LIVE
...

Follow us on

News

The highest-scoring Championship teams of all-time, including Leeds United 2024/25 and Reading FC’s record breakers

Add as preferred source on Google

The regular portion of the 2024/25 Championship season ended this week, with just the play-offs left to settle ahead of next season.

The 2025/26 Championship season has just four teams left to be confirmed and will include Wrexham AFC after three promotions on the bounce. It is, however, saying farewell to Burnley and Leeds United after gaining 100 points this year.

Position Team Played MP Won W Drawn D Lost L For GF Against GA Diff GD Points Pts
1 LeedsLeeds46 29 13 4 95 30 65 100
2 BurnleyBurnley46 28 16 2 69 16 53 100
3 Sheff UtdSheffield Utd46 28 8 10 63 36 27 90
4 SunderlandSunderland46 21 13 12 58 44 14 76
5 CoventryCoventry46 20 9 17 64 58 6 69
6 Bristol CityBristol City46 17 17 12 59 55 4 68

The financial reward of promotion is one thing but the manner in which Leeds did it, in particular, has been most impressive. The Whites secured one of the highest ever points totals in the second tier, while also scoring 95 goals in the process.

Leeds have come close to breaking some records, with other statistics smashed or highlighting Leeds’ dominance, particularly at home. Their dominance and ruthlessness is illustrated in the sheer volume of goals, with the next highest scorers in the division being Norwich City — a whole 24 goals behind Leeds.

Charlton Athletic v AFC Bournemouth - Sky Bet Championship
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

Teams with the most goals in a season in Championship history

We have previously looked at the Championship’s all-time top scorers, and today’s theme continues to be goals. Instead, we look at the highest-scoring teams in Championship history — since its inception in 2004/05. Joel Piroe won the Championship Golden Boot race but forwards are often multi-talented.

They can be some of the best players in the Championship. That said, we’re only concerned with the goal machine teams rather than individuals here. Only eight teams have hit 90+ goals since 2004, with Leeds being one this season. But where exactly does this current Leeds team rank in the top five?

5) Norwich City 2018/19 – 93 goals

Just one goal ahead of their rivals, Ipswich Town, comes another side managed by Daniel Farke in the Championship. Ipswich’s 2023/24 campaign saw them bag 92 goals just ahead of Watford (91: 2015) and Newcastle (90: 2010) but the German’s attacking duo of Teemu Pukki and Emi Buendia were breathtaking.

Norwich City had Leeds under Marcelo Bielsa, as well as Sheffield United during Chris Wilder’s first stint, to contend with. However, they were more than a match for anyone, with Pukki scoring 29 of their goals and Buendia scoring or assisting 20 of them as they conceded plenty but scored even more that year.

4) Leeds United 2024/25 – 95 goals

Experts have claimed Leeds are ‘miles better’ than Burnley all season and the goals column tells its own story in many ways. The feat is even more impressive when looking closer at the spread of goals across the team as well, with Joel Piroe the club’s top scorer with just 19 this term.

However, five players scored nine goals or more, while defenders such as Jayden Bogle and Pascal Struijk also got six and five goals respectively. It means Leeds became more balanced after losing Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter, finding numerous ways to score and hurt their opposition.

3) AFC Bournemouth 2014/15 – 98 goals

Eddie Howe’s AFC Bournemouth had not long been in the Championship when they became the great entertainers of 2014/15. They finished their charge up the divisions courtesy of their 98-goal Championship season under his tutelage.

Looking back, Howe had a plethora of attacking options at his disposal — Callum Wilson and Yann Kermorgant were assisted by a peak-age Matt Ritchie and the sparkling Marc Pugh. There’s no arguing that they weren’t massively prolific and they had a proclivity to a screamer or two that year, too.

2) Reading FC 2005/06 – 99 goals

Arguably the most famous Championship side of all-time, Reading hold the record for the most points with 106 but they weren’t quite able to crack the 100-goal mark. The Royals will have to settle for second on this particular ranking, but they were a formidable team perfectly set up under Steve Coppell.

Kevin Doyle and Dave Kitson both struck 18 goals, while Steve Sidwell in the engine room meant they dominated and had few weaknesses, as well as a variety of ways to vary up how they attacked. They are one of the most complete sides that the league has ever had with the highest-ever goal difference, too.

1) Fulham 2021/22 – 106 goals

Arguably the most dominant side in the final third ever, with the data to back it up. Marco Silva’s Fulham were creative but also clinical. The likes of Aleksandar Mitrovic could score from half-chances, let alone clear-cut openings. The Serb notched 43 goals in the league, which is unlikely to ever be beaten.

Attackers such as Harry Wilson, Fabio Carvalho, Neeskens Kebano, and Bobby Reid all reached 15 goal involvements or more, with Tom Cairney also capable of conjuring something up out of nothing. Their attacking arsenal has seldom been matched at second tier level and 106 goals is a simply remarkable feat.

Ethan Ampadu of Leeds United celebrates with the Sky Bet Championship trophy after the teams 2-1 victory, which confirmed that the team has won the Sky Bet Championship and promotion to the Premier League following the Sky Bet Championship match between Plymouth Argyle FC and Leeds United FC
Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images

Leeds in 2024/25 are one of the best Championship teams ever

Being able to dominate in attack but also maintain a strong rest defence to deal with transitions effectively is not something many teams can strike a balance with. But this recent iteration of Leeds perhaps dominated the game best between both boxes more than any other team on this list.

Simply put, Leeds have been one of the most dominant and impressive sides the Championship has ever seen. One way to understand that is to look at the xGD (expected goal difference) of each side in recent history and compare them.

RankingTeamSeasonxGD
1Leeds United24/251.3
2Fulham21/221.1
3Leeds United19/201.0
4Leeds United18/190.9
5Leeds United23/240.8
6Leicester City23/240.7
7Brentford20/210.7
8Brentford19/200.7
9Southampton23/240.6
10Sheffield United22/230.6
The best Championship teams ever, per xGD (since 2018)

The data doesn’t go back far enough to view Reading, but Leeds have broken records with these numbers. Even if they lacked some of Fulham’s potency, they more than make up for it in terms of their solidity at the back.

Leeds conceded the joint-fewest goals ever in a campaign, but that was overshadowed by Burnley’s James Trafford having a season for the ages. Leeds’ xGD illustrates their dominance with it, absolutely remarkably, being double some of the other best teams in recent memory.

Ironically, Leeds have multiple occasions where they have ranked well on this metric in recent memory. Farke and Bielsa have overseen magnificent campaigns in West Yorkshire. By contrast, Burnley’s is 0.4 this season.