    • Sleeve: TBC
    • Shorts: None
Cardiff City Republic of Ireland Brian Barry-Murphy England Calum Chambers Castore Visit Malaysia
List
    • Back: DragonBet
    • Sleeve: Watches of Bath
    • Shorts: Nyne Capital
Charlton Athletic Wales Nathan Jones Scotland Greg Docherty Reebok RSK Group
List
    • Back: University of Greenwich
    • Sleeve: Christopher Ward
    • Shorts: None
Derby County England John Eustace England Lewis Travis Puma Loaded[8]
List
    • Back: HSG UK
    • Sleeve: Tonic Weight Loss Surgery
    • Shorts: HSG UK
Lincoln City England Michael Skubala Zimbabwe Tendayi Darikwa Oxen TBC
List
    • Back: Solgari
    • Sleeve: Easy Heat Pumps
    • Shorts: None
Middlesbrough Sweden Kim Hellberg England Dael Fry Castore[9] TBC
List
    • Back: Perco Foods
    • Sleeve: TBC
    • Shorts: NOCO
Millwall Scotland Alex Neil England Jake Cooper Erreà Wiggett Group[10]
List
    • Back: Wiggett Group
    • Sleeve: FXD Capital
    • Shorts: None
Norwich City Belgium Philippe Clement Scotland Kenny McLean Joma Blakely Clothing
List
    • Back: Green Light Consultancy Group
    • Sleeve: Willy's Pies
    • Shorts: BetWright
Portsmouth England John Mousinho England Marlon Pack Nike University of Portsmouth
List
    • Back: Aura.com (H) / TotalAV (A)
    • Sleeve: BeeBu
    • Shorts: MG Richmond
Preston North End England Paul Heckingbottom England Benjamin Whiteman Castore TBC
List
    • Back: Pub Casino
    • Sleeve: CPC
    • Shorts: None
Queens Park Rangers France Julien Stéphan Republic of Ireland Jimmy Dunne Erreà TBC
List
    • Back: Xtra Maintenance
    • Sleeve: MyGuava
    • Shorts: MyGuava Business
Sheffield United England Chris Wilder England Japhet Tanganga Adidas[11] TBC
List
    • Back: None
    • Sleeve: Village Hotel Club
    • Shorts: NOCO
Southampton Germany Tonda Eckert England Jack Stephens[12] Puma[13] TBC
List
    • Back: Midnite
    • Sleeve: Garmin
    • Shorts: Midnite
Stoke City England Mark Robins England Ben Gibson Macron bet365
List
    • Back: None
    • Sleeve: None
    • Shorts: None
Swansea City Portugal Vítor Matos Wales Ben Cabango Joma TBC
List
    • Back: Swansea Building Society
    • Sleeve: Visit Central Florida
    • Shorts: First Grade Projects
Watford TBC Morocco Imrân Louza Kelme BOXT[14]
List
    • Back: Koka
    • Sleeve: University of Hertfordshire
    • Shorts: Asus
West Bromwich Albion Scotland James Morrison England Jed Wallace Macron Ideal Heating[15]
List
    • Back: Mega Riches
    • Sleeve: BarberBoss
    • Shorts: None
West Ham United Portugal Nuno Espírito Santo England Jarrod Bowen[16] New Balance TBC
List
    • Back:
    • Sleeve:
    • Shorts:
Wolverhampton Wanderers Wales Rob Edwards Portugal Toti Gomes Sudu TBC
List
    • Back: None
    • Sleeve: JD Sports
    • Shorts: None
Wrexham England Phil Parkinson Scotland Dominic Hyam Macron United Airlines[17]
List
    • Back: Meta Quest
    • Sleeve: HP
    • Shorts: None

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in the table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Blackburn Rovers Northern Ireland Michael O'Neill[18] End of interim spell 2 May 2026 Pre-season
Bristol City England Roy Hodgson
Watford England Edward Still[19] Sacked 3 May 2026
Burnley England Mike Jackson End of interim spell 24 May 2026

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Birmingham City 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Promotion to the Premier League
2 Blackburn Rovers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 Bolton Wanderers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for Championship play-offs semi-finals
4 Bristol City 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Burnley 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for Championship play-offs quarter-finals
6 Cardiff City 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 Charlton Athletic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 Derby County 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
9 Lincoln City 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 Middlesbrough 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11 Millwall 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 Norwich City 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
13 Portsmouth 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
14 Preston North End 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
15 Queens Park Rangers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 Sheffield United 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
17 Stoke City 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
18 Swansea City 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
19 Watford 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
20 West Bromwich Albion 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
21 West Ham United 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
22 Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Relegation to EFL League One
23 Wrexham 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
24 Southampton 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 −4[a]
First match(es) will be played: 14 August 2026. Source: EFL Official Website
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head results; 5) Wins; 6) Away goals; 7) Penalty points (sec 9.5); 8) Number of 12-point sending off offences; 9) Play-off (only if needed to determine promotion/relegation)[21]
Notes:
  1. ^ Southampton were deducted four points due to multiple breaches of EFL regulations related to the unauthorised filming of other clubs' training.[20]


