2016–17 EFL Championship

The 2016–17 EFL Championship (referred to as the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the first season of the EFL Championship under its current name, and the twenty-fifth season under its current league structure. Newcastle United were crowned the champions and were promoted to Premier League after just one season in the Championship. Brighton & Hove Albion, alongside Huddersfield Town, both achieved Premier League promotions, via the second automatic promotion place and play-off route respectively, Brighton and Huddersfield Town's first ever since the Premier League formed in 1992.

EFL Championship

Season	2016–17
Champions	Newcastle United 2nd Championship title 4th 2nd tier title
Promoted	Newcastle United Brighton & Hove Albion Huddersfield Town
Relegated	Rotherham United Wigan Athletic Blackburn Rovers
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,441 (2.61 per match)
Top goalscorer	Chris Wood (Leeds United) (27 goals)[1]
Biggest home win	Norwich City 7–1 Reading (8 April 2017)[2]
Biggest away win	Queens Park Rangers 0–6 Newcastle United (13 September 2016)[2]
Highest scoring	Wolverhampton Wanderers 4–4 Fulham (10 December 2016) Burton Albion 3–5 Brentford (18 March 2017) Norwich City 7–1 Reading (8 April 2017)
Longest winning run	8 matches Newcastle United[3]
Longest unbeaten run	18 matches Brighton & Hove Albion[3]
Longest winless run	17 matches Rotherham United[3]
Longest losing run	10 matches Rotherham United[3]
Highest attendance	52,301 Newcastle United 1–1 Leeds United (14 April 2017)[4]
Lowest attendance	3,725 Burton Albion 1–1 Queens Park Rangers (27 September 2016)[4]
Average attendance	20,125[4]
← 2015–16 2017–18 →

The season started on 5 August 2016 with the final round of regular league fixtures played on 7 May 2017.^[5] The fixtures were announced on 22 June 2016.

Teams

A total of 24 teams contested 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. The 2016–17 season was the first in which former European Cup winners Aston Villa played football outside of the top flight since the beginning of the Premier League era in 1992.

Team changes

To Championship Promoted from League One Wigan Athletic Burton Albion Barnsley Relegated from Premier League Newcastle United Norwich City Aston Villa

From Championship Relegated to League One Charlton Athletic Milton Keynes Dons Bolton Wanderers Promoted to Premier League Burnley Middlesbrough Hull City

Stadiums and locations

London

Aston Villa

Barnsley

Birmingham City

Blackburn Rovers

Brighton & Hove Albion

Bristol City

Burton Albion

Cardiff City

Derby County

Huddersfield Town

Ipswich Town

Leeds United

Newcastle United

Norwich City

Nottingham Forest

Preston North End

Reading

Rotherham United

Sheffield Wednesday

Wigan Athletic

Wolverhampton Wanderers

London teams
Brentford
Fulham
Queens Park Rangers

Locations of the 2016–17 Football League Championship teams

Brentford

Fulham

Queens Park Rangers

Greater London Championship football clubs

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity[6]
Aston Villa	Birmingham	Villa Park	42,790
Barnsley	Barnsley	Oakwell	23,009
Birmingham City	Birmingham	St Andrew's	30,020
Blackburn Rovers	Blackburn	Ewood Park	31,370
Brentford	London (Brentford)	Griffin Park	12,760
Brighton & Hove Albion	Brighton and Hove	AMEX Stadium	30,280
Bristol City	Bristol	Ashton Gate	27,000
Burton Albion	Burton upon Trent	Pirelli Stadium	6,912 (2,034 seated)
Cardiff City	Cardiff	Cardiff City Stadium	33,300
Derby County	Derby	Pride Park Stadium	33,600
Fulham	London (Fulham)	Craven Cottage	25,680
Huddersfield Town	Huddersfield	John Smith's Stadium	24,500
Ipswich Town	Ipswich	Portman Road	30,300
Leeds United	Leeds	Elland Road	37,900
Newcastle United	Newcastle	St James' Park	52,354
Norwich City	Norwich	Carrow Road	27,220
Nottingham Forest	Nottingham	City Ground	30,576
Preston North End	Preston	Deepdale	23,408
Queens Park Rangers	London (Shepherd's Bush)	Loftus Road	18,360
Reading	Reading	Madejski Stadium	24,200
Rotherham United	Rotherham	New York Stadium	12,021
Sheffield Wednesday	Sheffield	Hillsborough	39,812
Wigan Athletic	Wigan	DW Stadium	25,023
Wolverhampton Wanderers	Wolverhampton	Molineux	31,700

