_ _ _ _____ ___ __ __ _(_) | _(_)___ / ( _ ) / /_ ___ ___ _ __ ___ \ \ /\ / / | |/ / | |_ \ / _ \| '_ \ / __/ _ \| '_ ` _ \ \ V V /| | <| |___) | (_) | (_) | (_| (_) | | | | | | \_/\_/ |_|_|\_\_|____/ \___/ \___(_)___\___/|_| |_| |_|
Season | 2008–09 |
---|---|
Champions | Wolverhampton Wanderers 1st Championship title 3rd 2nd tier title |
Promoted | Wolverhampton Wanderers Birmingham City Burnley |
Relegated | Norwich City Southampton Charlton Athletic |
Matches played | 552 |
Goals scored | 1,350 (2.45 per match) |
Top goalscorer | Sylvan Ebanks-Blake (25 goals) |
Biggest home win | Reading 6–0 Sheffield Wednesday, Preston North End 6–0 Cardiff City |
Biggest away win | Charlton Athletic 2–5 Sheffield United |
Highest scoring | Norwich City 5–2 Wolverhampton Wanderers, Watford 3–4 Blackpool, Charlton Athletic 2–5 Sheffield United |
Longest winning run | 7 games Wolverhampton Wanderers (achieved twice) |
Longest unbeaten run | 13 games Cardiff City, Swansea City |
Longest winless run | 18 games Charlton Athletic |
Longest losing run | 6 games Doncaster Rovers |
Highest attendance | 33,079 Derby County v Wolverhampton Wanderers |
Lowest attendance | 6,648 Blackpool v Charlton Athletic |
Average attendance | 17,938 |
← 2007–08 2009–10 → |
The 2008–09 Football League Championship (known as the Coca-Cola Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the sixth season of the league under its current title and seventeenth season under its current league division format.
Wolverhampton Wanderers won the division to return to the Premier League after a five-year absence. They secured the Championship title on 25 April, one week after having confirmed their promotion with a victory over QPR.
Birmingham City were promoted at the first attempt following their relegation. They secured their return to the top flight on the final day of the season by winning at promotion rivals Reading 2–1. Norwich City, Southampton and Charlton Athletic were relegated;
Burnley won the play-offs to reach the Premier League for the first time after a 1–0 win in the play-off final against Sheffield United, who had been in with a chance of automatic promotion on the final day.
Relegated from the Premier League:
Promoted from League One:
Promoted to the Premier League:
Relegated to League One:
Team | Stadium | Capacity |
---|---|---|
Barnsley | Oakwell | 23,009 |
Birmingham City | St Andrew's | 30,009 |
Blackpool | Bloomfield Road | 9,788 |
Bristol City | Ashton Gate | 21,497 |
Burnley | Turf Moor | 22,546 |
Cardiff City | Ninian Park | 22,008 |
Charlton Athletic | The Valley | 27,111 |
Coventry City | Ricoh Arena | 32,609 |
Crystal Palace | Selhurst Park | 26,309 |
Derby County | Pride Park | 33,597 |
Doncaster Rovers | Keepmoat Stadium | 15,231 |
Ipswich Town | Portman Road | 30,311 |
Norwich City | Carrow Road | 26,034 |
Nottingham Forest | City Ground | 30,602 |
Plymouth Argyle | Home Park | 19,500 |
Preston North End | Deepdale | 24,500 |
Queens Park Rangers | Loftus Road | 19,128 |
Reading | Madejski Stadium | 24,161 |
Sheffield United | Bramall Lane | 32,609 |
Sheffield Wednesday | Hillsborough | 39,814 |
Southampton | St Mary's Stadium | 32,689 |
Swansea City | Liberty Stadium | 20,532 |
Watford | Vicarage Road | 19,920 |
Wolverhampton Wanderers | Molineux | 28,525 |
Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
QPR | Iain Dowie | Sacked | 24 October 2008 | Paulo Sousa | 19 November 2008 | 9th |
Watford | Aidy Boothroyd | Mutual consent | 3 November 2008 | Brendan Rodgers | 24 November 2008 | 21st |
Charlton Athletic | Alan Pardew | Mutual consent | 22 November 2008 | Phil Parkinson | 31 December 2008 | 22nd |
Blackpool | Simon Grayson | Signed by Leeds United | 23 December 2008 | Ian Holloway | 21 May 2009 | 16th |
Nottingham Forest | Colin Calderwood | Sacked | 26 December 2008 | Billy Davies | 1 January 2009 | 22nd |
Derby County | Paul Jewell | Resigned | 28 December 2008 | Nigel Clough | 6 January 2009 | 18th |
Norwich City | Glenn Roeder | Sacked | 14 January 2009 | Bryan Gunn | 21 January 2009 | 21st |
Southampton | Jan Poortvliet | Resigned | 23 January 2009 | Mark Wotte | 23 January 2009 | 23rd |
QPR | Paulo Sousa | Sacked | 9 April 2009 | Jim Magilton | 3 June 2009 | 10th |
Ipswich Town | Jim Magilton | Sacked | 22 April 2009 | Roy Keane | 23 April 2009 | 9th |
