HERE. WE. GO
With six new teams, 11 new managers and one storied old club reduced to such levels of penury by a pernicious owner that one of its unpaid suppliers have reportedly refused to provide sock-tape for its belatedly-paid players, the new Championship campaign kicks off on Friday night, with fancied sides Birmingham and Ipswich ready to get the first of the regular season’s 552 games started. Of course there could end up being considerably fewer if Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri doesn’t do the decent thing and sell up for a price that isn’t totally outlandish, but for now the Owls remain hopeful of fielding a team for their season-opener at relegated returnees Leicester on Sunday, even if whatever side they can cobble together is forced to show more leg than is considered appropriate or decent on a football pitch. As things stand, Wednesday fans would almost certainly be delighted if their club lives up to its status as hotter-than-the-sun favourites to finish bottom of the league come season’s end, because it would at least mean they still have one to support.
A white-knuckle ride so unpredictable that … erm, five of the past six pre-season favourites have gone on to win it, the Championship still remains one of football’s more exciting leagues in so far as anyone in it can beat anyone else without it registering particularly high on the Richter scale. An ongoing soap opera with no ends of overlapping and intertwined narrative arcs and characters, this season will boast no end of intriguing interlopers in the form of Wrexham custodians/opportunists Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, Snoop Dogg sidling into the Swansea City hood and the Birmingham minority owner, documentary star and charisma vacuum that is Tom Brady.
To act as a counterbalance to these intriguing sprinklings of stardust, of course there are more meat-and-potatoes sides of the kind personified by Preston. A team who took so much umbrage at a recent Big Website suggestion that their unremarkable, ongoing and reassuring presence in the second tier is to be highly commended, they failed to win any of their final eight games and only stayed up on the final day by the skin of their teeth. One imagines a mid-table finish will do just fine this time around, although they may struggle again.
While the likes of Hull, Oxford, Charlton and Portsmouth are also likely to be in the scramble to avoid having to mix it down among the dead men, Luton’s surprise second consecutive relegation last season proved nobody can rest on their laurels. Having had a full pre-season to get his ducks in a row ahead of his first full campaign as Coventry manager, Frank Lampard’s fortunes seem like the kind that could veer either way and his many cheerleaders and detractors will inevitably be keeping a close eye on the table to see which half his side occupy. Following last season’s playoff failure he’ll be hoping his troops pull their socks up in time for Saturday’s opener against Hull and hoping that, unlike those of a certain other team, they don’t immediately fall down.
LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE
Join Scott Murray from 8pm BST for hot Championship-opening MBM coverage of Birmingham City 0-0 Ipswich Town.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The Spanish keeper had [the research] on her bottle. So I thought when she went in goal, ‘just chuck it into the English fans’. Then she can’t have it! I wouldn’t put it on a bottle because anyone could do that. I put it on my arm. It wasn’t hard, when she’s gone in the goal it’s on its own, isn’t it? You just pick it up. She realised when she saw my bottle in there instead. She was walking back and looked so confused and I was trying not to burst out laughing” – Hannah Hampton, Ballon d’Or nominee, reveals how she befuddled Spain’s Cata Coll to gain an edge for the Lionesses during the Euro 2025 final penalty shootout.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
I was somewhat surprised to read your comment that Arsenal had ‘won the square root of nish-all in five years’ (yesterday’s Football Daily). May I join 1,056 other pedants in recalling the supreme glory of the men’s team in securing the Community Shield twice in that strict timespan (2020 and 2023). Also we must surely spotlight the even greater successes of the Arsenal women’s team in winning the League Cup – twice (2022-23 and 2023-24) – and Bigger Cup (2024-25)” – Nick Howarth Pulleyn (and no others).
Let’s face it; Arsenal will stop Arsenal being champions. When William Blake wrote of ‘mind-forg’d manacles’ and the ‘marks of weakness [in every face I meet]’, in the poem London, he was specifically referring to the area between Drayton Park and Tollington Road” – Rowan Sweeney.
What a wonderful, heartfelt paean to Son Heung-min from Michael Gilsenan (yesterday’s Football Daily letters). Can I suggest that Michael offers his services to Son as a scriptwriter? He’d surely have come up with a more enthusiastic tribute to LA than Son’s own half-baked effort (and, on reflection, awarding it that is probably being over-generous)” – Phil Taverner.
As the Sonny appreciation society goes into overload, did you know that Harry Kane played played 435 games for Spurs, scoring 280 goals? While Sonny played 454 games for Spurs, scoring 173? But Kane slotted in 63 penalties. Now, had Son been taking those same penalties instead, you can do the math (as they say). Simply amazing. What a guy” – Marc Meldrum.
