Report: Fulham And Bournemouth May Have Flown Into The Premier League But This Is The Best Performing Championship Club

After 552 games, the 2021/22 Championship season came to its conclusion this weekend. With Fulham and Bournemouth already having confirmed their promotion to the Premier League, the final day saw Huddersfield leapfrog Nottingham Forest to the top play-off spot, and the 24 teams reach a total of 1,385 goals for the entire campaign with some blockbuster victories for West Bromwich Albion, Sheffield United, and even relegated Peterborough.

Whilst we wait to see who will become the last team to move up into the top division, with the play-offs beginning Friday 13 May, BettingOdds.com has produced a retrospect on the best and worst performing Championship teams of 2021/22, respective but not isolated to how close to the top of the table they were. In layman’s terms; how well they did compared to what they might have been expected to do. 

Using an algorithm that has broken down Team Value into individual position (Goalkeeper / Defence / Midfield / Forward) to produce an average weighted score (the four average values of each individual positional field ranked in ascending order, combined and divided to produce an average) and measured it against their final position in Championship for 2021/22 we have revised the Championship table into order of best to worst performers.

For example, in the Championship, Coventry City have the third-lowest team value (£17.91m), from a 25-man squad. Their two registered goalkeepers have an average value of £0.36m (19th / 19 points), nine defenders average £0.84m (19th/ 19 points), midfield £0.70m from eight players (21st/ 21 points) and the highest average forward value in the league, £0.67m (20th/ 20 points) from their six defined attackers. This created an overall average points tally for Coventry of 19.5. Weighed up against their final position of 12th, Coventry finished +7.5 places higher than expected of them (3rd in our overall table in this regard).

As a result, Luton Town - still in contention to ascend to the Premier League for the very first time - can rightly claim to be the best performing Championship team based on the difference between Predicted Position and Final Position, finishing a distinctly applaudable 13.5 places above where they should have been expected to based on the value of their players. The team that they will place in the play-offs, Huddersfield Town, finished directly below them, recording a better position by a score of 10.25.

The worst performing team out of the 24 was unsurprisingly a team that flirted with relegation throughout the season, Birmingham City, who suffered a miserable campaign but ultimately finished in 20th place. Birmingham had a Team Value Points Predicted Position of 10.25, but ended up bottom of our ranking from a difference of -9.5. Please bear in mind that the team slightly ahead of them in our rankings, one Derby County, suffered a 21 points deduction. Take a look at the full results below. 

Championship Teams Ranked By Position To Team Value

Team Value Points Predicted Position 

1. Bournemouth Total Team Value £152.64m Number of Players 30 Average Player Value £5.09m Goalkeepers £3.48m (1) Defence £3.31m (2) Midfield £7.77m (1) Forwards £4.89m (2) Team Value Points Average 1.5

2. Fulham Total Team Value £132.30m Number of Players 26 Average Player Value £5.09m Goalkeepers £2.55m (3) Defence £5.05m (1) Midfield £4.95m (3) Forwards £6.60m (1) Team Value Points Average 2

3. West Bromwich Albion Total Team Value £77.18m Number of Players 25 Average Player Value £3.09m Goalkeepers £2.72m (2) Defence £2.16m (5) Midfield £3.44m (4) Forwards £4.21m (3) Team Value Points Average 3.5

4. Sheffield United Total Team Value £90.99m Number of Players 26 Average Player Value £3.50m Goalkeepers £0.39m (17) Defence £3.31m (2) Midfield £5.23m (2) Forwards £3.37m (4) Team Value Points Average 6.25

5. Nottingham Forest Total Team Value £50.58m Number of Players 26 Average Player Value £1.95m Goalkeepers £1.14m (4) Defence £2.56m (4) Midfield £1.67m (12) Forwards £1.66m (10) Team Value Points Average 7.5

6. Stoke City Total Team Value £51.12m Number of Players 27 Average Player Value £1.89m Goalkeepers £0.62m (9) Defence £1.79m (6) Midfield £1.70m (11) Forwards £3.15m (5) Team Value Points Average 7.75

7. Middlesbrough Total Team Value £48.96m Number of Players 26 Average Player Value £1.88m Goalkeepers £0.50m (13) Defence £1.73m (7) Midfield £2.16m (7) Forwards £2.21m (8) Team Value Points Average 8.75

