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EFL 2016-17: Championship, League One & League Two preview

By Phil CartwrightBBC Sport

Last updated on .From the section Footballcomments198

Meet the 'new' Championship managers
2016-17 EFL season
Dates: 5 August, 2016 - 29 May, 2017 BBC coverage: Live commentaries on Radio 5 live, 5 live sports extra and local radio; match reports and live text coverage on BBC Sport website, including a new dedicated live text offering every Saturday

The Football League has a new name, new managers and an influx of new players for 2016-17.

A near 10-month slog for promotion spots, play-off places and survival begins on Friday when Fulham host relegated Newcastle in the Championship's opening fixture.

So why does this season of the rebranded EFL promise to be one of the biggest and best ever?

  • The Championship boasts two Champions League-winning managers and another boss who won it as a player.
  • According to transfermarkt.co.uk,external-link clubs have spent in excess of £100m in a bid to emerge successful from a wide-open race to the Premier League.
  • Nine former Premier League sides will play in the bottom two tiers.

Hopefully that is enough to get you started...

European pedigree

Newcastle and Aston Villa have both turned to former Champions League winners as they aim to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

Steven Gerrard and Rafael Benitez
Liverpool won the Champions League in 2005, in their first season with Rafael Benitez as manager

Rafael Benitez improved Newcastle's results and performances in the closing weeks of the 2015-16 campaign but the Spaniard was unable to save the Magpies from the drop.

Even so, many supporters were desperate for Benitez to remain at the club and there was real delight on Tyneside when he agreed a three-year contract in May.

Roberto Di Matteo
Roberto Di Matteo won the Champions League and the FA Cup during his eight months as Chelsea boss in 2012

A large majority of Villa fans were almost resigned to relegation from an early stage of 2015-16 and they went down with just three wins and 17 points to their name.

However, with new Chinese owner Dr Tony Xia in place and Roberto Di Matteo installed as manager, there is an opportunity for a fresh start at Villa Park as they prepare for their first year outside the top flight since 1987-88.

Di Matteo has won promotion out of the Championship before, with West Bromwich Albion in 2010.

Reading, meanwhile, have gone down a different route, offering a first senior managerial post to a former Champions League-winning player.

Gary Neville, David Beckham, Jaap Stam
Jaap Stam (right) was part of the Manchester United side which won the Champions League in 1999

Ex-Manchester United and Netherlands defender Jaap Stam replaced Brian McDermott in June, completing the trio of European champions in the second tier.

And it is not just the managers who boast success on the continent...

John Robertson and Kenny Burns

Villa and Nottingham Forest are both European Cup winners, Ipswich won the Uefa Cup in 1981, while Leeds, Fulham and Wolves have all been beaten finalists in a European competition.

Hey, big spenders

A leading group of financial analysts estimated that promotion to the Premier League was worth £170m last season. With those riches on offer, it is no surprise that Championship clubs are willing to spend big in an effort to reach the top flight.

Newcastle have led the way with eight new signings costing a reported £40m, a figure offset by the big-money sales of Andros Townsend and Georginio Wijnaldum to Crystal Palace and Liverpool respectively.

Villa have spent more than £12m on Reading midfielder Aaron Tshibola, Italian goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini and Bournemouth defender Tommy Elphick - before paying out a further £12m to bring in Fulham striker Ross McCormack on Thursday.

McGovern's magnificent display against Germany at Euro 2016

Norwich, the other club to be relegated from the Premier League, have added Northern Ireland goalkeeper Michael McGovern on a free transfer. Their only financial outlay so far has been on two midfielders - Liverpool's Sergi Canos and Tottenham's Alex Pritchard.

Leeds, Bristol City, Sheffield Wednesday and QPR have each spent in the region of £5m, and it is likely that Wolves will be active before the end of the transfer window following their £45m takeover by Chinese investment group Fosun International.

At the other end of the scale, Burton have broken their transfer record twice since being promoted to the Championship for the first time in their history in May.

Their previous record transfer? The £20,000 they paid Kidderminster for midfielder Russell Penn in 2009.