Reading | Steve Coppell | Resigned | 12 May 2009 | Brendan Rodgers | 4 June 2009 | 4th, Play-off semi-final |
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Wolverhampton Wanderers (C, P) | 46 | 27 | 9 | 10 | 80 | 52 | +28 | 90 | Promotion to the Premier League |
2 | Birmingham City (P) | 46 | 23 | 14 | 9 | 54 | 37 | +17 | 83 | |
3 | Sheffield United | 46 | 22 | 14 | 10 | 64 | 39 | +25 | 80 | Qualification for Championship play-offs |
4 | Reading | 46 | 21 | 14 | 11 | 72 | 40 | +32 | 77 | |
5 | Burnley (O, P) | 46 | 21 | 13 | 12 | 72 | 60 | +12 | 76 | |
6 | Preston North End | 46 | 21 | 11 | 14 | 66 | 54 | +12 | 74 | |
7 | Cardiff City | 46 | 19 | 17 | 10 | 65 | 53 | +12 | 74 | |
8 | Swansea City | 46 | 16 | 20 | 10 | 63 | 50 | +13 | 68 | |
9 | Ipswich Town | 46 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 62 | 53 | +9 | 66 | |
10 | Bristol City | 46 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 54 | 54 | 0 | 61 | |
11 | Queens Park Rangers | 46 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 42 | 44 | −2 | 61 | |
12 | Sheffield Wednesday | 46 | 16 | 13 | 17 | 51 | 58 | −7 | 61 | |
13 | Watford | 46 | 16 | 10 | 20 | 68 | 72 | −4 | 58 | |
14 | Doncaster Rovers | 46 | 17 | 7 | 22 | 42 | 53 | −11 | 58 | |
15 | Crystal Palace | 46 | 15 | 12 | 19 | 52 | 55 | −3 | 56 | |
16 | Blackpool | 46 | 13 | 17 | 16 | 47 | 58 | −11 | 56 | |
17 | Coventry City | 46 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 47 | 58 | −11 | 54 | |
18 | Derby County | 46 | 14 | 12 | 20 | 55 | 67 | −12 | 54 | |
19 | Nottingham Forest | 46 | 13 | 14 | 19 | 50 | 65 | −15 | 53 | |
20 | Barnsley | 46 | 13 | 13 | 20 | 45 | 58 | −13 | 52 | |
21 | Plymouth Argyle | 46 | 13 | 12 | 21 | 44 | 57 | −13 | 51 | |
22 | Norwich City (R) | 46 | 12 | 10 | 24 | 57 | 70 | −13 | 46 | Relegation to Football League One |
23 | Southampton (R) | 46 | 10 | 15 | 21 | 46 | 69 | −23 | 45 | |
24 | Charlton Athletic (R) | 46 | 8 | 15 | 23 | 52 | 74 | −22 | 39 |
Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||||
3 | Sheffield United | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
6 | Preston North End | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||||
3 | Sheffield United | 0 | |||||||||
5 | Burnley | 1 | |||||||||
4 | Reading | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
5 | Burnley | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Pos | Player | Team | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Sylvan Ebanks-Blake | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 25 |
2 | Ross McCormack | Cardiff City | 21 |
Jason Scotland | Swansea City | ||
4 | Kevin Doyle | Reading | 18 |
5 | Tommy Smith | Watford | 16 |
6 | Rob Hulse | Derby County | 14 |
Chris Iwelumo | Wolverhampton Wanderers | ||
Marcus Tudgay | Sheffield Wednesday | ||
Kevin Phillips | Birmingham City |
Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | Notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Manager | Club | Player | Club | ||
August | Mick McCarthy | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Richard Chaplow | Preston North End | |
September | Owen Coyle | Burnley | Kevin Doyle | Reading | |
October | Dave Jones | Cardiff City | Rob Hulse | Derby County | |
November | Mick McCarthy | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Chris Iwelumo | Wolverhampton Wanderers | |
December | Steve Coppell | Reading | Stephen Hunt | Reading | |
January | Roberto Martínez | Swansea City | Joe Ledley | Cardiff City | |
February | Chris Coleman | Coventry City | Jason Scotland | Swansea City | |
March | Kevin Blackwell | Sheffield United | Robbie Blake | Burnley | |
April | Alan Irvine | Preston North End | Kyle Naughton | Sheffield United |
On 23 April 2009, The Football League announced that Southampton had been placed into administration. The ruling occurred after the deadline for immediate points deduction application, so the ten-point deduction would have to await whether or not Southampton, in 22nd place at the time of the announcement, were relegated. If they had finished above the relegation zone, then the points would have been deducted from their total for the current year to thereby relegate them. However, since their relegation was confirmed following their penultimate match, their point penalty would be applied the next season in League One.