2008–09 Football League Championship

The 2008–09 Football League Championship (known as the Coca-Cola Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the sixth season of the league under its current title and seventeenth season under its current league division format.

Football League Championship
Season2008–09
ChampionsWolverhampton Wanderers
1st Championship title
3rd 2nd tier title
PromotedWolverhampton Wanderers
Birmingham City
Burnley
RelegatedNorwich City
Southampton
Charlton Athletic
Matches played552
Goals scored1,350 (2.45 per match)
Top goalscorerSylvan Ebanks-Blake
(25 goals)
Biggest home winReading 6–0 Sheffield Wednesday,
Preston North End 6–0 Cardiff City
Biggest away winCharlton Athletic 2–5 Sheffield United
Highest scoringNorwich City 5–2 Wolverhampton Wanderers,
Watford 3–4 Blackpool,
Charlton Athletic 2–5 Sheffield United
Longest winning run7 games[1]
Wolverhampton Wanderers (achieved twice)
Longest unbeaten run13 games[1]
Cardiff City,
Swansea City
Longest winless run18 games[1]
Charlton Athletic
Longest losing run6 games[1]
Doncaster Rovers
Highest attendance33,079[2]
Derby County v Wolverhampton Wanderers
Lowest attendance6,648[2]
Blackpool v Charlton Athletic
Average attendance17,938[2]

Wolverhampton Wanderers won the division to return to the Premier League after a five-year absence. They secured the Championship title on 25 April, one week after having confirmed their promotion with a victory over QPR.[3][4]

Birmingham City were promoted at the first attempt following their relegation. They secured their return to the top flight on the final day of the season by winning at promotion rivals Reading 2–1.[5] Norwich City, Southampton and Charlton Athletic were relegated;[6]

Burnley won the play-offs to reach the Premier League for the first time after a 1–0 win in the play-off final against Sheffield United, who had been in with a chance of automatic promotion on the final day.[7]

Team changes from previous season

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Joining the Championship

Relegated from the Premier League:

Promoted from League One:

Leaving the Championship

Promoted to the Premier League:

Relegated to League One:

Team overview

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Stadium and locations

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Team Stadium Capacity
Barnsley Oakwell 23,009
Birmingham City St Andrew's 30,009
Blackpool Bloomfield Road 9,788
Bristol City Ashton Gate 21,497
Burnley Turf Moor 22,546
Cardiff City Ninian Park 22,008
Charlton Athletic The Valley 27,111
Coventry City Ricoh Arena 32,609
Crystal Palace Selhurst Park 26,309
Derby County Pride Park 33,597
Doncaster Rovers Keepmoat Stadium 15,231
Ipswich Town Portman Road 30,311
Norwich City Carrow Road 26,034
Nottingham Forest City Ground 30,602
Plymouth Argyle Home Park 19,500
Preston North End Deepdale 24,500
Queens Park Rangers Loftus Road 19,128
Reading Madejski Stadium 24,161
Sheffield United Bramall Lane 32,609
Sheffield Wednesday Hillsborough 39,814
Southampton St Mary's Stadium 32,689
Swansea City Liberty Stadium 20,532
Watford Vicarage Road 19,920
Wolverhampton Wanderers Molineux 28,525

Personnel and sponsoring

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Team Manager Kit maker Sponsor
Barnsley   Simon Davey Lotto Barnsley Building Society
Birmingham City   Alex McLeish Umbro F&C Investments
Blackpool   Ian Holloway Carlotti Floors 2 Go/Carbrini
Bristol City   Gary Johnson Puma DAS Group
Burnley   Owen Coyle Erreà Holland's Pies
Cardiff City   Dave Jones Joma Vansdirect.co.uk
Charlton Athletic   Phil Parkinson Joma Carbrini
Coventry City   Chris Coleman Puma Cassidy Group (H)/StadiArena (A)
Crystal Palace   Neil Warnock Erreà GAC Logistics
Derby County   Nigel Clough Adidas Bombardier
Doncaster Rovers   Sean O'Driscoll Vandanel Wright Investments
Ipswich Town   Roy Keane Mitre Marcus Evans
Norwich City   Bryan Gunn Xara Aviva
Nottingham Forest   Billy Davies Umbro Capital One
Plymouth Argyle   Paul Sturrock Puma Ginsters
Preston North End   Alan Irvine Diadora Enterprise plc
Queens Park Rangers   Jim Magilton Lotto Gulf Air
Reading   Steve Coppell Puma Waitrose
Sheffield United   Kevin Blackwell Le Coq Sportif VisitMalta.com
Sheffield Wednesday   Brian Laws Lotto PlusNet
Southampton   Mark Wotte Umbro Flybe
Swansea City   Roberto Martínez Umbro Swansea.com
Watford   Brendan Rodgers Diadora Beko
Wolverhampton Wanderers   Mick McCarthy Le Coq Sportif Chaucer Consulting

