2019–20 EFL Championship

16th season of the Football League Championship From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 2019–20 EFL Championship (referred to as the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the 4th season of the EFL Championship under its current title and the 28th season under its current league division format. Leeds United won the title, with West Bromwich Albion following in second. Brentford finished closely in third, only to lose in the playoff final to 4th placed Fulham, a narrow 2–1 victory at Wembley.

Quick Facts Season, Dates ...
EFL Championship
Season2019–20
Dates2 August 2019 –
4 August 2020
ChampionsLeeds United
1st Championship title
4th 2nd tier title
PromotedLeeds United
West Bromwich Albion
Fulham
RelegatedCharlton Athletic
Wigan Athletic
Hull City
Matches played552
Goals scored1,457 (2.64 per match)
Top goalscorerAleksandar Mitrović
(Fulham)
(26 goals)
Biggest home winWigan Athletic 8–0 Hull City
(14 July 2020)
Biggest away winSheffield Wednesday 0–5 Blackburn Rovers
(18 January 2020)
Luton Town 0–5 Reading
(4 July 2020)
Highest scoringBirmingham City 4–5 Leeds United
(29 December 2019)
Longest winning runBrentford
(8 matches)
Longest unbeaten runWest Bromwich Albion
(14 matches)
Longest winless runBarnsley
(17 matches)
Longest losing runHuddersfield Town
Hull City
(6 matches each)
Highest attendance36,514
Leeds United 2–0 Huddersfield Town
(7 March 2020)
Lowest attendance8,965
Wigan Athletic 1–3 Reading
(30 November 2019)[1]
Total attendance8,251,897[1]
Average attendance18,585[1]
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Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

Summarize
Perspective

The season was halted, following a decision on 13 March 2020 to suspend the league after a number of players and other club staff became ill due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The initial suspension was until 4 April, which was then extended until 30 April.[2][3] On 13 May, following a meeting, the clubs decided to continue with the season with plans for players to return to training on 25 May.[4]

In May, 1014 tests were carried out across all of the English Football League and funded by the clubs. Two people from Hull City returned positive results.[5] Later in May, Elliott Bennett of Blackburn Rovers tested positive for the virus as did two unnamed players from Fulham.[6] In further tests, Jayden Stockley of Preston North End tested positive as did one unnamed person from both Cardiff City and Middlesbrough.[7] On 31 May, the EFL stated plans to restart the league on 20 June, with the play-off final being scheduled for around 30 July, subject to safety requirement and government approval being met.[8]

On 7 June, two Championship clubs reported one person each to have tested positive of coronavirus, during the latest round of testing. A total of 1,179 people were tested in the duration of four days and those tested positive were required to self-isolate, as per EFL guidelines.[9] On 8 June, the first round of fixtures was released. The first set of fixtures following the restart was scheduled for 20 June with the first fixture being Fulham against Brentford with a 12:30pm kick-off.[10] In a further round of testing on 8 June, Stoke City manager Michael O'Neill tested positive for the virus having tested negative in five previous rounds of testing. A practice game between Stoke and Manchester United was called off at short notice with the Stoke players already in United's Carrington training ground.[11]

Team changes

The following teams have changed division since the 2018–19 season.

Stadiums

Greater London Championship football clubs
  • 1 The capacity of Craven Cottage will be reduced from 25,700 to 19,000 for the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons due to the redevelopment of the Riverside Stand which will increase the capacity to 29,600.[13]

