Stockley named Stoke's new academy managerpublished at 16:16 2 July
16:16 2 July
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Image caption,
Sam Stockley has been coaching with Lexington Sporting Club in the USA
Stoke City have appointed Sam Stockley as their new academy manager.
The ex-Port Vale, Colchester and Barnet full-back has been working in the United States as sporting director at Lexington Sporting Club for the past four years.
Stockley made more than 500 appearances during his playing career in England that also featured spells at Wycombe, Blackpool, Oxford and Southampton.
The 47-year-old has been working in coaching in the USA for 10 years and replaces Gareth Owen who has moved into the position of academy technical director at Stoke.
Gossip: Talovierov in talks with Stokepublished at 10:22 1 July
10:22 1 July
Stoke City have entered advanced talks to sign Plymouth Argyle and Ukraine defender Maksym Talovierov, 25. (Football Insider), external
The Pilgrims are in advanced discussions of their own with Norwich City goalkeeper Archie Mair, 24, following the conclusion of his contract at Carrow Road. (Football Insider), external
Thomas on helping Stoke return to the top flightpublished at 15:11 23 June
15:11 23 June
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Thomas: 'I want to play in the Premier League'
New Stoke City signing Sorba Thomas says he has joined the Potters with a view of helping them return to the Premier League.
The Wales international joined the side as their first summer signing on 7 June after a loan spell overseas with Ligue 1 side Nantes.
"They are in a team that's in a league that I believe they shouldn't be in with the size of the club," Sorba told BBC Radio Stoke.
"For me, I'm just here to help them reach their goals of getting back to the Premier League.
"It's a young team, so pre-season is going to be massive for us. Not much about the result but about chemistry and certain positions on the pitch. Everyone knowing my strengths and how I play, and vice versa.
"I want to know every single player's strengths and once we know each other's strengths, no one's weakness will be exploited."
Stoke have not been back in the top flight since their relegation to the Championship in 2018.
Gossip: Potters could sell Lowepublished at 11:20 23 June
11:20 23 June
Stoke could sell striker Nathan Lowe for a reported £2.5m, with Huddersfield said to be interested in the 19-year-old who shone on loan at Walsall last season. (Alan Nixon, external)
Gossip: Stoke interested in midfielder Keitapublished at 11:38 19 June
11:38 19 June
Stoke City and QPR are two of several Championship clubs interested in signing midfielder Habib Keita, 23, from French Ligue 2 side Clermont Foot. (L'Equipe - in French), external
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
New Stoke winger Thomas scores first Wales goalpublished at 10:18 10 June
10:18 10 June
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Image caption,
Sorba Thomas (right) has made 18 senior appearances for Wales
The 26-year-old scored Wales' second goal of the evening against Belgium as they came from 3-0 down to level at 3-3 before Kevin de Bruyne scored a late winner for the home side.
Thomas spent last season on loan at French Ligue 1 side Nantes, scoring one goal in 25 appearances.
'Sorba is a real weapon', says ex-coach Quypublished at 16:20 9 June
16:20 9 June
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Andy Quy: 'Really dangerous from set-plays'
Ex-Stoke City and Huddersfield Town goalkeeping coach Andy Quy says new Potters signing Sorba Thomas will be a "real weapon" in the side's set plays next season.
"I was fortunate enough to work with Sorba at Huddersfield Town. An exciting talent, I have to say," Quy told BBC Radio Stoke.
"Excellent on the ball going forwards, wants to take people on, get crosses in the box, he's got really good delivery from set plays.
"He's one of those players who puts the ball on the money, puts the ball in the right space, asks questions of goalkeepers and certainly of defenders."
EFL players named in England Under-21 Euros squadpublished at 11:55 6 June
11:55 6 June
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Image caption,
Birmingham City striker Jay Stansfield and Middlesbrough midfielder Hayden Hackney have been selected
A number of EFL players have been selected in England's Under-21 squad for the European Championships in Slovakia this month.
Birmingham City's Jay Stansfield, who scored 19 goals in 37 League One games to help the Blues win the title and promotion to the second tier, is included.
Stansfield played three times during qualifying but this will be his first appearance at a tournament.
Middlesbrough midfielder Hayden Hackney, who netted five league goals and made three assists, is also named in Lee Carsley's 23-man squad, along with Samuel Iling-Junior, who spent time on loan at Boro and Bologna from Aston Villa during the 2024-25 season.
Two players are included from relegated Premier League clubs - Ipswich Town winger Omari Hutchinson and Southampton defender Ronnie Edwards - with the latter spending the second half of the campaign on loan at QPR.
Young Stoke City goalkeeper Tommy Simkin, who made 40 appearances on loan at Walsall in League Two and kept 14 clean sheets, has been picked.
Fellow goalkeepers Teddy Sharman-Lowe, who helped Doncaster Rovers win promotion to League One while on loan from Chelsea, and James Beadle, who spent the season at Sheffield Wednesday on loan from Brighton, will also be on the plane.
The U21 Euros will take place across eight host cities in Slovakia from 11-28 June with the Three Lions looking to retain the title they won in 2023.
England are in a group with Czech Republic, Slovenia and Germany and the top two will progress to the quarter-final.
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...
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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...
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*All data based only on teams who were in the Championship in 2023-24 and 2024-25
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