English Championship Betting Guide

English Championship Betting Guide

The English Football League Championship is usually referred to as the Championship and it is the second tier for football in England, only behind the English Premier League.

It is often used as a breeding ground for younger players who can go out on loan from top clubs in the Premier League and get match experience at a decent level.

There are also a lot of players who ply their trade in this league as they just have not been quite up to the standard of the Premier League. These players can earn a great living and enjoy their careers playing for Championship sides.

English Championship betting

The previous iteration of the Championship was being known as the Football League First Division from 1992 until 2004. Before that, it was known as the Football League Second Division from 1892 until 1992.

The trophy that is represented to the winners of the Championship is exactly the same as the trophy the First Division champions would receive before the Premier League was started in 1992. Therefore, there is a massive amount of history associated with this trophy.

Format of the Championship

There are 24 teams that are part of this league. By the end of the season, the top two sides in the standings will get automatic promotion to the Premier League. The teams that manage to come in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th place will then fight it out for one last promotion spot. This entails having a play-off tournament, with the winner getting the remaining coveted spot in the Premier League.

There are two legs to the semi-finals of this playoff series, which means that both teams get to play at home. The final is only one leg, taking place each year at Wembley stadium.

Some teams tend to yo-yo back and forth between the Premier League and the Championship. The likes of Leicester City, West Bromwich Albion and Sunderland have traditionally been the teams to do so since the Premier League began back in 1992. Currently, Nottingham Forest and Derby County have been in the Championship the longest, both having been in the league since the 2007/2008 season.

Both English and Welsh teams are allowed to take part in the Championship, but the likes of Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own domestic leagues. There has been talk over the years of having a joint league in Great Britain, but no significant progress has been made on the issue.

For the three teams that are at the foot of the table, they will be relegated to League One football for the following season.

Wealth and fan base of the Championship

Despite being a second-term domestic league, the English Championship is still the eight wealthiest division for football across all of Europe. It is also the richest football division globally that is not the premier division in a given country.

The average attendance at games during the 2018/2019 season was 20,181 which makes the league the most attended second-tier league globally. In all, just nine football leagues in the world have better average attendance.

While most Premier League teams have a large international fan base, this is not as much the case for the lower leagues, such as in the Championship. Instead, these teams largely rely on the support of fans in the areas local to the football club. These committed supporters travel the length and breadth of the country to follow their teams each week.

Betting on the English Championship

As English football is so popular, even the second and third-tier divisions are going to be popular among punters. As you have seen, the English Championship is still a leading league in the world of football in terms of its attendance figures and the money that is within the league.

This is why bookmakers ensure that there is a widespread of markets available on all Championship games. There will be a couple of hundred markets for you to choose from, catering for all preferences.

A lot of people prefer betting on lower tiers of football anyway as it is more likely a football fanatic can gain an edge on the bookmakers.

The traders who set the odds may not have as much knowledge about teams and players in the lower tiers in comparison to those in the leading teams and divisions of football. Therefore, the in-depth knowledge fan shave can be put to good use when placing bets.

Receive bonuses and promos direct to your inbox

Click here

star
games slots