Lee Tomlin and Lee Johnson
Former loanee Lee Tomlin has returned to ambitious Bristol City, who finished 18th in the Championship last season

Anything can happen

Last season was the year of the underdog, as Leicester spectacularly proved by winning the Premier League title.

In the second tier, unfancied Brighton contended strongly for automatic promotion and Wednesday - albeit after substantial investment on new players - were beaten play-off finalists.

Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday lost 1-0 to Hull City in last season's Championship play-off final

Most, if not all, Championship clubs will feel they could challenge for the top six in 2016-17...

  • Brighton and Wednesday have strengthened after narrowly missing out last time around.
  • Nine sides start the season with new managers - will Nigel Pearson, Garry Monk, Philippe Montanier or Walter Zenga restore Derby, Leeds, Forest or Wolves to the top flight?
  • Huddersfield have been one of the busiest clubs in the transfer market, adding 12 new players.
  • Can Will Grigg remain on fire and achieve back-to-back promotions with League One champions Wigan Athletic?
Northern Ireland's Euro 2016 squad sing 'Will Grigg's On Fire'

Davids and Goliaths in Leagues One and Two

Seven of the 24 clubs in League One have Premier League experience, with two of them due to meet in their opening game on Saturday.

Bolton v Sheffield United was a top-flight fixture in 2006-07. While the Blades were relegated that season, Bolton finished seventh and qualified for the Uefa Cup - a competition in which they would draw at Bayern Munich and beat Atletico Madrid over two legs.

Neil Warnock and Sam Allardyce
Bolton host Sheffield United on the opening day in League One, 10 years after Sam Allardyce (right) and Neil Warnock were managing them in the Premier League

At that time, AFC Wimbledon were a seventh-tier club and they will play in League One for the first time in their 14-year history following their play-off final win at Wembley in May.

Cheltenham and Grimsby were promoted from the National League last season, and will take on former Premier League clubs Blackpool and Portsmouth during their first year back in League Two.

Blackpool have dropped from the top flight to the fourth tier in the space of five years, and Gary Bowyer will become the ninth manager in that period to take charge of a Seasiders match when they host Exeter on Saturday.

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198 comments

  • Comment posted by piscean62, at 12:09 4 Aug 2016

    Has it escaped everyone that AFC Wimbledon have now caught up with MK Dons at last?! Both are playing in League 1 this season following respective promotion and relegation. It took AFC 14 years to work their way up the leagues all the way from the 9th tier, while MK Dons usurped their league place and even tried to appropriate the Wimbledon trophies (which the FA later ruled had to return to AFC).

  • Comment posted by User0005081439, at 11:21 4 Aug 2016

    Yep, but all the BBC will bang on about is the top of the premier league, and Manchester United

  • Comment posted by U16557196, at 12:09 4 Aug 2016

    Parachute payments to Villa, Norwich and Newcastle will ensure they end up top six. Any team that tries to match them, will fall foul of FFP. Just ask Forest.

    It's a great competition, but the foul stench of the Premier League will largely determine the top six.

  • Comment posted by D1679684154070, at 11:06 4 Aug 2016

    Great to have real football back. Football where teams play to win games not simply to hit the 40 point mark every season. Excitement, goals, real supporters, terracing; the EFL has it all (apart from £20m agent fee for a single transfer). Can't wait for it to begin.

  • Comment posted by User0743504071, at 11:54 4 Aug 2016

    Chesterfield fan here....not happy about the Ched Evans signing but it's either a massive risk or a smart business move (if he gets acquitted at his retrial).

    It was better when it was the old Divisions 1, 2, 3, and 4, standing in those old grounds and open away ends. More fun and more atmosphere, and it was affordable. It is now too shiny and expensive.

    Good luck to all in the new season.

  • Comment posted by Chip the Duck, at 11:22 4 Aug 2016

    A name change.

    That should cure all of football's problems.

