Blues kick-off in the Championship tomorrow evening, in what is arguably the strongest division there has ever been.
West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers are expected to contest the top two automatic places following relegation from the Premier League. And the other side who fell through the trapdoor, Burnley, have bobbed up and down between the leagues for the past five years.
Those three are among just four clubs who have the benefit of parachute money.
Then you have last season’s play-off finalists Middlesbrough, who have been spending big this summer, and the team who probably would have triumphed at Wembley in all truth had it not been for the spying scandal, Southampton.
The Saints – ironic, huh? – begin with a four-point penalty for that misdemeanour but they are the other club who can call upon parachute payments.
Asked if the 2026/27 Championship line-up was the strongest we’ve ever known, Blues boss Chris Davies replied: “Possibly.
“Even if those three hadn’t come down and it was someone more expected to come down, or smaller teams had come up, I would still say it’s incredibly difficult.
“The volume of games (alone). I was talking at the Barcelona match, just before we played them, ablout the 46-game, 24-team league, how demanding that schedule is.
“Around the world I think it’s accepted that it is a really tough league.
“I think the bar has raised a little bit this year. But we are a year into it, in terms of the level. I think some of our player, it bodes well they have that under their belt.
“I am really looking forward to it. There is always a little bit of the unknown. We had that last year. But I certainly think we can make an impact.”
Lincoln City will enjoy their first taste of action in the second tier since 1961 after winning League One, while Cardiff City bounced straight back after relegation as runners-up to the Imps.
Another big club, Bolton Wanderers, joined them via the play-offs and are back in the Championship for the first time in seven years.
Wrexham, Stoke City, Norwich City and Swansea City all have increased expectation surrounding them this season, Sheffield United are likely to be there or thereabouts, whilst Millwall should again prove durable and last the course.
“Some of the spending and investment that has gone around it, it has now created this exciting, unpredictable product again that is the Championship,” said Davies.
“But definitely the level has probably gone up a little bit, league-wide, since last year.”