Managerial changes

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Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
QPR   Iain Dowie Sacked 24 October 2008[8]   Paulo Sousa 19 November 2008[9] 9th
Watford   Aidy Boothroyd Mutual consent 3 November 2008[10]   Brendan Rodgers 24 November 2008[11] 21st
Charlton Athletic   Alan Pardew Mutual consent 22 November 2008[12]   Phil Parkinson 31 December 2008[13] 22nd
Blackpool   Simon Grayson Signed by Leeds United 23 December 2008[14]   Ian Holloway 21 May 2009 16th
Nottingham Forest   Colin Calderwood Sacked 26 December 2008[15]   Billy Davies 1 January 2009[16] 22nd
Derby County   Paul Jewell Resigned 28 December 2008[17]   Nigel Clough 6 January 2009[18] 18th
Norwich City   Glenn Roeder Sacked 14 January 2009[19]   Bryan Gunn 21 January 2009[20] 21st
Southampton   Jan Poortvliet Resigned 23 January 2009[21]   Mark Wotte 23 January 2009[21] 23rd
QPR   Paulo Sousa Sacked 9 April 2009[22]   Jim Magilton 3 June 2009 10th
Ipswich Town   Jim Magilton Sacked 22 April 2009[23]   Roy Keane 23 April 2009[24] 9th
Reading   Steve Coppell Resigned 12 May 2009[25]   Brendan Rodgers 4 June 2009 4th, Play-off semi-final

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Wolverhampton Wanderers (C, P) 46 27 9 10 80 52 +28 90 Promotion to the Premier League
2 Birmingham City (P) 46 23 14 9 54 37 +17 83
3 Sheffield United 46 22 14 10 64 39 +25 80 Qualification for Championship play-offs
4 Reading 46 21 14 11 72 40 +32 77
5 Burnley (O, P) 46 21 13 12 72 60 +12 76
6 Preston North End 46 21 11 14 66 54 +12 74
7 Cardiff City 46 19 17 10 65 53 +12 74
8 Swansea City 46 16 20 10 63 50 +13 68
9 Ipswich Town 46 17 15 14 62 53 +9 66
10 Bristol City 46 15 16 15 54 54 0 61
11 Queens Park Rangers 46 15 16 15 42 44 −2 61
12 Sheffield Wednesday 46 16 13 17 51 58 −7 61
13 Watford 46 16 10 20 68 72 −4 58
14 Doncaster Rovers 46 17 7 22 42 53 −11 58
15 Crystal Palace 46 15 12 19 52 55 −3 56[a]
16 Blackpool 46 13 17 16 47 58 −11 56
17 Coventry City 46 13 15 18 47 58 −11 54
18 Derby County 46 14 12 20 55 67 −12 54
19 Nottingham Forest 46 13 14 19 50 65 −15 53
20 Barnsley 46 13 13 20 45 58 −13 52
21 Plymouth Argyle 46 13 12 21 44 57 −13 51
22 Norwich City (R) 46 12 10 24 57 70 −13 46 Relegation to Football League One
23 Southampton (R) 46 10 15 21 46 69 −23 45[b]
24 Charlton Athletic (R) 46 8 15 23 52 74 −22 39
Updated to match(es) played on 3 May 2009. Source: The Football League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ Crystal Palace were give a one-point deduction for using an ineligible player during a match against Sheffield United on 3 May 2009.[26]
  2. ^ Southampton were given a ten-point deduction for breaching insolvency regulations, regarding their holding company. As they finished in the bottom three in the 2008–09 season, the points deduction was applied during the 2009–10 season in League One.[27]

