West Bromwich Albion became the latest team to have their place in the Sky Bet Championship for the 2019/20 season confirmed, in the most heart-breaking of circumstances. The Sky Bet Play-Offs are well underway and West Brom played Aston Villa in the first semi-final, which concluded last night. After Villa won the first leg 2-1, West Brom battled to a 1-0 win, despite playing nearly 45 minutes with ten men. A 2-2 aggregate draw sent the tie to penalties. Villa prevailed and will go for promotion in the Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Final at the end of the month.
That means 21 of the 24 teams that will be competing in the second tier next season are now confirmed. Brentford ended the Championship season 11th in the table, securing a top half finish for the fifth year in a row. The Bees will, for the sixth season in succession, be in the second tier next season and the last season of football at Griffin Park will be with Brentford as a Championship side.
With West Brom staying down, 16 of the 18 teams that will remain in the second tier are now confirmed. Premier League relegation places have also been decided – and the teams coming down include West London rivals Fulham, who will get a last visit to Griffin Park. Two of the three teams coming up from League One are also known.
The full list of Sky Bet Championship teams confirmed for 2019/20 is as follows:
Cardiff City
Fulham
Huddersfield Town
West Bromwich Albion
Middlesbrough
Bristol City
Nottingham Forest
Swansea City
BRENTFORD
Sheffield Wednesday
Hull City
Preston North End
Blackburn Rovers
Stoke City
Birmingham City
Wigan Athletic
Queens Park Rangers
Reading
Millwall
Luton Town
Barnsley
The three remaining places in the Championship will be filled over the three weeks. Leeds United and Derby contest a Play-Off Semi-Final Second Leg this evening to decide who will take on Villa at Wembley. Leeds won he first leg 1-0 away from home and are the favourites to progress. There are four more teams that could win promotion from Sky Bet League One. Charlton Athletic, Portsmouth, Sunderland and Doncaster Rovers will contest the Play-Offs and one will win promotion at the end of the month. Sunderland beat Portsmouth 1-0 in their first leg while Charlton won 2-1 at Doncaster. Those ties will be settled by the end of the week.