2020–21 EFL Championship

the 17th season of the Football League Championship

The 2020–21 EFL Championship (known as the Sky Bet Championship for sponsors) was the 17th season of the Football League Championship under its current title and the 29th season under its current format.

EFL Championship
Season2020–21
ChampionsNorwich City
PromotedNorwich City
Watford
Brentford
RelegatedWycombe Wanderers
Rotherham United
Sheffield Wednesday
Matches played552
Goals scored1,274 (2.31 per match)
Top goalscorerIvan Toney
(32 goals)[1]
Biggest home winNorwich City 7–0 Huddersfield Town
(6 April 2021)
Biggest away winPreston North End 0–5 Brentford
(10 April 2021)[1]
Highest scoringBrentford 7–2 Wycombe Wanderers
(30 January 2021)
Longest winning runNorwich City
(9 games)[1]
Longest unbeaten runBrentford
(21 games)[1]
Longest winless runDerby County
Wycombe Wanderers
(11 games)[1]
Longest losing runSheffield Wednesday
Wycombe Wanderers
(7 games)[1]
Highest attendance4,000[2]
Lowest attendance1,000[3]
All statistics correct as of 22 May 2021.

Teams change

Stadium and locations change

Greater London Championship football clubs
Team Location Stadium Capacity
Barnsley Barnsley Oakwell 23,287
Birmingham City Birmingham St Andrew's 29,409
Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Ewood Park 31,367
Bournemouth Bournemouth Dean Court 11,364
Brentford London (Brentford) Brentford Community Stadium 17,250
Bristol City Bristol Ashton Gate 27,000
Cardiff City Cardiff Cardiff City Stadium 33,316
Coventry City Birmingham St Andrew's 29,409
Derby County Derby Pride Park Stadium 33,600
Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Kirklees Stadium 24,121
Luton Town Luton Kenilworth Road 10,356
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough Riverside Stadium 34,742
Millwall London (South Bermondsey) The Den 20,146
Norwich City Norwich Carrow Road 27,244
Nottingham Forest Nottingham City Ground 30,445
Preston North End Preston Deepdale 23,408
Queens Park Rangers London (White City) Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium 18,439
Reading Reading Madejski Stadium 24,161
Rotherham United Rotherham New York Stadium 12,021
Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Hillsborough Stadium 39,732
Stoke City Stoke-on-Trent Bet365 Stadium 30,089
Swansea City Swansea Liberty Stadium 21,088
Watford Watford Vicarage Road 22,200
Wycombe Wanderers High Wycombe Adams Park 9,448


Managerial changes change

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of exit Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Birmingham City End of caretaker spell 22 July 2020 Pre-season   Aitor Karanka[5] 31 July 2020
Huddersfield Town   Danny Schofield[4]   Carlos Corberán[6] 23 July 2020
Watford   Hayden Mullins[7][8] 26 July 2020   Vladimir Ivić[9] 15 August 2020
Bournemouth   Eddie Howe[10] Mutual consent 1 August 2020   Jason Tindall[11] 8 August 2020
Reading   Mark Bowen[12] 29 August 2020   Veljko Paunović[12] 29 August 2020
Barnsley   Gerhard Struber[13] Signed by New York Red Bulls 6 October 2020 21st   Valérien Ismaël[14] 23 October 2020
Nottingham Forest   Sabri Lamouchi[15] Sacked 22nd   Chris Hughton[15] 6 October 2020
Sheffield Wednesday   Garry Monk[16] 9 November 2020 23rd   Tony Pulis[17] 13 November 2020
Derby County   Phillip Cocu[18] Mutual consent 14 November 2020 24th   Wayne Rooney[a][19][20] 27 November 2020
Watford   Vladimir Ivić[21] Sacked 19 December 2020 5th   Xisco Muñoz[22] 20 December 2020
Sheffield Wednesday   Tony Pulis[23] 28 December 2020 23rd   Darren Moore[24] 1 March 2021
Cardiff City   Neil Harris[25] 21 January 2021 15th   Mick McCarthy[26] 22 January 2021
Bournemouth   Jason Tindall[27] 3 February 2021 6th   Jonathan Woodgate[b][28] 21 February 2021
Bristol City   Dean Holden[29] 16 February 2021 13th   Nigel Pearson[30] 22 February 2021
Birmingham City   Aitor Karanka[31] Resigned 16 March 2021 21st   Lee Bowyer[32] 16 March 2021
Preston North End   Alex Neil[33] Sacked 21 March 2021 16th   Frankie McAvoy[34] 10 May 2021
  1. Rooney was initially appointed as interim manager until the end of the season, but the move was made permanent on 15 January 2021.
  2. Woodgate was initially caretaker manager, but was then appointed as manager until the end of the season on 21 February 2021.

