A 'gold rush' year in Championship

CHAMPIONSHIP owners are treating this year as a top six gold rush due to the small number of rivals with parachute payments, it is claimed.

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Mark Robins has spoken recently about 2025/26 being a one in 15 or 20-year Championship season because the door seems open for so many teams to have a realistic charge for at least the playoffs.

It is a concertinaed league table, with leaders Coventry City the only team in the top half who have more points than would historically be expected in their position at this stage.

The gap between third and every place below them up, down to about the middle of the bottom half, is about half what would be anticipated.

It's four points between Ipswich in third and Stoke City and Bristol City in eighth and ninth, for example, whereas it's usually seven, eight or nine.

It can partly be explained by the makeup of the division, believes football finance expert Kieran Maguire.