Football League Championship - Definition and Overview

The Football League Championship (often referred to as The Championship for short or the Coca-Cola Football League Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system.

Structure

There are 24 teams in the Football League Championship. Each teams plays each other twice (once at home, once away) and are awarded three points for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. From these points a league table is constructed. At the end of each season the top two teams, together with the winner of the play-offs between the teams which finished in 3rd-6th position, are promoted to the FA Premier League and are replaced by the three teams that finished at the bottom of that league. Similarly the three teams which finished at the bottom of the Football League Championship are relegated to Football League One and are replaced by the teams which finished 1st, 2nd, and won the 3rd-6th place play-off in that division.

History

The Football League Championship was introduced for the 2004-2005 season. It replaced the Football League First Division.

Football League Championship clubs, 2004-2005

• Brighton & Hove Albion
• Burnley
• Cardiff City
• Coventry City
• Crewe Alexandra
• Derby County
• Gillingham
• Ipswich Town
• Leicester City
• Leeds United
• Millwall
• Nottingham Forest
• Plymouth Argyle
• Preston North End
• Queens Park Rangers
• Reading
• Rotherham United
• Sheffield United
• Stoke City
• Sunderland
• Watford
• West Ham United
• Wigan Athletic
• Wolverhampton Wanderers