These are the five clubs who spent the most in a single Championship season

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The Championship’s recent history has seen a lot of clubs spend big in order to reach the Premier League.

Whether they’ve recently been relegated from the top division, or it’s a club looking to gamble on transformative wealth, many will splash out in pursuit of the huge money on offer.

There was a natural lull between the 2019/20 and 2021/22 seasons when the pandemic wreaked havoc on finances, but clubs now are back to spending massive amounts on transfers.

There have been concerns that inequality between the Premier League and Championship is increasing, in part due to parachute payments that support clubs recently relegated from the top flight.

For instance, Southampton are set to have a massive £100m injection in the next Championship season.

This has also recently led to clubs promoted from the Championship having a torrid time upon being promoted to the Prem.

As things stand, this will be the second season in a row that all three newly-promoted Premier League clubs will have been relegated at the first time of asking.

Money definitely has a complicated role in football, and big spending isn’t always guaranteed to bring immediate success, as some of the following clubs can attest.

The five Championship clubs who’ve spent the most in a single season

Aston Villa

Aston Villa are the biggest ever spenders in a single season in Championship history, with their 2016/17 outlay remaining unmatched in the near decade that’s followed.

It was their first season back in the second division after a 29-year Premier League stay ended in dismal relegation.

They spend over £30m on three strikers alone, buying Ross McCormack, Jonathan Kodjia and Scott Hogan for £12m, £11m and £9m respectively.

Hogan ended up as a January replacement for McCormack, who fell out with manager Steve Bruce over disciplinary issues.

The massive spending did not pay off – Villa finished 13th in the Championship and had to seriously cut costs after making big losses for two seasons running.

This led to the Villans spending just £3m on transfers in the 2017/18 season, which ended in play-off heartbreak.

The club had to wait for the 2018/19 season to finally achieve promotion, but again had to do it via the play-offs rather than securing Premier League action in the automatic places.

Newcastle United

Newcastle United are the second highest spenders in a single season in Championship history, with a £53.7m expenditure in 2016/17.

The Magpies provide an interesting contrast to Aston Villa, where both clubs spent a lot of money in the same season after they each dropped out of the Premier League.

However, while Villa suffered mid-table mediocrity, Newcastle triumphantly won the league with 94 points.

Their biggest signings were Matt Ritchie and Dwight Gayle, who both joined for £10m each.

The Toon Army have stayed in the top flight ever since, though had some precarious moments before the Saudi takeover totally transformed the club’s fortunes.

Stoke City

Stoke City are the next biggest spenders in a single Championship season, paying £52.6m for transfers in 2018/19.

The Potters were another club trying to get back into the Premier League at the first attempt, as they’d been relegated after 10 years in the top flight.

It did not go well at all, with the club finishing a miserable 16th. Top signing Benik Afobe, who cost £12m, ended up an expensive flop who they quickly moved on.

Stoke have been the definition of mid-table mediocrity in the Championship ever since, though in recent years they’ve even started sliding dangerously close to the relegation zone.

The parachute payments have long since stopped and The Potters are closer to League One than the Premier League.

It’s safe to say the big spend definitely didn’t pay off for them.

Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough spent £46.5m in a Championship season, the fourth highest total spend in the division’s history in 2017/18.

I’m going to shock you – it was also their first season back in the Championship after being relegated from the Premier League.

Their big signing was Britt Assombalonga, the third most expensive signing in the division’s history, costing £15m from Nottingham Forest.

He had a pretty good season too, scoring 15 goals in 44 games as Boro made the play-offs before losing in the semi-final.

However, Middlesbrough missed out on the play-offs the next season by a single point and it didn’t get better from there.

They narrowly avoided relegation in 2019/20, before finishing mid-table in 2020/21.

Boro, rejuvenated under new manager Michael Carrick, managed to make the play-offs again in 2022/23 where they lost in the semi-final once more.

Unfortunately, unless the Teesside club secure promotion this season, it’ll be Boro’s longest consecutive spell outside of the top flight of English football for over 50 years.

Burnley

Burnley’s 2024/25 spending of £45.3m is the fifth biggest single season outlay in Championship history.

By far the most recent of the top five, they’re yet another example of a just-relegated club paying a lot to try and get back into the Premier League.

The Clarets are somewhat unlucky to make the list, as £15.4m of their total spend is from Mike Tresor – whose disappointing loan spell had an obligation to buy attached to it.

The winger had spent a year barely playing for Burnley in the Premier League and was linked with moves away in the summer that didn’t end up happening.

As it stands, the 2022/23 Championship winners are well in the running to go back up into the Premier League, battling Leeds United and Sheffield United for automatic promotion.

Burnley even have Sheffield United’s damning statistic in their favour as they push for a return to the top flight.

Warning to Wrexham and Birmingham City on big spending

Wrexham and Birmingham City are two clubs who’ve not been afraid to pay a lot in order to rise up the leagues.

The Welsh side have obviously started at a much lower point than The Blues, who’ve spent massively after being relegated to League One.

Both funded by American owners, they should take caution from the failures in the top five Championship single season spenders.

Birmingham have already spent a staggering and record-breaking £29.7m in League One, demolishing the division’s transfer record to sign Jay Stansfield for more than £15m.

Whereas Wrexham made big signings and paid premium wages for higher division players as they made their way from the National League to League One, where they are currently.

Birmingham are absolutely nailed to go up, leading the division by a comfortable distance.

Birmingham City have even set an astonishing League One record for points gained so far, with their total potentially about to get even more historic.

Wrexham are also looking good for getting into the Championship, which would be an incredible third promotion in a row.

However, both clubs need to make sure their spending is combined with a solid recruitment strategy – so as not to end up like Stoke, Aston Villa and Middlesbrough, who spent a lot but didn’t get very much out of it.

As we’ve seen over the years, a mix of a consistent and coherent footballing strategy along with high spending is very hard for other clubs to compete with.