Personnel and sponsoring

Team	Manager1	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Sponsor
Aston Villa	Steve Bruce	James Chester	Under Armour	Intuit QuickBooks[7]
Barnsley	Paul Heckingbottom	Marc Roberts[α][8][9]	Puma[10]	C.K. Beckett[11]
Birmingham City	Harry Redknapp	Michael Morrison	Adidas[12]	888sport[13]
Blackburn Rovers	Tony Mowbray	Jason Lowe[14]	Umbro[15]	Dafabet[16]
Brentford	Dean Smith	Harlee Dean	Adidas[17]	888sport[18]
Brighton & Hove Albion	Chris Hughton	Bruno	Nike[19]	American Express[19]
Bristol City	Lee Johnson	Bailey Wright	Bristol Sport	Lancer Scott [20]
Burton Albion	Nigel Clough	John Mousinho	TAG	Tempobet [21]
Cardiff City	Neil Warnock	Sean Morrison	Adidas[22]	Visit Malaysia
Derby County	Gary Rowett	Richard Keogh	Umbro[23]	JUST EAT[24]
Fulham	Slaviša Jokanović	Scott Parker	Adidas[25]	Visit Florida[26][27]
Huddersfield Town	David Wagner	Mark Hudson	Puma	PURE Legal (home),[28] RadianB (away), Cavonia (third)
Ipswich Town	Mick McCarthy	Luke Chambers	Adidas[29]	Marcus Evans [citation needed]
Leeds United	Garry Monk	Liam Bridcutt	Kappa[30]	32red[31]
Newcastle United	Rafael Benítez	Jamaal Lascelles	Puma	Wonga[32]
Norwich City	Daniel Farke	Russell Martin	Erreà[33]	Aviva[34]
Nottingham Forest	Mark Warburton	Chris Cohen	Adidas[35]	888sport[36]
Preston North End	Simon Grayson	Tom Clarke	Nike[37]	888sport[38]
Queens Park Rangers	Ian Holloway	Nedum Onuoha	Dryworld[39]	Smarkets [40]
Reading	Jaap Stam	Paul McShane	Puma[41]	Carabao[42]
Rotherham United	Paul Warne	Lee Frecklington	Puma	Hodge Clemco (home), APOGEE (away/third)
Sheffield Wednesday	Carlos Carvalhal	Glenn Loovens	Sondico	Chansiri[43]
Wigan Athletic	Paul Cook	Stephen Warnock	Kappa[44][45]	Intersport
Wolverhampton Wanderers	Paul Lambert	Danny Batth	Puma[46]	The Money Shop[47]

• ¹ According to current revision of List of current Premier League and English Football League managers.

