The Sky Bet Championship 2021/22 season is one that fans look back on as one of the most entertaining that the division has ever seen. With the recent struggles of promoted clubs to survive in the Premier League, it's somewhat more notable that Fulham, AFC Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest all went up that season and all have stayed up since.
All sides who were promoted that season are currently battling to secure European football in the top flight, sitting comfortably in the top half of the league table.
Though would these sides be where they are without the players that got them to the Premier League? Ten players across the three sides made the Championship team of the season with some having higher rises than others.
Goalkeeper - Lee Nicholls
The only player to not achieve promotion that season, Lee Nicholls helped Huddersfield Town defy the odds and make the Championship Play-Off final where they lost out to Nottingham Forest. Nicholls kept 18 clean sheets that season as he helped the Terriers to a 3rd place finish with only conceding 44 goals in 46 games.
Now 33, the English goalkeeper has seen the biggest fall off in the team. Though still at Huddersfield, he is now languishing in League One with the West Yorkshire outfit after last season's relegation.
It has been a difficult season for Nicholls with only seven games to his name so far with Jacob Chapman seeming to take the number one spot. Though it is not down to form, as the former Wigan Athletic man has been sidelined with an elbow injury which has left him out of action since September.
He did recently return to the bench in Town's game midway through January, a 2-2 draw away at Blackpool. He made his first start since returning from injury in the 0-0 draw with Reading, before helping the Terriers hold on to a 2-1 win over Barnsley this weekend.
He will be looking to keep that number one spot to help his team’s promotion push with Huddersfield sat in fifth, two points clear of Charlton in seventh.
Centre Back - Tosin Adarabioyo.
The first player of the champions Fulham to make the Team of the Season was defender Tosin Adarabioyo. In his second year at the club, Tosin was pivotal in that Fulham back line after having experience in the Championship through loan spells with West Bromwich Albion and Blackburn Rovers.
He chalked up two goals and two assists from centre back as his height caused problems for Championship sides as he helped Fulham to a first place finish while helping them have the second best defensive record in the league.
Following promotion, Tosin stayed at Fulham for an additional two seasons where he helped the club achieve 10th and 13th place finishes and established himself as a good quality Premier League defender who attracted a lot of interest upon the expiry of his contract.
After not signing a new deal at Craven Cottage, the current 27-year-old joined West London rivals Chelsea on a free transfer. The Manchester City youth product has only made 11 appearances in the league so far, scoring one goal as Chelsea struggle for consistency under Enzo Maresca. In a team with plenty of options in his position, he will be looking to start more consistently in the second half of the season.
Centre Back - Lloyd Kelly
The man who captained AFC Bournemouth to their second promotion to the Premier League, Lloyd Kelly became an important figure for Scott Parker, helping his side to promotion and keeping the best defensive record in the division with only 39 goals conceded across the campaign.
He became captain for the Cherries following Steve Cook’s departure in January.
Like Tosin, Kelly stayed with the side he was promoted with for the next two years as he helped to keep Bournemouth up in their first season and then climb up the table in the second. He made 47 appearances across the two seasons, scoring once.
The Englishman left Bournemouth in the summer though, joining Newcastle United on a free transfer. This kept the flow up of Newcastle players arriving from Dean Court with Ryan Fraser, Callum Wilson and Matt Ritchie previously making the switch from the other side of the country.
It hasn’t been the best of times on Tyneside for Kelly though with only ten league appearances for the club with only four of them being starts. He left the Magpies in the January transfer window, joining Juventus on loan until the end of the season.
Centre Back - Joe Worrall
The man who captained his boyhood club at Wembley Stadium as Nottingham Forest beat Huddersfield Town in the play-off final, Joe Worrall saw the club he loved promoted to the Premier League for the first time in 23 years.
He missed just four league games for the Reds in the season and helped take them to an FA Cup quarter-final in the process.
Life in the Premier League was hit and miss for Worrall. Though he made 30 appearances in the league for Forest, he struggled to adapt to life at times but as the season went on he improved and was crucial in the final few games as Forest’s form spiked, which helped steer them to survival.
His game time became limited in the next season where he only made seven league appearances before January. He left the Tricky Trees in January to join Turkish side Besiktas on loan until the end of the season. He played nine games for the club in a season where his side won the Turkish Cup.
Worrall departed Forest in the summer, joining Championship side Burnley on a permanent deal but his game time has been extremely limited. With just five league games to his name he will be hoping to get back into the team to help Scott Parker’s side in their promotion.
Right Back - Djed Spence
When the term “don’t fall in love with loan players” gets mentioned, Nottingham Forest fans feel it worse than others when it comes to Djed Spence.
The right back arrived from fellow Championship side Middlesbrough on loan for the season with little expectation with so called “attitude issues”. But Spence proved the doubters wrong and had an unbelievable season on Trent-side being labelled as one of the signings of the season.
He played 46 times across all competitions, picking up three goals and four assists as he was pivotal to the Reds' promotion.
There were hopes that Spence would stay at Forest the next season but he instead joined Tottenham Hotspur for just under £15 million. Following his move to the capital, where he is originally from, game time proved difficult for him under Antonio Conte.
A number of loan spells came next for Spence as he took his own tour across Europe. The January of the season that Spence joined Spurs, he took a trip to France as he joined Rennes. He made his debut in the Europa League with the French club.
The next season he stayed put in England joining Championship side Leeds United on loan. This loan was cancelled in January however, after Spence made just seven appearances.
for the Yorkshire club.
He then ventured out to Italy to join Genoa on loan where he became an important player making 18 appearances.
