09/10 Championship Line-Up confirmed after Premiership and Play-Off deciders

A dramatic final weekend of football saw 4 new opponents confirmed for Cardiff City in next season’s Championship.

Starting in the Premiership, the final league games of the weekend saw Middlesbrough and Newcastle go down providing a North East bonanza for City fans. In what must rank as the worst relegation battle ever, the four sides battling for survival – which also included Hull and Sunderland – collectively won 1 game each in almost 50 games. Suitably, all four sides lost on the final day and the three sides who came down all got 34 points or less … can’t say they don’t deserve it then.

Up from League One, via the play-offs, came Scunthorpe, who grabbed a late and deserved winner over Millwall to triumph in a 3-2 thriller. Millwall not only had 4 times as many fans (taking 45,000 to Wem-ber-lee) but they also featured ex-Bluebird David Forde in goals.

However the ex-Bluebird taking the biggest bow was Steve Thompson. Thommo after falling out with Dave Jones and finding himself surplus to requirements at Cardiff City, left for Burnley in January but became a massive hit getting a double figure goal return and starring into this afternoon’s 1-0 victory over Sheffield United that take The Clarets to the Premiership. Their following of almost 40,000 represented half the population of their town!

Last laugh on Thommo then but what agony for Cardiff City fans recalling how we were cruelly denied victory at Turf Moor this year thanks to a Ropger Johnson own goal while we deservedly gave the Lancastrians a 3-1 beating at Ninian Park at Easter, the only time Burnley lost in the last couple of months. Owen Coyle and his men deserve all the plaudits but. Really, it could/should have been us and Cardiff’s manager and players only have themselves to blame that is wasn’t. How gut-wrenching.


The Championship 2009/10 sides will therefore be:
BARNSLEY
BLACKPOOL
BRISTOL CITY
CARDIFF CITY
COVENTRY CITY
CRYSTAL PALACE
DERBY COUNTY
DONCASTER ROVERS
IPSWICH TOWN
LEICESTER CITY
MIDDLESBROUGH
NEWCASTLE UNITED
NOTTINGHAM FOREST
PETERBOROUGH UNITED
PLYMOUTH ARGYLE
PRESTON NORTH END
QUEENS PARK RANGERS
READING
SCUNTHORPE UUNITED
SHEFFIELD UNITED
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY
SWANSEA CITY
WATFORD
WEST BROMWICH ALBION