Manage an EFL Championship club — free in your browser
EFL Championship is one of 28 divisions you can manage in free. 24 clubs, 671 players, a full season of tactics and transfers, and no sign-up between you and the first match.
24 clubs · 671 players · average rating 68.1 · average age 25.1. The strongest squad on paper is Ipswich Town, and the highest-rated player in the division is G. Hamer (77) of Sheffield United.
Every EFL Championship club you can take over
Strength here is the mean rating of each club's best eleven, which is the quickest way to see who you would be joining and who you would be chasing.
| Club | Code | Squad | Strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ipswich Town | IPT | 27 | 74.7 |
| Leicester City | LEC | 29 | 74.2 |
| Sheffield United | SHU | 30 | 73.5 |
| Birmingham City | BIC | 27 | 73.5 |
| Southampton | SOU | 29 | 73.3 |
| Coventry City | COC | 23 | 72.4 |
| Norwich City | NOC | 30 | 72.1 |
| Wrexham | WRE | 30 | 72.1 |
| Hull City | HUC | 29 | 72.0 |
| Middlesbrough | MID | 26 | 71.9 |
| Bristol City | BRC | 29 | 71.7 |
| Queens Park Rangers | QUR | 30 | 71.7 |
| West Bromwich Albion | WEA | 24 | 71.6 |
| Swansea City | SWC | 25 | 71.6 |
| Watford | WAT | 29 | 71.4 |
| Millwall FC | MIF | 30 | 71.4 |
| Derby County | DEC | 27 | 71.4 |
| Stoke City | STC | 28 | 71.2 |
| Portsmouth | POR | 30 | 70.6 |
| Preston North End | PRE | 29 | 70.5 |
| Blackburn Rovers | BLR | 29 | 69.9 |
| Oxford United | OXU | 30 | 69.7 |
| Sheffield Wednesday | SHW | 27 | 69.5 |
| Charlton Athletic | CHA | 24 | 69.2 |
The best players in EFL Championship
The division's best. Signing one of these is usually a whole summer's budget; developing your own is the cheaper route. Ratings are BALLKNW's own stylised approximations for gameplay balance, not official figures from any ratings provider.
| Player | Club | Position | Age | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| G. Hamer | Sheffield United | Midfielder | 28 | 77 |
| L. Davis | Ipswich Town | Defender | 25 | 76 |
| A. Matusiwa | Ipswich Town | Midfielder | 27 | 76 |
| C. Akpom | Ipswich Town | Forward | 29 | 76 |
| A. Fatawu | Leicester City | Midfielder | 21 | 76 |
| M. Cooper | Sheffield United | Goalkeeper | 25 | 76 |
| B. Osayi-Samuel | Birmingham City | Defender | 27 | 76 |
| M. Ducksch | Birmingham City | Forward | 31 | 76 |
EFL Championship wonderkids worth signing early
Players aged 21 or under with the most room left to grow. Sign them before their value catches up with their potential and you fund a decade of the rebuild.
| Player | Club | Age | Now | Potential |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S. Nypan | Middlesbrough | 18 | 69 | 86 |
| Yang Min Hyeok | Portsmouth | 19 | 70 | 84 |
| A. Devine | Preston North End | 20 | 70 | 84 |
| L. Page | Leicester City | 16 | 61 | 83 |
| H. Armstrong | Preston North End | 18 | 67 | 83 |
| H. Amass | Sheffield Wednesday | 18 | 68 | 83 |
Where EFL Championship players come from
45% of players here are from England, with the rest drawn from 66 other nations — a home core with a real import market on top.
| Nation | Players | Share of division |
|---|---|---|
| England | 300 | 44.7% |
| Republic of Ireland | 48 | 7.2% |
| Scotland | 33 | 4.9% |
| Wales | 30 | 4.5% |
| Denmark | 16 | 2.4% |
What EFL Championship is like to manage in
Squads here average 25.1 years old — settled enough to compete now, young enough that you are not forced into an immediate rebuild. It is also one of the tightest divisions in the game: only 5.5 rating points separate the strongest first eleven from the weakest, so promotion and relegation are decided by management rather than budget. Look for the 157 under-21s who have not finished developing — the squads span 67 nations, so the pool is wider than the league's size suggests.
You get an objective from the board and a budget that rarely matches it. Everything after that — shape, signings, renewals, youth intake, cup priorities — is your call, and the season simulates on it. No download, no account, save kept in your browser.
Common questions
Can I manage an EFL Championship club for free?
Yes. All 24 EFL Championship clubs are playable in Gaffa at no cost — there is no download, no account and no paid tier. Pick a club, set your tactics, work the transfer market and simulate the season in your browser.
Which EFL Championship clubs are in the game?
Every club in the division: Ipswich Town, Leicester City, Sheffield United, Birmingham City, Southampton, Coventry City and 18 more. Each carries a full squad, so EFL Championship has 671 players in total.
Do I need an account to save my EFL Championship season?
No account, no login. Progress is kept in your browser's own storage and is waiting the next time you open the game on that device.
Take an EFL Championship club to the top
Open it, pick a club, and the season starts. Nothing to install and nothing to join.
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