Personnel and sponsoring

More information Team, Manager ...
Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Sponsor
Barnsley Austria Gerhard Struber Germany Mike-Steven Bähre[14] Germany Puma C.K. Beckett[15]
Birmingham City Spain Pep Clotet England Harlee Dean[16] Germany Adidas BoyleSports[17]
Blackburn Rovers England Tony Mowbray England Elliott Bennett England Umbro 10Bet[18]
Brentford Denmark Thomas Frank Sweden Pontus Jansson England Umbro EcoWorld
Bristol City England Dean Holden TBA2 England Bristol Sport Dunder[19]
Cardiff City England Neil Harris England Sean Morrison Germany Adidas Tourism Malaysia
Charlton Athletic England Lee Bowyer England Chris Solly Denmark Hummel Children with Cancer UK
Derby County Netherlands Phillip Cocu England Wayne Rooney3 England Umbro[20] 32Red
Fulham England Scott Parker Scotland Tom Cairney Germany Adidas Dafabet
Huddersfield Town Spain Carlos Corberán Germany Christopher Schindler England Umbro Paddy Power (unbranded)[21]4
Hull City Northern Ireland Grant McCann United States Eric Lichaj England Umbro SportPesa
Leeds United Argentina Marcelo Bielsa Scotland Liam Cooper Italy Kappa[22] 32Red[23]
Luton Town Wales Nathan Jones England Sonny Bradley Germany Puma Indigo Residential (home)
Star Platforms (away)
Ryebridge (third)
Middlesbrough England Neil Warnock England George Friend Denmark Hummel 32Red
Millwall England Gary Rowett Republic of Ireland Alex Pearce Italy Macron Huski Chocolate[24]
Nottingham Forest France Sabri Lamouchi England Michael Dawson Italy Macron Football Index[25]
Preston North End Scotland Alex Neil England Tom Clarke United States Nike 32Red
Queens Park Rangers England Mark Warburton England Grant Hall[26] Italy Erreà Bet UK[27]5
Reading Wales Mark Bowen England Liam Moore Italy Macron Casumo[28]
Sheffield Wednesday England Garry Monk England Tom Lees England Elev8 Chansiri
Stoke City Northern Ireland Michael O'Neill England Ryan Shawcross Italy Macron bet365
Swansea City Wales Steve Cooper England Matt Grimes[29] Spain Joma[30] YOBET[31]
Swansea University (back-of-shirt & training kit sponsor)[32]
West Bromwich Albion Croatia Slaven Bilić Northern Ireland Chris Brunt Germany Puma[33] Ideal Boilers
Wigan Athletic England Paul Cook Egypt Sam Morsy Germany Puma KB88[34]
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  1. ^ Clotet was initially appointed as caretaker manager before he was appointed on a permanent basis on 4 December 2019.[35]
  2. ^ Bristol City's captain was Bailey Wright in the first half of the season, but he left on 21 January to join Sunderland on loan.[36] Vice-captain Josh Brownhill served in this position between 21 and 30 January when he left for Burnley, no replacement has been named as of 30 January.
  3. ^ Derby County's captain was Richard Keogh until his contract was terminated on 30 October 2019,[37] with Curtis Davies acting in this position from 30 October until 1 January 2020.
  4. ^ Huddersfield Town's shirt does not display Paddy Power's logo as part of the bookmakers' "Save Our Shirt" campaign.
  5. ^ Queens Park Rangers' shirt sponsor was Royal Panda until 29 January 2020 when they decided to leave the United Kingdom market.

Managerial changes

More information Team, Outgoing manager ...
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Luton Town England Mick Harford[38] End of caretaker spell 4 May 2019 Pre-season England Graeme Jones[38] 7 May 2019
Queens Park Rangers England John Eustace[39] 5 May 2019 England Mark Warburton[40] 8 May 2019
West Bromwich Albion England James Shan[41] 14 May 2019 Croatia Slaven Bilić[42] 13 June 2019
Middlesbrough Wales Tony Pulis[43] End of contract 17 May 2019 England Jonathan Woodgate[44] 14 June 2019
Swansea City England Graham Potter[45] Signed by Brighton & Hove Albion 20 May 2019 Wales Steve Cooper[46] 13 June 2019
Hull City England Nigel Adkins[47] End of contract 8 June 2019 Northern Ireland Grant McCann[48] 21 June 2019
Birmingham City England Garry Monk[49] Sacked 18 June 2019 Spain Pep Clotet[50] 4 December 2019
Nottingham Forest Northern Ireland Martin O'Neill[51] 28 June 2019 France Sabri Lamouchi[52] 28 June 2019
Derby County England Frank Lampard[53] Signed by Chelsea 4 July 2019 Netherlands Phillip Cocu[54] 5 July 2019
Sheffield Wednesday England Steve Bruce[55] Resigned 15 July 2019 England Garry Monk[56] 6 September 2019
Huddersfield Town Germany Jan Siewert[57] Sacked 16 August 2019 20th England Danny Cowley[58] 9 September 2019
Millwall England Neil Harris[59] Resigned 3 October 2019 18th England Gary Rowett[60] 21 October 2019
Barnsley Germany Daniel Stendel[61] Sacked 8 October 2019 23rd Austria Gerhard Struber[62] 20 November 2019
Reading Portugal José Gomes[63] 9 October 2019 22nd Wales Mark Bowen[64] 14 October 2019
Stoke City Wales Nathan Jones[65] 1 November 2019 24th Northern Ireland Michael O'Neill[66] 8 November 2019
Cardiff City England Neil Warnock[67] Mutual consent 11 November 2019 14th England Neil Harris[68] 16 November 2019
Luton Town England Graeme Jones[69] 24 April 2020 23rd Wales Nathan Jones[70] 28 May 2020
Middlesbrough England Jonathan Woodgate[71] Sacked 23 June 2020 21st England Neil Warnock[71] 23 June 2020
Bristol City England Lee Johnson[72] 4 July 2020 12th England Dean Holden[73] 10 August 2020
Birmingham City Spain Pep Clotet[74] Mutual consent 8 July 2020 17th Spain Aitor Karanka[75] 31 July 2020
Huddersfield Town England Danny Cowley[76] Sacked 19 July 2020 18th Spain Carlos Corberán[77] 23 July 2020
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    League table

