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The map shows the 24 clubs in the 2009-10 season of the English Football League Championship, which is the 2nd Level of professional football in England and Wales.
Here are the oddsmaker’s picks for the best promotion candidates in the Championship this season {click here (Statto.com)}. The three clubs that were relegated from the Premier League in May are the three favorites for promotion back to the top flight…Newcastle United, West Bromwich Albion, and Middlesabrough. Also highly rated for promotion are Ipswich Town (on the strength of new manager Roy Keane); Sheffield United (who, with their large attendances, have been perennial favorites for the jump three seasons running now); and Reading (despite a horrible second half of last season). It is interesting that even with all the cash at their owners’ disposal, Queens Park Rangers are now less highly rated for promotion. QPR has the 7th best odds for promotion now, versus second-best odds for promotion one year ago. All those managerial changes and the accompanying front office discord have taken the shine off noveuu-riche QPR’s potential, it seems. Also, note how decently-rated the three East Midlands clubs are, at 9th, 10th, and 11th best odds for promotion… Nottingham Forest, Derby County, and Leicester City. Forest had a tough time of it last season in their return to the 2nd Level; Derby County had an abysmal season following their horrendous last-place stint in the Premier League (in 07/08); while Leicester has just bounced straight back to the Championship following their first-ever season in the 3rd Level. All three clubs have solid fan bases and will draw well, and that certainly can’t hurt their chances.
Here is a 2009-2010 League Championship preview, from SportingLife.com, written by Pete Thompson {click here}.
**Here are the kits for the clubs in the 2009-2010 League Championship, from the Historical Football Kits site {click here}.
Thanks to the E-F-S site, for attendance figures {click here}. Thanks to the contributors to the pages at Wikipedia {click here (set at League Championship 09/10 season)}. Thanks to the FootyMad.net sites, for each club’s League history {click here (set at League Championship main page)}.
