Rival fans will have a field day at Blackburn Rovers in 2025/26, but Wrexham and Oxford United must improve

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There are many things to look forward to with the impending new EFL season, but planning an away day at a rival club’s ground has to be one of the best parts of being a football fan.

With the teams involved in the 2025/26 Championship, we’ll be seeing huge games like the Steel City derby, Norwich City vs Ipswich, and the Hollywood clash between Birmingham City and Wrexham.

It’s not long now until the Championship fixtures are released, which means fans can start to get excited about marking their calendars with those big dates.

But, before you do, it’s worth taking a look at the away ends of each ground in the second tier, because while some are more than accommodating, there are some stadiums in the Championship that simply don’t cut the mustard.

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Blackburn Rovers’ away end is absolutely massive, Wrexham’s is tiny

Thanks to information shared by The Away Ends on Twitter/X, we can see the figures for each away stand in the Championship in terms of capacity, and what that means for travelling fans.

Turns out, Blackburn Rovers are top of the charts when it comes to the number of away fans they can fit in their ground, with Ewood Park having a massive 7,000-seater away stand.

Preston North End come in second with a respectable 5,700 seats for away supporters, while Millwall have 4,000, Sheffield Wednesday 3,700, and Middlesbrough 3,500.

It’s worth mentioning, these figures don’t always align with how many tickets the clubs offer to away fans for each game. A lot of that depends on safety measures in place, and how willing the club is to actually pack the ground with rival supporters.

That’ll be little consolation for the teams at the bottom of the pile, though. Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground is the oldest venue in world football, but with a measly 1,500-seater away stand, there’s work to be done there.

Meanwhile, Oxford United are on a similar level and those two teams are way behind the rest in the division. Watford and Portsmouth are next down there, with Vicarage Road and Fratton Park both capable of housing just 2,200 away fans.

• READ MORE: Fans decide one relegated team are Championship 2025/26 promotion favourites already, they’re a ‘natural choice’

Average attendances for 2024/25

When it comes to average attendances, it’s a very different story. But, sadly, the Championship will be losing the two biggest crowds next season, with Leeds United and Sunderland off to the Premier League.

Derby County (29,083), Sheffield United (28,130), and Coventry City (27,647) round out the top five for average attendances in 2024/25.

It’ll be interesting to see what other teams can breach that top five in 2025/26. We firmly expect Birmingham City to be up there, with St. Andrew’s already pulling in an average of over 26,000 in League One from a capacity of just over 29,000.

Credit where it’s due, though, Wrexham have a brilliant percentage ratio for their average attendance compared to capacity, with 12,757 on average against a capacity of 13,341 (that’s a 95% fill rate).