2021–22 EFL Championship explained

Competition:	EFL Championship
Season:	2021–22
Dates:	6 August 2021 – 7 May 2022
Winners:	Fulham 1st Championship title 3rd 2nd tier title
Promoted:	Fulham Bournemouth Nottingham Forest
Matches:	552
Total Goals:	1385
League Topscorer Section:	Top scorers
League Topscorer:	Aleksandar Mitrović
Biggest Home Win:	Fulham 7–0 Luton Town
Biggest Away Win:	Blackburn Rovers 0–7 Fulham Reading 0–7 Fulham
Highest Scoring:	Sheffield United 6–2 Peterborough United Fulham 6–2 Bristol City Fulham 6–2 Birmingham City Reading 4–4 Swansea City
Longest Wins:	Fulham ^[1]
Longest Unbeaten:	Huddersfield Town
Longest Winless:	Peterborough United
Longest Losses:	Cardiff City
Highest Attendance:	32,211 Derby County 2–2 Birmingham City
Lowest Attendance:	6,832 Peterborough United 2–3 Swansea City
Average Attendance:	16,867^[2]
Attendance:	9,310,401
Prevseason:	2020–21
Nextseason:	2022–23

The 2021–22 EFL Championship (referred to as the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the 6th season of the EFL Championship under its current title and the 30th season under its current league division format.

Team changes

The following teams have changed division since the 2020–21 season:

To Championship

Promoted from League One

• Hull City
• Peterborough United
• Blackpool

Relegated from the Premier League

• Fulham
• West Bromwich Albion
• Sheffield United

From Championship

Promoted to the Premier League

• Norwich City
• Watford
• Brentford

Relegated to League One

• • • Wycombe Wanderers Rotherham United Sheffield Wednesday

Stadiums

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
			11,364
			23,287
			29,409
			31,367
			17,338
			27,000
			33,280
			32,609
			33,600
	London (Fulham)		19,359
			24,121
			25,586
			10,356
			34,742
	London (South Bermondsey)		20,146
			30,445
			15,314
			23,404
	London (White City)		18,439
			24,161
			32,050
			30,089
	Swansea		21,088
			26,850

Personnel and sponsoring

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Bournemouth	Scott Parker	Lloyd Kelly	Umbro	MSP Capital^[3]
Barnsley		Cauley Woodrow		The Investment Room^[4]
Birmingham City	Lee Bowyer	Troy Deeney	Nike	BoyleSports^[5]
Blackburn Rovers	Tony Mowbray	Darragh Lenihan	Macron	Totally Wicked
Blackpool				Blackpool Council (Home: "VisitBlackpool.com"; Away: "Get Vocal")
Bristol City	Nigel Pearson	Dan Bentley	Hummel	MansionBet^[6]
Cardiff City			Adidas	Tourism Malaysia
Coventry City			Hummel	BoyleSports^[7]
Derby County	Wayne Rooney	Tom Lawrence	Umbro	32Red
Fulham	Marco Silva	Tom Cairney	Adidas	World Mobile ^[8]
Huddersfield Town	Carlos Corberán		Umbro	Utilita^[9]
Hull City	Shota Arveladze	Richie Smallwood	Umbro	Giacom^[10]
Luton Town	Nathan Jones	Sonny Bradley	Umbro	Utilita (home) Star Platforms (away) Ryebridge (third)
Middlesbrough	Chris Wilder	Jonny Howson	Hummel	32Red
Millwall	Gary Rowett	Alex Pearce	Macron	Huski Chocolate^[11]
Nottingham Forest	Steve Cooper		Macron	BOXT
Peterborough United	Grant McCann			Mick George Group
Preston North End	Ryan Lowe	Alan Browne	Nike	PAR Group
Queens Park Rangers	Mark Warburton	Stefan Johansen	Erreà	Ashville Holdings^[12]
Reading		Michael Morrison	Macron	Select Car Leasing^[13]
Sheffield United	Paul Heckingbottom	Billy Sharp	Adidas	Randox
Stoke City		Lewis Baker	Macron	bet365
Swansea City	Russell Martin	Matt Grimes^[14]	Joma^[15]	Swansea University^[16]
West Bromwich Albion	Steve Bruce	Jake Livermore	Puma^[17]	Ideal Heating