  • Comment posted by User0779622695, at 11:30 4 Aug 2016

    Peter Griffin @6
    Spot on
    MUFC get far too much media coverage and YES the BBC lead the way.
    It has been the same for years even when MUFC were in the old Division 2
    All teams deserve equal coverage and reporting after all we all pay for the BBC and support many teams

  • Comment posted by GreatWhiteShark, at 11:27 4 Aug 2016

    The championship should just be renamed Premier League 2, its farcical that relegated clubs get handed obscene amounts of money, basically being rewarded for failure. Clubs that live within their means are behind the 8 ball from game one and if a club does financially implode or break the financial rules the FA doesn't have the guts to severely punish the offenders. Best ever? Not for me.

  • Comment posted by Tom, at 12:07 4 Aug 2016

    Imagine thinking players in the lower leagues are somehow morally greater than the ones in the Premier League?!

    You seen some of the wages at QPR?

    And lets not forget about Ched Evans.....

  • Comment posted by Richard, at 13:21 4 Aug 2016

    Some comments are so stupid. (Boring. Ladies cricket etc). Look, if all you want is a league where prawn sandwiches and cash rule, stick to your Premier league teams but some of us are REAL football fans who stick with our teams through good and bad times. Glory hunters (man u fans in surrey who have never been to OT are pathetic.) If you don't have a team in the EFL why the ignorant comments?

  • Comment posted by Theboywiththethorninhisside, at 12:18 4 Aug 2016

    I can't wait. As an NUFC fan I'm looking forward to winning a few matches for a change. It won't be the cake walk some imagine either. It's as tough a division as they come. Fully expect Norwich, Brighton and Villa to be there or thereabouts. HTL.

  • Comment posted by Deculturesac, at 13:17 4 Aug 2016

    Your local EFL team would value your support this weekend. Go and see some proper football.

    Keep Right On!

  • Comment posted by 4everEng, at 18:13 4 Aug 2016

    There is more entertainment for fans in the Championship, FL1 & FL2 than there will ever be in the overpriced, over rated Premier league.

  • Comment posted by User0533380863, at 13:23 4 Aug 2016

    6. Posted by Peter Griffin
    on
    2 hours ago
    Yep, but all the BBC will bang on about is the top of the premier league, and Manchester United
    ------

    They opened up an HYS about the Football League you oaf, and yet you're going on about Man Utd. People like you are the reason Utd receive 90% of the HYS sections. You want more diversity. Stop whining about EPL teams in the EFL section.

  • Comment posted by Bielsa, at 12:18 4 Aug 2016

    Id like to point out an error in your article, Leeds United have won European Trophies and not just appeared in finals, poor journalism (or are you one of those who think football only began 20 years ago)

  • Comment posted by Old Father Thames, at 15:58 4 Aug 2016

    If we genuinely cared about the future of football in the country, some of the money that is awash in the premiership should be distributed to those clubs so desperately in need of some help such as Newport Country, Morecambe and Manchester United.

  • Comment posted by markyhamps75, at 11:11 4 Aug 2016

    I thought the one season where most teams could have made the playoffs was pretty good. The League 1 season a few years ago, where the top 7 or 8 were separated by a few points going into the last few games was decent too.

    But why the 'Best Ever' hyperbole every season? It always leads to disappointment when they don't go as expected. The hype machine is gearing up, & the OK football will flow.

  • Comment posted by Erics collar, at 13:24 4 Aug 2016

    @47 There it is. Kids moaning about HYS United threads & can we have HYS about something else. Top of the pile?........ a whiner obsessing about United lol. The obsession rolls on.

  • Comment posted by User0516153083, at 12:37 4 Aug 2016

    My club Rochdale will be up against clubs the like of Sheffield United, Bolton, Bradford City and Coventry, who can all command attendances 6+ times greater. They will all spend money they haven`t got, while Rochdale will once again live within their means and match them on the field of play, because they have an intelligent manager who can manage players properly and knows when kids are ready UTD

  • Comment posted by BaggiosPonytail, at 11:16 4 Aug 2016

    I don't understand this EFL nonsense. They seem to want to rebrand what is exactly the same thing every few years.

    I am worried there could be a gulf developing between those who have been relegated from the Premier League and those who have been in the division for a while.

    How will Forest do this season? I'm expecting another lower mid table finish and at least one sacking. Depressing.

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