8. Blackburn Rovers Total Team Value £43.02m Number of Players 26 Average Player Value £1.65m Goalkeepers £0.99m (6) Defence £1.42m (12) Midfield £1.43m (14) Forwards £2.47m (7) Team Value Points Average 9.75

9. Birmingham City Total Team Value £32.67m Number of Players 22 Average Player Value £1.49m Goalkeepers £0.77m (8) Defence £1.23m (14) Midfield £1.91m (9) Forwards £1.54m (11) Team Value Points Average 10.5

10. Bristol City Total Team Value £30.24m Number of Players 24 Average Player Value £1.26m Goalkeepers £1.10m (5) Defence £1.45m (11) Midfield £0.96m (19) Forwards £1.44m (12) Team Value Points Average 11.75

11. Millwall Total Team Value £35.64m Number of Players 22 Average Player Value £1.62m Goalkeepers £0.41m (14) Defence £1.39m (13) Midfield £1.28m (17) Forwards £2.49m (6) Team Value Points Average 12.5

12. Cardiff City Total Team Value £28.49m Number of Players 25 Average Player Value £1.14m Goalkeepers £0.81m (7) Defence £1.56m (8) Midfield £1.29m (16) Forwards £0.62m (6) Team Value Points Average 13

13. Huddersfield Town Total Team Value £33.89m Number of Players 28 Average Player Value £1.21m Goalkeepers £0.60m (10) Defence £1.54m (9) Midfield £1.43m (15) Forwards £0.77m (19) Team Value Points Average 13.25

14. Reading Total Team Value £33.66m Number of Players 26 Average Player Value £1.29m Goalkeepers £0.54m (12) Defence £0.74m (20) Midfield £2.10m (8) Forwards £1.31m (14) Team Value Points Average 13.5

15. = Swansea City Total Team Value £34.79m Number of Players 22 Average Player Value £1.59m Goalkeepers £0.15m (24) Defence £1.49m (10) Midfield £2.57m (5) Forwards £1.15m (16) Team Value Points Average 13.75

15. = Preston North End Total Team Value £30.62m Number of Players 29 Average Player Value £1.06m Goalkeepers £0.57m (11) Defence £0.91m (17) Midfield £1.79m (10) Forwards £1.01m (17) Team Value Points Average 13.75

17. Queens Park Rangers Total Team Value £34.79m Number of Players 28 Average Player Value £1.24m Goalkeepers £0.33m (21) Defence £1.20m (15) Midfield £1.49m (13) Forwards £1.71m (9) Team Value Points Average 14.5

18. Derby County Total Team Value £27.09m Number of Players 21 Average Player Value £1.29m Goalkeepers £0.41m (15) Defence £0.62m (21) Midfield £2.42m (6) Forwards £1.00m (18) Team Value Points Average 15

19. Barnsley Total Team Value £22.91m Number of Players 22 Average Player Value £1.04m Goalkeepers £0.35m (20) Defence £1.07m (16) Midfield £1.10m (18) Forwards £1.35m (13) Team Value Points Average 16.75

20. Hull City Total Team Value £18.90m Number of Players 26 Average Player Value £0.73m Goalkeepers £0.41m (16) Defence £0.62m (21) Midfield £0.42m (23) Forwards £1.19m (15) Team Value Points Average 18.75

21. Luton Town Total Team Value £18.90m Number of Players 26 Average Player Value £0.73m Goalkeepers £0.36m (18) Defence £0.89m (18) Midfield £0.82m (20) Forwards £0.61m (22) Team Value Points Average 19.5

22. Coventry City Total Team Value £17.91m Number of Players 25 Average Player Value £0.72m Goalkeepers £0.36m (19) Defence £0.84m (19) Midfield £0.70m (21) Forwards £0.67m (20) Team Value Points Average 19.75

23. Blackpool Total Team Value £12.11m Number of Players 28 Average Player Value £0.43m Goalkeepers £0.23m (22) Defence £0.44m (23) Midfield £0.50m (22) Forwards £0.39m (23) Team Value Points Average 22.5

24. Peterborough United Total Team Value £10.40m Number of Players 29 Average Player Value £0.36m Goalkeepers £0.20m (23) Defence £0.43m (24) Midfield £0.38m (24) Forwards £0.32m (24) Team Value Points Average 22.75