Now back at Spurs, Spence has become an important player for Ange Postecoglou during a mass injury crisis while also standing out in a poor run of form. He has had to cover at left back at times and has filled that role brilliantly, recently picking man of the match in a win at Brentford. As Spurs get players back from injury, he will be hoping to keep his place in the starting eleven.
Left Back - Antonee Robinson.
Another key part of Fulham’s Championship winning side was American left back Antonee Robinson. Formerly of Everton and Wigan Athletic, Robinson moved to the West London side in 2020 and became an ever-present in the side since he switched the north for the south.
He made 36 appearances across the Championship season and picked up two goals and four assists while also having very good defensive numbers. He also made 13 appearances for the US National team this season, which was down to his performance levels in England.
Robinson remains one of the only players in this team that is still at the club that they were in that season as he has adjusted to Premier League life easily, being talked about as one of the best left backs in the League.
He has ten assists so far this season from 24 games (no other defender has more) which has seen him linked with the likes of Liverpool and Manchetser United. Fulham fans will be hoping they can keep hold of their start defender in the summer, especially if European football returns to Craven Cottage.
Central Midfield - Philip Billing
Six-foot-five midfielder Philip Biling was a midfielder many Championship fans feared as he was one of the stand out players that season. A midfielder with a wicked long range strike on him, Billing was a threat at both ends of the pitch and was a dominant player in the air.
He made 40 league appearances that season, getting ten goals and ten assists as he helped fire the Cherries to automatic promotion.
Despite plenty of interest in England and abroad, Billing stayed at the club for the next two seasons but eventually lost his starting spot in the team to Scottish midfielder Ryan Christie under Andoni Iraola's management.
He made 81 appearances across two and a half seasons since promotion, scoring nine and assisting five as he was a part of Bournemouth’s rapid rise in the league.
Billing did depart the club in the most recent January transfer window as he joined Italian side Napoli on loan for the rest of the season but he is still yet to play a minute for the club with plenty of competition in their midfield.
Central Midfield - Ryan Yates
Another Nottingham Forest youth product in this team, Ryan Yates oversaw a brilliant season with the club that he had been at since he was just eight years old. He struck up a great partnership in midfield with loanee James Garner which helped push Forest onto promotion. He made 43 league appearances scoring eight goals.
Despite missing the first season back in the Premier League due to injury, Yates was crucial when fit in the Reds' survival that season. He did well to keep his place in a Forest squad featuring a ridiculous 23 signings.
He scored his first Premier League goal in a 3-1 win at Sheffield United back in May which was a key result in the Reds' second season survival. The goal meant Yates had scored in all the top four leagues in England.
Currently Yates is still at the club as the captain and is looking to lead his club to the Champions League but is battling for a midfield spot with Elliot Anderson and Nicolas Dominguez. He has even more competition around the corner too, following the returns of Danilo and Ibrahim Sangare from their respective injuries.
Attacking Midfield - Harry Wilson
Welsh wizard Harry Wilson will go down as one of the most joyful players to ever grace the Championship after spells with Derby County, Cardiff City and Fulham.
A player known for his excellent dead ball prowess, Wilson was a key figure in the Fulham attack during promotion. He scored 10 goals and provided 19 assists during the season as he proved to be one of the signings of the summer.
Unlike some other players in this team, Wilson has still had consistent game time since promotion to the Premier League as he has made 64 appearances across the first two seasons back in the top flight getting six goals and registering nine assists.
The Liverpool youth product is still at Fulham and despite missing games through injury, Wilson has won Fulham plenty of points. He scored two goals in stoppage time in a West London Derby against Brentford after being 1-0 down.
He is currently out with a foot injury and is expected back in April.
Striker - Dominic Solanke
The forward who was unlucky not to come away with the golden boot, Dominic Solanke really came into his own for the Cherries during their promotion season. After Arnaut Danjuma left Bournemouth that summer, it was interesting to see if Solanke would improve upon his 15 goal season, but he smashed that after scoring 29 goals in the second tier.
After having previous struggles in the Premier League, Solanke was up for a big season to see if he could prove himself against some of the worlds best defenders. It was a decent first season back after he picked up six goals and seven assists, his best Premier League return as of then. It was the next season that he would establish himself as one of the most feared strikers.
Last season Solanke reached 19 goals across the 38 game season which earned him an England call up whilst also scoring a hat trick in a 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest. So it was an unbelievable season for Solanke as he yet again proved doubters wrong.
This would earn him a move to Tottenham Hotspur in the summer as he joined the North London side for just under £70 million. Currently out injured, like a large number of Spurs players, Solanke has eleven goals and six assists across all competitions and will be hoping to re-discover his form upon his return.
Striker - Alexander Mitrovic
The Serbian striker who broke a Championship record, Alexander Mitrovic is one of the most feared strikers to ever play in the division. He broke the all time record in the league for most goals in a season by a single player as he claimed the golden boot after scoring an incredible 43 goals in 44 games while also picking up seven assists.
He took that goal scoring momentum into the Premier League, netting 15 goals in 28 games. This was his best ever season in the top flight after having previous struggles at Fulham and Newcastle United.
This was his last season at the Cottage however as he, like many, completed a move to the Saudi Pro League, joining Al Hilal after just a single season back in the big time.
He has had the same impact overseas as over his two seasons so far he has picked up a total of 60 goals in 67 games and is currently the 5th top scorer in the league behind the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema.
So overall, it is a mixed bag of how players have either progressed or derailed since their famous Championship seasons. There's concrete proof that one good season can be a catalyst for success or a misleading preface to disappointment.
Either way, there are some top quality Premier League players who made shone in the 2021/2022 Championship season. As far as talent factories go, there aren't many better leagues than the English second tier.
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