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Newcastle United (C, P)	46	29	7	10	85	40	+45	94	Promotion to the Premier League
2	Brighton & Hove Albion (P)	46	28	9	9	74	40	+34	93
3	Reading	46	26	7	13	68	64	+4	85	Qualification for the Championship play-offs[a]
4	Sheffield Wednesday	46	24	9	13	60	45	+15	81
5	Huddersfield Town (O, P)	46	25	6	15	56	58	−2	81
6	Fulham	46	22	14	10	85	57	+28	80
7	Leeds United	46	22	9	15	61	47	+14	75
8	Norwich City	46	20	10	16	85	69	+16	70
9	Derby County	46	18	13	15	54	50	+4	67
10	Brentford	46	18	10	18	75	65	+10	64
11	Preston North End	46	16	14	16	64	63	+1	62
12	Cardiff City	46	17	11	18	60	61	−1	62
13	Aston Villa	46	16	14	16	47	48	−1	62
14	Barnsley	46	15	13	18	64	67	−3	58
15	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	16	10	20	54	58	−4	58
16	Ipswich Town	46	13	16	17	48	58	−10	55
17	Bristol City	46	15	9	22	60	66	−6	54
18	Queens Park Rangers	46	15	8	23	52	66	−14	53
19	Birmingham City	46	13	14	19	45	64	−19	53
20	Burton Albion	46	13	13	20	49	63	−14	52
21	Nottingham Forest	46	14	9	23	62	72	−10	51
22	Blackburn Rovers (R)	46	12	15	19	53	65	−12	51	Relegation to EFL League One
23	Wigan Athletic (R)	46	10	12	24	40	57	−17	42
24	Rotherham United (R)	46	5	8	33	40	98	−58	23

Source: English Football League, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Points in head-to-head matches; 5) Goal difference in head-to-head matches; 6) Goals scored in head-to-head matches; 7) Play-off.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Four teams play for one spot and promotion to the Premier League.

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Blackburn Rovers	Paul Lambert[48]	Mutual consent	28 April 2016	Pre-season	Owen Coyle[49]	2 June 2016
Cardiff City	Russell Slade[50]	Promoted to head of football	8 May 2016		Paul Trollope[51]	18 May 2016
Nottingham Forest	Paul Williams[52]	Mutual consent	12 May 2016		Philippe Montanier[53]	27 June 2016
Rotherham United	Neil Warnock[54]	End of contract	18 May 2016		Alan Stubbs[55]	1 June 2016
Reading	Brian McDermott[56]	Sacked	27 May 2016		Jaap Stam[57]	13 June 2016
Derby County	Darren Wassall	End of caretaker spell	27 May 2016		Nigel Pearson[58]	27 May 2016
Leeds United	Steve Evans[59]	Sacked	31 May 2016		Garry Monk[60]	2 June 2016
Aston Villa	Eric Black	End of caretaker spell	2 June 2016		Roberto Di Matteo[61]	2 June 2016
Wolverhampton Wanderers	Kenny Jackett[62]	Sacked	29 July 2016		Walter Zenga[63]	30 July 2016
Aston Villa	Roberto Di Matteo[64]		3 October 2016	19th	Steve Bruce	12 October 2016
Cardiff City	Paul Trollope		4 October 2016	23rd	Neil Warnock	5 October 2016
Derby County	Nigel Pearson	Mutual consent	8 October 2016	20th	Steve McClaren	12 October 2016
Rotherham United	Alan Stubbs	Sacked	19 October 2016	24th	Kenny Jackett	21 October 2016
Wolverhampton Wanderers	Walter Zenga[65]		25 October 2016	18th	Paul Lambert	5 November 2016
Wigan Athletic	Gary Caldwell[66]		25 October 2016	23rd	Warren Joyce[67]	2 November 2016
Queens Park Rangers	Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink		5 November 2016	17th	Ian Holloway[68]	11 November 2016
Rotherham United	Kenny Jackett	Resigned	16 November 2016	24th	Paul Warne	5 April 2017
Birmingham City	Gary Rowett[69]	Sacked	14 December 2016	7th	Gianfranco Zola[70]	14 December 2016
Nottingham Forest	Philippe Montanier[71]		14 January 2017	20th	Mark Warburton[72]	14 March 2017
Blackburn Rovers	Owen Coyle[73]		21 February 2017	23rd	Tony Mowbray[74]	22 February 2017
Norwich City	Alex Neil[75]		10 March 2017	8th	Daniel Farke[76]	25 May 2017
Derby County	Steve McClaren[77]		12 March 2017	10th	Gary Rowett[78]	14 March 2017
Wigan Athletic	Warren Joyce		13 March 2017	23rd	Paul Cook[79]	31 May 2017
Birmingham City	Gianfranco Zola[80]	Resigned	17 April 2017	20th	Harry Redknapp[81]	18 April 2017

Play-offs

See also: 2017 English Football League play-offs

	Semi-finals							Final
	3	Reading	1	1	2
	6	Fulham	1	0	1
								3	Reading	0 (3)
								5	Huddersfield Town	0 (4)
	4	Sheffield Wednesday	0	1	1 (3)
	5	Huddersfield Town	0	1	1 (4)

The four teams that finished from third to sixth played off, with the winning team, Huddersfield Town, gaining the final promotion spot to the Premier League.

