The 10 biggest traitors in EFL Championship history | OneFootball

Football League World has highlighted the 10 biggest traitors in EFL Championship history

The EFL Championship is a division full of intensity, with twists and turns from the first week of the season until the final stages in May.

One of the division’s elements that make it so intriguing are the storylines that develop over the years, with controversial players at the centre of them.

Football League World has decided to look at the 10 biggest traitors in EFL Championship history and explore why they are deserving of such a title.

Marcelino Nunez

The most recent entry on this list, Marcelino Nunez earned the title of traitor in the summer of 2025 when he decided to swap Norwich City for bitter rivals Ipswich Town.

This was an extremely controversial move, which led former teammate Onel Hernandez to take to his YouTube channel and post a 13-minute rant, saying he would f****ng break Nunez if the two met on the football pitch.

Matters were made worse when he gestured towards the Canaries’ faithful during Ipswich’s derby victory earlier this season, cementing his place as one of the biggest traitors in EFL Championship history.

Scott Hogan

It’s not often that a player makes the transition between Aston Villa and Birmingham City, but that’s exactly what Scott Hogan did in 2020.

The Irishman joined Villa for £12m in January 2017, but only managed to score 10 goals in 61 outings for the club. Remarkably, he joined their bitter rivals, Birmingham City, on loan in 2020.

Hogan would go on to make that move permanent, which immediately left him out of favour with Villa supporters. After spending such a large sum of money, Villa got poor performances before eventually supplying their rivals with a new player, making Hogan one of the biggest traitors in Championship history.

Sam Winnall

From 2014 to 2017, Sam Winnall was one of Barnsley’s most important players, regularly providing them with goals.

11 strikes within his first 23 appearances of the 2016/17 campaign brought interest from elsewhere, including local rivals Sheffield Wednesday.

Reports suggest that the Owls offered to quadruple his pay, which led many of the Tykes’ faithful to label him a traitor for chasing the money. He would go on to score against his old team for Wednesday, adding further insult to injury and cementing his status as a traitor.

Leon Clarke

Leon Clarke made over 80 appearances for Sheffield Wednesday during the late 2000s and early 2010s but was eventually released by the club.

Years later, after enjoying success with the likes of Bury and Coventry City, the striker joined Sheffield United, which severely angered some members of the Hillsborough faithful.

Although plenty of time had passed between his spell with the two clubs, he will always be remembered as a traitor by Wednesday fans, after choosing to join their city rivals.

Brad Potts

Brad Potts has operated for a number of EFL outfits during his career, with the majority of his time spent at Preston North End.

However, prior to his spell with the Lilywhites, the 31-year-old operated out of Bloomfield Road for their arch-rivals, Blackpool FC.

This makes Potts one of the Championship’s biggest traitors in their eyes, with that ill-feeling compounded by the fact that he netted a stunning strike against them for PNE in 2023.

Max Lowe

Max Lowe has to earn himself a place on this list, simply due to the teams that he has represented during his career.

The defender started his career with Derby County, which is where he would remain until 2020, when he joined then-Premier League outfit, Sheffield United.

After that, Lowe has remarkably spent time at both of these sides’ biggest rivals, Nottingham Forest and Sheffield Wednesday. Therefore, he goes down as one of the Championship’s biggest traitors by default.

Kris Commons

Another player who made the switch between Forest and Derby, Commons has to be named among the second-tier’s biggest traitors.

The midfielder spent four years with Forest from 2004-2008, helping them achieve promotion from League One. However, he eventually departed the club to join Derby, which didn’t please the City Ground faithful one bit.

This move would come back to haunt Forest, with Commons netting the winner for Derby away against their bitter rivals, to knock them out of the FA Cup.

Matty Taylor

After joining Bristol Rovers in 2014, Matty Taylor helped them achieve back-to-back promotions from the National League to League One, netting 68 goals during this period of time.

This made him a fan favourite, but that status soon evaporated when Taylor joined Bristol City in 2017. Labelled as "very, very brave" by new manager Lee Johnson for making the switch, he has to go down as one of the EFL Championship’s biggest traitors.

Alex Pritchard

Sunderland helped Alex Pritchard get his career back on track after a period out struggling with injuries, with the midfielder going on to enjoy a number of brilliant years at the Stadium of Light.

However, in 2024 he attempted to push through a move to Birmingham City, so much so that he withdrew himself from the matchday squad just one day before a match against Stoke City.

After helping Pritchard enjoy the best form of his career, this wasn’t a brilliant way of repaying Sunderland and makes him one of the biggest traitors in EFL history.

Ross McCormack

Ross McCormack was Leeds United’s deadliest asset in 2014, which made it a heavy blow when he decided to leave for Fulham.

During the 2013/14 season, the Scotsman appeared live on Sky Sports to pledge his allegiance to Leeds, but ended up handing in a transfer request to exit Elland Road the following summer.

Although this ended with him getting his move to Fulham, it does also make him one of the Championship’s biggest traitors, for the way he went about it.