The top 7 most chaotic EFL Championship clubs named and ranked | OneFootball

We have named and ranked the top seven most chaotic clubs in the Championship.

The new Championship season is underway, and it is already shaping up to be one of the most competitive and unpredictable campaigns for some time.

After suffering relegation from the Premier League last season, West Ham United, Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers will all be hoping to challenge for an immediate return to the top flight, while Lincoln City, Cardiff City and Bolton Wanderers will be looking to survive after winning promotion from League One.

With the play-offs now going down to eighth place, many clubs in the division will be plotting a potential promotion push this season, with the likes of Millwall, Southampton, Middlesbrough, Wrexham and Norwich City among those tipped to be in the mix come the end of the campaign.

Sheffield Wednesday were the most chaotic club in the Championship last season as they imploded during the latter part of former owner Dejphon Chansiri's tenure, leading to them going into administration and suffering relegation following an 18-point deduction, but with the Owls no longer in the second tier, who will claim that unwanted title this time around?

With plenty of teams known for providing drama on and off the field, we have named and ranked the top seven most chaotic Championship clubs...

7 ? ? Wolverhampton Wanderers

Action Images

The early years of Fosun's ownership of Wolves were a huge success, with Nuno Espírito Santo leading the club to the Championship title in the 2017-18 season before overseeing two consecutive seventh-placed finishes in the Premier League, while they also reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League in the 2019-20 campaign.

However, Nuno's departure in the summer of 2021 led to years of managerial instability at Molineux, with Bruno Lage, Julen Lopetegui, Gary O'Neil, Vitor Pereira and Rob Edwards all having spells in charge prior to the club's relegation from the top flight last season.

Despite Edwards featuring heavily in the media announcements of the high-profile signings of Kieran Trippier and Raul Jimenez this summer, Wolves made the surprise decision to part company with him in early June, bringing in Cesar Peixoto from Portuguese side Gil Vicente.

Wolves will be hoping that better times are ahead under Peixoto in the Championship this season, but given the angry confrontations that took place towards the end of O'Neil and Pereira's tenures, Old Gold supporters will not be afraid to make their feelings clear if results do not improve.

6 ? ? Southampton

Action Images

Southampton spent 11 consecutive seasons in the Premier League following their promotion from the Championship in 2012, but it is fair to say that it has been a turbulent period for the club under the ownership of Sport Republic.

The Saints' long stay in the top flight came to an end in the 2022-23 season as they were relegated following a nightmare season that saw Ralph Hasenhuttl, Nathan Jones and Ruben Selles take charge of the team, but they bounced back at the first attempt the following year under Russell Martin after a 1-0 victory over Leeds United in the play-off final.

However, if Southampton supporters were hoping that would mark the start of another golden era in the Premier League, that certainly did not prove to be the case, with the South Coast outfit suffering a humiliating relegation after accumulating just 12 points, narrowly avoiding breaking Derby County's record for the lowest-ever points tally.

After a poor start to life back in the Championship, the Saints surged up the table after Tonda Eckert replaced Will Still, but despite booking their place in the play-off final with a win over Middlesbrough, they were kicked out of the Wembley showpiece as a result of the Spygate affair and handed a four-point deduction for this season.

Southampton owner Dragan Solak gave Eckert his full backing after the scandal, but the German is currently waiting to discover whether he will face a ban after being charged with misconduct by the FA, so there could yet be more drama to come at St Mary's.

5 ? ? Wrexham

Action Images

While chaos is usually seen as a negative thing, it can sometimes be positive, and that has certainly been the case for Wrexham.

The Red Dragons had been languishing in non-league for over a decade before Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took over in February 2021, and while there was initially some skepticism about the Hollywood duo, they have had a transformative effect on the club.

Wrexham achieved a historic three consecutive promotions between 2022 and 2025 as they went from the National League to the Championship, and it looked as though they would have a chance to make it four in a row, but they missed out on the play-offs in agonising fashion on the final day of last season.

The high-scoring games that became a feature of the early years of Reynolds and McElhenney's ownership may have calmed down as the Red Dragons continue their rise up the leagues, but drama is never too far away at the SToK Cae Ras, and the Disney+ cameras will be there to capture it all for the club's Welcome to Wrexham documentary.

