Championship, how it works: rules, promotions, playoffs and relegations

The Championship is the second division of football in England and is very popular not only with English fans but all over the world. In this article we explain all the regulations on how the English Championship works: from who climbs up to the Premier League to how relegations work in League One, from the ranking criteria to the formula and rules, from the participating formations to how much the teams earn, from the roll of honor how many days are played. On our website you will also find the article on how Champions League works.

Championship, how it works: formula and number of gameweeks

The Championship is the seventh richest league in Europe. The first among all the European second divisions. The name Championship has been used since the 2004/05 season: previously it was called the First Division and before that the Second Division. Each Championship championship consists of 46 days (23 away and 23 away) plus the playoff phase. On our site you will also find the article on how the Italian Serie A works.

How many teams play in the Championship?

24 teams play in the Championship, playing at least forty-six matches.

English Championship, promotions: who goes up to the Premier League

How do Championship to Premier League promotions work? Who goes to the Premier League? Three teams rise from the Championship: the first two go directly to the Premier League, the third promoted is the winner of the playoffs.

Playoff Championship, how they work

The teams that finish the championship from third to sixth position in the standings qualify for the Championship playoffs. The six teams meet in the semi-finals and final for promotions to the Premier League.

Championship, how relegations work in League One

They relegate to League One, the English third division, the bottom three at the end of the regular season. There are no playouts.

Championship, the ranking criteria

What if there are two or more teams with the same score at the end of the season? Here are the criteria and rules for determining positions in the Championship leaderboard:

• Points Goal
• difference
• Goals scored
• Separate classification
• playoff

What’s after the Championship?

After the Championship, there is League One and League Two. Then, the National League.

Roll of Honor English Championship

Barnsley are the team that has won the English championship the most times, with 78 victories. Here is the Hall of Fame of Championship, since the second English series has this name (2004/05):

• 2004-2005 Sunderland
• 2005-2006 Reading
• 2006-2007 Sunderland
• 2007-2008 West Bromwich
• 2008-2009 Wolverhampton
• 2009-2010 Newcastle Utd
• 2010-2011 QPR
• 2011-2012 Reading
• 2012-2013 Cardiff City
• 2013-2014 Leicester City
• 2014-2015 Bournemouth
• 2015-2016 Burnley
• 2016-2017 Newcastle Utd
• 2017-2018 Wolverhampton
• 2018-2019 Norwich City
• 2019-2020 Leeds Utd
• 2020-2021 Norwich City
• 2021-2022 Fulham