1. Blackburn Rovers' shirt sponsor was Recoverite Compression until 18 January 2022 when the deal was ended prematurely.^[18]
2. Luton Town's home shirt sponsor was JB Developments until 18 February 2022 when the deal was ended prematurely.^[19]

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
West Bromwich Albion	^[20]	Resigned	23 May 2021	Pre-season	Valérien Ismaël^[21]	24 June 2021
Sheffield United	Paul Heckingbottom^[22]	End of caretaker spell			Slaviša Jokanović^[23]	27 May 2021
Barnsley	Valérien Ismaël^[24]	Signed by West Bromwich Albion	24 June 2021		Markus Schopp^[25]	29 June 2021
Fulham	Scott Parker^[26]	Signed by Bournemouth	28 June 2021		Marco Silva^[27]	1 July 2021
Bournemouth	Jonathan Woodgate^[28]	End of contract			Scott Parker	28 June 2021
	Steve Cooper^[29]	Mutual consent	21 July 2021		Russell Martin^[30]	1 August 2021
Nottingham Forest	Chris Hughton^[31]	Sacked	16 September 2021	24th	Steve Cooper^[32]	21 September 2021
Cardiff City	Mick McCarthy^[33]	Mutual consent	23 October 2021	21st	Steve Morison^[34]	12 November 2021
Barnsley	Markus Schopp^[35]	Sacked	1 November 2021	23rd	Poya Asbaghi^[36]	17 November 2021
Middlesbrough	Neil Warnock^[37]	Mutual consent	6 November 2021	14th	Chris Wilder^[38]	7 November 2021
Sheffield United	Slaviša Jokanović^[39]	Sacked	25 November 2021	16th	Paul Heckingbottom	25 November 2021
Preston North End	Frankie McAvoy^[40]		6 December 2021	18th	Ryan Lowe^[41]	7 December 2021
Hull City	Grant McCann^[42]		25 January 2022	19th	Shota Arveladze^[43]	27 January 2022
West Bromwich Albion	Valérien Ismaël^[44]		2 February 2022	5th	Steve Bruce^[45]	3 February 2022
	Veljko Paunović^[46]	Mutual consent	19 February 2022	21st		19 February 2022
Peterborough United	Darren Ferguson^[47]	Resigned	20 February 2022	23rd	Grant McCann^[48]	24 February 2022
Barnsley	Poya Asbaghi^[49]	Mutual consent	24 April 2022	24th	Martin Devaney ^[50]	24 April 2022

Play-offs

See main article: 2022 English Football League play-offs.

First leg

Second legHuddersfield Town won 2–1 on aggregate. 3–3 on aggregate. Nottingham Forest won 3–2 on penalties.

Final

See main article: 2022 EFL Championship play-off final.

Season statistics

Scoring

^[51]

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Aleksandar Mitrović	Fulham	43
2	Dominic Solanke	Bournemouth	29
3	Ben Brereton Díaz	Blackburn Rovers	22
	Joël Piroe	Swansea City
	Andreas Weimann	Bristol City
6	Karlan Grant	West Bromwich Albion	18
	Brennan Johnson^1	Nottingham Forest
8	Viktor Gyökeres	Coventry City	17
9	Elijah Adebayo	Luton Town	16
	Emil Riis Jakobsen	Preston North End<		--	--->

• ¹ Includes 2 goals in The Championship play-offs.

Hat-tricks

See main article: List of EFL Championship hat-tricks.

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
			3–3 (H)^[52]
			5–1 (H)^[53]
				3–1 (H)^[54]
			3–0 (H)^[55]
			3–2 (H)^[56]
			6–2 (H)^[57]
			4–3 (A)^[58]
			5–1 (H)^[59]

Clean sheets

^[60]

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Mark Travers	Bournemouth	20
2	Lee Nicholls^1	Huddersfield Town	19
3	Wes Foderingham	Sheffield United	18
4	Sam Johnstone	West Bromwich Albion	15
	Brice Samba^1	Nottingham Forest
6	Bartosz Białkowski	Millwall	14
	Marek Rodák	Fulham
8	Daniel Iversen	Preston North End	13
	Thomas Kaminski	Blackburn Rovers
	Joe Lumley	Middlesbrough

• ¹ Includes 1 clean sheet in The Championship play-offs.