Play-offs change

First leg

Bournemouth1–0Brentford
Danjuma   55' Report
Attendance: 2,000
Referee: Tim Robinson
Barnsley0–1Swansea City
Report A. Ayew   39'
Attendance: 4,000
Referee: Geoff Eltringham

Second leg

Brentford3–1Bournemouth
Toney   16' (pen.)
Janelt   50'
Forss   81'
Report Danjuma   5'
Swansea City1–1Barnsley
Grimes   39' Woodrow   71'

Results change

Home \ Away BAR BIR BLA BOU BRE BRI CAR COV DER HUD LUT MID MIL NOR NOT PNE QPR REA ROT SHW STO SWA WAT WYC
Barnsley 1–0 2–1 0–4 0–1 2–2 2–2 0–0 0–0 2–1 0–1 2–0 2–1 2–2 2–0 2–1 3–0 1–1 1–0 1–2 2–0 0–2 1–0 2–1
Birmingham City 1–2 0–2 1–3 1–0 0–3 0–4 1–1 0–4 2–1 0–1 1–4 0–0 1–3 1–1 0–1 2–1 2–1 1–1 0–1 2–0 1–0 0–1 1–2
Blackburn Rovers 2–1 5–2 0–2 0–1 0–0 0–0 1–1 2–1 5–2 1–0 0–0 2–1 1–2 0–1 1–2 3–1 2–4 2–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–3 5–0
Bournemouth 2–3 3–2 3–2 0–1 1–0 1–2 4–1 1–1 5–0 0–1 3–1 1–1 1–0 2–0 2–3 0–0 4–2 1–0 1–2 0–2 3–0 1–0 1–0
Brentford 0–2 0–0 2–2 2–1 3–2 1–1 2–0 0–0 3–0 1–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 1–1 2–4 2–1 3–1 1–0 3–0 2–1 1–1 2–0 7–2
Bristol City 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–2 1–3 0–2 2–1 1–0 2–1 2–3 0–1 0–2 1–3 0–0 2–0 0–2 0–2 0–2 2–0 0–2 1–1 0–0 2–1
Cardiff City 3–0 3–2 2–2 1–1 2–3 0–1 3–1 4–0 3–0 4–0 1–1 1–1 1–2 0–1 4–0 0–1 1–2 1–1 0–2 0–0 0–2 1–2 2–1
Coventry City 2–0 0–0 0–4 1–3 2–0 3–1 1–0 1–0 0–0 0–0 1–2 6–1 0–2 1–2 0–1 3–2 3–2 3–1 2–0 0–0 1–1 0–0 0–0
Derby County 0–2 1–2 0–4 1–0 2–2 1–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 2–0 2–1 0–1 0–1 1–1 0–1 0–1 0–2 0–1 3–3 0–0 2–0 0–1 1–1
Huddersfield Town 0–1 1–1 2–1 1–2 1–1 1–2 0–0 1–1 1–0 1–1 3–2 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–2 2–0 1–2 0–0 2–0 1–1 4–1 2–0 2–3
Luton Town 1–2 1–1 1–1 0–0 0–3 2–1 0–2 2–0 2–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 3–1 1–1 3–0 0–2 0–0 0–0 3–2 0–2 0–1 1–0 2–0
