EFL Championship
| Founded |
|
|---|---|
| Country | England |
| Other club(s) from | Wales |
| Number of clubs | 24 |
| Level on pyramid | 2 |
| Promotion to | Premier League |
| Relegation to | EFL League One |
| Domestic cup(s) | |
| League cup(s) | |
| International cup(s) |
|
| Current champions | Leeds United 2nd title and 5th second-tier title (2024–25) |
| Most championships |
|
| Broadcaster(s) | List of broadcasters |
| Website | Official website |
| Current: 2025–26 EFL Championship | |
The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the English football league system, sitting below the Premier League.
Introduced for the 2004–05 season as the Football League Championship, the division is a rebrand of the former Football League First Division. The winning club of this division each season receives the EFL Championship trophy, which was the previous trophy awarded to the winners of the English top-flight prior to the launch of the Premier League. As with other divisions of professional English football, Welsh clubs can be part of this division, thus making it a cross-border league.
Each season, the two top-finishing teams in the Championship are automatically promoted to the Premier League. The teams that finish the season in third to sixth place enter a playoff tournament, with the winner also gaining promotion to the Premier League. The three lowest-finishing teams in the Championship are relegated to League One.
The Championship is the wealthiest non-top-flight football division in the world, the ninth-richest division in Europe, and the 12th best-attended division in world football (with the second highest per-match attendance of any secondary league – after the German 2.Bundesliga). Its average match attendance for the 2022–23 season was 18,787.
Cardiff City have spent more seasons in this division than any other team, and Bristol City, Preston North End and Queens Park Rangers currently hold the longest tenure in this division, having last been absent in the 2014–15 season. Barnsley became the first club to attain 1,000 wins in second-tier English league football with a 2–1 home victory over Coventry City on 3 January 2011. They also became the first club to play 3,000 games in second-level English league football following another 2–1 home victory, this time against Brighton & Hove Albion on 12 March 2013 The current champions of the league are Leeds United.