The top 10 most hostile EFL Championship away fans named and ranked by AI | OneFootball

The English second tier brings some raucous atmospheres to its away ends.

The Championship is notorious for a few things, one of them being its many loyal and vocal supporters that follow their teams both home and away.

The advantage of playing at your local ground, especially for important matches, when you can get as many people behind your team as possible to try and help them get over the line can't be understated. At the same time, there's nothing quite like being at one of the home ends when your team is struggling and all you can hear are the buoyant travelling supporters.

Away fans can have such a big impact on the results too, helping to swing the atmosphere in their favour and drive their players on. In the Championship, with its often large attendances, this can be even more powerful, and some groups use some intimidating tactics to try and rattle the hosts.

But which clubs has the most hostile travelling fans? We asked ChatGPT to rank the division's top 10, and this is what it said.

The Tigers had to muster up all the support and belief that they could last season when they fought a relegation battle that pretty much spanned the whole 2024/25 campaign.

In the end, they helped the club to narrowly avoid the drop down to League One on the final day of the season, thanks to a 1-1 draw away at Portsmouth.

ChatGPT highlighted the work of Hull's travelling fans, especially in tough times like these, as one of its key points.

9 Blackburn Rovers

We got to see the full force of Blackburn's supporters on multiple occasions last season, particularly when they got to take on their Lancashire rivals Burnley and Preston North End, neither of whom feature in this top 10.

Around 6000 of them made the trip to Deepdale last September in a dramatic affair that led to scuffles on the pitch. These lively atmospheres spark the Rovers faithful into life, according to AI.

8 Stoke City

As much as their team has struggled to remain competitive in recent seasons, ChatGPT has said that Stoke's away following always brings that fighting edge when they're on the road.

Generating noise isn't a problem for the Potters that go to see their team play away from home, according to AI. Mark Robins will be hopeful that the vibe that the fans bring to each game can help him and his players accrue a few more points next season.

7 QPR

Rivalries always bring out the best in players and those in the stands, and there are plenty of them to go around in London. Whether it be in league matches or in cup competitions, QPR always have a few inter-city trips on their calendar that allow them to bring the uncomfortable feel generated at Loftus Road to the homes of their competitors.

Ipswich supporters have had every reason to follow their team up and down the country over the past few seasons. Back-to-back promotions and a spell in the Premier League should encourage any supporter of any club to go and watch their teams as many times as possible, and in as many places as possible, given the short nature of the club's stint in the top flight.

Their eyes will be focused on returning to some of those top-flight grounds for the 2026/27 campaign, but they've first got a few EFL roadtrips to plan for.

ChatGPT described the Tractor Boys' supporters as an "assertive" and "dedicated" group.

Blues have already taken League One by storm and are looking to replicate what the team just before them on this list did a couple of terms ago.

Plans are in place for Birmingham to hugely expand their home capacity by way of building a new 62,000-seater stadium at their proposed Sports Quarter. If they can pack that out by the time it opens in the next decade, demand to join their loyal and loud travelling bunch should only improve their away standards and hostility even more.

More than 35,000 loyal Blades made the trip down to the capital in May on what ultimately proved to be an unsuccessful quest to return to the top flight, but it put on full display their passion and support for their team.

Chris Wilder's side were the second-best team in the Championship away from home last season, winning 13 of their 23 battles on unfamiliar turf. No matter the strength of the team, that sort of record doesn't come without their supporters having an influence on their hosts.

3 Derby County

As well as being hostile, ChatGPT described Derby's away following as an "emotional" bunch, using that to their advantage in any local fixtures.

The Rams didn't have to face any teams that were right on their doorstep last season, although they did come out on top against fellow Midlanders Coventry City, beating the promotion contenders 4-1 on aggregate across their two meetings last season.

More of those fixtures will be to come now that Leicester City have come back down to the second tier. That's a contest that the travelling County faithful will look to sink their teeth into when they get back to the King Power Stadium.

Two main words from ChatGPT to describe Albion's away following: loud and vocal. That's exactly what you want to be in any visiting end of any ground in the Championship.

West Brom's tendency to get involved in altercations every now and then fuels their silver-placed ranking on this list. Being in the Midlands, many of the Baggies' away days aren't horrendously accessible, and they make full use of their ability to go and support their club at all times.

Who else could top this list but the famous, and infamous, Lions? Such is their notoriety and strong links with football-related scuffles, any films about the English football hooliganism of the 90s always had to feature Millwall in some capacity.

Home and away, they make it difficult for those teams who want to play more attractive football.

Their supporters encourage the team to get physical, rough the opponents up a bit, just the same way that they do in the away ends to give their team the best chance of winning.