Middlesbrough 2–1 0–1 0–1 1–1 1–4 1–3 1–1 2–0 3–0 2–1 1–0 3–0 0–1 1–0 2–0 1–2 0–0 0–3 3–1 3–0 2–1 1–1 0–3
Millwall 1–1 2–0 0–2 1–4 1–1 4–1 1–1 1–2 0–1 0–3 2–0 1–0 0–0 1–1 2–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 4–1 0–0 0–3 0–0 0–0
Norwich City 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–3 1–0 2–0 2–0 1–1 0–1 7–0 3–0 0–0 0–0 2–1 2–2 1–1 4–1 1–0 2–1 4–1 1–0 0–1 2–1
Nottingham Forest 0–0 0–0 1–0 0–0 1–3 1–2 0–2 2–1 1–1 0–2 0–1 1–2 3–1 0–2 1–2 3–1 1–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 0–1 0–0 2–0
Preston North End 2–0 1–2 0–3 1–1 0–5 1–0 0–1 2–0 3–0 3–0 0–1 3–0 0–2 1–1 0–1 0–0 0–0 1–2 1–0 0–1 0–1 0–1 2–2
Queens Park Rangers 1–3 0–0 1–0 2–1 2–1 1–2 3–2 3–0 0–1 0–1 3–1 1–1 3–2 1–3 2–0 0–2 0–1 3–2 4–1 0–0 0–2 1–1 1–0
Reading 2–0 1–2 1–0 3–1 1–3 3–1 1–1 3–0 3–1 2–2 2–1 0–2 1–2 1–2 2–0 0–3 1–1 3–0 3–0 0–3 2–2 1–0 1–0
Rotherham United 1–2 0–1 1–1 2–2 0–2 2–0 1–2 0–1 3–0 1–1 0–1 1–2 0–1 1–2 0–1 2–1 3–1 0–1 3–0 3–3 1–3 1–4 0–3
Sheffield Wednesday 1–2 0–1 1–0 1–0 1–2 1–1 5–0 1–0 1–0 1–1 0–1 2–1 0–0 1–2 0–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–2 0–0 0–2 0–0 2–0
Stoke City 2–2 1–1 1–0 0–1 3–2 0–2 1–2 2–3 1–0 4–3 3–0 1–0 1–2 2–3 1–1 0–0 2–2 0–0 1–0 1–1 1–2 1–2 2–0
Swansea City 2–0 0–0 2–0 0–0 1–1 1–3 0–1 1–0 2–1 1–1 2–2 2–1 2–1 2–0 1–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 1–0 1–1 2–0 2–1 2–2
Watford 1–0 3–0 3–1 1–1 1–1 6–0 0–1 3–2 2–1 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 4–1 1–2 2–0 2–0 1–0 3–2 2–0 2–0
Wycombe Wanderers 1–3 0–0 1–0 1–0 0–0 2–1 2–1 1–2 1–2 0–0 1–3 1–3 1–2 0–2 0–3 1–0 1–1 1–0 0–1 1–0 0–1 0–2 1–1
Updated to match(es) played on 8 May 2021. Source: "Championship Results". Sky Sports. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Season statistics change

