The 2025–26 EFL Championship roared into life over the weekend (August 8–10), with late goals, debut heroics, and even a touchline outburst making headlines in the opening round.
At St Andrew’s, Birmingham City thought they had made the perfect start when Jay Stansfield struck just before the hour mark against Ipswich Town.
But their joy turned to frustration deep into stoppage time when George Hirst coolly converted a penalty to snatch a point for the visitors.
One of the weekend’s most dramatic finishes came at The Valley, where newly promoted Charlton Athletic sealed a dream return to the Championship.
Harvey Knibbs’ 94th-minute winner downed Watford, but the match will be remembered just as much for an extraordinary outburst from former Premier League midfielder Valon Behrami.
Now serving as Watford’s assistant sporting director, Behrami charged onto the touchline to protest a penalty decision, despite not being part of the matchday coaching team.
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Stoke City also sent out an early warning, producing a blistering finish to beat Derby County 3–1.
Elsewhere, Millwall edged Norwich City 2–1 in Alex Neil’s return to Carrow Road, while Middlesbrough’s new boss Rob Edwards celebrated a 1–0 win over Swansea City, courtesy of a Dael Fry header.
There were narrow opening-day wins for Portsmouth, who beat Oxford United 1–0, and West Bromwich Albion, who overcame Blackburn Rovers by the same scoreline.
Leicester City, backed by more than 31,000 fans, capped the round with a 2–1 home victory over the crisis-hit Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday.
Wednesday fans protested against owner Dejphon Chansiri by remaining outside of the stadium at kick-off and were met with a standing ovation from the home-crowd upon entering the King Power Stadium.
After the first round of fixtures, Bristol City, Stoke, Millwall, Leicester, Southampton, Portsmouth, Charlton, Middlesbrough and West Brom lead the way with maximum points.
The season may be just one game old, but the tone is already set: the race for promotion promises to be as fiercely contested as ever.