2007–08 Football League Championship
Season | 2007–08 |
---|---|
Champions | West Bromwich Albion 1st Championship title 3rd 2nd tier title |
Promoted | West Bromwich Albion Stoke City Hull City |
Relegated | Leicester City Colchester United Scunthorpe United |
Goals scored | 1,394 |
Average goals/game | 2.53 |
Top goalscorer | Sylvan Ebanks-Blake (23) |
Biggest home win | Ipswich Town 6–0 Bristol City (2007-11-10) |
Highest attendance | 36,208 Sheffield Wednesday v Norwich City |
Average attendance | 17,067[1] |
← 2006–07 2008–09 → |
The 2007–08 Football League Championship (known as the Coca-Cola Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the sixteenth season under its current league division format and its fourth with its current sponsorship. The leagues started in August 2007 and concluded in May 2008, with the promotion play-off finals.
The Football League is contested through three Divisions. The top divisions of these is the League Championship. The winner and the runner up of the League Championship will be automatically promoted to the Premiership and they will be joined by the winner of the League Championship play-off. The bottom three teams in the Championship will be relegated to the second division, League One.
West Bromwich Albion finished top of the league with 81 points, closely followed by Stoke City who had 79 points. Hull City were promoted through the play-offs. Colchester and Scunthorpe United were both relegated several weeks before the end of the season. However, in a very tight league, with a gap of only 29 points between top and 22nd place, the final team to be relegated, Leicester City, went down on the final day while six other teams were within three points of them, despite the fact that only Crystal Palace had conceded less goals.
Changes from last season
[edit]From Championship
[edit]Promoted to Premier League
Relegated to League One
To Championship
[edit]Relegated from Premier League
Promoted from League One
League table
[edit]Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | West Bromwich Albion (C, P) | 46 | 23 | 12 | 11 | 88 | 55 | +33 | 81 | Promotion to the Premier League |
2 | Stoke City (P) | 46 | 21 | 16 | 9 | 69 | 55 | +14 | 79 | |
3 | Hull City (O, P) | 46 | 21 | 12 | 13 | 65 | 47 | +18 | 75 | Qualification for Championship play-offs |
4 | Bristol City | 46 | 20 | 14 | 12 | 54 | 53 | +1 | 74 | |
5 | Crystal Palace | 46 | 18 | 17 | 11 | 58 | 42 | +16 | 71 | |
6 | Watford | 46 | 18 | 16 | 12 | 62 | 56 | +6 | 70 | |
7 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 46 | 18 | 16 | 12 | 53 | 48 | +5 | 70 | |
8 | Ipswich Town | 46 | 18 | 15 | 13 | 65 | 56 | +9 | 69 | |
9 | Sheffield United | 46 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 56 | 51 | +5 | 66 | |
10 | Plymouth Argyle | 46 | 17 | 13 | 16 | 60 | 50 | +10 | 64 | |
11 | Charlton Athletic | 46 | 17 | 13 | 16 | 63 | 58 | +5 | 64 | |
12 | Cardiff City | 46 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 59 | 55 | +4 | 64 | |
13 | Burnley | 46 | 16 | 14 | 16 | 60 | 67 | −7 | 62 | |
14 | Queens Park Rangers | 46 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 60 | 66 | −6 | 58 | |
15 | Preston North End | 46 | 15 | 11 | 20 | 50 | 56 | −6 | 56 | |
16 | Sheffield Wednesday | 46 | 14 | 13 | 19 | 54 | 55 | −1 | 55 | |
17 | Norwich City | 46 | 15 | 10 | 21 | 49 | 59 | −10 | 55 | |
18 | Barnsley | 46 | 14 | 13 | 19 | 52 | 65 | −13 | 55 | |
19 | Blackpool | 46 | 12 | 18 | 16 | 59 | 64 | −5 | 54 | |
20 | Southampton | 46 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 56 | 72 | −16 | 54 | |
21 | Coventry City | 46 | 14 | 11 | 21 | 52 | 64 | −12 | 53 | |
22 | Leicester City (R) | 46 | 12 | 16 | 18 | 42 | 45 | −3 | 52 | Relegation to Football League One |
23 | Scunthorpe United (R) | 46 | 11 | 13 | 22 | 46 | 69 | −23 | 46 | |
24 | Colchester United (R) | 46 | 7 | 17 | 22 | 62 | 86 | −24 | 38 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Play-offs
[edit]The Football League Championship Playoffs took place at the end of May 2008. They involved the teams that finished third to sixth in the table. Hull (3rd) and Bristol City (4th) qualified from their semi-finals against Watford (6th) and Crystal Palace (5th) respectively over two legs. Hull City won the final with a single Dean Windass goal to win promotion to the Premier League.
Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||
3 | Hull City | 2 | 4 | 6 | |||||||
6 | Watford | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||||
3 | Hull City | 1 | |||||||||
4 | Bristol City | 0 | |||||||||
4 | Bristol City | 2 | 2 | 4 | |||||||
5 | Crystal Palace | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Results
[edit]Top scorers
[edit]Pos | Player | Team | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Sylvan Ebanks-Blake | Plymouth Argyle Wolverhampton Wanderers |
23 |
2 | James Beattie | Sheffield United | 22 |
Kevin Phillips | West Bromwich Albion | 22 | |
4 | Stern John | Southampton | 19 |
5 | Kevin Lisbie | Colchester United | 17 |
6 | Clinton Morrison | Crystal Palace | 16 |
7 | Fraizer Campbell | Hull City | 15 |
Ricardo Fuller | Stoke City | 15 | |
9 | Liam Lawrence | Stoke City | 14 |
Team of the Year
[edit]Stadia
[edit]Team | Stadium | Capacity |
---|---|---|
Sheffield Wednesday | Hillsborough Stadium | 39,814 |
Southampton | St Mary's Stadium | 32,689 |
Coventry City | Ricoh Arena | 32,609 |
Sheffield United | Bramall Lane | 32,609 |
Leicester City | Walkers Stadium | 32,500 |
Ipswich Town | Portman Road | 30,311 |
Wolverhampton Wanderers | Molineux Stadium | 28,525 |
Stoke City | Britannia Stadium | 28,383 |
West Brom | The Hawthorns | 28,003 |
Charlton Athletic | The Valley | 27,111 |
Crystal Palace | Selhurst Park | 26,309 |
Norwich City | Carrow Road | 26,034 |
Hull City | KC Stadium | 25,404 |
Preston North End | Deepdale | 24,500 |
Barnsley | Oakwell | 23,009 |
Burnley | Turf Moor | 22,546 |
Cardiff City | Ninian Park | 22,008 |
Bristol City | Ashton Gate | 21,497 |
Watford | Vicarage Road | 19,920 |
Plymouth Argyle | Home Park | 19,500 |
Queens Park Rangers | Loftus Road | 19,128 |
Blackpool | Bloomfield Road | 9,788 |
Scunthorpe United | Glanford Park | 9,183 |
Colchester United | Layer Road | 6,320 |
Managerial changes
[edit]Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sheffield United | ![]() |
Resigned | 16 May 2007[2] | ![]() |
16 May 2007[3] | Pre-season |
Crystal Palace | ![]() |
Sacked | 8 October 2007[4] | ![]() |
11 October 2007[5] | 19th |
Leicester City | ![]() |
Mutual consent | 29 August 2007[6] | ![]() |
13 September 2007[7] | 9th |
Queens Park Rangers | ![]() |
Sacked | 1 October 2007[8] | ![]() |
29 October 2007[9] | 24th |
Norwich City | ![]() |
Mutual consent | 8 October 2007[10] | ![]() |
30 October 2007[11] | 22nd |
Leicester City | ![]() |
Signed by Bolton Wanderers | 24 October 2007[12] | ![]() |
22 November 2007[13] | 19th |
Burnley | ![]() |
Mutual consent | 8 November 2007[14] | ![]() |
22 November 2007[15] | 15th |
Preston North End | ![]() |
Sacked | 13 November 2007[16] | ![]() |
20 November 2007[17] | 21st |
Plymouth Argyle | ![]() |
Signed by Leicester City | 21 November 2007[18] | ![]() |
27 November 2007[19] | 7th |
Coventry City | ![]() |
Sacked | 11 February 2008[20] | ![]() |
19 February 2008[21] | 19th |
Sheffield United | ![]() |
Mutual consent | 14 February 2008[22] | ![]() |
14 February 2008[22] | 16th |
Queens Park Rangers | ![]() |
Mutual consent | 8 May 2008[23] | ![]() |
14 May 2008[24] | 14th |
Notes
[edit]- ^ "Football League Attendance Report" (PDF). The Football League. 25 July 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 August 2012.
- ^ "Warnock resigns as Blades manager". BBC Sport. 16 May 2007. Retrieved 16 May 2008.
- ^ "Robson unveiled as Sheff Utd boss". BBC Sport. 16 May 2007. Retrieved 16 May 2008.
- ^ "Crystal Palace boss Taylor sacked". BBC Sport. 8 October 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
- ^ "Warnock appointed new Palace boss". BBC Sport. 11 October 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
- ^ "Allen ends brief Leicester reign". BBC Sport. 29 August 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
- ^ "Megson excited by Leicester job". BBC Sport. 13 September 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
- ^ "Gregory sacked as manager of QPR". BBC Sport. 1 October 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
- ^ "Former Napoli boss takes QPR role". BBC Sport. 29 October 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
- ^ "Grant parts company with Canaries". BBC Sport. 8 October 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
- ^ "Norwich name Roeder as new boss". BBC Sport. 30 October 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
- ^ "Bolton target Megson leaves Foxes". BBC Sport. 24 October 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
- ^ "Holloway appointed Leicester boss". BBC Sport. 22 November 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
- ^ "Burnley manager Cotterill departs". BBC Sport. 8 November 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
- ^ "Coyle named new Burnley manager". BBC Sport. 22 November 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
- ^ "Struggling Preston sack Simpson". BBC Sport. 13 November 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
- ^ "Preston unveil Irvine as new boss". BBC Sport. 20 November 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
- ^ "Holloway resigns as Plymouth boss". BBC Sport. 21 November 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
- ^ "Sturrock returns as Plymouth boss". BBC Sport. 27 November 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
- ^ "Dowie sacked as Coventry manager". BBC Sport. 11 February 2008. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
- ^ "Coleman unveiled as Coventry boss". BBC Sport. 19 February 2008. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
- ^ a b "Blackwell in for Robson at Blades". BBC Sport. 14 February 2008. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
- ^ "De Canio parts company with QPR". BBC Sport. 8 May 2008. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
- ^ "QPR bring in Dowie as new coach". BBC Sport. 14 May 2008. Retrieved 22 September 2008.