Watch ALL the Championship matches from the opening weekend live on Sky Sports+; the 2025/26 season starts with Birmingham v Ipswich live on Sky Sports on Friday night; kick-off 8pm
Ahead of the 2025/26 season, Sky Sports looks at what's new in the Sky Bet Championship and what each club needs to do.
Birmingham
Who's the manager? Chris Davies. Where did they finish last season? 1st in Sky Bet League One.
What's new?
As well as becoming the latest club to release a series of documentaries about the club's inner workings, Birmingham have produced impressive wins over Sevilla and Nottingham Forest in pre-season and spent £10m on the signing of former Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi from Rennes .
YouTube This content is provided by YouTube, which may use cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need your consent to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to change your settings and enable YouTube cookies or allow them just once. You can change your settings at any time in your privacy settings. Sorry, we couldn't check if you consented to YouTube's use of cookies. To view this content, you can use the button below to allow YouTube cookies for this session only. Enable cookies Allow cookies once
What is the goal this season?
After one season in League One, the Blues are hoping for a similarly short stay in the Championship and are aiming for a return to the Premier League in the near future. Bookmakers have them as one of the favourites to win back-to-back promotions in 2025/26.
Pictured: Birmingham won the Sky Bet League One title last season.
Blackburn
Who's the coach? Valerien Ismael. Where did they finish last season? 7th place.
What's new?
Blackburn come into this season on the back of a near-perfect pre-season, beating Accrington , Everton , Qatar and Elche before ending the campaign with a 3-1 defeat at NEC Nijmegen . The club are also reported to have spent just under £4million on strengthening their squad ahead of the new season.
Pictured: Blackburn beat Everton during pre-season training.
What is the goal this season?
Rovers have never reached the Championship play-offs since their relegation from the Premier League 13 years ago. They have finished ninth once, eighth twice and seventh twice. One of those seventh places was last season, when they were just two points off the top six. Getting over that line has been their biggest test yet, and it is one they must now overcome.
- Watch your EFL team at least 20 times in the 2025/26 season with Sky Sports+
- Got Sky? Watch your EFL team on the Sky Sports app.
- Don't have a Sky subscription? Watch your EFL team without a contract.
Eleven managerial changes in the Championship
- Bristol City – Gerhard Struber replaces Liam Manning
- Hull – Sergei Yakirovich sub
Sourse: skysports.com