Discipline

Player

• Most yellow cards: 16
  • • Matt Crooks Most red cards: 2

Club

• Most yellow cards: 107
  • Blackburn Rovers
• Most red cards: 7
  • Derby County
  • West Bromwich Albion

Awards

Monthly

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month		Reference
August	Marco Silva	Fulham	Sorba Thomas	Huddersfield Town	^[61]
September	Scott Parker	Bournemouth	Ben Brereton Díaz	Blackburn Rovers	^[62]
October			Aleksandar Mitrović	Fulham	^[63]
November	Mark Warburton	Queens Park Rangers	Chris Willock	Queens Park Rangers	^[64]
December	Chris Wilder	Middlesbrough	Isaiah Jones	Middlesbrough	^[65]
January	Marco Silva	Fulham	Antoine Semenyo	Bristol City	^[66]
February	Carlos Corberán	Huddersfield Town	Lucas João	Reading	^[67]
March	Steve Morison	Cardiff City	Djed Spence	Nottingham Forest	^[68]
April	Steve Cooper	Nottingham Forest	Brennan Johnson		^[69]

Annual

Award	Winner	Club
Player of the Season	Aleksandar Mitrović^[70]	Fulham
Young Player of the Season	Brennan Johnson^[71]	Nottingham Forest
Apprentice of the Season	Ryan Howley^[72]	Coventry City

Championship Team of the Season

Pos.	Player	Club	Ref.
GK		Huddersfield Town	^[73]
CB	Tosin Adarabioyo	Fulham
CB		Bournemouth
CB	Joe Worrall	Nottingham Forest
RWB
CM	Ryan Yates	Nottingham Forest
CM	Philip Billing	Bournemouth
LWB	Antonee Robinson	Fulham
FW	Harry Wilson	Fulham
FW	Dominic Solanke	Bournemouth
FW	Aleksandar Mitrović	Fulham
Manager	Nathan Jones	Luton Town

PFA Championship Team of the Year

Pos.	Player	Club
GK	Lee Nicholls	Huddersfield Town
DF	Tim Ream	Fulham
DF	Tosin Adarabioyo	Fulham
DF	Lloyd Kelly	Bournemouth
DF	Djed Spence	Nottingham Forest
MF	Philip Billing	Bournemouth
MF	Fábio Carvalho	Fulham
MF	Harry Wilson	Fulham
FW	Ben Brereton Díaz	Blackburn Rovers
FW	Dominic Solanke	Bournemouth
FW	Aleksandar Mitrović	Fulham

