Birmingham City supporters will have six new grounds to visit next season as the Championship welcomes three relegated Premier League sides and three promoted teams from League One. Chris Davies faces six new opponents to outmanoeuvre in the 2025-26 campaign.
New arrivals in the Championship
West Ham United, Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers have joined the second tier via the Premier League trapdoor. Lincoln City, Cardiff City and Bolton Wanderers have come up from League One.
Lincoln City, nicknamed the Imps, have lost head coach Michael Skubala to Bristol City. They have appointed two replacements from within in Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw to avoid disruption ahead of their first season in the second tier in 65 years. Bolton are playing with a small budget and their main aim will be to avoid relegation back to the third tier.
Cardiff City have recent experience in the Championship and the Premier League and boast a plethora of young talent successfully blooded in League One. They might amount to more than a relegation battle under Brian Barry-Murphy.
Cardiff City's promising outlook
Glen Williams, who follows the Bluebirds for WalesOnline, said: “Barry-Murphy has implemented an eye-catching style of play - something many Championship watchers down the years won't associate with Cardiff - and has placed an emphasis on youth.
“Dylan Lawlor emerged from the academy last year and is now a standout star player, with big clubs in England and across Europe and America keen on him. Yousef Salech has proved a dangerous striker at Championship and League One level and will be a dangerous weapon, too, while Rubin Colwill has his chest out after a coming-of-age campaign last year.
“The Bluebirds will need up to six signings to make a dent in the top half, I feel, but the base level is more encouraging than it has been for some years and there is real cause for excitement and optimism - finally - for the supporters.”
Blues' early season challenge
Everyone will go into the new season with optimism, but some of it will be diminished eight games in when the first international break arrives in late September. Blues play a whole bunch of fancied teams before then, including a Wolves side already bolstered by the signings of Kieran Trippier and Raul Jimenez.
Wolverhampton Wanderers have signed Mexico striker Raul Jimenez for next season. “After the incredible signings of Kieran Trippier and Raul Jimenez I thought I had somewhat of a handle on how Wolves would look in 26/27,” said Mirror football reporter Ben Husband.
“That was then completely ripped up after the decision to sack Rob Edwards and replace him with Cesar Peixoto. Peixoto is a relative unknown and after never managing outside of Portugal he will need to hit the ground running. What will help with that is a squad - that on paper - looks extremely strong for the Championship.
“Trippier should be the best full-back in the division, Andre will be the best midfielder and with Jimenez and Adam Armstrong their frontline should be top as well. There’s still lots of work to do elsewhere though and fans are already nervous over whether it will get done.
“Wolves will look vastly different to the side relegated last season and anything less than a serious crack at the automatics will be a huge underachievement.”
West Ham and Burnley among promotion favourites
Blues are up against it this year, that much is clear. Wolves aren’t even the favourites for promotion – that pressure is with West Ham whose manager Nuno Espirito Santo led Wolves to the Championship title in 2017/18.
Mirror football writer Tom Victor says: "A first relegation in 15 years leaves West Ham with a host of uncertainties, just as it did back in 2011. However, this time things will likely look different. There’s no high-profile new manager in the shape of Sam Allardyce and there’s unlikely to be a Kevin Nolan-style signing of a player who could easily be playing in the top flight.
“Nuno’s decision to stay feels huge in the context of what will be upheaval elsewhere, with vice-chair Karren Brady leaving before the end of last season and David Sullivan stepping down as chairman in June. But there is still plenty of uncertainty when it comes to who stays and who goes, and that will shape both expectations and realities.
“Mateus Fernandes is gone and Crysencio Summerville looks likely to follow, but recouping well north of £100m for the pair may allow the club to hang onto others. If even one of Taty Castellanos and Jarrod Bowen stays then Nuno’s side should have the firepower to trouble any Championship defence and there’s still a chance that both stick around, while there ought to be money for replacements if one is sold.
“Defensive reinforcements will still be needed, though, while Tomas Soucek’s commitment to the club has been offset by the news that he faces a spell out with the ankle injury he sustained at the World Cup. West Ham still have some big ifs, but there’s more optimism - albeit cautious - than the last time the club found itself in the second tier.”
Then there’s the perennial promotion winners that nobody seems to be talking about: Burnley. The Clarets are in a bit of a pickle having sacked manager Scott Parker – a three-time promotion winner from this level – without having a replacement in mind. Pre-season has started and no appointment has been made.
Burnley Express reporter Matt Scrafton said: “Burnley are in a state of flux at this moment in time, so it’s incredibly difficult to provide too much of a verdict or opinion on how they’re likely to fare this coming season with so much still left hanging in the air.
“Now over two months on from Scott Parker’s departure, the Clarets remain without a manager. While it’s hoped the club can avoid a repeat of their last Championship campaign, which saw a huge turnover of players with 18 arriving and a further 21 departing, it’s inevitable there will be plenty moving on.
“Regardless of the current uncertainty, Burnley still have a very strong squad for the level and, even with the departures of some of their better players, such as Maxime Esteve, Jaidon Anthony and Zian Flemming, as has been rumoured, they’ll still have more than enough to be competing at the top end once again.
“As bad as they’ve been in the Premier League in recent years, their record in the Championship is simply phenomenal - finishing on 101 and 100 points in their last two seasons at this level and losing just five of their last 115 second tier games.”
Blues' promotion hopes
The question is whether Blues, with new signings Dael Fry and Jhon Solis in tow, can upset the applecart in the Championship to secure the promotion they so desperately crave.