    More information Pos, Pld ...
    Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
    1 Leeds United (C, P) 46 28 9 9 77 35 +42 93 Promotion to the Premier League
    2 West Bromwich Albion (P) 46 22 17 7 77 45 +32 83
    3 Brentford 46 24 9 13 80 38 +42 81 Qualification for Championship play-offs[a]
    4 Fulham (O, P) 46 23 12 11 64 48 +16 81
    5 Cardiff City 46 19 16 11 68 58 +10 73
    6 Swansea City 46 18 16 12 62 53 +9 70
    7 Nottingham Forest 46 18 16 12 58 50 +8 70
    8 Millwall 46 17 17 12 57 51 +6 68
    9 Preston North End 46 18 12 16 59 54 +5 66
    10 Derby County 46 17 13 16 62 64 2 64
    11 Blackburn Rovers 46 17 12 17 66 63 +3 63
    12 Bristol City 46 17 12 17 60 65 5 63
    13 Queens Park Rangers 46 16 10 20 67 76 9 58
    14 Reading 46 15 11 20 59 58 +1 56
    15 Stoke City 46 16 8 22 62 68 6 56
    16 Sheffield Wednesday 46 15 11 20 58 66 8 56
    17 Middlesbrough 46 13 14 19 48 61 13 53
    18 Huddersfield Town 46 13 12 21 52 70 18 51
    19 Luton Town 46 14 9 23 54 82 28 51
    20 Birmingham City 46 12 14 20 54 75 21 50
    21 Barnsley 46 12 13 21 49 69 20 49
    22 Charlton Athletic (R) 46 12 12 22 50 65 15 48 Relegation to EFL League One
    23 Wigan Athletic (R) 46 15 14 17 57 56 +1 47[b]
    24 Hull City (R) 46 12 9 25 57 87 30 45
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    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) 12-point sending off offences[79]
    (C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
    Notes:
    1. Four teams play for one spot and promotion to the Premier League.
    2. As a result of Wigan Athletic entering administration, the club was subject to a 12-point deduction. In accordance with EFL regulations, the timing of the sporting sanction was only determined once final league placings in the Championship were determined. Since the club did not finish in the relegation places at the end of season, the sanction was applied to their 2019–20 total and final league standings were amended as appropriate.[78]

