2016–17 Football League Championship

Football League Championship

Season	2016–17
← 2015–16 2017-18 →

The 2016–17 Football League Championship (referred to as the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the thirteenth season of the Football League Championship under its current title and it will be the twenty-fifth season under its current league structure. The season will start on 6 August 2016 and conclude on 6 May 2017.^[1]

Teams

A total of 24 teams will contest the league, including 18 sides from the 2015–16 season, three relegated from the 2015–16 Premier League and three promoted from the 2015–16 Football League One.

As of 30 April 2016, 17 teams have confirmed their places in the league:

• Aston Villa
• Birmingham City
• Blackburn Rovers
• Brentford
• Bristol City
• Cardiff City
• Fulham
• Huddersfield Town
• Ipswich Town
• Leeds United
• Nottingham Forest
• Preston North End
• Queens Park Rangers
• Reading
• Rotherham United
• Wigan Athletic
• Wolverhampton Wanderers

Team changes To Championship Promoted from League One Wigan Athletic Relegated from Premier League Aston Villa From Championship Relegated to League One Bolton Wanderers Charlton Athletic Milton Keynes Dons Promoted to Premier League Burnley Stadia and locations London Birmingham City Blackburn Rovers Bristol City Cardiff City Huddersfield Town Ipswich Town Leeds United Nottingham Forest Preston North End Reading Rotherham United Aston Villa Wolverhampton Wanderers Wigan Athletic London teams Brentford Fulham Queens Park Rangers Locations of teams in the 2016–17 Football League Championship Brentford Fulham Queens Park Rangers Greater London Championship football clubs Team Stadium Capacity Aston Villa Villa Park 42,682 Birmingham City St Andrew's 30,016 Blackburn Rovers Ewood Park 31,367 Brentford Griffin Park 12,300 Bristol City Ashton Gate 16,600 Cardiff City Cardiff City Stadium 33,280 Fulham Craven Cottage 25,700 Huddersfield Town John Smith's Stadium 24,500 Ipswich Town Portman Road 30,311 Leeds United Elland Road 37,914 Nottingham Forest City Ground 30,445 Preston North End Deepdale 23,404 Queens Park Rangers Loftus Road 18,439 Reading Madejski Stadium 24,161 Rotherham United New York Stadium 12,021 Wigan Athletic DW Stadium 25,138 Wolverhampton Wanderers Molineux 31,700 Personnel and sponsoring Team Manager[lower-greek 1] Captain Kit manufacturer Sponsor Aston Villa Vacant Micah Richards Under Armour Intuit QuickBooks[2] Birmingham City Rowett, GaryGary Rowett Paul Robinson Adidas[3] EZE Group[4] Blackburn Rovers Vacant Grant Hanley Nike[5] Dafabet[6] Brentford Smith, DeanDean Smith Jake Bidwell Adidas Matchbook.com[7] Bristol City Johnson, LeeLee Johnson Aaron Wilbraham Bristol Sport Lancer Scott [8] Cardiff City Vacant David Marshall Adidas[9] Visit Malaysia Fulham Jokanović, SlavišaSlaviša Jokanović Scott Parker Adidas[10] Visit Florida[11][12] Huddersfield Town Wagner, DavidDavid Wagner Mark Hudson Puma PURE Legal (home),[13] RadianB (away), Cavonia (third) Ipswich Town McCarthy, MickMick McCarthy Luke Chambers Adidas Marcus Evans Leeds United Evans, SteveSteve Evans Sol Bamba Kappa No sponsor Nottingham Forest Williams, PaulPaul Williams Chris Cohen Adidas[14] Fawaz International Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Company[15] Preston North End Grayson, SimonSimon Grayson Tom Clarke Nike[16] Virgin Trains[17] Queens Park Rangers Floyd Hasselbaink, JimmyJimmy Floyd Hasselbaink Nedum Onuoha Dryworld[18] AirAsia (front),[19] Smarkets (back)[20] Reading McDermott, BrianBrian McDermott Paul McShane Puma[21] Carabao Daeng (home), Thai Airways (away) Waitrose (Home back), Euro Cake (Away back) Legend Alliance (shorts) Rotherham United Warnock, NeilNeil Warnock Lee Frecklington Puma Parkgate Shopping (home) Balreed (away), TGB Sheds (third) Wigan Athletic Caldwell, GaryGary Caldwell Craig Morgan Kappa Intersport Wolverhampton Wanderers Jackett, KennyKenny Jackett Danny Batth Puma The Money Shop[22] Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment Aston Villa Black, EricEric Black End of caretaker spell 1 July 2016 Pre-season Blackburn Rovers Lambert, PaulPaul Lambert Mutual consent 1 July 2016 Cardiff City Slade, RussellRussell Slade Promoted to head of football 1 July 2016 League table Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation 1 Aston Villa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Promotion to the Premier League 2 Birmingham City 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Blackburn Rovers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for Championship play-offs[lower-alpha 1] 4 Brentford 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 Bristol City 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 Cardiff City 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 Fulham 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 Huddersfield Town 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 Ipswich Town 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 Leeds United 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 Nottingham Forest 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 Preston North End 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 Queens Park Rangers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 Reading 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 Rotherham United 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 Wigan Athletic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 21 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 22 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Relegation to Football League One 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Updated to match(es) played on 6 August 2016. Source: Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored Notes: Four teams play for one spot and promotion to the Premier League. Notes According to current revision of List of English Football League managers References "Key Dates". The Football League. Retrieved 5 April 2015. "Intuit QuickBooks announced as main club sponsor". 9 January 2015. "Adidas to become Blues' new kit supplier". Birmingham City FC. Retrieved 22 April 2016. "Birmingham City FC announce major shirt sponsorship deal with EZE Group". Birmingham City FC. Retrieved 17 July 2015. "Rovers team up with Nike". Blackburn Rovers Fc. Retrieved 9 May 2013. "Rovers agree deal with Dafabet". Blackburn Rovers FC. Retrieved 29 May 2015. "Matchbook.com on board as new Official Shirt Partner". Brentford FC. Retrieved 9 July 2015. "Lancer Scott confirmed as new City sponsor". Bristol City FC. Retrieved 22 April 2016. "Adidas and Cardiff City announce partnership". Cardiff City. Retrieved 15 June 2015. "adidas announcement". Fulham FC. Retrieved 17 May 2013. "Kit Launch Update | Fulham Football Club". Retrieved 19 July 2015. "Football League Tonight - Trailer" (Press release). Channel 5. July 2015. "PURE Legal: New Home Shirt Sponsor". Huddersfield Town A.F.C. Retrieved 2 July 2015. "Forest Team Up With Adidas". nottinghamforest.co.uk. Retrieved 25 June 2013. "2014-15 shirt sponsors announced". Nottingham Forest FC. Retrieved 9 August 2014. "Club Sponsors". Preston North End F.C. Retrieved 25 July 2012. "Preston North End Agree Virgin Trains Partnership". Preston North End F.C. 5 August 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2014. "New QPR Dryworld Kit Deal - Hoops ink new contract with Canadian firm". Football Kit News. Retrieved 24 April 2016. "QPR agree new AirAsia sponsorship deal" (Press release). Queens Park Rangers F.C. 4 June 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2014. "QPR WELCOME SMARKETS ON BOARD" (Press release). Queens Park Rangers F.C. 7 August 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2016. http://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/article/away-kit-puma-2015-16-2636393.aspx|date=May 2015 "The Money Shop Agrees Deal With Wolves". Wolverhampton Wanderers FC. Retrieved 13 April 2016.