In the play-off semi-finals the third-placed team played the sixth-placed team and the fourth-placed team played the fifth-placed team. The team that finished in the higher league position played away in the first leg and played at home in the second leg. If the aggregate score was level after both legs, then extra time was played. If the scores were still level, a penalty shoot-out decided the winner. The away goals rule does not apply in the playoffs.

The winners from the two semi-finals played at Wembley Stadium in the play-off final. The game is known as the richest game in football as the winning club is guaranteed significantly increased television rights payments estimated to be in the order of £170M.^[82][83]

Results

Home \ Away	AST	BAR	BIR	BLB	BRE	B&HA	BRI	BRT	CAR	DER	FUL	HUD	IPS	LEE	NEW	NWC	NOT	PNE	QPR	REA	ROT	SHW	WIG	WOL
Aston Villa		1–3	1–0	2–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–1	3–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	0–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–2	2–2	1–0	1–3	3–0	2–0	1–0	1–1
Barnsley	1–1		2–2	2–0	1–1	0–2	2–2	1–1	0–0	2–0	2–4	1–1	1–1	3–2	0–2	2–1	2–5	0–0	3–2	1–2	4–0	1–1	0–0	1–3
Birmingham City	1–1	0–3		1–0	1–3	1–2	1–0	0–2	0–0	1–2	1–0	2–0	2–1	1–3	0–0	3–0	0–0	2–2	1–4	0–1	4–2	2–1	0–1	1–3
Blackburn Rovers	1–0	0–2	1–1		3–2	2–3	1–1	2–2	1–1	1–0	0–1	1–1	0–0	1–2	1–0	1–4	2–1	2–2	1–0	2–3	4–2	0–1	1–0	1–1
Brentford	3–0	0–2	1–2	1–3		3–3	2–0	2–1	2–2	4–0	0–2	0–1	2–0	2–0	1–2	0–0	1–0	5–0	3–1	4–1	4–2	1–1	0–0	1–2
Brighton & Hove Albion	1–1	2–0	3–1	1–0	0–2		0–1	4–1	1–0	3–0	2–1	1–0	1–1	2–0	1–2	5–0	3–0	2–2	3–0	3–0	3–0	2–1	2–1	1–0
Bristol City	3–1	3–2	0–1	1–0	0–1	0–2		0–0	2–3	1–1	0–2	4–0	2–0	1–0	0–1	1–1	2–1	1–2	2–1	2–3	1–0	2–2	2–1	3–1
Burton Albion	1–1	0–0	2–0	1–1	3–5	0–1	1–2		2–0	1–0	0–2	0–1	1–2	2–1	1–2	2–1	1–0	0–1	1–1	2–4	2–1	3–1	0–2	2–1
Cardiff City	1–0	3–4	1–1	2–1	2–1	0–0	2–1	1–0		0–2	2–2	3–2	3–1	0–2	0–2	0–1	1–0	2–0	0–2	0–1	5–0	1–1	0–1	2–1
Derby County	0–0	2–1	1–0	1–2	0–0	0–0	3–3	0–0	3–4		4–2	1–1	0–1	1–0	0–2	1–0	3–0	1–1	1–0	3–2	3–0	2–0	0–0	3–1
Fulham	3–1	2–0	0–1	2–2	1–1	1–2	0–4	1–1	2–2	2–2		5–0	3–1	1–1	1–0	2–2	3–2	3–1	1–2	5–0	2–1	1–1	3–2	1–3
