Burnley
Blackburn Rovers
Coventry City
Derby County
Leeds United
Luton Town
Middlesbrough
Millwall
Norwich City
Portsmouth
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield United
QPR
Leeds United players are parading through the city while fans line the streets to celebrate their Championship title win, but thousands of miles across the other side of the world, one of their former managers is also enjoying success.
The Championship season is coming to an end now, with just the play-offs to settle and four teams left to battle it out.
Leeds United can sit back and relax, at least for a little while, with a campaign in the Premier League to look forward to in 2025/26.
The Championship title race went down to the wire for Leeds and Burnley, but the White came out on top in the end.
It was a similarly tough time for Simon Grayson and his current team, Lalitpur City, who had to fight to the end to clinch a lesser-known yet no less meaningful league title for the former Leeds boss.
Simon Grayson celebrates league win in Nepal
Yes, it’s a league title in the Nepal Super League, which some will turn their nose up at, but it’s a league title win nonetheless.
Simon Grayson has enjoyed a long, rollercoaster ride of a career, and ended up in Nepal in February of this year to take over at Lalitpur City.
There, Grayson has led his team to the top of the table after the standard six-game season with three wins and three draws to be the only unbeaten team in the division.
Lalitpur then had to go through Dhangadhi FC in the play-off semi-final, which they won 2-1, before defeating Pokhara in the play-off final, also 2-1, to lift the title.
On his move to Nepal, Grayson said: “An agent rang me up and asked if I would be interested in managing in Nepal. I spoke to the owners and thought, Why not?”
Many will play down Grayson’s success due to where it took place and the nature of the league system in Nepal, which lasts just eight weeks, but the man himself is not about to diminish his achievement.
He added: “It’s been a fantastic football and life experience but I wasn’t out here for a holiday — I wanted to win the league.
“I said this to the players — and I genuinely mean it — but winning this title in Nepal is just as important to me as everything I achieved as a player and manager.
“To be the best team in the tournament and win the final made it very much mission accomplished.
“Since I’ve been at Lalitpur, I’ve got three players into the Nepal national squad for the first time. The owners have been chuffed to bits with what we’ve achieved and the players have been great.”
Simon Grayson’s career in England explained
Grayson touched on his career in England and how he feels about management in general now, and added: “It’s been a great opportunity while I’m waiting for jobs to come up. After my first game, some Reading fans here on holiday said, ‘You’ve certainly not lost your passion for it.’
“I was probably let down at Blackpool and Fleetwood by owners who promised me the world but delivered nothing. I’ve had clubs who have backed me, so I know what I can do.
“I’ve been out of my comfort zone in Nepal but it has confirmed I still have the fire in my belly.”
Grayson previously managed Leeds United, Blackpool, Fleetwood Town, Bradford City, Sunderland, Preston North End, and Huddersfield.
Leeds fans will remember and appreciate Grayson’s spell very well, with the Whites winning promotion from League One during their dark days thanks to Grayson’s work.
He also made it out of the third tier with Blackpool, Huddersfield, and Preston.