Results

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 WRE
Birmingham City —
Blackburn Rovers — a
Bolton Wanderers —
Bristol City — a
Burnley a —
Cardiff City a — a
Charlton Athletic — a a a
Derby County —
Lincoln City —
Middlesbrough —
Millwall a — a a
Norwich City —
Portsmouth — a
Preston North End —
Queens Park Rangers a a — a
Sheffield United —
Southampton a —
Stoke City —
Swansea City a —
Watford —
West Bromwich Albion — a
West Ham United a a a —
Wolverhampton Wanderers a —
Wrexham —
Updated to match(es) played on Pre-season. Source: efl.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Play-offs

Main article: 2027 EFL play-offs

Bracket

Eliminators Semi-finals Final
Lowest-seeded eliminators winner
5 TBC 3 TBC
8 TBC  
 
Highest-seeded eliminators winner
6 TBC 4 TBC
7 TBC

Season statistics

As of Pre-season

Top scorers

Rank Player Club Goals

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of EFL Championship hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date

Clean sheets

Rank Player Club Clean sheets

Discipline

Player

  • Most yellow cards: 0
  • Most red cards: 0

Club

  • Most yellow cards: 0
  • Most red cards: 0
  • Fewest yellow cards: 0
  • Fewest red cards: 0

Awards

Monthly

Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month Ref
August
September
October
November
December
January
February
March
April

See also

  • 2026–27 Premier League
  • 2026–27 EFL League One
  • 2026–27 EFL League Two
  • 2026–27 National League
  • 2026–27 EFL Cup
  • 2026–27 FA Cup
  • 2026–27 EFL Trophy

References

  1. ^ "Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Format". EFL. 5 March 2026. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  2. ^ "EFL fixture release day confirmed for 2026/27 season". EFL. 10 April 2025. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  3. ^ "EFL kick-off dates confirmed for 2026/27 season". English Football League. 12 January 2026. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  4. ^ "Undefeated named Blues' new principal partner and sponsor". Birmingham City Football Club (Press release). Birmingham. 26 July 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  5. ^ "Rovers renew Watson Ramsbottom partnership". Blackburn Rovers F.C. 13 June 2025. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  6. ^ "Victorian Plumbing Commits Its Future to Bolton Wanderers with New Deal" (Press release). Bolton: Bolton Wanderers Football Club. Retrieved 24 May 2026.
  7. ^ "Fever to become men's Front of Shirt and Official Ticketing and Experience Partner". Bristol City Football Club. 27 March 2025. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  8. ^ "CLUB PARTNER: Derby County announce Loaded as Front of Shirt (Principal) Partner". Derby County Football Club (Press release). Birmingham. 15 May 2026. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
  9. ^ "Castore announced as official technical kit supplier". Middlesbrough Football Club. 9 June 2025. Retrieved 9 June 2025.
  10. ^ "Millwall announce Wiggett Group as new front-of-shirt sponsor". Millwall Football Club. Millwall Football Club. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
  11. ^ "adidas and Blades link up again". Sheffield United FC. 22 April 2026. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
  12. ^ "Russell Martin on James Ward-Prowse and club captaincy". Southampton Football Club (Press release). Southampton. 11 August 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  13. ^ "PUMA officially becomes a Saint". Southampton Football Club (Press release). Southampton. 24 April 2024. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  14. ^ "Official: BOXT Confirmed As New Front-Of-Shirt Sponsor". Watford FC. 12 May 2026. Retrieved 12 May 2026.
  15. ^ "Ideal Heating sign-up for record-breaking extension as Principal Sponsor". West Bromwich Albion FC. 21 December 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  16. ^ "Jarrod Bowen appointed West Ham United Club captain" (Press release). London: West Ham United Football Club. 15 August 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  17. ^ "United Airlines Debuts New, Limited-Edition Wrexham AFC Amenity Kits and Pajamas". United.com. 21 May 2024. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  18. ^ "Club Statement: Michael O'Neill". www.rovers.co.uk. 12 May 2026. Retrieved 12 May 2026.
  19. ^ "Club Statement: Ed Still". www.watfordfc.com. 3 May 2026. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  20. ^ Johnson, Dale (19 May 2026). "Southampton expelled from play-offs for spying on Middlesbrough who have been reinstated to the play-off Final". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 May 2026.
  21. ^ "EFL Regulations Section 3 – The League; subsection 9 – Method of Determining League Positions". EFL. Retrieved 8 April 2022.