Play-offs

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Semi-finals Final
        
3 Sheffield United 1 1 2
6 Preston North End 1 0 1
3 Sheffield United 0
5 Burnley 1
4 Reading 0 0 0
5 Burnley 1 2 3

Results

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Home \ Away BAR BIR BLP BRI BUR CAR CHA COV CRY DER DON IPS NWC NOT PLY PNE QPR REA SHU SHW SOU SWA WAT WOL
Barnsley 1–1 0–1 0–0 3–2 0–1 0–0 1–2 3–1 2–0 4–1 1–2 0–0 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–1 0–1 1–2 2–1 0–1 1–3 2–1 1–1
Birmingham City 2–0 0–1 1–0 1–1 1–1 3–2 0–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–2 1–0 1–3 1–0 3–1 1–0 0–0 3–2 2–0
Blackpool 1–0 2–0 0–1 0–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–2 3–2 2–3 0–1 2–0 1–1 0–1 1–3 0–3 2–2 1–3 0–2 1–1 1–1 0–2 2–2
Bristol City 2–0 1–2 0–0 1–2 1–1 2–1 2–0 1–0 1–1 4–1 1–1 1–0 2–2 2–2 1–1 1–1 1–4 0–0 1–1 2–0 0–0 1–1 2–2
Burnley 1–2 1–1 2–0 4–0 2–2 2–1 1–1 4–2 3–0 0–0 0–3 2–0 5–0 0–0 3–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–4 3–2 0–2 3–2 1–0
Cardiff City 3–1 1–2 2–0 0–0 3–1 2–0 2–1 2–1 4–1 3–0 0–3 2–2 2–0 1–0 2–0 0–0 2–2 0–3 2–0 2–1 2–2 2–1 1–2
Charlton Athletic 1–3 0–0 2–2 0–2 1–1 2–2 1–2 1–0 2–2 1–2 2–1 4–2 0–2 2–0 0–0 2–2 4–2 2–5 1–2 0–0 2–0 2–3 1–3
Coventry City 1–1 1–0 2–1 0–3 1–3 0–2 0–0 0–2 1–1 1–0 2–2 2–0 2–2 0–1 0–0 1–0 0–0 1–2 2–0 4–1 1–1 2–3 2–1
Crystal Palace 3–0 0–0 0–1 4–2 0–0 0–2 1–0 1–1 1–0 2–1 1–4 3–1 1–2 1–2 2–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 3–0 2–0 0–0 0–1
Derby County 0–0 1–1 4–1 2–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 2–1 1–2 0–1 0–1 3–1 1–1 2–1 2–2 0–2 0–2 2–1 3–0 0–1 2–2 1–0 2–3
Doncaster Rovers 0–1 0–2 0–0 1–0 2–1 1–1 0–1 1–0 2–0 2–1 1–0 1–1 0–0 1–0 0–2 2–0 0–1 0–2 1–0 0–2 0–0 1–2 0–1
Ipswich Town 3–0 0–1 1–1 3–1 1–1 1–2 1–1 2–1 1–1 2–0 1–3 3–2 2–1 0–0 1–2 2–0 2–0 1–1 1–1 0–3 2–2 0–0 0–2
Norwich City 4–0 1–1 1–1 1–2 1–1 2–0 1–0 1–2 1–2 1–2 2–1 2–0 2–3 1–0 2–2 0–1 0–2 1–0 0–1 2–2 2–3 2–0 5–2
Nottingham Forest 1–0 1–1 0–0 3–2 1–2 0–1 0–0 1–0 0–2 1–3 2–4 1–1 1–2 2–0 2–1 2–2 0–0 0–1 2–1 3–1 1–1 3–2 0–1
Plymouth Argyle 1–2 0–1 1–2 0–2 1–2 2–1 2–2 4–0 1–3 0–3 0–3 1–3 1–2 1–0 1–0 1–1 2–2 2–2 4–0 2–0 0–1 2–1 2–2
Preston North End 2–1 1–0 0–1 2–0 2–1 6–0 2–1 2–1 2–0 2–0 1–0 3–2 1–0 2–1 1–1 2–1 2–1 0–0 1–1 2–3 0–2 2–0 1–3
Queens Park Rangers 2–1 1–0 1–1 2–1 1–2 1–0 2–1 1–1 0–0 0–2 2–0 1–3 0–1 2–1 0–0 3–2 0–0 0–0 3–2 4–1 1–0 0–0 1–0
Reading 0–0 1–2 1–0 0–2 3–1 1–1 2–2 3–1 4–2 3–0 2–1 0–1 2–0 0–1 2–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 6–0 1–2 4–0 4–0 1–0
Sheffield United 2–1 2–1 2–2 3–0 2–3 0–0 3–1 1–1 2–2 4–2 0–1 2–0 1–0 0–0 2–0 1–0 3–0 0–2 1–2 0–0 1–0 2–1 1–3
Sheffield Wednesday 0–1 1–1 1–1 0–0 4–1 1–0 4–1 0–1 2–0 0–1 1–0 0–0 3–2 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–0 1–2 1–0 2–0 0–0 2–0 0–1
Southampton 0–0 1–2 0–1 0–1 2–2 1–0 2–3 1–1 1–0 1–1 1–2 2–2 2–0 0–2 0–0 3–1 0–0 1–1 1–2 1–1 2–2 0–3 1–2
Swansea City 2–2 2–3 0–1 1–0 1–1 2–2 1–1 0–0 1–3 1–1 3–1 3–0 2–1 3–1 1–0 4–1 0–0 2–0 1–1 1–1 3–0 3–1 3–1
Watford 1–1 0–1 3–4 2–4 3–0 2–2 1–0 2–1 2–0 3–1 1–1 2–1 2–1 2–1 1–2 2–1 3–0 2–2 0–2 2–2 2–2 2–0 2–3
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2–0 1–1 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–2 2–1 2–1 2–1 3–0 1–0 0–0 3–3 5–1 0–1 1–3 1–0 0–3 1–1 4–1 3–0 2–1 3–1
Source: The Football League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers

