EFL Championship Betting Tips

The English Football League Championship is the second highest football league in England behind the English Premier League. Known simply as ‘The Championship’ or the EFL Championship, the competition is currently known as the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship reasons.

The top two teams in the Championship are promoted to the Premier League, with the four teams finishing third to sixth competing in the Championship play-offs to be the third promoted team. The bottom three teams are relegated to League One.

The competition began as ‘Division Two’ in 1892 and ran for 100 years before becoming known as the Football League First Division. The Championship has been the current guise since the 2004–05 season.

The EFL Championship is the wealthiest non-top flight football division in the world and seventh richest in Europe. An average match attendance of 20,130 in 2016–17 was second behind the 2. Bundesliga as the most watched non-top flight league in the world.

The Championship runs from August to May and features 24 teams that play each other home and away for a total of 46 games. It is a strong and physical league that tests the endurance of each club, with the reward for promotion more than simply financial. 

Ipswich Town have been in the EFL Championship longer than any other team, ever present since they were relegated from the Premier League in the 2000-01 season.

Barnsley have the unenviable record of spending more seasons in the Championship than any other team. The Tykes became the first club to achieve 1000 wins in 2011 and are the first club to play 3000 games in England’s second division.