Another season of football in the world’s toughest division is upon us as Championship teams gear up for the 2022/23 campaign.
Norwich, Burnley and Watford are back in the mix following their relegations from the Premier League, while Sunderland returned to the second tier through victory in the League One play-offs.
Here’s an overview of what to expect from the Championship this season.
Sky Sports remains the place to watch Championship games on television or online. TV picks are announced over the course of the season.
Promotion contenders
Huddersfield were beaten 2022 play-off finalists but they are way behind in the list of promotion favourites.
Norwich and Watford are expected to compete for automatic promotion, as are Sheffield United, West Brom and Burnley – all of whom have played in the Premier League within the last two years. Middlesbrough also hope to challenge with promotion specialist Chris Wilder at the helm.
Relegation candidates
Eyes will immediately be drawn to the three promoted sides when it comes to relegation – Wigan, Rotherham and Sunderland.
Reading only narrowly avoided the drop last season, finishing 21st, while Hull could also be dragged into a scrap if they get off to a poor start.
- Norwich
- Watford
- Sheffield United
- West Brom
- Burnley
- Middlesbrough
- Coventry
- Preston
- Luton
- Millwall
- Blackburn
- Queens Park Rangers
- Stoke
- Cardiff
- Huddersfield
- Swansea
- Bristol City
- Blackpool
- Birmingham
- Sunderland
- Hull
- Reading
- Wigan
- Rotherham
Last season’s top scorers in the Championship were Aleksandar Mitrovic and Dominic Solanke, who were promoted with Fulham and Bournemouth respectively. Ben Brereton Diaz, Andreas Weimann and Joel Piroe were the next most lethal, each netting 22 league goals.
Norwich have splashed the cash on Brazilian midfielder Gabriel Sara, while Stoke have made the very smart decision to snap up Championship specialist Dwight Gayle on a free transfer.
Teemu Pukki and Josh Sargent will be looking to terrorise defences with Norwich, while the iconic Joe Allen has secured a twilight move back to Swansea.
Among the exciting Premier League starlets to have been loaned to Championship sides are Tino Anjorin, Jamie Shackleton and Troy Parrott at Huddersfield, Millwall and Preston respectively.
The final gameweek of the regular season is 6 May. The Championship play-off final will take place on Monday 29 May at Wembley, with semi-final dates to be finalised at the end of the regular season.