    Play-offs

    Semi-finals Final
            
    3 Brentford 0 3 3
    6 Swansea City 1 1 2
    3 Brentford 1
    4 Fulham 2
    4 Fulham 2 1 3
    5 Cardiff City 0 2 2

    Results

    More information Home \ Away, BAR ...
    Home \ Away BAR BIR BLB BRE BRI CAR CHA DER FUL HUD HUL LEE LUT MID MIL NOT PNE QPR REA SHW STO SWA WBA WIG
    Barnsley 0–1 2–0 1–3 2–2 0–2 2–2 2–2 1–0 2–1 3–1 0–2 1–3 1–0 0–0 1–0 0–3 5–3 1–1 1–1 2–4 1–1 1–1 0–0
    Birmingham City 2–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–3 0–1 0–3 3–3 4–5 2–1 2–1 1–1 2–1 0–1 0–2 1–3 3–3 2–1 1–3 2–3 2–3
    Blackburn Rovers 3–2 1–1 1–0 3–1 0–0 1–2 1–0 0–1 2–2 3–0 1–3 1–2 1–0 2–0 1–1 1–1 2–1 4–3 2–1 0–0 2–2 1–1 0–0
    Brentford 1–2 0–1 2–2 1–1 2–1 2–1 3–0 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–1 7–0 3–2 3–2 0–1 1–0 3–1 1–0 5–0 0–0 3–1 1–0 3–0
    Bristol City 1–0 1–3 0–2 0–4 0–1 2–1 3–2 1–1 5–2 2–1 1–3 3–0 2–2 1–2 0–0 1–1 2–0 1–0 1–2 1–1 0–0 0–3 2–2
    Cardiff City 3–2 4–2 2–3 2–2 0–1 0–0 2–1 1–1 2–1 3–0 2–0 2–1 1–0 1–1 0–1 0–0 3–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 0–0 2–1 2–2
    Charlton Athletic 2–1 0–1 0–2 1–0 3–2 2–2 3–0 0–0 0–1 2–2 1–0 3–1 0–1 0–1 1–1 0–1 1–0 0–1 1–3 3–1 1–2 2–2 2–2
    Derby County 2–1 3–2 3–0 1–3 1–2 1–1 2–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–3 2–0 2–0 0–1 1–1 1–0 1–1 2–1 1–1 4–0 0–0 1–1 1–0
    Fulham 0–3 1–0 2–0 0–2 1–2 2–0 2–2 3–0 3–2 0–3 2–1 3–2 1–0 4–0 1–2 2–0 2–1 1–2 5–3 1–0 1–0 1–1 2–0
    Huddersfield Town 2–1 1–1 2–1 0–0 2–1 0–3 4–0 1–2 1–2 3–0 0–2 0–2 0–0 1–1 2–1 0–0 2–0 0–2 0–2 2–5 1–1 2–1 0–2
    Hull City 0–1 3–0 0–1 1–5 1–3 2–2 0–1 2–0 0–1 1–2 0–4 0–1 2–1 0–1 0–2 4–0 2–3 2–1 1–0 2–1 4–4 0–1 2–2
    Leeds United 1–0 1–0 2–1 1–0 1–0 3–3 4–0 1–1 3–0 2–0 2–0 1–1 4–0 3–2 1–1 1–1 2–0 1–0 0–2 5–0 0–1 1–0 0–1
    Luton Town 1–1 1–2 3–2 2–1 3–0 0–1 2–1 3–2 3–3 2–1 0–3 1–2 3–3 1–1 1–2 1–1 1–1 0–5 1–0 1–1 0–1 1–2 2–1
    Middlesbrough 1–0 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–3 1–3 1–0 2–2 0–0 1–0 2–2 0–1 0–1 1–1 2–2 1–1 0–1 1–0 1–4 2–1 0–3 0–1 1–0
    Millwall 1–2 0–0 1–0 1–0 1–1 2–2 2–1 2–3 1–1 4–1 1–1 2–1 3–1 0–2 2–2 1–0 1–2 2–0 1–0 2–0 1–1 0–2 2–2
    Nottingham Forest 1–0 3–0 3–2 1–0 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–0 0–1 3–1 1–2 2–0 3–1 1–1 0–3 1–1 0–0 1–1 0–4 1–4 2–2 1–2 1–0
    Preston North End 5–1 2–0 3–2 2–0 3–3 1–3 2–1 0–1 2–1 3–1 2–1 1–1 2–1 0–2 0–1 1–1 1–3 0–2 2–1 3–1 1–1 0–1 3–0
    Queens Park Rangers 0–1 2–2 4–2 1–3 0–1 6–1 2–2 2–1 1–2 1–1 1–2 1–0 3–2 2–2 4–3 0–4 2–0 2–2 0–3 4–2 1–3 0–2 3–1
    Reading 2–0 2–3 1–2 0–3 0–1 3–0 0–2 3–0 1–4 0–0 1–1 0–1 3–0 1–2 2–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 1–3 1–1 1–4 1–2 0–3
    Sheffield Wednesday 2–0 1–1 0–5 2–1 1–0 1–2 1–0 1–3 1–1 0–0 0–1 0–0 1–0 1–2 0–0 1–1 1–3 1–2 0–3 1–0 2–2 0–3 1–0
    Stoke City 4–0 2–0 1–2 1–0 1–2 2–0 3–1 2–2 2–0 0–1 5–1 0–3 3–0 0–2 0–0 2–3 0–2 1–2 0–0 3–2 2–0 0–2 2–1
    Swansea City 0–0 3–0 1–1 0–3 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–3 1–2 3–1 2–1 0–1 0–1 3–1 0–1 0–1 3–2 0–0 1–1 2–1 1–2 0–0 2–1
    West Bromwich Albion 2–2 0–0 3–2 1–1 4–1 4–2 2–2 2–0 0–0 4–2 4–2 1–1 2–0 0–2 1–1 2–2 2–0 2–2 1–1 2–1 0–1 5–1 0–1
    Wigan Athletic 0–0 1–0 2–0 0–3 0–2 3–2 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 8–0 0–2 0–0 2–2 1–0 1–0 1–2 1–0 1–3 2–1 3–0 1–2 1–1
    Close
    Source: EFL Official Website
    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.