Action Images

Burnley were a model of stability for almost a decade during Sean Dyche's long tenure, with the club punching above their weight in the Premier League for much of that time and even qualifying for Europe after a seventh-placed finish in the 2017-18 season.

However, continuity has been replaced by chaos since Alan Pace's takeover in December 2020, with the Clarets experiencing some remarkable highs and embarrassing lows over the past six years.

Burnley stormed to the Championship title under Vincent Kompany in the 2022-23 season with 101 points, producing some of the best football ever seen in the second tier, but they failed to replicate that success in the Premier League, suffering immediate relegation the following year with a dismal total of just 24 points.

Scott Parker replaced Kompany after his shock move to Bayern Munich, and he led the Clarets to another Championship promotion as they finished second with 100 points, but it was another year of struggle in the top flight last season, with the Lancashire outfit somehow recording an even worse tally of just 22 points.

Burnley have not only become a yo-yo club under Pace's ownership, but they have also had significant turnover in the squad each summer, with supporters feeling that the better players are often sold for big money without being sufficiently replaced.

3 ? ? Sheffield United

Action Images

When Sheffield United were beaten by Sunderland in the play-off final in 2025, few could have imagined what a sliding doors moment Tommy Watson's late winner would be for both clubs.

While the Black Cats went on to secure European football in their first season back in the Premier League, the Wembley defeat was the start of a decline for the Blades, with owners COH Sports largely responsible for the club's recent woes.

Just weeks after losing to Sunderland, United's board made the shock decision to part company with manager Chris Wilder as they pursued a new data-driven recruitment model, but his replacement, Ruben Selles, lasted less than three months at Bramall Lane before being sacked after losing all of his six games in charge in all competitions.

In a humiliating U-turn, COH Sports brought Wilder back to the club for a third spell in September, just 89 days after his summer exit, but while he managed to guide his side away from relegation danger, the expected play-off push did not materialise, with the Blades finishing in a disappointing 13th place.

It has been a concerning summer for United, with star duo Gus Hamer and Callum O'Hare being sold but not replaced, while there have been reports that the South Yorkshire outfit could face a 12-point deduction after the company used to buy the club was placed into liquidation.

2 ? ? Watford

Action Images

It is fair to say that Gino Pozzo has brought some success to Watford since taking over at Vicarage Road in June 2012, but the club has become known primarily for managerial instability during the Italian's tenure.

Incredibly, Alessio Dionisi became the 24th permanent manager appointed by Pozzo over the past 14 years when he arrived this summer, and the Hornets' hot seat has certainly become the most volatile in English football.

Pozzo's hire-and-fire approach has worked at times, with Watford achieving promotion to the Premier League in the 2014-15 season having had four different managers — Giuseppe Sannino, Oscar Garcia, Billy McKinlay and Slavisa Jokanovic, while his decision to bring in an almost total unknown in Xisco Munoz paid off as the Spaniard led the club to the top flight in the 2020-21 campaign.

However, Pozzo's controversial methods have been far less effective in the past few years, with many of his recent appointments failing to make an impact, and, combined with reduced investment in the team, the Hornets have become somewhat stuck in the Championship.

1 ? ? Blackburn Rovers

Action Images

Given how unpopular Blackburn's owners, the Venky's, were during the early stages of their time at Ewood Park, it is staggering to think that they remain in charge of the club almost 16 years after their takeover in November 2010.

Shortly after their arrival, the Venky's made the shock decision to replace Sam Allardyce with Steve Kean, and that set the tone for what was to follow, with managerial upheaval and poor football decisions taking Rovers from the Premier League to League One within the space of six-and-a-half years.

Thankfully for Blackburn, their stay in the third tier proved to be brief as they won promotion back to the Championship at the first attempt, but off-field issues have prevented them from kicking on in the second tier, with Tony Mowbray, Jon Dahl Tomasson, John Eustace and Michael O'Neill all either walking away or voicing their displeasure due to the lack of transfer activity.

After returning to the club for a second spell this summer, Mowbray is already experiencing similar frustrations to his first stint, and it is hard to describe Rovers' summer transfer window as anything other than a disaster, with just three new faces arriving to bolster a threadbare squad.

Just as they were in the early 2010s, protests from Blackburn supporters are a regular occurrence at Ewood Park, but with no sign that the Venky's are prepared to sell, the chaos is likely to continue for a little while longer.