AI describes all 24 EFL Championship clubs in just one word - QPR's is bang on | OneFootball

Is your club ‘Ambitious’ or just ‘Frustrating’? AI has its say

With promotion dreams, relegation fears, and chaos in between, England’s second tier remains one of the most unpredictable and entertaining leagues in world football.

Every club brings its own energy, history, and identity - and in anticipation for the 2025/26 season, Football League World asked AI to distill each of the 24 contenders into a single word.

ChatGPT told us it had created a one word description aiming to capture “identity, history or recent reputation.”

The result was reductive, provocative, and, at times, probably said more than it should. Here's the league, one word at a time.

1 Birmingham City – Resilient

Years of off-pitch instability hasn’t broken the spirit of the Blues. Promoted back to the Championship for the 25/26 season, Birmingham City will be hoping their fallow year in League One will set them up for a strong bounce back.

Founding members of the Football League, ChatGPT told us that Blackburn Rovers are ‘historic’ - and it’d be hard to argue with that.

3 Bristol City – Understated

Rarely headline grabbing in recent history, it’d be easy to see why AI told us that the Robins are ‘understated’. After their sixth-place finish and subsequent play off campaign in the 24/25 season, however, maybe the tide will turn for Bristol City.

ChatGPT leaned into Charlton’s sleeping giant status with this one. After a five season stint in League One, the Addicks will be hoping to spring into life in the Championship upon their 25/26 return.

Coventry’s return to second tier stability has been hard earned. Years of crisis, points deductions and stadium exile could have broken the club - instead, they’ve emerged resilient and upwardly mobile.

6 Derby County – Rebuilding

After years of financial collapse, points deductions and a League One relegation, Derby are finally beginning to stabilise. Their return to the Championship has been carefully constructed - a patient project, not a sugar rush - and that’s exactly what “rebuilding” looks like.

7 Hull City – Unpredictable

Are Hull going to push for the play-offs or finish mid-table with a flourish of chaos? Or stay up on the final day, as they did in the 24/25 season? The Tigers have the flair and certainly the ambition, but consistency has always been elusive.

8 Ipswich Town – Momentum

Back-to-back promotions and a storming return to the Premier League - up until recently, Ipswich Town are a club riding a wave. Under Kieran McKenna, the Tractor Boys have enjoyed consecutive celebratory seasons, unfortunately culminating with a return to the Championship for the 25/26 campaign.

Relegated in 2023 with a brief intermission in the Premier League this season, Leicester still look and feel like a club with top flight expectations. With talent, investment, and pedigree on their side, ChatGPT's “ambitious” assessment fits the Foxes, but the Championship is rarely that simple.

10 Middlesbrough – Structured

Boro are a well run club, with an identity on and off the pitch. Over recent seasons, they’ve enjoyed some steady challenges to climb the pyramid.There’s an ethos, a spine to the squad, and a sense that the club knows where it’s going. After a 10th place finish last season, they’ll be hoping to make that final push in a post-Michael Carrick era.