The Football League Championship season 2009–10 (referred to as the Coca-Cola Football League Championship for sponsorship reasons) will be the sixth season of the league under its current title and eighteenth season under its current league division format. It started on 7 August 2009.^[2]

[edit] Changes from last season

[edit] Team changes

[edit] From Championship

Promoted to Premier League

• Wolverhampton Wanderers
• Birmingham City
• Burnley

Relegated to League One

• Norwich City
• Southampton
• Charlton Athletic

[edit] To Championship

Relegated from Premier League

• Newcastle United
• Middlesbrough
• West Bromwich Albion

Promoted from League One

• Leicester City
• Peterborough United
• Scunthorpe United

[edit] Rule changes

[edit] On field Rule changes

(1) 'Home Grown Players' rule which aims to encourage the development of young footballers at League clubs. The new rule will require clubs to name at least four players in their matchday squad that have been registered domestically, for a minimum of three seasons, prior to their 21st birthday.
(2) For the first time clubs will also have the opportunity to name seven substitutes (previously five), three of which may enter the field of play (no change).^[3]

Also note:
FIFA "Amendments to the laws of the game 2009-2010" on fifa.com (PDF format) which will also apply.

[edit] Off field Rule changes

Financial regulations relating to tax payments. From now on, any club that falls behind with its employee related payments to HMRC will be subject to a transfer embargo until such time as the debt is cleared.^[3]

[edit] Team overview

[edit] Stadia and locations

Barnsley

Blackpool

Bristol City

Cardiff City

Coventry City

Crystal Palace

Derby County

Doncaster

Ipswich Town

Leicester City

Middlesbrough

Newcastle United

Nottingham Forest

Peterborough United

Plymouth Argyle

Preston

QPR

Reading

Scunthorpe

Sheffield United

Sheffield Wednesday

Swansea City

Watford

West Brom

Locations of teams in the 2009–10 Football League Championship

¹ Club is located in Wales
² Ground contains some terracing

[edit] Personnel and sponsoring

Team	Manager	Kit maker	Sponsor
Barnsley	Mark Robins	Lotto	Barnsley Building Society
Blackpool	Ian Holloway	Carbrini	Carbrini
Bristol City	Gary Johnson	Puma	DAS
Cardiff City	Dave Jones	Puma	SBOBET
Coventry City	Chris Coleman	Puma	Cassidy Group (home), StadiArena (away)
Crystal Palace	Neil Warnock	Nike	GAC Logistics
Derby County	Nigel Clough	Adidas	Bombardier
Doncaster Rovers	Sean O'Driscoll	Vandanel	Wright Investments
Ipswich Town	Roy Keane	Mitre	Marcus Evans
Leicester City	Nigel Pearson	Joma	Loros (away)
Middlesbrough	Gordon Strachan	Adidas	Garmin
Newcastle United	Chris Hughton	Adidas	Northern Rock
Nottingham Forest	Billy Davies	Umbro	Victor Chandler
Peterborough United	Mark Cooper	Adidas	MRI Overseas Property
Plymouth Argyle	Paul Mariner	Adidas	Ginsters
Preston North End	Alan Irvine	Canterbury	Enterprise Plc
Queens Park Rangers	Paul Hart	Lotto	Gulf Air
Reading	Brian McDermott1	Puma	Waitrose
Scunthorpe United	Nigel Adkins	Carlotti	Rainham Steel
Sheffield United	Kevin Blackwell	Macron	VisitMalta.com
Sheffield Wednesday	Sean McAuley1	Puma	The Children's Hospital Sheffield
Swansea City	Paulo Sousa	Umbro	32Red
Watford	Malky Mackay	Joma	Evolution HDTV
West Bromwich Albion	Roberto Di Matteo	Umbro

• Note 1: Caretaker manager

[edit] Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
Queens Park Rangers	None	Managerless	9 April 2009	Jim Magilton	3 June 2009	Pre-Season
Reading	None	Managerless	12 May 2009	Brendan Rodgers	5 June 2009	Pre-Season
Watford	Brendan Rodgers	Signed by Reading	5 June 2009	Malky Mackay	15 June 2009	Pre-season
Swansea City	Roberto Martínez	Signed by Wigan Athletic	15 June 2009	Paulo Sousa	23 June 2009	Pre-Season
West Bromwich Albion	Tony Mowbray	Signed by Celtic	16 June 2009	Roberto Di Matteo	30 June 2009	Pre-Season
Barnsley	Simon Davey	Contract terminated	29 August 2009	Mark Robins	11 September 2009	24th
Middlesbrough	Gareth Southgate	Contract terminated	20 October 2009	Gordon Strachan	26 October 2009	3rd
Newcastle United	None	Managerless	18 May 2009	Chris Hughton	27 October 2009	1st
Peterborough United	Darren Ferguson	Mutual Consent	9 November 2009	Mark Cooper	14 November 2009	24th
Plymouth Argyle	Paul Sturrock	Became Business Support	10 December 2009	Paul Mariner	10 December 2009	23rd
Sheffield Wednesday	Brian Laws	Mutual Consent	13 December 2009			22nd
Reading	Brendan Rodgers	Mutual Consent	16 December 2009			21st
Queens Park Rangers	Jim Magilton	Mutual Consent	16 December 2009	Paul Hart	17 December 2009	14th

[edit] League table

Updated to games played on 19 December 2009
Source: [http:/www.football-league.co.uk/page/DivisionalLeagueTable/0,,10794~20097,00.html The Football League]
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (Q) = Qualified to respective phase of tournament; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.

[edit] Results

Fixtures for the 2009–10 season were announced by The Football League on 17 June 2009.^[2][4]

Source: The Football League
¹The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For coming matches, an a indicates there is an article about the match.

[edit] Top goalscorers

Pos	Player	Team	Goals
1	Peter Whittingham	Cardiff City	12
2	Darren Ambrose	Crystal Palace	11
	Michael Chopra	Cardiff City
3	Matty Fryatt	Leicester City	10
	Darius Henderson	Sheffield United
	Billy Sharp	Doncaster Rovers
4	Leon Best	Coventry City	9
	Nicky Maynard	Bristol City
	Kevin Nolan	Newcastle United
5	George Boyd	Peterborough United	8
	Adam Johnson	Middlesbrough
	Jay Simpson	Queens Park Rangers
6	Charlie Adam	Blackpool	7
	Ákos Buzsáky	Queens Park Rangers
	Tom Cleverley	Watford
	Danny Graham	Watford
	Gary Hooper	Scunthorpe United
	Craig Mackail-Smith	Peterborough United

[edit] Season statistics

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2009)

As of 19 December 2009.

[edit] Scoring

• First goal of the season: Miles Addison for Derby County against Peterborough United, 4:00 minutes (8 August 2009).
• Fastest goal in a match: 23 seconds - Billy Clarke for Blackpool against Preston North End (30 November 2009).
• Quickest goal after coming on: 58 seconds - Robert Earnshaw for Nottingham Forest against Ipswich Town (15 September 2009).
• Goal scored at the latest point in a match: 90+5:39 – Darius Henderson for Sheffield United against Bristol City (28 November 2009).
• First own goal of the season: Kaspars Gorkss (Queens Park Rangers) for Plymouth Argyle, 90+2:26 minutes (8 August 2009).
• First penalty kick of the season: 48:35 - Paul Hartley (scored) for Bristol City against Preston North End (8 August 2009).
• Widest winning margin: 5 Goals
  • Middlesbrough 0-5 West Bromwich Albion (19 September 2009).
  • Cardiff City 6-1 Derby County (29 September 2009).
  • West Bromwich Albion 5-0 Watford (31 October 2009).
• Most goals in one half: 5 Goals
  • Queens Park Rangers 5-2 Barnsley (26 September 2009).
  • Cardiff City 6-1 Derby County (29 September 2009).
  • Blackpool 4-1 Scunthorpe United (7 November 2009).
• Most goals in one half by a single team: 4 Goals
  • Cardiff City 6-1 Derby County (29 September 2009).
  • Blackpool 4-1 Scunthorpe United (7 November 2009).
• Most goals scored by losing team: 3 Goals
  • Sheffield United 3-4 Cardiff City (24 October 2009).
• Most goals scored by one player in a match: 4
  • Michael Chopra (Cardiff City vs. Derby County) - 36, 57, 62, 75 minutes (29 September 2009).

