It was announced this week that the 2020/21 Championship campaign will begin on the 12th September as we concluded the current campaign last Wednesday in what was another busy week for the second tier of English football.

Below we look at other news from around the league, as Reading’s 2020/21 opponents prepare for another campaign in the second tier.

Hull City, Wigan Athletic and Charlton Athletic left the division as Luton Town and Barnsley completed the great escape. West Bromwich Albion confirmed promotion alongside Leeds United and the race for the playoffs came to an exciting conclusion with Nottingham Forest missing out on goal difference to Swansea City. The Swans joined Cardiff City, Fulham and Brentford in the fight for the last remaining promotion place with Fulham and Swansea City taking an advantage in to the second legs with first leg victories over the weekend.

Taking their places in the league for the 2020/21 season will be Norwich City, AFC Bournemouth and Watford after the Premier League concluded on Sunday. The latter two were resigned to relegation after Aston Villa drew with West Ham. Coventry City, Rotherham United and Wycombe Wanderers were promoted from League One.

Huddersfield Town appointed a new manager in former Leeds assistant, Carlos Corberan. The Spaniard takes over from Danny Cowley and will look to excel the Terriers in his first season as a number one.

In this week’s transfer news, Norwich were quick to make an early move in the transfer market confirming the signing of Jacob Sorensen from Esbjerg. The midfielder joins the Canaries as they prepare for a return to the Championship. On Monday, they announced their second signing of the ‘summer’ as Bali Mumba joined from Sunderland. The 18-year-old defender joins Norwich for an undisclosed fee.

QPR also announced a new signing on Monday, confirming that they had signed George Thomas after his release from Leicester City. The 23-year-old spent part of the 2019/20 season with ADO Den Haag and has 3 Welsh senior caps to his name.

Across the capital, Millwall were also busy in the transfer market confirming that Ryan Woods had signed for the club on a one-year loan from Stoke City. The midfielder spent the second half of the 2019/20 season with the Lions and has extended his stay in London for a second spell.

Championship new boys, Coventry City confirmed that they will play their 2020/21 games at St Andrews in Birmingham. They will again share the ground with Birmingham City so Reading fans will make two trips to the ground this campaign (that is if fans are allowed back to attending games by then)!

Meanwhile, it was a busy week for former Royals as the season wrapped up. Academy product Dominic Samuel was released by Blackburn Rovers while it was better news for another academy product as Hal Robson-Kanu celebrated promotion with West Brom. Goalkeeper Jonathan Bond was also part of the Baggies squad who make the move to the Premier League. Congratulations to them both.

Finally, former Reading loanee, Jamie Mackie announced his retirement from professional football last Tuesday. The highlight at Reading for the Scot was his instrumental role in guiding the Royals to an FA Cup semi-final. The striker who was on loan from QPR, netted the third goal in the quarter final against Bradford to cement our place at Wembley. We wish Jamie all the best in his next adventure.

As the ‘off-season’ begins, we will keep you updated with all the news from around the league every Tuesday.