The 10 Biggest Bottle's in EFL Championship History

10 Biggest Bottles in EFL Championship History

Who doesn't love a good bottle, eh?

Seeing a club who look destined to achieve fall to the depths of despair - it's a lovely sight, especially if it's a close rival.

Here at FootballPark, we also love a good bottle - and we love the EFL - so what better way to honor those two things than to take a look at the top 10 Championship bottles of all time...

Let's get stuck in!

10. Reading 22/23

Has a club ever bottled due to financial reasons? Well, Reading has.

In fact, if it wasn't for the six-point deduction they faced in 22/23, they would have stayed in the Championship.

Reading had already been under a transfer embargo for a couple of seasons to that point and had done exceptionally well to retain a squad capable of even competing to stay in the division.

But it wouldn't be long before the issues would catch up with them, and Dai Yongge's antics caused chaos for the playing squad.

Is it harsh to have them in a bottling list? Yes, absolutely – but being relegated after actually securing enough points to stay in the division deserves it – maybe this section should be titled "Yongge 22/23".

9. Leicester City 12/13

This one might be a little harsh on Leicester, as they only finished 6th and sneaked into the playoffs, and they then didn't actually make it to the final either – but for the sheer pandemonium of the moment alone, they have to be here.

When Anthony Knockaert stepped up in the 96th minute for Leicester, it was a penalty that was destined to seal Leicester's place in the playoff final.

But Knockaert was instead denied by a stunning Almunia double save before Watford would launch one of the most devastating and infamous counterattacks in English football history, which ended in a Troy Deeney volley and delirious scenes at Vicarage Road.

The goal made the score 3-2 on aggregate to Watford and sent them to the playoff final, which they would ultimately lose and prove Deeney's goal to be almost futile, but it still represents one of the greatest moments in football history and a serious bottle job by Leicester City… Or perhaps just Anthony Knockaert in hindsight.

8. Brighton 15/16

Brighton's season in 2015/16 was largely forgotten due to the automatic promotion they managed the very next season, one which also produced a bottle of the league title on the final day, but it was one that is massively deserving of a place high up on this list.

The Seagulls were serially in the top two throughout the first half of the season, with a 21-game unbeaten run making them a top contender for promotion.

But it wouldn't be quite as straightforward as galavanting their way to the Premier League, with four of their next five ending in defeat, leading them to the final two gameweeks, where Brighton sat on the same points as Middlesbrough in 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

Middlesbrough would drop points in the first of those weeks, with Brighton squandering a chance to take advantage and only managing to match Boro's result of a draw, with a Lewis Dunk red card causing issues.

The two sides would face off on the final day in a straight shootout for automatic promotion.

Brighton would once again see ill-discipline cost them, with Dale Stephens both equalising and being sent off in the space of four minutes, which led to a 1-1 draw that sent Brighton to the playoffs by merely a two-goal difference.

And, well, Brighton didn't even make it to the final and were knocked out by 6th-place Sheffield Wednesday on penalties… From a 21-game unbeaten run to another season in the Championship.

7. Bristol City 07/08

Bristol City had a solid four-point gap to 3rd place heading into the last 10 games of the 07/08 season, and everything pointed toward the Robins returning to the top flight for the first time since 1970.

But that isn't quite how it would occur, with defeats to Plymouth, Southampton, Stoke, and Sheffield United killing their cushion and any hopes of automatic promotion.

Bristol then fell to a drab 1-0 defeat at Wembley courtesy of a Dean Windass goal in the playoff final against Hull to end their hopes of promotion and continue their spell out of the Premier League…

Which has incidentally continued to the present day, leaving fans wondering if that was their only hope of ever reaching the promised land again.

6. Birmingham City 23/24

A club bottling what could have been a promotion at one point in the season, only to later be relegated due to the sheer incompetence of their owners, is a rare sight, but one that Birmingham City engineered perfectly (or disastrously) in the 23/24 season.

The club sat inside the top six in October, after a very impressive start to the season under John Eustace. But for the owners? Well, Eustance's face didn't fit, and they wanted a big name to take over instead.

The man tasked with that was Wayne Rooney, a big name in football, but one without any real substance in the managerial game.

And that would quickly show itself on the pitch, with Rooney sacked in January after just 15 games in charge which saw them slip down the table into a relegation battle.

