Gossip: Blackburn in battle to sign Kapuadipublished at 11:19 18 June
11:19 18 June
Blackburn Rovers have identified Polish side Legia Warsaw's centre-back Steve Kapuadi as a transfer target but face competition from Wolves and German Bundesliga club Union Berlin for the 27-year-old DR Congo international. (Goal Poland - in Polish), external
Keepers Toth and O'Leary make international debutspublished at 10:51 11 June
10:51 11 June
Image source, Getty Images
Blackburn Rovers' Balazs Toth and fellow goalkeeper Max O'Leary of Bristol City both made their international debuts between the posts on Tuesday.
Toth played the first 58 minutes for Hungary during their 2-1 victory over Azerbaijan before being replaced by Al-Fateh's Peter Szappanos.
O'Leary kept a clean sheet for Republic of Ireland during his first appearance for his country in a goalless draw against Luxembourg.
Meanwhile, West Bromwich Albion midfielder Isaac Price scored the winner for Northern Ireland with a curled effort from just outside the box in their 1-0 victory over Iceland.
Lions up, Watford down? The 2025 Championship tablepublished at 12:37 10 June
12:37 10 June
Ben Ashton BBC Sport England
Image source, Getty Images
Watford are getting relegated, Plymouth are staying up, Millwall are in the play-offs and Portsmouth are also battling for a top-six spot.
Does something sound a bit off? Well, that's what would have happened if the Championship season started on 1 January.
Here's a look at the 2025 calendar year table, showing who the form sides were in the second half of the season and who went into freefall.
Perhaps the most notable difference between the actual final top six and the 2025 version is that Millwall would be in the play-offs and Premier League-bound Sunderland would not.
Burnley and Leeds still comfortably occupy the automatic promotion spots, albeit the Clarets would be unbeaten at the top of the pile with the Whites in second.
Coventry improved significantly after Frank Lampard replaced Mark Robins and are third over the course of the year.
The Sky Blues would instead be pitted against Bristol City in the play-off semi-final as opposed to Sunderland. Who knows what difference that would have made to their promotion bid...
Image source, Rex Features
Portsmouth - who spent much of the season battling relegation and only secured their Championship safety with two games to spare - are seventh and just one point outside a play-off spot.
Pompey sit above Sunderland, who lost their final five games of the season and are down in eighth.
The data perhaps shows just how long Regis Le Bris' side effectively had a play-off spot sewn up before their victory at Wembley against Sheffield United to claim promotion.
Relegation battlers Oxford find themselves seven places higher than where they actually finished in the 2024-25 campaign (17th), reflecting the good work done by Gary Rowett after he took over as boss from Des Buckingham.
Image source, Rex Features
Plymouth would have survived comfortably had the season begun in January 2025, showing a significant uptick after Miron Muslic replaced Wayne Rooney at the helm.
Middlesbrough tailed off significantly in the second half of the season, underpinning why they missed out on the play-offs. It was a drop off that ultimately cost Michael Carrick his job as head coach.
Norwich City conceded more goals (32) than any other side in 2025, which counteracted the hard work they'd done at the other end, having been the fourth top scorers (31) since the turn of the year.
Image source, Rex Features
Watford had a disappointing 2025, winning just five of their 23 games and losing 13 to finish bottom of the calendar year table.
The Hornets had the joint-worst goal difference along with Cardiff (-10) and head coach Tom Cleverley was sacked following the end of the season.
Preston and Cardiff won the fewest games of any side in 2025 (4), which cost the Bluebirds their Championship status and almost led to the Lilywhites dropping into League One as they avoided relegation by one point.
Paul Heckingbottom's side would be down if only games this year were counted.
Luton and Derby scored the fewest goals in 2025 (19) and attacking output was an issue that plagued both sides throughout the entire campaign.
It had major consequences for the Hatters with back-to-back relegations, while the Rams survived by a point - and only on goal difference in the yearly table.
Data collated from Transfermarkt
Hirakawa makes Japan debut and Ohashi first startpublished at 10:15 6 June
10:15 6 June
Image source, Getty Images
Bristol City forward Yu Hirakawa made his international debut for Japan on Thursday during their 1-0 World Cup qualifying loss against Australia.
The 24-year-old earned his first senior call-up in May and was put straight into the starting line-up for his country, who have already qualified for the 2026 finals.
The game also marked a first Japan start for Blackburn Rovers forward Yuki Ohashi.
Ohashi led the side up top while Hirakawa was utilised in midfield, but Australia's Aziz Behich scored a 90th-minute winner to hand Japan their first qualifying defeat.
The Championship's improvement table for 2024-25published at 13:46 5 June
13:46 5 June
Ben Ashton BBC Sport England
Image source, Getty Images
The 2024-25 Championship season might be over but there are many ways to analyse and reflect on the campaign that has gone before us.
Not every club can go up but if there are signs a team is moving in the right direction, it can still be considered good progress - or quite the opposite if things are on the slide.
Here is a look at how each of the 18 sides who were in the Championship for the past two seasons got on points wise compared to the 2023-24 campaign.
