More commonly described as the second tier of English professional football, the EFL Championship is intensely competitive, and reaching the Premier League is the ultimate goal for all sides.
How many teams are in the Championship? 24 outfits play every other team twice throughout the course of the campaign, once at home and once away. Invariably, the regular season offers plenty of twists and turns along the way to keep fans entertained.
But why are there 24 teams? How does promotion and relegation work? Why is it different from the Premier League? This easy-to-read guide answers these pressing questions and more.
How Many Teams are in the EFL Championship?
After a few revamps over the past couple of decades, EFL regulations stipulate that there should be a 24-club Championship, and this is reflected by the 2026/7 table.
Previously, plans were submitted by the EFL to shake up the English football pyramid, which would have established 100 teams across five divisions, split into 20 teams per division. However, this was ultimately deemed unviable, and talks between the EFL and the Football Association subsequently broke down.
As far as the EFL Championship is concerned, there are a few things that are set in stone:
- The Championship (24) features more teams than the Premier League (20).
- The number of Championship sides determines that each club plays 46 games across a season.
- Each campaign, the composition of each division shifts as clubs move up to the Premier League or drop down from the top flight.
- Meanwhile, the Championship welcomes three new sides promoted from League One, and there are three demoted to League One.
- While the identities of teams change each season, the one constant is that the Championship is structured around 24 clubs.
Why Does the Championship Have 24 Teams?
Since the emergence of the EFL in 2016, which saw the rise to prominence of the Championship alongside League One and Two, little has changed.
Bound by rules set out in the handbook by the Championship and the FA, the league composition for the Championship is set as follows:
- Both the Championship and League One are structured around 24 clubs.
- EFL regulations can make arrangements to restore the Championship to 24 clubs if exceptional circumstances cause membership numbers to fall.
- The Championship is a core component of the overriding EFL structure, while League One and League Two take the total number of teams across all three divisions to 72.
- Given this set up, the EFL Championship always plays out as a longer season than the Premier League which possesses 20 sides.
How Many Games Does Each Championship Team Play?
With 24 teams in the Championship, every team plays the other 23 clubs twice each campaign, home and away.
As there are 23 home and 23 away fixtures, each side contests 46 games a campaign, which is calculated as follows: 23 x 2 = 46.
Taken into a wider context, the Championship features 552 regular-season matches, which is calculated as such: 24 teams x 46 2 = 552.
Remember, Cup matches and play-off matches are disparate and not included in the 46-game league season schedule. In the next section, we will explore the update to the play-off structure which has come into effect.
How Do Promotion Places Work in the Championship?
As per usual, the top two teams automatically head up to the Premier League after the end of the campaign. However, a new rule was brought in from the 26/27 season affecting the play-off format:
- Instead of four teams, there will now be six teams in the play-offs from the 26/27 campaign, covering finishing positions third to eighth in the Championship.
- The EFL approved the changes to expand the number of play-off teams in March 2026.
- Clubs finishing third and fourth will automatically seal a semi-final berth.
- A one-legged eliminator tie will be played by the team that finished fifth who will be at home to the side positioned eighth after the regular season, while sixth hosts seventh.
- Semi-finals will continue to be two-legged affairs. The final will take place at Wembley, which will decide the third team heading to the Premier League.
- The EFL have confirmed the Championship will stage seven fixtures in total for the play-offs, increasing from the five play-off games held previously.
- The EFL wanted to raise the number of competitive fixtures at the end of the season, perhaps as a way to curtail the number of dead rubbers during the play-offs.
How Many Teams Are Relegated From the Championship?
Each season, three sides are relegated from the Championship to League One, functioning as follows:
- The teams finishing 22nd, 23rd, and 24th drop down to League One.
- They will be replaced by three teams from League One, which helps to ensure fluid movement between the divisions.
- The Championship is then restored to the traditional 24-club structure for the following season.
- Each club must comply with the regulations set out by the league and FA.
- In exceptional circumstances involving the status of club memberships, the EFL can make regulatory adjustments. However, this shouldn’t be construed as part of a standard seasonal format.
Championship vs Premier League: How Many Teams Are There?
We’ve created a comparison table highlighting the fundamental difference between the Championship and the Premier League, and shared a few key findings too:
| Competition | Teams | League games per club |
| Premier League | 20 | 38 |
| Championship | 24 | 46 |
- The Championship is a bigger competition in terms of team size, as this competition contains four more sides than the Premier League.
- Subsequently, the Championship stages eight more matches (46) per season compared to England’s top-flight division (38).
- The number of games is one of the main structural differences between England’s top two divisions, and the Championship has a more congested schedule.
- Promotion and relegation remains the main link between the two competitions. The three bottom-placed teams drop from the Premier League to the Championship, while the top two teams in the Championship secure an automatic promotion berth, and they are joined by a third side from the play-offs.
Do the Championship Teams Change Every Season?
Due to the nature of promotion and relegation, the composition of the Championship changes each season. Of course, there are some teams that have become near ever-present features of the division as they have often just missed out on promotion or they tend to hover around mid-table.
There are also some teams with a rich heritage that have tended to bounce between the Premier League and the Championship. Often, the Premier League has proved to be a serious step up in quality, and they have struggled to adjust to the demands of the top flight.
That said, there are some other underlying observations we’ve made about the complexion of the Championship:
- At the end of a given campaign, three Championship clubs move up to the Premier League. The top two teams are promoted automatically, while one enters via the play-offs.
- Three teams are relegated to League One from the Championship, with corresponding clubs entering the division above and below.
- Although there are 24 teams in the Championship, the exact list regularly changes between seasons and is never usually the same.
- While the Championship always has 24 teams, there is always a sense of unpredictability as it depends on how events unfold in the upper and lower divisions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are there 24 teams in the Championship?
Yes, there are 24 teams in the EFL Championship, and it has been structured in accordance with the rules that have been laid out by the EFL and the FA. Only in exceptional circumstances may regulatory changes be carried out.
How many matches does a Championship team play?
Each Championship team plays 46 matches throughout the season. Every team plays the other 23 sides twice — home and away — which explains the number 46.
How many teams are promoted from the Championship?
Three teams go up to the Premier League each season — the top two sides in the division are promoted automatically, and they are joined by a third team that ascends to the top flight via a newly revised play-off structure.
How many teams qualify for the Championship play-offs?
Previously, four teams secured play-off spots. However, as of the 2026/27 season, the format changed, so teams finishing third to eighth now qualify for the play-offs.
The teams that finish the regular Championship season third and fourth go straight into the semi-finals, while the remaining four teams face a single-leg eliminator to determine whether they will advance.
How many teams are relegated?
After the end of each Championship season, the bottom three sides drop through the trap door into League One.
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