The best Championship teams ever is a funny category. They are, by definition, fleeting – off to the promised lands of Premier League riches. There can be no eras of dominance, and no expectation that their successes carry on in the top flight.
Made up of clubs developed from the lower reaches of the Football League, and, more often than not, by sides looking to bounce back to the top flight, the best Championship teams usually steamroll the rest of the division with such ease that promotion is wrapped up by Easter.
Sometimes, though, that isn't always the case. Leeds and Burnley were pushed all the way by Sheffield United in 2024/25, with Daniel Farke's side managing to pip the Clarets to the title on the final day of the season at Plymouth.
For housekeeping purposes, we adjusted the tallies of every season accordingly prior to the 1998/89 season, where teams played fewer than 46 matches - not that it matter, because none of them would've made this countdown anyway. No, not even Luton in 1981/82. We offer our sincerest apologies to David Pleat.
The 10 best Championship teams EVER, by points total
10. Chelsea, 1988/89 - 99pts (+46)
Our countdown’s only '80s side finished 17 points clear, yet they took a while to settle: incredibly, Chelsea won none of their first six fixtures, drawing three and losing three, which means that for 87 per cent of the season they averaged 2.4 points per game – more than any other team on here.
The freshly-relegated Blues were dominant and had quality all over the park, from Graham Roberts and Tony Dorigo at the back to Kerry Dixon up top. A young Graeme Le Saux made his debut on the final day.
9. Manchester City, 2001/02 - 99pts (+56)
The last of five consecutive seasons in which Manchester City were either promoted or relegated saw them top the second tier with 99 points and 108 goals, putting them 10 points and 47 (forty-seven) goals ahead of West Bromwich Albion in second.
Keegan’s entertainers started as they meant to go on: an eight-game run in August and September brought 6-2, 5-2, 4-2, 3-0 and 3-0 wins, 4-0, 4-0 and 4-3 defeats, and no draws. All or nothing, you could say.
8. Burnley, 2024/25 - 100pts (+53)
Scott Parker's appointment was greeted with some caution in the summer of 2024, and he was tasked with returning Burnley back to the Premier League.
What occurred across the 2024/25 season was nothing short of spectacular, with Burnley breaking records left, right and centre, and even then they couldn't topple Leeds United for the title!
Burnley’s promotion came on the back of a stunning season defensively, with just 16 goals conceded in 46 games at an average of 0.35 goals per game.
That beat the previous English league record of 0.38 goals per game set by Liverpool during the 1978/79 season and was four goals less than Gillingham conceded in a 46-game season back in 1995/96.
Parker must now strengthen as staving off relegation from the Premier League next year looks the biggest test, but what a job he has done and Turf Moor's admiration for him will live long in the memory.
7. Leeds United, 2024/25 - 100pts (+65)
Embroiled in a three-way race for the title, Leeds United came out on top in 2024/25 by pipping Burnley on goal difference.
A last-day victory at Plymouth Argyle, courtesy of a last-minute winner by Manor Solomon, typified Leeds' never-say-die attitude across a relenting season.
Crucial wins against Sunderland and Sheffield United edged them ever closer as the climax grew in, but Daniel Farke's side were monsters when it came to their home form, it must be said.
Losing once all season and scoring 61 goals along the way, the Whites lost three key players when missing out in the 2023/24 season yet still came back stronger and with more hunger than ever.
Their mettle will be tested in the Premier League once again, but it is no secret how much better Leeds are as a top-flight team in England.
6. Burnley, 2022/23 - 101pts (+52)
With Vincent Kompany's first season as a manager in England coming with newly-relegated Burnley in the unpredictable Championship – a league he had no experience of – there was some scepticism that it would be marriage made in heaven.
Just one win from the opening five games also raised eyebrows that the Belgian could implement a Guardiola-style possession system at a club that was coming off the back of a decade of Dyche-ball.
But the Clarets soon turned on the style, losing just three games all season while scoring more and conceding fewer than any other team in the division.
Clinching the title at the home of bitter rivals Blackburn in April was just the icing on the cake, as all doubts were washed away – along with most of Burnley's opponents.
5. Fulham, 2000/01 - 101pts (+58)
Fulham booked their ticket for a first top-flight campaign since the 1960s with a thumping title win. Owned by Mohamed Al-Fayed and managed by Jean Tigana, they celebrated Christmas by moving 10 points clear of second (with a game in hand) and Easter by sealing promotion with five matches remaining.
Louis Saha's 27 league goals was phenomenal, too, while the likes of Steve Finnan, Chris Coleman and Lee Clark provided consistency throughout the campaign.
Following promotion, Fulham spent like a club run by the owner of Harrods: £35m in transfer fees back then represented a huge sum in one summer. Unlike later attempts at splashing the cash, it actually worked.
4. Leicester City, 2013/14 - 102pts (+40)
Inspired by their 2002/03 campaign, when the club won promotion despite going into administration (unpunished in those days), Leicester won promotion in 2013/14 despite – or due to – the Foxes breaking Financial Fair Play spending limits, losing £21m in a single season and paying a settlement of £3.1m just four years later. Fairytale stuff.
Nigel Pearson’s charges bossed the Championship, winning nine consecutive games (one of many club records broken), signing Riyad Mahrez in January and giving a 40-year-old Kevin Phillips his career send-off. The rest is history – a bit like that outstanding £18.1m...
3. Newcastle United, 2009/10 - 102pts (+55)
Newcastle’s 2008/09 squad may not have been too good to go down, but their 2009/10 vintage was too good not to go up. The Magpies went unbeaten at home for an immediate return to the Premier League.
Amid much rotation – Chris Hughton, caretaker until late October, used 33 players in league games alone – Andy Carroll became a star and Kevin Nolan matched his 17-goal haul from midfield, while Peter Lovenkrands and Shola Ameobi both posted double-figure tallies in the Championship themselves.
And Newcastle pocketing £20m net in transfer fees meant there was an extra happy ending for the real hero of the piece: Mike Ashley.
2. Sunderland, 1998/99 - 105pts (+63)
Impressively, 1998/99’s League Cup semi-finalists found the time to post a thunderous new record points tally in the second tier. In the season that introduced English fans to Thomas Sorensen, who’d go on to play nearly 500 games on these shores, Sunderland lost only three matches and conceded an extremely stingy 28 goals in their 46 fixtures.
However, their real strength was an attack that offered manager Peter Reid a choice of Michael Bridges, Danny Dichio, wily old Niall Quinn and, of course, Kevin Phillips. The poacher averaged just under a goal per game en route to promotion and carried that into the Premier League, scoring 30 goals in 1999/2000 to become England’s only European Golden Boot winner in history.
1. Reading, 2005/06 - 106pts (+67)
The record-breaking Royals put together one hell of a squad in 2005/06. They popped the cork with corking signings from, uh, Cork, and before long Kevin Doyle and Shane Long were joined by countryman Stephen Hunt and club-record signing Leroy Lita.
With a canny manager in Steve Coppell and a squad boasting strength and depth from back to front, Reading took a flying dump on the Championship, losing just a single game after the opening day and scoring 99 goals in total. They put five past Millwall, Brighton, Derby and Cardiff – twice – while also keeping things tight, as Steve Sidwell and James Harper protected a reliable defence.
Reading earned themselves a first-ever top-flight campaign, and did so in style. No wonder they still go on about it.
