2016–17 EFL Championship


The 2016–17 EFL Championship 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. The latter became the first club to gain promotion from the Championship with a negative goal difference.
The season started on 5 August 2016 with the final round of regular league fixtures played on 7 May 2017. 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
Relegated from Premier League

From Championship

Relegated to League One
Promoted to Premier League

Stadiums and locations

TeamLocationStadiumCapacity
Aston VillaBirminghamVilla Park42,790
BarnsleyBarnsleyOakwell23,009
Birmingham CityBirminghamSt Andrew's30,020
Blackburn RoversBlackburnEwood Park31,370
BrentfordLondon Griffin Park12,760
Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton and HoveAMEX Stadium30,280
Bristol CityBristolAshton Gate27,000
Burton AlbionBurton upon TrentPirelli Stadium6,912
Cardiff CityCardiffCardiff City Stadium33,300
Derby CountyDerbyPride Park Stadium33,600
FulhamLondon Craven Cottage25,680
Huddersfield TownHuddersfieldJohn Smith's Stadium24,500
Ipswich TownIpswichPortman Road30,300
Leeds UnitedLeedsElland Road37,900
Newcastle UnitedNewcastleSt James' Park52,354
Norwich CityNorwichCarrow Road27,220
Nottingham ForestNottinghamCity Ground30,576
Preston [North End F.C.|Preston North End]PrestonDeepdale23,408
Queens [Park Rangers F.C.|Queens Park Rangers]London Loftus Road18,360
ReadingReadingMadejski Stadium24,200
Rotherham UnitedRotherhamNew York Stadium12,021
Sheffield WednesdaySheffieldHillsborough39,812
Wigan AthleticWiganDW Stadium25,023
Wolverhampton WanderersWolverhamptonMolineux31,700

Personnel and sponsoring

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

League table



Play-offs

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.

Top scorers

RankPlayerClubGoals
1

Hat-tricks

PlayerForAgainstResultDate
sortname|Grant|Ward

Attendances

Source: