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EFL Championship

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The EFL Championship 2025/26 belonged to Coventry City, champions with 95 points and 97 goals, while Ipswich Town returned to the Premier League at the first attempt and sixth-placed Hull City completed the promotion trio at Wembley.

At the bottom, Leicester City suffered a second straight relegation, Oxford United dropped after two seasons in the division, and Sheffield Wednesday's 18-point deduction turned an already brutal campaign into the earliest relegation in EFL history.

Total xTears

6,177.59

Avg xT per match

11.09

Absolute chaos

5.15

Late drama

3.14

All-out war

3.64

Referee scandal

0.36

Heart-Racing Games

All
Adrenaline Match

23.27

xT
Wrexham crest

Wrexham

13.82 xT

5-3
Ipswich Town crest

Ipswich Town

9.45 xT

Matchday 3321 Feb 2026Racecourse Ground
Birmingham City crestHull City crest

Birmingham City 2-3 Hull City

Matchday 10|18 Oct 2025

22.89

xT
Derby County crestCoventry City crest

Derby County 3-5 Coventry City

Matchday 2|16 Aug 2025

22.49

xT
Ipswich Town crestDerby County crest

Ipswich Town 2-2 Derby County

Matchday 4|30 Aug 2025

19.85

xT
Sheffield Utd crestHull City crest

Sheffield Utd 2-1 Hull City

Matchday 42|11 Apr 2026

19.37

xT
QPR crestPortsmouth crest

QPR 6-1 Portsmouth

Matchday 39|21 Mar 2026

19.29

xT

xT XI

All
ZV
Swansea City crest45.66

Z. Vipotnik

OM
Hull City crest40.80

O. McBurnie

HW
Coventry City crest39.92

H. Wright

JC
Ipswich Town crest37.50

J. Clarke

MW
Middlesbrough crest33.17

M. Whittaker

ST
Bristol City crest32.04

S. Twine

AM
QPR crest24.43

A. Mbengue

TS
Preston North End crest19.87

T. Small

TH
Southampton crest19.61

T. Harwood-Bellis

RM
Southampton crest19.55

R. Manning

IP
Hull City crest7.93

I. Pandur

Pain Meter

All
1
Hull City crest

Hull City

49 played

6.48

xT for

2
Ipswich Town crest

Ipswich Town

46 played

6.39

xT for

3
Derby County crest

Derby County

46 played

6.39

xT for

4
Coventry City crest

Coventry City

46 played

6.18

xT for

5
Southampton crest

Southampton

48 played

6.11

xT for

Player Leaders

All
1

Z. Vipotnik

Swansea City crestSwansea City | Forward

45.66

xT
2

O. McBurnie

Hull City crestHull City | Forward

40.80

xT
3

H. Wright

Coventry City crestCoventry City | Forward

39.92

xT
4

T. Conway

Middlesbrough crestMiddlesbrough | Forward

39.92

xT
5

J. Stansfield

Birmingham City crestBirmingham City | Forward

39.08

xT
6

J. Gelhardt

Hull City crestHull City | Forward

39.02

xT
7

J. Clarke

Ipswich Town crestIpswich Town | Midfielder

37.50

xT
8

J. Windass

Wrexham crestWrexham | Forward

35.23

xT
9

M. Whittaker

Middlesbrough crestMiddlesbrough | Midfielder

33.17

xT
10

S. Twine

Bristol City crestBristol City | Midfielder

32.04

xT
11

O. Azeez

Millwall crestMillwall | Midfielder

31.87

xT
12

W. Lankshear

Oxford United crestOxford United | Forward

31.33

xT
13

J. James

Leicester crestLeicester | Midfielder

29.30

xT
14

F. Azaz

Southampton crestSouthampton | Midfielder

29.28

xT
15

B. Brereton

Derby County crestDerby County | Midfielder

29.18

xT
16

C. Morris

Derby County crestDerby County | Forward

28.32

xT
17

K. Joseph

Hull City crestHull City | Forward

28.29

xT
18

I. Louza

Watford crestWatford | Midfielder

28.22

xT
19

P. Agyemang

Derby County crestDerby County | Midfielder

28.15

xT
20

R. Kone

QPR crestQPR | Forward

28.13

xT

League Pain Table

League Pain Table
#
1Hull City crestHull City317.53272.5012.045.703.624.070.49
2Derby County crestDerby County293.92251.5911.865.743.684.020.52
3Ipswich Town crestIpswich Town293.72260.9612.065.273.204.150.62
4Southampton crestSouthampton293.28272.8411.795.573.473.830.24
5Coventry City crestCoventry City284.35254.4611.716.053.173.700.60
6Millwall crestMillwall273.57243.7710.785.213.433.410.20
7Sheffield Utd crestSheffield Utd267.45283.0911.975.583.154.090.67
8Watford crestWatford263.83278.7111.795.133.484.190.23
9Middlesbrough crestMiddlesbrough262.96269.9810.885.013.203.550.58
10Swansea City crestSwansea City260.97265.9011.454.973.173.870.50
11Norwich City crestNorwich City260.74254.1511.195.103.013.620.26