Huddersfield Town	1–0	2–1	1–1	1–1	2–1	3–1	2–1	0–1	0–3	1–0	1–4		2–0	2–1	1–3	3–0	2–1	3–2	2–1	1–0	2–1	0–1	1–2	1–0
Ipswich Town	0–0	4–2	1–1	3–2	1–1	0–0	2–1	2–0	1–1	0–3	0–2	0–1		1–1	3–1	1–1	0–2	1–0	3–0	2–2	2–2	0–1	3–0	0–0
Leeds United	2–0	2–1	1–2	2–1	1–0	2–0	2–1	2–0	0–2	1–0	1–1	0–1	1–0		0–2	3–3	2–0	3–0	0–0	2–0	3–0	1–0	1–1	0–1
Newcastle United	2–0	3–0	4–0	0–1	3–1	2–0	2–2	1–0	2–1	1–0	1–3	1–2	3–0	1–1		4–3	3–1	4–1	2–2	4–1	4–0	0–1	2–1	0–2
Norwich City	1–0	2–0	2–0	2–2	5–0	2–0	1–0	3–1	3–2	3–0	1–3	1–2	1–1	2–3	2–2		5–1	0–1	4–0	7–1	3–1	0–0	2–1	3–1
Nottingham Forest	2–1	0–1	3–1	0–1	2–3	3–0	1–0	4–3	1–2	2–2	1–1	2–0	3–0	3–1	2–1	1–2		1–1	1–1	3–2	2–0	1–2	4–3	0–2
Preston North End	2–0	1–2	2–1	3–2	4–2	2–0	5–0	1–1	3–0	0–1	1–2	3–1	1–1	1–4	1–2	1–3	1–1		2–1	3–0	1–1	1–1	1–0	0–0
Queens Park Rangers	0–1	2–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–2	1–0	1–2	2–1	0–1	1–1	1–2	2–1	3–0	0–6	2–1	2–0	0–2		1–1	5–1	1–2	2–1	1–2
Reading	1–2	0–0	0–0	3–1	3–2	2–2	2–1	3–0	2–1	1–1	1–0	1–0	2–1	1–0	0–0	3–1	2–0	1–0	0–1		2–1	2–1	1–0	2–1
Rotherham United	0–2	0–1	1–1	1–1	1–0	0–2	2–2	1–2	1–2	1–1	0–1	2–3	1–0	1–2	0–1	2–1	2–2	1–3	1–0	0–1		0–2	3–2	2–2
Sheffield Wednesday	1–0	2–0	3–0	2–1	1–2	1–2	3–2	1–1	1–0	2–1	1–2	2–0	1–2	0–2	2–1	5–1	2–1	2–1	1–0	0–2	1–0		2–1	0–0
Wigan Athletic	0–2	3–2	1–1	3–0	2–1	0–1	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–1	0–0	0–1	2–3	1–1	0–2	2–2	0–0	0–0	0–1	0–3	3–2	0–1		2–1
Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–0	0–4	1–2	0–0	3–1	0–2	3–2	1–1	3–1	2–3	4–4	0–1	0–0	0–1	0–1	1–2	1–0	1–0	1–2	2–0	1–0	0–2	0–1

Source: BBC Sport
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers

Chris Wood was the top goalscorer of the season with 27 goals for Leeds United.

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[84]
1	Chris Wood	Leeds United	27
2	Glenn Murray	Brighton & Hove Albion	23
	Tammy Abraham	Bristol City
	Dwight Gayle	Newcastle United
5	Jonathan Kodjia	Aston Villa	19
6	Yann Kermorgant	Reading	18
7	Cameron Jerome	Norwich City	16
8	Anthony Knockaert	Brighton & Hove Albion	15
	Lasse Vibe	Brentford
	Scott Hogan	Brentford/Aston Villa[β]