As of 22 May 2021[35]

Scoring change

Top scorers change

Rank Player Club Goals
1   Ivan Toney1 Brentford 32
2   Adam Armstrong Blackburn Rovers 28
3   Teemu Pukki Norwich City 26
4   Kieffer Moore Cardiff City 20
5   Lucas João Reading 19
6   André Ayew1 Swansea City 17
  Arnaut Danjuma2 Bournemouth
8   Emiliano Buendía Norwich City 15
  Dominic Solanke Bournemouth
10   Jamal Lowe Swansea City 14
  • 1 Includes 1 goal in The Championship play-offs.
  • 2 Includes 2 goals in The Championship play-offs.


Hat-tricks change

Player For Against Result Date
  Adam Armstrong Blackburn Rovers Wycombe Wanderers 5–0 (H)[36] 19 September 2020
  James Collins Luton Town Preston North End 3–0 (H)[37] 12 December 2020
  Sergi Canós Brentford Cardiff City 3–2 (A)[38] 26 December 2020
  Ivan Toney Brentford Wycombe Wanderers 7–2 (H)[39] 30 January 2021
  Teemu Pukki Norwich City Huddersfield Town 7–0 (H)[40] 6 April 2021
  Adam Armstrong Blackburn Rovers Huddersfield Town 5–2 (H)[41] 24 April 2021
  Harry Wilson Cardiff City Birmingham City 4–0 (A)[42] 1 May 2021
  Adam Armstrong Blackburn Rovers Birmingham City 5–2 (H)[43] 8 May 2021

Most assists change

Rank Player Club Assists[44]
1   Emiliano Buendía Norwich City 16
2   Michael Olise Reading 12
3   Harvey Elliott Blackburn Rovers 11
  Harry Wilson Cardiff City
5   Bryan Mbeumo Brentford 10
  Ivan Toney Brentford
7   Jake Bidwell Swansea City 8
  David Brooks1 Bournemouth
  Sergi Canós Brentford
  Callum O'Hare Coventry City
  Dominic Solanke Bournemouth
  • 1 Includes 1 assist in The Championship play-offs.

Clean sheets change

Rank Player Club Clean Sheets
1   Freddie Woodman1 Swansea City 21
2   Bartosz Białkowski Millwall 17
  Tim Krul Norwich City
  Rafael Reading
5   Asmir Begović1 Bournemouth 16
  David Raya Brentford
7   Brice Samba Nottingham Forest 14
8   Daniel Bachmann Watford 13
  Marcus Bettinelli Middlesbrough
  Neil Etheridge Birmingham City
  • 1 Includes 1 clean sheet in The Championship play-offs.

Discipline change

Players change

  • 1 Includes 1 yellow card in The Championship play-offs.

Club change

Monthly awards change

Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month Reference
September   Veljko Paunović Reading   Bradley Johnson Blackburn Rovers [47]
October   Neil Warnock Middlesbrough   Ivan Toney Brentford [48]
November   Vladimir Ivić Watford   David Brooks Bournemouth [49]
December   Thomas Frank Brentford   Duncan Watmore Middlesbrough [50]
January   Steve Cooper Swansea City   Matt Crooks Rotherham United [51]
February   Mick McCarthy Cardiff City   Teemu Pukki Norwich City [52]
March   Xisco Muñoz Watford   Alex Mowatt Barnsley [53]
April   Jonathan Woodgate Bournemouth   Arnaut Danjuma Bournemouth [54]

