All 24 EFL Championship stadiums ranked by age from newest to oldest | OneFootball

The full list of the second tier's stadiums, from oldest to youngest

Stadiums in the EFL Championship span more than two centuries of sporting architecture, reflecting shifting eras in safety standards, construction methods, and commercial realities of English football.

Some were built as part of large scale regeneration projects in the 21st century - others originated as Victorian sporting grounds that have evolved over decades.

Ranking the division’s stadiums by age offers a quick tour through English football’s evolution - from cashless complexes to chalk pits, Victorian terraces to modern bowls, and everything in between.

The Championship’s youngest stadium has already lived several distinct lives. Built as a successor to Highfield Road, the CBS Arena opened in 2005 as a multi-use complex owned by Arena Coventry Limited.

The stadium has endured long-running disputes between the club, the council, charitable trusts, and later Wasps Rugby, forcing Coventry City into exile on more than one occasion.

A brief return deal in 2021 collapsed when Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group acquired the venue, but a new agreement in 2023 stabilised the situation, culminating in Coventry becoming the stadium’s outright landlords in 2025.

Notably, the CBS was the first cashless stadium in the UK, an early marker of modernisation.

Opened the same year as Coventry’s arena, Swansea’s purpose-built stadium - then called the Liberty - became the Welsh city’s premier sporting venue with an initial capacity of just over 20,000.

When Swansea City reached the Premier League in 2011, it became the first Welsh ground to host top-flight English football.

Full operational control passed to the club in 2018. It now stands as the third largest stadium in Wales, behind the Principality Stadium and Cardiff City Stadium.

22 ? ? King Power Stadium - Leicester City

Replacing the characterful Filbert Street a few hundred yards away, the King Power Stadium opened in 2002 after a £35–£37 million build.

Designed by The Miller Partnership, it was inaugurated by Gary Lineker cutting a ceremonial ribbon from a Walkers lorry - an image that captured the club’s commercial identity at the time.

Leicester’s modern era, including their unforgettable 2015-16 Premier League title, has firmly attached itself to this ground.

Costing £44 million and conceived as part of broader civic redevelopment, the MKM Stadium is home to both Hull City and rugby league side Hull FC.

Owned by Hull City Council and operated by the Stadium Management Company, it was envisioned as a multi-purpose arena from its inception.

Expansion to 34,000 has been considered but never realised.

20 ? ? Kassam Stadium - Oxford United

The Championship’s smallest stadium, with a capacity of around 12,500, the Kassam has long been a source of debate among Oxford fans.

It was built while the club dropped down the divisions, eventually falling to the Conference in 2006.

Recent years have brought significant progress: Oxford United secured planning permission in 2025 for a new all-electric stadium in Kidlington, approved in principle subject to government sign-off. The Kassam will remain in use until at least 2028.

19 ? ? St Mary’s Stadium - Southampton

St Mary’s marked Southampton’s long-awaited departure from The Dell after an abandoned Stoneham redevelopment.

Built on a reclaimed gasworks site close to the club’s historical birthplace at St Mary’s Church, the move was framed as a symbolic homecoming.

With its bowl design and capacity exceeding 32,000, St Mary’s remains one of the most recognisable modern stadia in English football.

18 ? ? Bet365 Stadium - Stoke City

Originally the Britannia Stadium, Stoke’s ground opened in 1997 at a cost of £14.8 million as a replacement for the Victoria Ground.

Its most famous resident is arguably Sir Stanley Matthews, whose ashes are interred beneath the centre circle.

A 2016 renaming reflected the Coates family’s commercial ties, and capacity now sits just above 30,000 following later expansions.

17 ? ? Pride Park - Derby County

A centrepiece of Derby’s 1990s regeneration, Pride Park opened the same year as Stoke’s Britannia and quickly became one of the country’s most modern venues.

With a capacity of 33,597, it remains among England’s largest club stadiums outside the Premier League.

16 ? ? Riverside Stadium - Middlesbrough

Constructed in just nine months after the Taylor Report made Ayresome Park’s redevelopment unviable, the Riverside was a defining early example of the all-seater era.

Built for £16 million and opened in 1995, the stadium marked Boro's transition into a new era under Steve Gibson.

15 ? ? The Den - Millwall

The first all-seater stadium built after the Taylor Report, The Den replaced the intimidating Old Den in 1993.

Designed with crowd management as the highest priority, its capacity sits a little above 20,000.

Built on former housing and recreational land, it has been Millwall’s home ever since, carrying forward a century-long tradition of relocation within south London.