[edit] Discipline

• First yellow card of the season: Rhys Williams for Middlesbrough against Sheffield United, 49:15 minutes (7 August 2009).
• First red card of the season: Luke Chambers for Nottingham Forest against Reading, 87:41 minutes (8 August 2009).
• Card given at latest point in a game: Paul Hartley (yellow) at 90+6:47 minutes for Bristol City against Queens Park Rangers (18 August 2009).
• Most yellow cards in a single match: 9
  • Bristol City 2-3 Sheffield United - 4 for Bristol City (Lee Johnson, Louis Carey, Jamie McAllister & Ivan Sproule) and 5 for Sheffield United (Jamie Ward, Kyle Walker, Darius Henderson, Jordan Stewart & Stephen Quinn) (28 November 2009).
• Quickest card given at the start of the match: Joe Murphy for Scunthorpe United against Queens Park Rangers, 46 Seconds (29 August 2009).
• Quickest card given after coming on: Tommy Miller for Sheffield Wednesday against Newcastle United, 1:30 minutes (26 September 2009).
• Most fouls: Darius Henderson 58 fouls
• Total number of yellow cards: 772
• Total number of red cards: 35

[edit] Monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month		Notes
	Manager	Club	Player	Club
August	Chris Hughton	Newcastle United	Shola Ameobi	Newcastle United	[5]
September	Chris Hughton	Newcastle United	Leon Best	Coventry City	[6][7]
October	Dave Jones	Cardiff City	Peter Whittingham	Cardiff City	[8][9]
November	Chris Hughton	Newcastle United	Darren Ambrose	Crystal Palace	[10][11]

[edit] Events

This article is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this article to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (October 2009)

• Match 1: Middlesbrough and Sheffield United kick of the Championship with a 0-0 draw on 7 August 2009. Cardiff City, Derby County, Leicester City and Coventry City were the only sides to clinch three points on the opening day. All three sides relegated from the Premier League only earned a point.

• Match 2: The three sides relgated from the Premier League enjoyed their first wins of the season. Shola Ameobi got the first hat-trick of the season. Table toppers Cardiff City earned a point against Blackpool. Peterborough United and Leicester City both earned a point, where as Scunthorpe United bounced back from a 4-0 loss to win 3-2 against Derby County.

• Match 3: Cardiff City, Middlesbrough, Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion continue their undefeated streak. League One champions, Leicester City continue their undeafted streak with a draw against Sheffield United. Barnsley continue their bad fortune with a 3-0 loss over Preston North End. Bristol City, Crystal Palace, Watford also enjoyed wins.

• Match 4: Cardiff City stayed top after a 3-0 win in the Severnside Derby. Reading,Barnsley and Ipswich Town continue their bad fortunes in losses. Swansea City get their first win of the season against Coventry City. Scunthorpe United got their second 4-0 defeat of the season.

• Match 5: Nottingham Forest beat Derby County in a brawl of a game. Nathan Tyson had walked in front of the Derby fans with a corner flag with a Forest badge causing the Derby players to react. Tyson was punished with a two match ban. Cardiff City drop to third after they suffered their first defeat of the season against Doncaster Rovers earning Rovers the performance of the week. Middlesbrough also suffered their first defeat against Bristol City. Reading got their first win of the season against Barnsley, Barnsley sacked Simon Davey at the end of the game.

• Match 6: Newcastle United stay top of the table after beating Cardiff City 1-0, City dropped down to 8th. Barnsley's new boss Mark Robins couldn't change their fortunes as they lost to Watford. Ipswich Town stay in the relegation zone when they lost 3-1 to Middlesbrough. Plymouth Argyle drop into the zone when they lost 3-1 to second place West Bromwich Albion. Leicester City, Preston North End, Sheffield United, Scunthorpe United all got three points as well.

• Match 7: West Bromwich Albion and Middlesbrough continue their undefeated streaks. Newcastle United suffered their first defeat of the season against Blackpool. Cardiff City jumped up to fourth after bouncing back from their two losses before with a 1-0 win over Reading. Mark Robins got his first win as Barnsley manager and their first win of the season against Derby County. Plymouth Argyle dropped to bottom after losing 1-0 to Watford. Ipswich Town stay in the relegation zone with a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest, Peterborough United stay out of the zone with a draw against Leicester City. Swansea City drew against Bristol City as well. Whilst Scunthorpe United and Coventry City, got their three points keeping them both mid-table.

• Match 8: Middlesbrough suffer their first defeat to the season whilst West Bromwich Albion continue to be undefeated as West Bromwich won 5-0. Newcastle United bounce back from a weekday defeat to win 3-1 against Plymouth Argyle. Preston North End continue their form with a win over Coventry City. Sheffield United win the first Steel City Derby of the season 3-2. Queens Park Rangers beat Cardiff City to put City sixth. Ipswich Town and Barnsley stay in the relegation zone with draws. Reading continue bad fortunes as they lost to Peterborough United. Crystal Palace and Blackpool also picked up three points.