Notes and References

1. Web site: English League One Performance Stats – 2020–21 . ESPN . 7 August 2021.
2. Web site: Championship 2021/2022 » Attendance » Home matches .
3. AFC Bournemouth . afcbournemouth . 1300825956588883974 . 1 September 2020 . New @UmbroUK third kit ✅ New front of shirt sponsor ✅ All three kits will be available for pre-order tomorrow, full details coming https://t.co/SZiUfeXuFi . en . 29 December 2020.
4. Web site: Take a closer look 20/21 Kit . 17 July 2020 . 28 July 2020. Barnsley F.C..
5. Web site: BLUES AGREE PRINCIPAL PARTNERSHIP WITH BOYLESPORTS. 3 June 2019. Birmingham City F.C.. 26 April 2021. 4 June 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190604110708/https://www.bcfc.com/news/articles/2019/blues-agree-principal-partnership-with-boylesports/. dead.
6. Web site: MANSIONBET UNVEILED AS PRINCIPAL SPONSOR. Bristol City.
7. Web site: NEWS: Coventry City announce BoyleSports as the Club's New Principal Partner! . 20 August 2020. Coventry City F.C..
8. Web site: Fulham Welcomes World Mobile As Principal Partner . 27 July 2021 . Fulham F.C..
9. Web site: UTILITA ON THE FRONT OF TOWN'S SHIRTS FOR THREE YEARS! . 31 March 2021. Huddersfield Town A.F.C..
10. Web site: Hull City announce new sponsor to pave the way for kit launch. Philip. Buckingham. August 25, 2020. HullLive.
11. Web site: Millwall announce Huski Chocolate as new principal partner. Millwall FC. 21 June 2019.
12. Web site: Ashville Holdings confirmed as new shirt sponsor. 16 July 2021.
13. Web site: Select Car Leasing become new Principal Partner of Reading Football Club. 11 June 2021.
14. News: Swansea City name new club captain for 2019/20 season . Wales Online . 30 July 2019 . 30 July 2019.
15. Web site: Swans sign Joma for new campaign . swanseacity.com . 3 May 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160604105108/http://www.swanseacity.com/news/article/swans-sign-joma-for-new-campaign-3092687.aspx . 4 June 2016 . dead .
16. Web site: SWANSEA UNIVERSITY BECOME SWANS' NEW FRONT OF SHIRT SPONSOR . swanseacity.com . 19 August 2020 . 19 August 2020.
17. Web site: Albion team up with PUMA . West Bromwich Albion F.C.. 23 May 2018. 23 May 2018.
18. Web site: Blackburn Rovers announce change in shirt sponsorship deal. 18 January 2022.
19. Web site: Club Statement Home shirt sponsorship ceases with immediate effect. 18 February 2022.
20. News: . A statement from Sam Allardyce . . 19 May 2021 . 27 May 2021.
21. Web site: ALBION APPOINT VALÉRIEN ISMAËL AS HEAD COACH. www.wba.co.uk. 24 June 2021.
22. News: . Heckingbottom to lead Blades . . 13 March 2021 . 13 March 2021.
23. News: . JOKANOVIĆ APPOINTED BLADES BOSS . Sheffield United F.C. . 27 May 2021 . 27 May 2021.
24. Web site: CLUB STATEMENT - VALÉRIEN ISMAËL. www.barnsleyfc.co.uk. 24 June 2021.
25. Web site: MARKUS SCHOPP JOINS THE REDS . Barnsley F.C. . 29 June 2021 . 29 June 2021.
26. Web site: Scott Parker: Fulham manager leaves amid AFC Bournemouth speculation . BBC Sport . 28 June 2021 . 28 June 2021.
27. Web site: Fulham Appoint Marco Silva . Fulham F.C. . 1 July 2021 . 1 July 2021.
28. News: Scott Parker appointed AFC Bournemouth head coach after leaving Fulham . BBC Sport . 28 June 2021. 28 June 2021.
29. Web site: Steve Cooper: Head coach leaves Swansea City . BBC Sport . 21 July 2021. 21 July 2021.
30. Web site: Russell Martin: MK Dons manager named Swansea City head coach. BBC Sport . 1 August 2021 . 1 August 2021.
31. Web site: Chris Hughton: Nottingham Forest sack boss after six defeats in seven matches. BBC Sport . 16 September 2021 . 16 September 2021.
32. Web site: Steve Cooper: Nottingham Forest appoint ex-Swansea City boss after agreeing compensation. BBC Sport . 21 September 2021. 21 September 2021.
33. Web site: Mick McCarthy: Manager leaves Cardiff City after eight straight defeats. BBC Sport . 23 October 2021 . 23 October 2021.
34. Web site: Steve Morison: Cardiff City interim boss stays in charge as ex-skipper Mark Hudson returns as coach . BBC Sport . 12 November 2021. 12 November 2021.
35. Web site: Markus Schopp: Barnsley sack head coach after one win in 15 Championship games. BBC Sport . 1 November 2021 . 1 November 2021.
36. Web site: Poya Asbaghi: Barnsley appoint Sweden Under-21 boss as new head coach. BBC Sport . 17 November 2021 . 17 November 2021.
