The 2021/22 Championship Preview

With the 2021/22 Championship campaign commencing this week, we take a look at what awaits Fulham, from new stadiums to familiar faces.

The start

On paper, August’s fixtures appear to be a good start to the season, with none of our five opponents finishing higher than 10^th last year, but we’re long enough in the tooth to know that there are no easy matches in England’s second tier.

Nobody has won promotion to the top-flight more times than Middlesbrough boss Neil Warnock, having led Notts County, Sheffield United, Queens Park Rangers and Cardiff City to the promised land.

Huddersfield Town are our first away opponents, with the Terriers welcoming club legend Jordan Rhodes back this summer. The striker scored an astonishing 87 goals in three years at the John Smith’s Stadium under the tutelage of Fulham favourite Lee Clark a decade ago.

Millwall away always represents a different kind of test, Hull City won 27 league matches last season to ensure an immediate return to the Championship, and Stoke City have improved their final position in the table in each of their three seasons out of the Premier League.

New turf

Fulham will visit the Ricoh Arena for the first time ever at the start of October, after it was confirmed that Coventry City would be returning to the stadium following two years of ground-sharing at Birmingham City’s St Andrew’s.

With various relegations and promotions, Fulham and the Sky Blues have avoided each other over the years. It’s more than half a century since we’ve met in the league, when Steve Earle’s goal earned us a point in a 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage in what was our last top flight campaign for 33 years.

Peterborough United are another rarely faced opponent, with this season only our second ever in the same division as the Posh. They did the double over us on that occasion, in 1991/92, en route to winning the third tier Play-Offs.

London Road – or the Weston Homes Stadium as it’s now called – does not represent a new ground, though, as Peterborough have played there throughout their history.

Familiar faces

We will come up against each of the men responsible for our promotions from the Championship in our previous two seasons in the division.

Following their relegation from the Premier League, Sheffield United swooped to bring Slaviša Jokanović back to the UK, and the Serb will be targeting a third promotion having also led Watford to the top flight.

Scott Parker will also be back at the Cottage this season with his AFC Bournemouth side in December. In fact, our final two away matches are at Vitality Stadium and Bramall Lane, which could make for a dramatic finale.

There are also a number of former Fulham players plying their trade in the Championship.

Ollie Norwood will have been pleased with Jokanović’s appointment having thrived under him in 2017/18, while his teammates in that promotion side Tomas Kalas and Stefan Johansen are now at Bristol City and QPR, respectively.

Barnsley and Cauley Woodrow have been a perfect match since his move to Oakwell, while Millwall fielded no fewer than three former Whites in our recent friendly; Matt Smith, Shaun Hutchinson and Scott Malone.

Neil Etheridge is the number one choice at Birmingham, where he has recently been joined by Jordan Graham, while David Button and Jordan Archer have backup roles with West Bromwich Albion and QPR.

Wayne Routledge is about to enter his 11^th season with Swansea City, Chris Martin is in Bristol, and Harry Arter made a permanent switch to Nottingham Forest after his Fulham loan.

Blackpool have two former Whites left-backs in their ranks in James Husband and Luke Garbutt, while two Academy products – Elijah Adebayo and Djed Spence – are regulars with Luton Town and Middlesbrough, respectively.

Transfers

Most of the Championship incomings this summer have been free transfers and loans, though a couple of clubs have brought in new players on undisclosed deals.

Barnsley have added plenty of firepower with three new strikers, including Andrew Cole’s son and Michy Batshuayi’s brother.

The Tykes lost captain Alex Mowatt to West Brom, who have also brought in plenty of Championship knowhow with Adam Reach and Matt Clarke.

Swansea parted with a reported seven figures to get Dutch youth international Joel Piroe, with similar amounts apparently spent by Stoke on Ben Wilmot and QPR on Andre Dozzell.

There has been some cross-Championship business done, too, with old school number nine James Collins swapping Luton for Cardiff, Martyn Waghorn heading 50 miles north from Derby to Coventry, Sammy Ameobi moving from the red of Nottingham to the red of Middlesbrough, and our very own Stefan Johansen making the short switch to Rangers.

One club yet to do any business is Derby, who are currently operating under strict financial restrictions in the transfer market.

The likes of Sone Aluko and Richard Stearman have been amongst the trialists with the Rams, and now Wayne Rooney has some decisions to make in the knowledge that he can only bring in four players.