• Match 9: Newcastle United jump to top after a 4-0 win in a Sir Bobby Robson memorial match against Ipswich Town at Portman Road. West Bromwich Albion suffered their first defeat in 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace. Coventry City come back to draw against Middlesbrough. Preston North End jumped into the Play-Off position after wins. Sheffield United were defeated by Swansea City, Bristol City were also defeated by Derby County. Barnsley were kept in the relegation zone with a 5-2 loss to Queens Park Rangers. Joe Ledley got his first red card in a loss to Sheffield Wednesday. Doncaster Rovers, Scunthorpe United, Reading and Watford all picked up a point. Nottingham Forest beat bottom place, Plymouth Argyle.

• Match 10: Barnsley beat West Bromwich Albion, Leicester City beat Middlesbrough, Cardiff City thrashed Derby County 6-1. Strugglers Reading and Plymouth Argyle both picked up three points. Ipswich Town dropped bottom with a draw with Sheffield United. Newcastle United drew with QPR keeping them top.

• Match 11: The top two continue to struggle as Newcastle United drew against Bristol City and West Bromwich drew to Preston North End. Middlesbrough beat strugglers Reading. Ipswich Town stay bottom as they lost to on form Barnsley, Cardiff City produced another stunning result with a 4-0 win over Watford and Swansea City shockly beat QPR 2-0. Derby County came back from their mid-week thrashing to beat Sheffield Wednesday.

• Match 12: QPR extended their 12-game unbeaten streak at home by winning 4-0 to Preston North End, while Ipswich Town, trailing at the bottom, carry on their search for their first league win after being held to a 1-1 draw to Swansea City. Sheffield United lost their third consecutive away match as they went down 3-1 to Scunthorpe United, unike Blackpool who got back to winning ways beating Plymouth Argyle 2-0 at home, as did West Bromwich after a 3-1 victory over Reading. Nottingham Forest beat Newcastle by 1-0 to send the previous leaders to second place, only behind West Bromwich on goals scored alone.

• Match 13: The top two continue to lose, Blackpool, Cardiff City, Middlesbrough and Preston North End all won keeping them in the play-offs. Barnsley suffered their first defeat since leaving the relgation zone; against Nottingham Forest. QPR scored another four goals against Reading. Ipswich Town still fail to get their first win as Nathan Ellington scores an equalising goal for Watford deep into stoppage time. Plymouth Argyle are kept in relgation zone when they lost 3-1 to Bristol City, Peterborough United also stay in the drop zone with another loss.

• Match 14: Newcastle United retook top place after a win over Doncaster Rovers. West Bromwich drew to Coventry City dropping from the top two, Cardiff City replaced them due to a 4-3 win over Sheffield United. QPR and Bristol City both won putting them off in play-off places. Ipswich Town drew to Plymouth Argyle keeping them both at the bottom of the table. Mangerless Middlesbrough drew to Preston North End. Peterborough United won to put them outside the relgation zone, Leicester City went into the play-offs after they put Reading into the relgation zone.

• Match 15: Leicester City win over QPR puts them in the play-off places. Middlesbrough lost to Plymouth Argyle and Bristol City drew with Sheffield Wednesday. Ipswich Town got their first win of the season against Derby County. Reading stay out of the drop zone with a 3-1 win over Coventry City. Blackpool move back up to sixth, the final play-off place, with a 3-3 draw at Doncaster Rovers. WBA beat Watford 5-0 to put them top. Newcastle win 1-0 at Sheffield United to regain top spot by 2 points.

• Match 16: A 2-1 win for Derby County against Coventry City started the weekend for the Championship. Newcastle United and West Bromwich stay in the top two after wins. QPR and Blackpool go up into the play-off zones after wins against Sheffield Wednesday and Scunthorpe United. Swansea City beat Cardiff City 3-2 in the first South Wales derby of the season. Plymouth exit the bottom three after a 2-1 win over Doncaster Rovers, but Reading return after a draw with bottom Ipswich Town.

