Custom Search

The Football League Championship is the 2nd tier of professional league football in England.

The league was introduced in its current form for the 2004/2005 season. Before that it was known as the Football League First Division, and prior to the introduction of the Premier League, as Football League Second Division.

According to Deloitte, the Football League Championship is the richest non-top flight football division in the world, and the sixth richest division in Europe.

Click on a badge to visit a specific club's page,
or scroll down to continue reading about the Football League Championship.

History

The Second Division was formed in 1892 with 12 clubs, most of which had previously played in the Football Alliance (a rival organisation to the Football League).

The original members were: Ardwick (now Manchester City), Bootle, Burton Swifts, Crewe Alexandra, Darwen, Grimsby Town, Lincoln City, Northwich Victoria, Port Vale, Sheffield United, Small Heath (now Birmingham City), and Walsall.

In the early years, there was no automatic promotion to the First Division.

The top teams in Division Two, including the winners, were required to play a series of "test matches" against the bottom teams in Division One, with the winner securing a place in the First Division.

Test matches were abolished in 1898 after Burnley and Stoke deliberately drew their test match 0-0, resulting in Burnley being promoted and Stoke being saved from relegation.

Grimsby Town, having finished bottom in 1919-20 were the first team to be relegated to the newly formed Third Division.

For subsequent seasons, two clubs were relegated into either the Third Division North or Third Division South, depending on geographic location.

After the Third Division was reunified in 1958-59, the two clubs continued to be relegated until 1974 when three up / three down was introduced.

From 1987, the third promotion place began to be decided by a play-off involving the teams placed third to sixth.

With the formation of the Premier League in 1992, the Second Division became known as Division One.

From 2005, the league became known as the Football League Championship.

For an outline of how the divisional structure in English Football evolved, click here - Football Pyramid.

Previous Winners

Return From The Football League Championship to The Football Club Home Page

or Search the site

Custom Search