The Championship

The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales.

Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football. It was the top level football league in England from its foundation in the 19th century until 1992, when the top 22 clubs split away to form the Premier League.

The Football League Championship (often referred to as The Championship for short, or the Npower Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system.

The Football League Championship was introduced for the 2004–05 season, having been previously known as the Football League First Division. According to Deloitte, in the 2004–05 season it was the wealthiest non-top flight football division in the world, and the sixth richest division in Europe.

The winners of the Football League Championship receive the Football League Championship trophy which is the same trophy as the old First Division Champions (now the Premier League) were handed prior to the Premier League’s inception in the 1992/93 season.