2019–20 EFL Championship


The 2019–20 EFL Championship is the 16th season of the Football League Championship under its current title and the 28th season under its current league division format.

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

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. 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.
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. Later in May, Elliott Bennett of Blackburn Rovers tested positive for the virus as did two unnamed players from Fulham. In further tests, Jayden Stockley of Preston North End tested positive as did one unnamed person from both Cardiff City and Middlesbrough. 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.
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. 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. 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.

Team changes

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

To Championship

Promoted from League One
Relegated from Premier League
Promoted to Premier League
Relegated to League One
TeamLocationStadiumCapacity
BarnsleyBarnsleyOakwell23,287
Birmingham CityBirminghamSt Andrew's29,409
Blackburn RoversBlackburnEwood Park31,367
BrentfordLondon Griffin Park12,300
Bristol CityBristolAshton Gate27,000
Cardiff CityCardiffCardiff City Stadium33,316
Charlton AthleticLondon The Valley27,111
Derby CountyDerbyPride Park Stadium33,600
FulhamLondon Craven Cottage19,000
Huddersfield TownHuddersfieldKirklees Stadium24,500
Hull CityKingston upon HullKCOM Stadium25,400
Leeds UnitedLeedsElland Road37,890
Luton TownLutonKenilworth Road10,336
MiddlesbroughMiddlesbroughRiverside Stadium34,000
MillwallLondon The Den20,146
Nottingham ForestWest BridgfordCity Ground30,445
Preston North EndPrestonDeepdale23,408
Queens Park RangersLondon Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium18,439
ReadingReadingMadejski Stadium24,161
Sheffield WednesdaySheffieldHillsborough Stadium39,752
Stoke CityStoke-on-Trentbet365 Stadium30,089
Swansea CitySwanseaLiberty Stadium21,088
West Bromwich AlbionWest BromwichThe Hawthorns26,850
Wigan AthleticWiganDW Stadium25,133

TeamManagerCaptainKit manufacturerSponsor
Barnsley Gerhard Struber Mike-Steven BährePumaC.K. Beckett
Birmingham City Aitor Karanka Harlee DeanAdidasBoyleSports
Blackburn Rovers Tony Mowbray Elliott BennettUmbro10Bet
Brentford Thomas Frank Pontus JanssonUmbroEcoWorld
Bristol CityVacantBristol SportDunder
Cardiff City Neil Harris AdidasTourism Malaysia
Charlton Athletic Chris SollyHummelChildren with Cancer UK
Derby County Phillip Cocu Wayne RooneyUmbro32Red
Fulham Scott Parker Tom CairneyAdidasDafabet
Huddersfield Town Carlos Corberán Christopher SchindlerUmbroPaddy Power
Hull City Grant McCann Eric LichajUmbroSportPesa
Leeds United Marcelo Bielsa Liam CooperKappa32Red
Luton Town Nathan Jones Sonny BradleyPumaIndigo Residential,
Star Platforms,
Ryebridge
Middlesbrough Neil Warnock George FriendHummel32Red
Millwall Gary Rowett Alex PearceMacronHuski Chocolate
Nottingham Forest Sabri Lamouchi Michael DawsonMacronFootball Index
Preston North End Alex Neil Tom ClarkeNike32Red
Queens Park Rangers Mark Warburton Grant HallErreàBet UK
Reading Mark Bowen Liam MooreMacronCasumo
Sheffield Wednesday Tom LeesElev8Chansiri
Stoke City Michael O'Neill Ryan ShawcrossMacronbet365
Swansea City Steve Cooper Matt GrimesJomaYOBET,
Swansea University
West Bromwich Albion Slaven Bilić Chris BruntPumaIdeal Boilers
Wigan Athletic Paul Cook Sam MorsyPumaKB88

  1. Clotet was initially appointed as caretaker manager before he was appointed on a permanent basis on 4 December 2019.
  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. 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, 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

League table

Play-offs

Results

Season statistics

Top scorers

RankPlayerClubGoals
1 Ollie WatkinsBrentford26
2 Aleksandar MitrovićFulham26
3 Lewis GrabbanNottingham Forest20
4 Karlan GrantHuddersfield Town19
5 Nahki WellsQueens Park Rangers / Bristol City18
6 Saïd BenrahmaBrentford17
7 Adam ArmstrongBlackburn Rovers16
7 Patrick BamfordLeeds United16
7 Jarrod Bowen1Hull City16
10 André AyewSwansea City15
10 Lukas JutkiewiczBirmingham City15
10 Bryan MbeumoBrentford15

RankPlayerClubAssists
1 Matheus PereiraWest Bromwich Albion16
2 Jed WallaceMillwall13
3 Niclas EliassonBristol City12
4 John SwiftReading10
4 Lee TomlinCardiff City10
6 Jacob BrownBarnsley9
6 Pablo HernándezLeeds9
8 Sammy AmeobiNottingham Forest8
8 Barry BannanSheffield Wednesday8
8 Saïd BenrahmaBrentford8
8 Stewart DowningBlackburn Rovers8
8 Eberechi EzeQueens Park Rangers8
8 Conor GallagherSwansea8
8 Kamil GrosickiWest Bromwich Albion8
8 Jack HarrisonLeeds8
8 Joe LolleyNottingham Forest8
8 Alex MowattBarnsley8
8 Bright Osayi-SamuelQueens Park Rangers8

Hat-tricks

PlayerForAgainstResultDateRef
Ollie WatkinsBrentfordBarnsley3–1 29 September 2019
Aleksandar MitrovićFulhamLuton Town3–2 23 October 2019
Joe RallsCardiff CityBirmingham City4–2 2 November 2019
Josh DasilvaBrentfordLuton Town7–0 30 November 2019
George PușcașReadingWigan Athletic3–1 30 November 2019
Conor ChaplinBarnsleyQueens Park Rangers5–3 14 December 2019
Jordan RhodesSheffield WednesdayNottingham Forest4–0 14 December 2019
Nahki WellsQueens Park RangersCardiff City6–1 1 January 2020
Saïd BenrahmaBrentfordHull City5–1 1 February 2020
Matt SmithMillwallNottingham Forest3–0 6 March 2020
Louie SibleyDerby CountyMillwall3–2 20 June 2020
Yakou MéïtéReadingLuton Town5–0 4 July 2020
Saïd BenrahmaBrentfordWigan Athletic3–0 4 July 2020
Kieran DowellWigan AthleticHull City8–0 14 July 2020

Monthly awards