37. News: Neil Warnock: Middlesbrough part company with veteran manager . BBC Sport . 6 November 2021 . 6 November 2021.
38. News: Chris Wilder: Middlesbrough appoint ex-Sheff Utd boss to succeed Neil Warnock. BBC Sport . 7 November 2021 . 7 November 2021.
39. Web site: Sheffield United replace Slavisa Jokanovic with Paul Heckingbottom. BBC Sport. 25 November 2021. 25 November 2021.
40. Web site: Preston North End sack coach Frankie McAvoy with side 18th in Championship . BBC Sport . 21 March 2021 . 21 March 2021.
41. News: Preston appoint Argyle's Lowe as manager. BBC Sport.
42. Web site: Grant McCann: Hull City sack manager less than a week after takeover . BBC Sport . 25 January 2022 . 25 January 2022.
43. Web site: Shota Arveladze: Hull City confirm former Rangers striker as head coach. BBC Sport . 27 January 2022 . 27 January 2022.
44. Web site: Valerien Ismael: West Brom sack head coach after seven months in charge with Enzo Maresca contender for job. Sky Sports . 2 February 2022 . 2 February 2022.
45. Web site: Steve Bruce: West Brom appoint ex-Newcastle boss as manager on 18-month deal. BBC Sport . 3 February 2022. 3 February 2022.
46. Web site: CLUB STATEMENT ROYALS PART COMPANY WITH VELJKO PAUNOVIC BY MUTUAL CONSENT . readingfc.co.uk/ . Reading F.C. . 19 February 2022 . 19 February 2022.
47. Web site: Official Club Statement. www.theposh.com. 20 February 2022. 20 February 2022.
48. Web site: Posh Appoint McCann As New Manager. www.theposh.com. 24 February 2022. 24 February 2022.
49. Web site: Poya Asbaghi: Barnsley part company with head coach following relegation. BBC Sport . 24 April 2022. 24 April 2022.
50. Web site: Poya Asbaghi: Barnsley part company with head coach following relegation. BBC Sport . 24 April 2022. 24 April 2022.
51. Web site: Aleksandar Mitrovic named Sky Bet Championship Player of the Season .
52. News: Reading 3-3 QPR: QPR fight back to draw thriller at Reading . BBC Sport . 11 September 2021 . 11 September 2021.
53. News: Blackburn 5-1 Cardiff: Ben Brereton Díaz leads Rovers to crushing win . BBC Sport . 25 September 2021 . 25 September 2021.
54. News: Fulham 3-1 Swansea: Mitrovic hat-trick sees off Swansea . BBC Sport . 29 September 2021 . 29 September 2021.
55. News: Fulham 3-0 West Brom: Mitrovic hat-trick seals Fulham win over West Brom. BBC Sport . 30 October 2021 . 30 October 2021.
56. News: Bristol City 3–2 Millwall : Weimann hat-trick for Bristol City sinks Millwall. BBC Sport . 2 January 2022 . 2 January 2022.
57. News: Fulham 6–2 Bristol City: Fulham hit Bristol City for six to go top. BBC Sport . 15 January 2022 . 15 January 2022.
58. News: Reading 3–4 Huddersfield: Ward hat-trick sees Huddersfield beat Reading in thriller . BBC Sport . 22 January 2022 . 22 January 2022.
59. News: Nottingham Forest 5–1 Swansea City: Surridge's Forest hat-trick downs old club Swansea . BBC Sport . 30 April 2022 . 30 April 2022.
60. Web site: Travers wins Golden Glove .
61. Web site: Sky Bet EFL August Manager and Player of the Month winners. 2021-09-10. EFL. en.
62. Web site: Scott Parker and Ben Brereton Diaz win Sky Bet Championship September awards. 2021-10-08. Sky Sports. en.
63. News: Introducing October's Player and Manager of the Month winners!. 2021-11-12. EFL. en.
64. Web site: Sky Bet EFL Manager and Player of the Month: November winners!.
65. Web site: Your Sky Bet Manager and Player of the Month December winners!.
66. Web site: January's Sky Bet EFL Manager and Player of the Month winners!. www.efl.com. 11 February 2022. 11 February 2022.
67. Web site: Your Sky Bet EFL February Manager and Player of the Month winners! . 2022-03-11 . www.efl.com . en-gb.
68. Web site: March's Sky Bet EFL Manager and Player of the Month winners. www.efl.com. 8 April 2022.
69. Web site: Sky Bet EFL Manager and Player of the Month April winners!. www.efl.com. 13 May 2022.
70. Web site: Aleksandar Mitrovic named Sky Bet Championship Player of the Season .
71. News: Delaney . Miguel . Brennan Johnson: Brentford hoping to beat Premier League rivals to signing of Nottingham Forest forward . 8 May 2022 . The Independent . 25 April 2022.
72. Web site: Aleksandar Mitrovic named Sky Bet Championship Player of the Season .
73. Web site: Football Manager EFL Team of the Season line-ups announced .