It perhaps comes as no surprise that Sunderland, who won promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs, recorded the most significant improvement after finishing 16th in 2023-24 and picked up 20 more points.
Despite a tumultuous season off the field, Blackburn were the second most improved side in the division, gaining 13 points on the previous campaign as they missed out on the play-offs by just two points.
Leeds racked up 90 points in 2023-24 but somehow still managed a 10-point improvement as they hit the 100 mark on their way to winning the title in their best-ever season in the second tier.
Millwall's seven-point improvement was enough to help them finish five places higher in eighth, but they fell short of the top six by two points.
Meanwhile, Bristol City were only six points better off but managed to climb five places and claim a play-off spot, recording their best Championship finishing position since 2007-08.
Coventry also only improved by five points but were able to jump from ninth to fifth, perhaps showing just how fine the margins can be in the Championship when it comes to securing a play-off berth.
At the bottom...
Image source, Getty Images
You might want to look away now, Hull City fans.
The Tigers went backwards more than any other side compared to the previous season under Liam Rosenior, dropping from seventh place and three points outside the play-offs to only escaping relegation on goal difference on the final day.
Cardiff went from mid-table in 2023-24 to rock bottom and will drop down to League One for the first time in 22 years. It is pretty clear to see why as the Bluebirds picked up 18 fewer points compared to the previous season.
Norwich tumbled to 13th place after finishing in the play-offs a year before - an underperformance which ultimately cost Johannes Hoff Thorup his job as head coach.
Preston were 10 points off the play-off places in 2023-24 but picked up 13 fewer points under Paul Heckingbottom in what was their worst season since they were relegated from the Championship in 2010-11.
The Lilywhites' downturn was largely due to a major dip in form in the latter stages of the campaign, picking up only one win from their final 15 games (D7 L7) to avoid the drop by just one point.
West Bromwich Albion endured a disappointing season - for a club which always harbours ambitions of plying its trade in the top flight - with an 11-point drop off.
Albion's final points tally of 64 was their worst in the Championship since 1999-2000.
Plymouth may have only been five points worse off than they were in 2023-24 but having survived on the final day that season, there were to be no such heroics this time around and their two-year stint in the second tier is over.
And the rest...
Image source, Getty Images
*All data based only on teams who were in the Championship in 2023-24 and 2024-25
Rovers boss Ismael eyes summer of stabilitypublished at 13:00 16 May
13:00 16 May
Image source, Rex Features
Valerien Ismael hopes to avoid a summer of upheaval at Ewood Park and says stability is the key for Blackburn success next season.
Rovers endured a rollercoaster campaign, spending much of the season in the top six of the Championship but dropping to 12th in April, only to finish strong and end up seventh.
They narrowly missed out on a play-off place on the final day, courtesy of a draw at Sheffield United while Bristol City came from 2-0 down to draw against Preston and secure sixth spot.
The 49-year-old Frenchman, who guided Rovers to 15 points from their final 12 games after replacing John Eustace in February, told the club website, external: "Our job now is to keep the vast majority of this squad as I've learned about the players.
"Reliability is very important for a manager - at the same time, we need to add some of what we don't have in the team to ensure we can compete better."
Ismael said "a lot will depend" on how contract negotiations go and added: "We will have some business to do but I don't want that big turnaround.
"We have a lot of trust in the players and, with a good pre-season and being clearer with the principles, I think we will be in a good place.
"The main thing is to have stability in this team and identify the right decisions. When everything is in place and with fewer injuries, we can compete and we can compete well. We have a positive view for next season."
Remembering Rovers' greatest day 30 years onpublished at 15:02 14 May
15:02 14 May
Media caption,
Dalglish talks of 'fairytale' success in 2020 interview with BBC Radio Lancashire
Thirty years on it remains one of the most remarkable title triumphs of the Premier League era.
On 14 May 1995, four years after finishing 19th in the old Division Two, Blackburn Rovers were crowned champions of England after pipping Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United by one point.
In a thrilling race, Kenny Dalglish's side surged eight points clear only to lose three of their last five games - but they were celebrating after a dramatic final day.
Those who recall that season particularly remember Rovers owner Jack Walker, the Blackburn-born steel magnate who stood on the terraces of Ewood Park before bankrolling his beloved club, as well as the explosive 49-goal partnership between Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton - dubbed the SAS by the media.
"Again it was an outstanding performance. We knew how strong the opponent is. You have to first contain the attack, defend well, and at some point be brave on the ball.
"The game plan until we conceded was perfect. It was exactly what we expected but we conceded the goal too quickly. One bad decision and you get punished but I think the performance was right.
"At the end, we put every attacking player we have on the pitch, we played with only one midfield player to try to have that lucky punch.
"I take more positives today. For sure, we are disappointed to miss out on the play-offs but at least we built some momentum and we can keep on going for the next season."
On the future of winger Tyrhys Dolan, Ismael added:
"Tyrhys Dolan will be a player for example we will have to show patience [on] – it will be his decision [whether to stay at Blackburn].
"He has put himself in a position. It is a good position for him so we have to respect that.
"He knows the environment he has, he's got the love but at some point it depends on the offer he has."
