Yahoo News Championship 2024/25 line-up, final day permutations, points deduction and renewed rivalries for Stoke City
Stoke City are one of 14 teams now confirmed for the 2024/25 Championship season with one round of fixtures remaining and promotion and relegation issues still to be decided.
A 1-0 win at Southampton last weekend secured Stoke's status after a tough campaign and the bottom line at the club since at least February has been to stay up. They are in 18th going into a final day at home against Bristol City and could still end up between 16th and 19th in the shake-up depending on other results and goal difference.
Three teams from above and below already know they will be in the second tier next term. Sheffield United are coming down from the Premier League - and will start the campaign on minus-two points due to defaulting on payments to other clubs during the 2022/23 season.
Derby County are coming back up after two seasons in League One and Portsmouth have won promotion as champions. Stoke haven't played against Pompey since a 3-0 League Cup win back in August 2014 and they haven't locked horns in the league since Stoke did a Premier League double in 2009/10. Salif Diao scored a rare goal in the last minute to win 2-1 at Fratton Park.
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Leicester will be waving goodbye to the Championship, up as champions after one season back in the EFL thanks to last night's win at Preston North End.
Leeds United are in second, ahead of Ipswich Town by seven on goal difference. But Ipswich have a game in hand, playing Coventry away tonight (8pm), and whatever happens the second automatic promotion spot can only be confirmed on the final day. Leeds are at home against Southampton while Ipswich are at home against Huddersfield.
Southampton are guaranteed fourth spot but the other two play-off places are still to be decided. Norwich are all-but there on 73 points with a +16 goal difference, West Brom (+20 GD) are in sixth with 72 points and Hull (+9) are in seventh with 70. Norwich are away at Birmingham for their final fixture, West Brom are at home against Preston and Hull are on the road to Plymouth..
5 Norwich 45 21 10 14 79 63 +16 73
6 West Brom 45 20 12 13 67 47 +20 72
7 Hull 45 19 13 13 68 59 +9 70
Rotherham are down. Huddersfield are all-but mathematically doomed too and would need a 15-goal swing to leap frog Plymouth and Birmingham. The third place is between Birmingham, Plymouth, Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn Rovers.
19 Blackburn Rovers 45 13 11 21 56 74 -16 50
20 Sheff Wed 45 14 8 23 42 68 -26 50
21 Plymouth 45 12 12 21 58 70 -12 48
22 Birmingham 45 12 11 22 49 65 -16 47
23 Huddersfield 45 9 18 18 48 75 -27 45
Final day fixtures in the Championship
Saturday (12.30pm): Birmingham v Norwich, Coventry v QPR, Ipswich v Huddersfield, Leeds v Southampton, Leicester v Blackburn, Middlesbrough v Watford, Rotherham v Cardiff, Plymouth v Hull, Stoke v Bristol City, Sunderland v Sheffield Wednesday, West Brom v Preston.
Who could be coming down from the Premier League?
Sheffield United are coming straight back down after a dismal season.
There are still three clubs in the running for the other two spots - Burnley, Luton Town and Nottingham Forest - with three games left for all of them to play. Forest are also appealing against a four-point deduction for breaching profit and sustainability rules.
It says a lot about the quality of the Premier League that the old saying that 40 points being needed for survival is more like 30 points this season.
17 Nottingham Forest 35 7 9 19 42 62 -20 26
18 Luton Town 35 6 7 22 48 77 -29 25
19 Burnley 35 5 9 21 38 70 -32 24
Who could be coming up from League One?
Portsmouth and Derby County are up automatically.
Bolton Wanderers will take on Barnsley and Peterborough United are up against Oxford United in the play-off semi-finals. Barnsley sacked their manager Neill Collins last week after limping into the top six.
The play-off first legs will take place on Friday and Saturday respectively with the second legs on Tuesday and Wednesday next week and the final on Saturday, May 18.
Championship line-up 2024/25
Guaranteed: Bristol City, Cardiff City, Coventry City, Derby County, Middlesbrough, Millwall, Portsmouth, Preston North End, Queens Park Rangers, Stoke City, Sunderland, Swansea City, Watford, Sheffield United (will start on -2)
Two out of three teams to be relegated from Premier League: Nottingham Forest, Luton Town, Burnley
One to win automatic promotion, other to be in Championship play-offs: Leeds United, Ipswich Town
Guaranteed play-offs: Southampton
Two out of three to finish in play-off places: Norwich City, West Bromwich Albion, Hull City
Two out of five to finish in relegation spots: Blackburn Rovers, Sheffield Wednesday, Plymouth, Birmingham City, Huddersfield Town
One out of four to be promoted from League One: Bolton Wanderers, Peterborough United, Oxford United, Barnsley