We often think about players joining new clubs and whether they’ll fit in, or will they suit their new surroundings. I see Anthony Stokes has joined Conor McGregor’s Black Forge FC” – Gareth Aherne.
If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our letter o’ the day is … Gareth Aherne, who lands some Football Weekly merch. Terms and conditions for our competitions are here.
RECOMMENDED BOOKING
On Thursday 11 September, join Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning and a host of your other Football Weekly favourites live on stage for an evening of unfiltered football punditry at Troxy in London and livestreamed globally. Book now.
UNITED’S SESKO CLUBCARD
It turns out there’s a fair bit of cash down the back of Manchester United’s sofa. Enter Benjamin Sesko to the Old Trafford drama, to the tune of £73.3m. The 22-year-old Slovenian’s reputation is such that he’s already been the scourge of gossip column writers for years, and finally arrives in Our League tasked with restoring a crumbling old giant of English football. Ah but maybe United’s spangly new training ground will provide a friendly reminder of the high-tech, high-octane fuẞball laboratory in which he was constructed. From Red Bull to the Red Devils. So can Sesko succeed where others (Radamel Falcao, Romelu Lukaku, Rasmus Højlund – at least his name doesn’t begin with an R) failed? You could certainly forgive United fans, traumatised by a decade of post-Ferguson transfer roulette, for feeling a little cautious. But fear not, if it all goes belly-up by Christmas, there’s always the January window. Or next summer. Or another five-year plan. Good luck, Benj.
NEWS, BITS AND BOBS
Uefa has paid more than £9.4m in “solidarity” funds to Russian clubs since they were banned from taking part in European tournaments after the invasion of Ukraine. The payments were made despite five Ukrainian clubs failing to receive similar funds, allegedly due to being in a “zone of military operations”.
Western United have had their licence withdrawn in a move which, just three years after winning the men’s A-League, threatens their existence.
Villarreal have confirmed the signing of Thomas Partey on a free transfer, in a move announced two days after the former Arsenal midfielder appeared in court charged with six sexual offences.
Aston Villa have procured the services of Nice forward Evan Guessand in a deal worth up to £30m.
Bournemouth are pushing to snaffle Lille defender Bafodé Diakité as a replacement for Illia Zabarnyi, who looks poised to join Luis Enrique’s PSG revolution.
Gareth Taylor has rocked up as the new coach of Liverpool Women, five months after being told to do one by Manchester City.
Bristol City Women have pulled off a coup in bringing Sophie Ingle back to the club. For the past seven years the Wales international has been an integral part of the all-conquering (six successive titles and all that) Chelsea side.
Barcelona have stripped Marc-André ter Stegen of the club’s captaincy as a feud with the keeper escalated over his knack status. Ronald Araújo has been named stand-in skipper while the German faces disciplinary action.
And new ITV quiz show host Gary Lineker can’t wait to host The Box. “I can’t wait to host The Box,” he cheered.
STILL WANT MORE?
“When teams come on here on the bus they drive and drive, through the farms, past the fishing harbours … when they can’t drive any further, they find our stadium.” Nick Ames goes to the ends of the earth (almost literally) for this feature on remote Swedish club Mjällby.
Our Premier League previews just keep on coming. John Brewin has the lowdown on Fulham, while Andy Hunter runs the rule over Everton.
Here’s Andy again: on the helter-skelter ride that was Darwin Núñez’s spell at Liverpool. So long sweet prince; he’s off to Al-Hilal.
With Benjamin Sesko touching down, Rasmus Højlund’s future comes into question. So where next for the big Dane? The Rumour Mill is spinning.
You want answers!? Tough, it’s the quiz of the week.
Will Still is the new man in charge at Southampton. He gets his chat on in the company of Ben Fisher.
And matchday live will be back for the new season this weekend. Saturday’s edition will feature a Q&A with Ben, so get your Championship-facing questions in to matchday.live@theguardian.com.
MEMORY LANE
Some early memories from the inaugural iteration of the Coca-Cola Championship, with Kevin Blackwell’s Leeds heading down the road to Millmoor in November 2004, where they would slump 1-0 against Rotherham. Here Gary Kelly tackles Michael Proctor during a game in which Martin McIntosh poked home the only goal. Sighed Blackwell after the match: “We dominated from start to finish and, in real life, Rotherham would have been reported for mugging us.” Leeds would finish 14th and the Millers ultimately relegated with just 29 points.
