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The Championship sides hoping to end their lengthy absence from the Premier League

Published 18th April 2026

The Premier League feels both tantalisingly close and impossibly distant for some of English football's most storied clubs. A handful of sides currently sitting in the Championship's top half carry the weight of years, in some cases decades, away from the top flight. With Championship promotion odds reflecting just how competitive this division has become, here is a look at the clubs with the most to prove and the longest waits to end.

Coventry City: 24 years and counting

Coventry City lead the Championship table, and for a fanbase that has not seen Premier League football since 2001, the current position is almost surreal. The Sky Blues spent 34 consecutive seasons in the top flight before their relegation, a run that included a famous FA Cup triumph and a period when they were genuinely considered an established Premier League club.

The journey back has been long and painful, involving ground disputes, financial turbulence, and false dawns. Under Frank Lampard, they have built a cushion of 11 points over third place, at the time of writing, and the question now is whether this squad can hold on to automatic promotion for the rest of the season.

Middlesbrough: Eyeing a return after eight years

Boro are second in the table and will feel that this is one of the better opportunities they have had to return to the Premier League since their relegation in 2017. Under Swedish head coach Kim Hellberg, who replaced Rob Edwards in late November, they have found a new gear entirely, with Hellberg winning the Championship Manager of the Month award for January after an extraordinary run of form.

Their previous Premier League stint ended with some regret, and the club has spent the years since rebuilding its foundations rather than chasing promotion at any cost. That patience may now be paying dividends.

Millwall: Defying the odds after 35 years away

Millwall are fourth, and for a club that last played in the top flight in 1990, the current league position represents something genuinely historic in the making. More than three decades outside the Premier League era entirely, the Lions have spent most of that time in the lower reaches of the Championship or in League One.

What makes Millwall's story compelling is how it has been built. This is not a club backed by significant investment or parachute payments. It is a side built on hard work, defensive organisation, and a manager who has extracted maximum value from a modest budget. If they go up, it would be one of the Championship's great underdog achievements.

Hull City: Back for another shot

Hull sit fifth and have recent Premier League experience to draw on, having last played top-flight football in 2017. They know what it takes to survive at that level, and they have a squad with enough quality to suggest promotion is a realistic target rather than wishful thinking.

The Tigers have yo-yoed between the Championship and the Premier League with some regularity, and their supporters will be hoping that this particular promotion push has more permanence than some of the previous ones.

Wrexham: The Hollywood dream continues

Seventh in the table, Wrexham's rise under Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney has been one of football's most compelling storylines in recent years. From the National League to the Championship in the space of a few seasons, the club has grown rapidly at every level.

What makes their story unique among this group is that Wrexham have never played in the top tier of English football. Promotion would not be a return to former glories; it would be genuinely uncharted territory for a club steeped in history.

The Championship odds suggest they are not among the front-runners this season, but the direction of travel under their current ownership makes a Premier League future feel like a question of when rather than if.

Derby County: Righting the wrongs of 2008

Derby occupy eighth and sit right on the edge of the play-off places. Their story carries a particular emotional weight, given that they remain, officially, the worst team in Premier League history following their 2007/08 season, in which they picked up just 11 points from 38 games.

That campaign has followed Derby around ever since, a footnote that the club has never had the opportunity to overwrite. Promotion would not erase the record books, but it would give a fanbase that has experienced significant hardship, including a points deduction and administration in recent years, the chance to create some new memories at the top level.