Relegated West Ham, Burnley and Wolves prepare for Championship season starting mid-August
West Ham United, Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers begin life in the Championship following relegation from the Premier League, with West Ham scheduled to face Burnley on Sunday, 16 August (16:00 BST). Wolves are due to open the weekend with a fixture against Blackburn Rovers on Friday at 20:00 BST.
Despite the expectation that parachute payments make immediate promotion likely, only Ipswich Town returned to the top flight last season; Southampton's revival was ended after Will Still was replaced by Tonda Eckert and Leicester City failed to escape a double relegation a decade after winning the Premier League. West Ham's drop ends a 14-year absence from the second tier after a decline that followed their 2023 Europa Conference League success, culminating in four defeats in their final five matches and a survival scrap with Tottenham Hotspur. Defender Veltman was West Ham's first signing this summer amid uncertainty over the club's ownership.
Off the field at West Ham, a joint BBC Panorama and The Times investigation alleged sexual misconduct by co-owner David Sullivan, which he categorically denies, while co-chair Vanessa Gold confirmed her family's intention to sell its shares to a consortium led by Amanda Staveley. Daniel Kretinsky sold just over 2% of his stake to Czech businessman Jakub Havrlant, a move that could allow Kretinsky to acquire Gold's shares under the club's pre-emption rights; the process surrounding Gold's sale could take two months, extending into the new season.
Retaining captain Jarrod Bowen — West Ham's top scorer in the Premier League last season — is central to the club's prospects, and manager Nuno Espírito Santo is the only head coach among the relegated trio with prior managerial experience in the English Football League. Nuno took charge of Wolves in 2017 and guided them to the Championship title in his first season, and the size of the London Stadium (62,500) gives West Ham the largest home ground the Championship has ever seen, 51,831 more than Lincoln City's Sincil Bank. West Ham are the bookmakers' favourites to win the title and began the season with a 3-1 EFL Cup win over Portsmouth.
Burnley's recent history has been marked by repeated promotions and immediate relegations: they have achieved four promotions to the Premier League under three different managers since 2014 — Sean Dyche, Vincent Kompany and Scott Parker — yet last season they managed just four wins and finished on 22 points. Scott Parker left by mutual consent in April; Craig Bellamy was strongly linked with the job in June and Burnley approached the Football Association of Wales in an attempt to appoint him, but negotiations over his backroom staff proved a stumbling block.
Nicky Hayen, the former Genk boss, was appointed Burnley head coach in July amid some uncertainty among supporters about the timing of the replacement, and owner Alan Pace remains the club's first foreign owner. Recruitment is likely to define their season after 12 departures this summer; new signings include defensive midfielder Ugo Raghouber, noted for breaking up attacks and his aerial ability, and 19-year-old forward Lluc Castell, who fits the club's recent preference for younger arrivals. Of the 20 new players Burnley signed ahead of their 2024-25 promotion-winning campaign, 12 were aged 25 or under, while the following season seven of their 15 Premier League arrivals were 25 or under and three were over 30, including veteran defender and former England international Kyle Walker.
Wolves' relegation followed a winless start under Vítor Pereira — they went without victory in their opening 10 Premier League games — a managerial change in November that brought Rob Edwards and a first top-flight win against West Ham in January, but the club still finished 20th and 21 points from safety. Transfer activity this summer has been contentious among supporters after recent sales such as Pedro Neto to Chelsea and Matheus Cunha to Manchester United; owners Fosun brought in Kieran Trippier, retained André and welcomed back Raúl Jiménez, only for Edwards to be sacked days after Jiménez returned and replaced by César Peixoto. Peixoto, 46, will take his first head coaching job outside Portugal and has a reputation for attacking football; teenage forward Mateus Mané made his breakthrough last season. "It's a new era, the past is the past - Peixoto"
The Championship campaign gets under way with Wolves v Blackburn Rovers on Friday at 20:00 BST and continues with West Ham v Burnley on Sunday, 16 August (16:00 BST), with live text coverage across the opening weekend available on the BBC Sport website.