• Match 17: The top two widen the automatic promotion margin by both winning, WBA achieving 4-1 against Bristol and Newcastle scoring one against Preston. The Swans briefly climb to 3rd place, their highest position in the league pyramid for 26 years^[12], after beating Derby 1-0. Middlesbrough remain without a win since Gordon Strachan took over as manger, as Nottingham Forest held them to a 1-1 draw. Reading won their first home league game since January, 17 matches ago^[13] with a 2-1 win over Blackpool. Reading's win sends Plymouth back into the relegation zone after they and trailing Peterborough lost. Ipswich Town remain in the zone, having drawn to Sheffield Wednesday.

• Match 18: The Saturday matchday mood was dampened by the abandoning of Plymouth's game against Barnsley shortly after half-time due to a waterlogged pitch. Newcastle and West Brom continue widening the 2nd and 3rd gap with excessive wins, the Baggies winning 4-0 at Sheffield Wednesday and Newcastle achiving 3-0 against Swansea, ending their 11 game unbeaten run.^[14] There is now a six-point gap between West Brom and Leicester, after they conceded a last kick goal to draw 1-1 with Scunthorpe. Nottingham Forest won 4-1 against Doncaster to raise them into the play-offs.

• Match 19: Robert Earnshaw scored a hat-trick in Nottingham Forest's 5-1 thrashing over rival Leicester City; both stayed in the play-offs. Newcastle United extend their lead with a 2-0 win over Watford, whilst West Brom where held to a draw at Derby County. Both Cardiff City and Middlesbrough return to the play-offs, Cardiff winning 1-0 against Preston and Gordon Strachan got his first win as manager, as Middlesbrough thrashed QPR 5-1.^[15] Reading win their second game against Sheffield Wednesday. Peterborough United held Swansea to draw with a late minute equaliser and Plymouth were the only side in the bottom three to lose as Ipswich Town drew to Bristol City. Barnsley become the first side this season to take all three points at Bloomfield Road, where they beat Blackpool 2-1.^[16]

• Match 20: Watford return to the play-offs briefly after a 3-1 win over QPR. The gap for second place closes as West Brom lost 2-0 to now third placed Cardiff City, whilst Newcastle United extended their lead at the top with a 2-0 win over Coventry. Swansea City and Blackpool, both taking three points from them. Leicester City suffer another loss to Bristol City, dropping them from the play-offs. Reading were defeated after a two successive win streak, by Crystal Palace.

• Match 21: Newcastle United extended their lead by a point, with a draw against Barnsley, denying them their eight succesive win. Nottingham Forest beat promotion rivals Swanseatting them into third until the following day when Cardiff City beat Middlesbrough 1-0. Leicester City beat Sheffield Wednesday, putting the Owls in the bottom four for the first time of the season. Blackpool were kept out of the play-offs whilst their opponents, Ipswich Town, moved up from the relegation zone, with a 3-1 win. West Brom extended the gap for seond place by a point after a draw against QPR.

• Match 22: 4 games got cancelled due to frozen pitces. Swansea City took advantage of this and moved up to fifth, with a 2-0 win over mangerless Sheffield Wednesday. Paul Hart's first game in charge at QPR ended with a 1-1 draw with Sheffield United, QPR climbed to 10th and United one place from the play-offs. Doncaster Rovers jump to 11th after a 2-0 win over Derby County whilst Crystal Palace drew to in form Barnsley. Mark Cooper got his first win as Peterborough United against Watford and Plymouth Argyle lost to Coventry City.

[edit] Controversy

• 15 August 2009

During a game between Bristol City and Crystal Palace, Freddie Sears scored a goal, but the linesman didn't see the goal and so it was disallowed. Neil Warnock called for a replay. Following the game, the three officials were suspended until it could be solved.^[17]

• 28 November 2009

The tie between Plymouth and Barnsley was abandoned after 58 minutes because of heavy rain affecting the pitch. Barnsley were winning 4-1 and manager Mark Robins argued that it was a "let off" for Plymouth and that the traveling Barnsley fans should be reimbursed. ^[18]

[edit] External links

• Championship official site

[edit] See also

2009–10 season pages for:

• Barnsley
• Blackpool
• Cardiff City
• Coventry City
• Derby County
• Middlesbrough
• Newcastle United
• Nottingham Forest
• Preston North End
• Queens Park Rangers
• Reading
• Sheffield United
• Sheffield Wednesday
• Swansea City
• Watford
• West Bromwich Albion

2009-10 season transfers: List of English football transfers winter 2009–10

[edit] References