As if karma itself had taken over, even the sacking of Rooney couldn't save the club, with the higher-ups further regretting the culling of John Eustace as they were unceremoniously relegated on the final day and sent to the depths of League One.

A big lesson in what not to do as a football owner…

5. Blackburn 87/88

With just eight games remaining in the 87/88 1st Division season, Blackburn were a point clear of 2nd place and a further three points clear of Middlesbrough, who sat in third.

From that point, just holding together the form you've shown all season is all it takes to get over the line – but Blackburn clearly didn't fancy an easy ride.

They went on to win just two of their last eight, drawing three and losing three in a run which saw them freefall into the playoffs.

Rovers faced off against Chelsea in the semi-final and were there resigned to another season away from the summit, making their worst nightmares a reality and leaving them blushing furiously at the collapse they had endured.

4. Nottingham Forest 19/20

Nottm Forest went into the final day of the 19/20 season in 6th place off the back of a last-minute defeat to Barnsley.

The permutation was that Swansea, who sat just outside the playoffs, needed to win, needed Forest to get beaten, and needed an improbable five-goal swing to make it into the playoffs.

A Danny Batth goal for Stoke put Forest 1-0 down inside 19 minutes, to which Tobias Figueiredo would respond just after an hour to tie the score.

At Swansea, the second half began with the score also 1-1, and Swansea looking almost certain to miss out on the playoffs – but what happened next was quite extraordinary.

Wayne Routledge would score in the 66th minute, as Swansea pushed hard with nothing to lose.

With just 17 minutes to play, James McClean flew in at the back post for Stoke to put Forest behind once again, and just five minutes later, Lee Gregory would make the score 3-1 – Nottingham Forest were right under the cosh.

There were still two goals needed to complete the unthinkable, though, but as Swansea's confidence began to grow and Forest began to look increasingly nervy, Wayne Routledge struck again.

A stoppage-time strike at the Madjeski saw the five-goal deficit entirely overturned, with Forest now desperately pushing for a goal, having heard the news.

Nuno Da Costa, yes, the Forest one, would quickly silence any hopes, though, turning the ball into his own net and sealing their fate of another season in the Championship.

It was the first time Forest had been outside the top six since Boxing Day, and the season was over. Madness.

3. Leeds United 18/19

"Leeds, Leeds are falling apart again."

And never has that been more true than the 18/19 season.

A start to the season which saw them well involved in the automatic promotion race preceded what can only be described as one of the strangest sagas in Championship history.

Manager Marcelo Bielsa admitted he sent a spy to watch Derby's training session, in a move which was later coined 'Spygate', in which the club would face repercussions and a rule change would be commissioned by the EFL.

Rather comedically, that whole debacle would lead to a downturn in form which can only be described as a fat chunk of karma, and Leeds would eventually see themselves forced to go through the playoffs.

The karma would not stop there, though, and Leeds would actually face the side they had sinned against earlier in the season, Derby County, in the semi-final over two legs.

Leeds would finish the first leg up by one but would once again fall to a collapse of a defeat, and the second leg would finish with the aggregate score 4-3 – a massive bottle in every sense of the word by Leeds United.

2. Wolves 01/02

This is perhaps the worst on the list and by some distance, but you'll see why they aren't first in just a moment.

Wolverhampton Wanderers were a monumental 10 points clear of 3rd place with just eight games left of the 01/02 Championship season (or the 1st division as it was called back then), but would produce a catastrophic collapse that would end in the worst of ways.

Just two wins from those mentioned fateful eight games, which opened the door for their arch rivals West Brom, who duly obliged and sneaked into the automatic spots, sending Wolves to the playoffs.

Dave Jones' side would then face Norwich in the semi-finals, where they were beaten and condemned to another season of Championship football after what appeared to be a done deal for Premier League football.

1. Coventry 25/26?

Ooh, what do we have here?

Yes, it hasn't entirely happened yet, but the cogs are turning, and it is slowly becoming a reality for Frank Lampard's men.

It was only a few weeks ago they had an eight-point lead over Middlesbrough at the head of the table, but they now find themselves on the same points as their title rivals and just four points clear of the charging Hull City in 3rd place.

Just two wins from their last seven; good defensive form has disappeared, and Coventry look a shell of the side who brutalised the rest of the league in the first half of the season.

Let's just say "Stop crying, Frank Lampard" could soon be back in fashion…