bet365 punters favour Birmingham City to win 2025/26 Championship title

All 24 teams for the 2025/26 Championship season are now confirmed and newly promoted Birmingham City have been the most popular selection in the To Win Outright market.

Since the market opened in the aftermath of Sunderland's play-off final triumph over Sheffield United, 68% of bets placed are backing Birmingham to win the Championship title next season.

bet365's Sports and Betting expert Steve Freeth said: "When discussing the market in the trading room, we knew that Birmingham would be the ‘talking horse’ and needed to be prominent and that 10/1 felt right with the relegated clubs that have dropped down.

"Clearly, we’re second-guessing what Blues’ plans are for the summer, but the money we’ve seen in less than 24 hours suggests that prime Messi and Ronaldo are heading to the Second City and they’re not signing for the Villa!"

Birmingham lived up to their League One favourites tag by romping to the title in record-breaking fashion as they accumulated an incredible 111 points.

It capped a memorable debut managerial campaign for Chris Davies, who inherited the hotseat at St Andrew's and immediately transformed the Blues' fortunes, albeit with the help of a lavish spending spree which saw them splurge a club-record fee for Fulham striker Jay Stansfield.

The Blues revamped all areas of the pitch and the smart acquisitions of Tomoki Iwata, Christoph Klarer and Ryan Allsop suggested the club were assembling a team who were preparing to compete at the top end of the Championship, let alone the summit of League One.

Knighthead Capital Management acquired a controlling stake in Birmingham City in July 2023

Director of football Craig Gardner is expected to have plenty of money to work with again in the upcoming transfer window after an interview conducted by The Times with Birmingham's owner, Tom Wagner, revealed that the club expect to have the largest revenues of all Championship sides that are not in receipt of parachute payments.

Wagner has made no secret of his intentions of restoring Birmingham in the Premier League and plans for a transformative Sports Quarter, which includes the proposal to leave St Andrew's for a new 60,000-seat stadium, suggest the American's Knighthead Capital Management company are in it for the long haul.

Birmingham have already been linked with a series of ambitious transfers, including the pursuit of highly-sought Peterborough United winger Kwame Poku, Torino striker Che Adams and Crystal Palace starlet Jesurun Rak-Sakyi.

One new face has already arrived through the entrance doors of the Blues' Elite Performance and Innovation Centre in Henley-in-Arden following the capture of Phil Neumann on a pre-contract agreement from Hannover 96.

Ipswich Town have recently proved that successive promotions from League One to the Premier League is an achievable feat and Davies' team will have aspirations of reflecting the Tractor Boys' jump from the third tier into the top-flight.

The Blues have been absent from the Premier League since 2011 when their incredible League Cup triumph over Arsenal was marred by relegation on the final day of the season.

Birmingham are 10/1 to win the Championship title next season and 3/1 fourth-favourites to win promotion to the Premier League

Jaquob Crooke

• Championship
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