    Season statistics

    Top scorers

    More information Rank, Player ...
    Rank Player Club Goals[80]
    1 Serbia Aleksandar Mitrović Fulham 26
    2 England Ollie Watkins Brentford 25
    3 England Lewis Grabban Nottingham Forest 20
    4 England Karlan Grant Huddersfield Town 19
    5 Bermuda Nahki Wells Queens Park Rangers / Bristol City 18
    6 Algeria Saïd Benrahma Brentford 17
    7 England Adam Armstrong Blackburn Rovers 16
    England Patrick Bamford Leeds United
    England Jarrod Bowen1 Hull City
    10 Ghana André Ayew Swansea City 15
    England Lukas Jutkiewicz Birmingham City
    France Bryan Mbeumo Brentford
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    • 1 Jarrod Bowen left Hull City and the EFL Championship on 31 January 2020 to sign for Premier League club West Ham United; all of his 16 league goals were scored before this date.[81]

    Top assists

    More information Rank, Player ...
    Rank Player Club Assists[80]
    1 Brazil Matheus Pereira West Bromwich Albion 16
    2 England Jed Wallace Millwall 13
    3 Sweden Niclas Eliasson Bristol City 12
    4 England John Swift Reading 10
    England Lee Tomlin Cardiff City
    6 England Jacob Brown Barnsley 9
    Spain Pablo Hernández Leeds United
    8 England Sammy Ameobi Nottingham Forest 8
    Scotland Barry Bannan Sheffield Wednesday
    Algeria Saïd Benrahma Brentford
    England Stewart Downing Blackburn Rovers
    England Eberechi Eze Queens Park Rangers
    England Conor Gallagher Swansea
    Poland Kamil Grosicki Hull City / West Bromwich Albion
    England Jack Harrison Leeds United
    England Joe Lolley Nottingham Forest
    England Alex Mowatt Barnsley
    England Bright Osayi-Samuel Queens Park Rangers
    Close

    Hat-tricks

    More information Player, For ...
    Player For Against Result Date Ref
    England Ollie Watkins Brentford Barnsley 3–1 (A) 29 September 2019 [82]
    Serbia Aleksandar Mitrović Fulham Luton Town 3–2 (H) 23 October 2019 [83]
    England Joe Ralls Cardiff City Birmingham City 4–2 (H) 2 November 2019 [84]
    England Josh Dasilva Brentford Luton Town 7–0 (H) 30 November 2019 [85]
    Romania George Pușcaș Reading Wigan Athletic 3–1 (A) 30 November 2019 [86]
    England Conor Chaplin Barnsley Queens Park Rangers 5–3 (H) 14 December 2019 [87]
    Scotland Jordan Rhodes Sheffield Wednesday Nottingham Forest 4–0 (A) 14 December 2019 [88]
    Bermuda Nahki Wells Queens Park Rangers Cardiff City 6–1 (H) 1 January 2020 [89]
    Algeria Saïd Benrahma Brentford Hull City 5–1 (A) 1 February 2020 [90]
    England Matt Smith Millwall Nottingham Forest 3–0 (A) 6 March 2020 [91]
    England Louie Sibley Derby County Millwall 3–2 (A) 20 June 2020 [92]
    Ivory Coast Yakou Méïté Reading Luton Town 5–0 (A)[a] 4 July 2020 [93]
    Algeria Saïd Benrahma Brentford Wigan Athletic 3–0 (H) 4 July 2020 [94]
    England Kieran Dowell Wigan Athletic Hull City 8–0 (H) 14 July 2020 [95]
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    1. Player scored 4 goals

    Awards

    Monthly

    Annual

    More information Award, Winner ...
    Award Winner Club
    Player of the Season England Ollie Watkins Brentford
    Young Player of the Season England Jude Bellingham Birmingham City
    Close

    PFA Championship Team of the Year

    References

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