References change

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "English League Championship Performance Stats – 2020–21". ESPN. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  2. Woodcock, Ian (2021-05-17). "Barnsley at Swansea City". bbc.com. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  3. "EFL announce 10 pilot fixtures with 1,000 fans in attendance". The Independent. 16 September 2020.
  4. 4.0 4.1 "What happened on a remarkable last night of the Championship season?". BBC Sport. 22 July 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  5. "Aitor Karanka: Birmingham City confirm Spaniard as new head coach". BBC Sport. 31 July 2020. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  6. "Carlos Corberan: Huddersfield Town appoint Leeds United assistant as new head coach". BBC Sport. 23 July 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  7. "Arsenal v Watford, 2019/20". Premier League. 26 July 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  8. "Mullins: "It Hurts A Lot" – Watford FC". Watford Football Club Official Website. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  9. "Official: Ivić Appointed New Head Coach". www.watfordfc.com. Retrieved 2020-11-29.
  10. "Statement: Eddie Howe Leaves Club by Mutual Consent". A.F.C. Bournemouth. 1 August 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  11. "Jason Tindall: Bournemouth appoint Eddie Howe's former assistant as manager". BBC Sport. 2020-08-08. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
  12. 12.0 12.1 "Veljko Paunovic: Reading appoint Serbian as manager, replacing Mark Bowen". BBC News]. 29 August 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  13. "Gerhard Struber leaves Oakwell". Barnsley F.C. 6 October 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  14. "Valerien Ismael: Barnsley appoint new head coach to succeed Gerhard Struber". BBC Sport. 2020-10-23. Retrieved 2020-11-29.
  15. 15.0 15.1 "Hughton replaces Lamouchi at Forest". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2020-11-29.
  16. "Garry Monk: Sheffield Wednesday sack ex-Swansea, Leeds and Birmingham boss". 9 November 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  17. "Tony Pulis: Sheffield Wednesday appoint former Stoke City manager as new boss". 13 November 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  18. "Derby County Statement: 14th November 2020". Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  19. Parker, Ian (27 November 2020). "Wayne Rooney to take sole charge of Derby against Wycombe". The Independent.
  20. "Wayne Rooney: How impressive interim Derby County spell led to permanent manager's job". BBC. 15 January 2021.
  21. "Vladimir Ivic: Watford sack head coach after four months". BBC Sport. 19 December 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  22. "Xisco Munoz: Watford appoint Dinamo Tbilisi boss as head coach". BBC Sport. 20 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  23. "Club Statement". swfc.co.uk. Sheffield Wednesday. 28 December 2020.
  24. "Sheff Wed name Moore as new manager" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  25. "Cardiff sack manager Harris" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  26. "Cardiff City name Mick McCarthy new manager after sacking Neil Harris". BBC Sport. 21 January 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  27. "Bournemouth sack manager Tindall" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  28. "Jonathan Woodgate: Bournemouth appoint ex-Middlesbrough boss for rest of season". BBC Sport. 21 February 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  29. "Club statement". Bristol City.
  30. "Nigel Pearson: Bristol City appoint ex-Leicester and Watford manager". BBC Sport. 22 February 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  31. "Club statement". Birmingham City. Archived from the original on 2021-04-22. Retrieved 2021-06-02.
  32. "Lee Bowyer Appointed As Head Coach". Birmingham City. Archived from the original on 2021-05-05. Retrieved 2021-06-02.
  33. "Preston sack manager Neil after dismal run" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  34. "Preston appoint interim boss Frankie McAvoy as new head coach". BBC Sport. 10 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  35. "Top Scorers – Championship". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  36. "Blackburn Rovers 5–0 Wycombe Wanderers: Adam Armstrong scores hat-trick for hosts". BBC Sport. 19 September 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  37. "Luton Town 3–0 Preston North End: Collins scores hat-trick in Luton win". BBC Sport. 12 December 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  38. "Cardiff City 2–3 Brentford: Canos' treble wins it for Bees". BBC Sport. 26 December 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  39. "Brentford 7–2 Wycombe Wanderers: Ivan Toney scores hat-trick for the Bees". BBC Sport. 30 January 2021. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  40. "Norwich City 7–0 Huddersfield Town: Teemu Pukki nets hat-trick in Canaries rout". BBC Sport. 6 April 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  41. "Blackburn Rovers 5–2 Huddersfield Town: Adam Armstrong hat-trick helps crush Terriers". BBC Sport. 24 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  42. "Birmingham City 0–4 Cardiff City: Harry Wilson scores hat-trick for Bluebirds". BBC Sport. 1 May 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  43. "Blackburn Rovers 5–2 Birmingham City: Adam Armstrong scores hat-trick for hosts". BBC Sport. 8 May 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  44. "Championship Top Assists". BBC. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  45. "Championship Player Statistics". www.whoscored.com. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  46. "Championship Team Statistics". www.whoscored.com. Retrieved 2020-09-19.
  47. "Blackburn midfielder Bradley Johnson and Reading boss Veljko Paunovic win Sky Bet Championship September awards". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2020-11-29.
  48. "Brentford striker Ivan Toney and Middlesbrough boss Neil Warnock win Sky Bet Championship October awards". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2020-11-29.
  49. "Bournemouth midfielder David Brooks and Watford manager Vladimir Ivic win Sky Bet Championship November awards". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
  50. "Sky Bet Championship: December Manager and Player of the Month winners". www.efl.com.
  51. "Rotherham's Matt Crooks and Swansea's Steve Cooper win Sky Bet Championship January awards". Sky Sports.
  52. "Norwich City's Teemu Pukki and Cardiff City's Mick McCarthy win Sky Bet Championship February awards". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  53. "Barnsley's Alex Mowatt and Watford's Xisco Munoz win Sky Bet Championship March awards". Sky Sports.
  54. "Bournemouth duo Arnaut Danjuma and Jonathan Woodgate win Sky Bet Championship April awards". Sky Sports. 7 May 2021.