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of EFL Championship hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Grant Ward	Ipswich Town	Barnsley	4–2[85]	6 August 2016
Scott Hogan	Brentford	Preston North End	5–0[86]	17 September 2016
Dwight Gayle	Newcastle United	Norwich City	4–3[87]	28 September 2016
Glenn Murray	Brighton & Hove Albion	Norwich City	5–0[88]	29 October 2016
Henri Lansbury	Nottingham Forest	Barnsley	5–2[89]	25 November 2016
Dwight Gayle	Newcastle United	Birmingham City	4–0[90]	10 December 2016
Nélson Oliveira	Norwich City	Derby County	3–0[91]	2 January 2017
Jota	Brentford	Rotherham United	4–2[92]	25 February 2017
David Nugent	Derby County	Fulham	4–2[93]	4 April 2017
Nick Powell	Wigan Athletic	Barnsley	3–2[94]	13 April 2017

Monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month		Reference
	Manager	Club	Player	Club
August	David Wagner	Huddersfield Town	Conor Hourihane	Barnsley	[95]
September	Alex Neil	Norwich City	Scott Hogan	Brentford	[96]
October	Rafael Benítez	Newcastle United	Sone Aluko	Fulham	[97]
November	Steve McClaren	Derby County	Henri Lansbury	Nottingham Forest	[98]
December	Chris Hughton	Brighton & Hove Albion	Sam Winnall	Barnsley
January	Jaap Stam	Reading	Chris Wood	Leeds United	[99]
February	David Wagner	Huddersfield Town	Aiden McGeady	Preston North End
March	Paul Lambert	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Tom Barkhuizen	Preston North End	[100]
April	Carlos Carvalhal	Sheffield Wednesday	Yann Kermorgant	Reading

Attendances

Team	Stadium	Capacity	Average	Minimum	Maximum	Percentage Full
Aston Villa	Villa Park	42,788	31,901	26,435	41,337	75%
Barnsley	Oakwell	23,009	13,843	11,613	18,597	60%
Birmingham City	St Andrew's	30,009	18,137	15,212	29,656	60%
Blackburn Rovers	Ewood Park	31,367	11,853	9,976	18,524	38%
Brentford	Griffin Park	12,763	10,288	9,035	12,052	81%
Brighton & Hove Albion	Falmer Stadium	30,750	27,619	24,166	30,230	90%
Bristol City	Ashton Gate	27,000	18,953	16,444	22,512	70%
Burton Albion	Pirelli Stadium	6,912	5,078	3,725	6,746	73%
Cardiff City	Cardiff City Stadium	33,280	16,335	13,894	22,776	49%
Derby County	Pride Park Stadium	33,597	29,104	26,301	32,616	87%
Fulham	Craven Cottage	25,700	18,665	13,735	24,300	73%
Huddersfield Town	John Smith's Stadium	25,554	20,343	18,333	23,213	83%
Ipswich Town	Portman Road	30,311	16,555	14,719	23,350	55%
Leeds United	Elland Road	40,204	26,779	19,009	36,002	67%
Newcastle United	St James' Park	52,389	51,111	47,907	52,231	98%
Norwich City	Carrow Road	27,244	26,272	25,275	27,107	96%
Nottingham Forest	City Ground	30,576	19,207	15,770	23,012	63%
Preston North End	Deepdale	24,408	12,888	9,216	21,255	55%
Queens Park Rangers	Loftus Road	18,360	14,426	11,635	17,404	79%
Reading	Madejski Stadium	24,200	17,280	12,655	23,121	71%
Rotherham United	New York Stadium	12,021	9,786	8,348	11,653	81%
Sheffield Wednesday	Hillsborough	39,814	26,580	24,151	30,549	67%
Wigan Athletic	DW Stadium	25,138	11,540	10,071	15,117	46%
Wolves	Molineux	30,852	21,944	17,156	27,541	71%

Source: Soccerway

Notes

1. Marc Roberts named as Barnsley first team Captain during a match on Barnsley F.C, official and verified Twitter account on 28 January 2017. Conor Hourihane was Barnsley first team Captain from July 2016 to 26 January 2017, before Hourihane signed for Aston Villa, during the 2016–2017 EFL Championship season.
2. Scott Hogan scored 14 goals for Brentford, before joining Aston Villa in January 2017.