12Birmingham City crestBirmingham City257.45249.7811.035.133.123.770.47
13QPR crestQPR255.95269.7711.435.343.433.550.33
14Leicester crestLeicester255.78259.7511.215.383.153.500.35
15Preston North End crestPreston North End251.92232.3610.534.833.033.200.26
16Charlton Athletic crestCharlton Athletic246.44237.1310.514.842.903.440.45
17Stoke City crestStoke City246.17245.1210.684.763.183.890.27
18Wrexham crestWrexham246.08258.7810.985.483.133.200.22
19Bristol City crestBristol City240.65256.2810.804.762.673.580.17
20Portsmouth crestPortsmouth235.41264.7310.874.812.993.710.20
21Blackburn Rovers crestBlackburn Rovers230.72242.1410.284.413.073.630.38
22Oxford United crestOxford United228.07242.9010.244.602.573.190.29
23West Brom crestWest Brom222.89240.4010.074.692.803.220.21
24Sheffield Wednesday crestSheffield Wednesday187.74270.509.965.102.742.870.22

Tournament Curiosities

xTears Curiosities

8
  1. 1The edition broke through 6,000 xTears and finished on 6,177.59 xT across 557 played matches. The Championship did not come with an emotional off switch.
  2. 2Wrexham 5-3 Ipswich Town was the season's wildest xTears match with 23.27 xT. Eight goals and a scoreboard with no interest in damage control.
  3. 3Hull City 0-0 Millwall was pure play-off anesthesia: no goals and just 4.23 xT, the lowest emotional temperature of the edition. Hull woke up in time to reach the Premier League.
  4. 4Sheffield United 2-1 Sheffield Wednesday delivered the sharpest scoreline-versus-xTears reversal. Wednesday generated 12.16 xT to United's 6.74 and still lost, while 11.41 discipline xT and ten cards turned the Steel City derby into the season's disciplinary meltdown.
  5. 5Derby County 3-5 Coventry City was the chaos monster with 16.16 chaos xT. Eight goals made it an early warning that the future champions had no plans to win quietly.
  6. 6QPR 2-3 Wrexham owned late drama with 10.17 xT. Five goals, a 90th-minute winner and no pulse left untouched.
  7. 7Hull City generated a competition-high 317.53 xT across the league and play-offs, while Sheffield United absorbed the most pain with 283.09 xT against. Ipswich Town had the highest average match temperature at 12.06 xT.
  8. 8Zan Vipotnik led the individual xTears ranking with 45.66 xT and scored 23 goals for Swansea City. One player, a full season of pressure.

Overall Curiosities

10
  1. 1Coventry City won the Championship with 95 points and 97 goals, sealing a return to the Premier League 25 years after its last top-flight season.
  2. 2Ipswich Town finished second on 84 points and returned to the Premier League at the first attempt after relegation the previous season.
  3. 3Hull City squeezed into sixth on the final day and then completed the climb at Wembley. The decisive Hull City 1-0 Middlesbrough ended a nine-year wait for Premier League football with Oli McBurnie's 90+5 winner.
  4. 4Southampton beat Middlesbrough in the play-off semi-final, then were expelled after admitting breaches involving unauthorized filming of opponents' training. Middlesbrough were reinstated for Wembley, only to lose the final to Hull City. The promotion bracket needed a legal department.
  5. 5Wrexham finished seventh and missed the play-offs on the final day, bringing its extraordinary run of three consecutive promotions to a halt one step short of the Premier League.
  6. 6Leicester City followed Premier League relegation with another drop after a six-point deduction. Oxford United and Sheffield Wednesday joined the Foxes in League One.
  7. 7Sheffield Wednesday were deducted 18 points and had relegation confirmed with 13 matches still to play, the earliest drop in EFL history. The final blow came against city rivals Sheffield United.
  8. 8Derby County 3-5 Coventry City and Wrexham 5-3 Ipswich Town shared the highest-scoring mark with eight goals apiece.
  9. 9Coventry City 7-1 QPR produced the biggest winning margin: six goals of separation and an early title-warning siren.
  10. 10The complete edition produced 1,444 goals across 557 played matches, breaking through the 1,400-goal barrier before the promotion ticket was settled.

All statistics use finished matches in this competition edition with available xT data.