Ninety. If you want a single number, that is the one. It is the figure that usually secures a top-two finish in the Championship, and it is the one that managers quote in August as if it were a law of nature. Last season, Coventry won the league on 95, and Millwall missed automatic promotion by a single point on 83.
The Championship is the longest and most brutal league in English football, with 46 games and no hiding place. If you want to test how a season might finish, you can enter results into our Championship table calculator and see who ends up where. Below is the full story, with the history, the records and what I think it all means.
How many points does a team need to get promoted from the EFL Championship?
Around 90 points usually earns automatic promotion. Over the last ten seasons, the runners-up have averaged about 90, and the champions about 96.
The safe route is 86. One analysis of the ten seasons to early 2024 put the average second-place total at 89.6, and the average needed, taking the third-placed club and adding a point, at 85.6.
You can go up with much less through the play-offs. Hull won promotion last season from sixth place on 73 points.
My view is that 90 is the number to chase, 86 is the number you can survive on, and anything below 80 means the play-offs are your only hope.
How do you get promoted from the Championship?
There are two routes. The top two clubs in the Championship table at the end of the season are promoted automatically to the Premier League. The third promotion place goes to the winner of the play-offs, which is a knockout competition for the clubs that finish just below the top two.
Until this season, the play-offs involved the clubs finishing third to sixth. From 2026-27, they involve six clubs, with the teams finishing third and fourth entering at the semi-final stage and fifth to eighth playing eliminators. We explain every step in our guide to how the Championship play-offs work.
The difference is big. A club that finishes second gets to the Premier League on the final day of the season. A club that finishes third has to win two or three more matches, including a Wembley final, to do the same.
EFL Championship how many teams get promoted
Three. The Championship has 24 clubs, and each year three of them are promoted to the Premier League. Two go up automatically as the top two, and one goes up as the play-off winner.
In exchange, three clubs are relegated from the Premier League and drop into the Championship. Three more are relegated from the Championship to League One, and three come up from League One to take their place. If you want to see how that bottom end of the table works, read our guide to how many points you need to stay up in the Championship.
How many points to win the EFL Championship
The champions tend to finish on a very high total. Here are the last ten winners and runners-up:
| Season | Champions | Points | Runners-up | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-17 | Newcastle United | 94 | Brighton | 93 |
| 2017-18 | Wolves | 99 | Cardiff City | 90 |
| 2018-19 | Norwich City | 94 | Sheffield United | 89 |
| 2019-20 | Leeds United | 93 | West Brom | 83 |
| 2020-21 | Norwich City | 97 | Watford | 91 |
| 2021-22 | Fulham | 90 | Bournemouth | 88 |
| 2022-23 | Burnley | 101 | Sheffield United | 91 |
| 2023-24 | Leicester City | 97 | Ipswich Town | 96 |
| 2024-25 | Leeds United | 100 | Burnley | 100 |
| 2025-26 | Coventry City | 95 | Ipswich Town | 84 |
Add them up and the champions have averaged about 96 points a season, and the runners-up about 90. For context, one study of 2015 to 2024 put the champions’ average at 94.8, with no winner finishing below 90.
The lowest totals in the Championship era are much lower than that. Hull went up automatically with just 79 points in 2012-13, the joint-lowest tally on record for an automatic promotion place. It shows how much the standard has risen.
How many points do you need for automatic promotion?
If you want to finish in the top two, aim for around 90. In the ten seasons above, the second-placed club finished on 90 or more in five of them, and on 88 or more in seven.
But 90 is not a guarantee. In 2023-24, Leeds United finished third on 90 points, and became the first club to miss out on automatic promotion with that total. Leicester and Ipswich went up on 97 and 96. Leeds were left to take the play-off route, which they lost.
Last season showed the other side of it. Coventry’s 95 was enough to win the league comfortably, but Ipswich were second on 84, and Millwall finished third on 83, one point short. That is a heartbreaking margin. I would say a single point is the cruellest number in football, and Millwall will have spent the summer thinking about the draws they could have turned into wins.
How many points to get promoted through the play-offs?
Far fewer. The play-off route has produced winners from much lower down the table. Hull finished sixth on 73 points last season, 22 behind Coventry, and won promotion with a stoppage-time goal in the final. Southampton went up in 2023-24 after finishing fourth on 87.
I think that is the best argument for the play-offs, and also the best argument against them. They give clubs a second chance, and they can turn a good season into a great one. But they also mean the league champion can be a long way clear of the team that goes up with them.
EFL Championship most points in a season
The record is 106, set by Reading in 2005-06. They lost just twice all season, and the total still stands almost 20 years later.
Here are the clubs that have reached 100 points in a Championship season:
| Club | Season | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Reading | 2005-06 | 106 |
| Sunderland | 1998-99 | 105 |
| Newcastle United | 2009-10 | 102 |
| Leicester City | 2013-14 | 102 |
| Fulham | 2000-01 | 101 |
| Burnley | 2022-23 | 101 |
| Leeds United | 2024-25 | 100 |
| Burnley | 2024-25 | 100 |
The 2024-25 season deserves its own mention. Leeds and Burnley both finished on 100 points, and Leeds won the title on goal difference, +65 to +53. Burnley were remarkable defensively, conceding just 16 goals in 46 games, and still finished second.
It is the best example I know of why every goal counts. We explain how goal difference works in our Premier League guides, and the same rules apply in the Championship.
How many points do you need to get promoted from the Championship today?
Here is where the season stands, after matches played up to 17 October, with each club having played 11 games:
| Position | Club | Points | Pace for 46 games |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Swansea City | 23 | 96 |
| 2 | West Ham United | 22 | 92 |
| 3 | Middlesbrough | 22 | 92 |
| 4 | Birmingham City | 20 | 84 |
| 5 | West Bromwich Albion | 20 | 84 |
| 6 | Stoke City | 19 | 79 |
To reach 90 points, a club needs about 1.96 points per game. Swansea are averaging 2.09, which would put them on course for 96. West Ham and Middlesbrough are on 2.0, which gives them a pace of 92.
The names are interesting. West Ham were relegated from the Premier League last season, and they are straight back in the top three. Wolves, also relegated, are eighth. It is a reminder of how hard it is to stay down, and how a big squad can adapt quickly to the second tier.
It is early, and 35 games is a long way. But if the leaders keep up this pace, 90 will not be enough to finish second.
My Verdict
I would split it into three tiers. If you reach 95 or more, you are a champion. If you reach 86 to 90, you have a real chance of going up automatically. And if you finish anywhere between 70 and 85, you are in the play-off lottery, and you need luck, form and a good Wembley day.
I also think the new six-team play-offs will change how clubs think. A team on 70 points used to be out of the picture. Now it might be in the top eight, with a route to the Premier League. That is exciting, but it could also mean the line between a promotion-chasing season and a mid-table one gets blurry.
At Palace, we have spent more time worrying about the bottom of the table than the top, so I will say this with an outsider’s eye. Anyone who wants to get out of the Championship has to treat 90 as the target, and hope that someone else does not get there first.
How many teams get promoted from the Championship?
Three. The top two are promoted automatically, and the third place goes to the play-off winner.
What is the most points in a Championship season?
106, by Reading in 2005-06.
Has a team ever missed out on automatic promotion with 90 points?
Yes. Leeds finished third on 90 in 2023-24 and missed out.