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Pos Player Team Goals
1 Sylvan Ebanks-Blake Wolverhampton Wanderers 25
2 Ross McCormack Cardiff City 21
Jason Scotland Swansea City
4 Kevin Doyle Reading 18
5 Tommy Smith Watford 16
6 Rob Hulse Derby County 14
Chris Iwelumo Wolverhampton Wanderers
Marcus Tudgay Sheffield Wednesday
Kevin Phillips Birmingham City

Awards

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Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month Notes
Manager Club Player Club
August Mick McCarthy Wolverhampton Wanderers Richard Chaplow Preston North End [28][29]
September Owen Coyle Burnley Kevin Doyle Reading [30][31]
October Dave Jones Cardiff City Rob Hulse Derby County [32][33]
November Mick McCarthy Wolverhampton Wanderers Chris Iwelumo Wolverhampton Wanderers [34][35]
December Steve Coppell Reading Stephen Hunt Reading [36][37]
January Roberto Martínez Swansea City Joe Ledley Cardiff City [38][39]
February Chris Coleman Coventry City Jason Scotland Swansea City [40]
March Kevin Blackwell Sheffield United Robbie Blake Burnley [41][42]
April Alan Irvine Preston North End Kyle Naughton Sheffield United
PFA Team of the Year[43]
Pos. Player Club
GK Keiren Westwood Coventry City
DF Kyle Naughton Sheffield United
DF Roger Johnson Cardiff City
DF Richard Stearman Wolverhampton Wanderers
DF Danny Fox Coventry City
MF Michael Kightly Wolverhampton Wanderers
MF Stephen Hunt Reading
MF Joe Ledley Cardiff City
MF Jordi Gómez Swansea City
FW Sylvan Ebanks-Blake Wolverhampton Wanderers
FW Jason Scotland Swansea City

Events

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Goal controversies

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  • On 20 September 2008, during Watford's home game against Reading, the assistant referee Nigel Banister adjudged that a John Eustace own goal had opened the scoring for Reading. In fact, the ball had gone four yards wide of the goal after Eustace challenged Royals forward Noel Hunt and a corner should therefore have been awarded. Referee Stuart Attwell followed the signal by the assistant and awarded the goal.[44] The next day Reading manager Steve Coppell said that he was happy for the game to be replayed,[45] but his offer was turned down when an official said, "the referee's decision is final."
  • On 6 December 2008 an apparent Bristol City goal against Swansea City was not awarded after both the linesman and referee failed to see the ball cross the line. This led Bristol City manager Gary Johnson to add to calls for goal-line technology.[46]

Southampton administration

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On 23 April 2009, The Football League announced that Southampton had been placed into administration. The ruling occurred after the deadline for immediate points deduction application, so the ten-point deduction would have to await whether or not Southampton, in 22nd place at the time of the announcement, were relegated.[47] If they had finished above the relegation zone, then the points would have been deducted from their total for the current year to thereby relegate them. However, since their relegation was confirmed following their penultimate match, their point penalty would be applied the next season in League One.[48]

References

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  48. ^ Statement on Southampton Football Club Archived 26 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine from The Football League, 23 April 2009