What Teams Are Regarded As Championship?

Clubs like Norwich and West Brom are notorious for the frequency with which they yo-yo between the Championship and the Premier League. Other clubs tend to bounce up and down between the Championship and League One.

Yet there are certain teams that just scream “Championship”. They rarely go up or down, and they tend to languish in mid-table in the second tier of English football. These are the top five most quintessential Championship teams since its formation in 2004:

Derby County

Derby have played more seasons in the Championship than any other club. The Rams finished fourth in the inaugural Championship campaign back in 2004-05, but they suffered an alarming decline in form the following season and survived by a whisker after finishing 20th.

Yet Derby bounced back the following season, as Billy Davies guided them to a third-place finish. They beat Southampton in the playoff semi-finals, and then they earned a 1-0 win against West Brom in the final courtesy of Stephen Pearson’s goal.

That earned Derby promotion to the top flight, but it proved to be a disastrous campaign, as they broke all sorts of unwanted records when finishing bottom of the table, with just one win, eight draws and 29 defeats from 38 games.

Any hopes of yo-yoing back up to the Premier League were quickly dashed, as Derby finished 18th on their return to the Championship. They have been in the division ever since. The Rams have reached the playoffs four times – in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2019 – but they have failed to return to the top division, losing two playoff finals.

They are currently bottom of the Championship after suffering a 21-point deduction as punishment for slipping into administration. They are still playing well, and the fixed odds betting never has them as huge underdogs, but they are 17 points below safety and their long run in the Championship could finally come to an end.

Cardiff

Cardiff were also founding members of the Championship. They finished 16th in the maiden season. The Bluebirds spent several years as a mid-table team, before they started challenging for the title in the 2009-10 campaign.
They finished fourth in 2010, fourth in 2011 and sixth in 2012, before finally lifting the trophy as Championship winners in 2013. However, they did not fare much better than Derby in the top flight. Cardiff finished bottom of the standings, with 30 points, and they were relegated straight back to the Championship.

They finished in mid-table for three more seasons before a second-place finish earned them another shot at life in the big time. Cardiff battled bravely in the Premier League during the 2018-19 season, but they ultimately finished 18th, two points below safety, and suffered the devastating financial consequences of relegation.

They finished fifth in the Championship in 2019-20 and eighth last season, but they are currently 20th after making a sluggish start to the campaign. They have spent 16 seasons in the Championship, which is eclipsed only by Derby, who are on 17.

Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest were relegated from the Championship at the end of the inaugural 2004-05 season. They spent three years in League 1, before returning to the Championship in 2008, and they have been stuck there ever since.

There have been a few promising seasons in that time – they were third in 2010 and sixth in 2011 – but invariably they have finished in the bottom half. Things were looking promising during the 2019-20 season, but they missed out on the playoffs after finishing seventh.

They ended up 17th in the standings last term, but they are currently eighth after enjoying a long unbeaten run. Could this be the year that they finally escape?

QPR

QPR are level with Nottingham Forest, Reading and Ipswich on 15 seasons apiece in the second tier of English football. We have not included Ipswich on this list, as they are currently in League One, but the Tractor Boys hold the record for the most consecutive seasons in the Championship with 15.

Queens Park Rangers were promoted just in time for the opening Championship season in 2004-05, and they secured a respectable 11th-place finish. They held onto their Championship status despite finishing 21st the following term, and they kept plugging away until they were finally crowned champions in 2011.

QPR spent two years as a Premier League club before suffering relegation in 2013. They yo-yoed straight back up by winning the playoffs in 2014, but they were relegated again after finishing bottom of the Premier League in 2015, and they are now playing their seventh straight season in the second tier.

Reading

Reading are another team that have spent most of their recent history in the Championship. The Royals finished seventh in the very first Championship season, and they won the title the following year.

They earned an impressive eighth-place finish in 2006-07, which included a 6-0 win against West Ham, and they only just missed out on European football. However, their form nosedived the following season, and they finished 18th.

Reading spent four years back in the Championship before winning it again in 2012. This time they lasted just one season in the top flight, as they ended up 19th and returned to the Championship. They are now playing their ninth consecutive season in the division, and they are marooned in 21st place after losing 11 of their opening 22 matches.