The 10 unluckiest EFL Championship clubs named and ranked by AI | OneFootball

Football League World have asked AI to name the 10 most unfortunate Championship outfits

Football is a sport like no other and can evoke emotions unique to the spectacle it creates.

The highs and lows a fan can experience across 46 games are unpredictable, unequivocal and somewhat unavoidable, with clubs almost guaranteed to win and lose matches in dramatic fashion.

However, history has proven to be unkind to certain teams, with their fanbases subjected to more heartbreak than others.

This can be down to external factors, such as unreliable owners and financial mismanagement, or simply failing to come out on the right side of important fixtures on the pitch.

Such torment is often found in the EFL Championship, with the unique challenges the division presents.

Given this, Football League World have employed AI ChatGPT to rank the 10 unluckiest teams in the second-tier.

Queens Park Rangers have enjoyed a mix of positives and negatives over a rollercoaster last 15 years and come in 10th on this list.

AI states that their financial implosion due to spending too much in the Premier League left them saddled with debt and ultimately wasted their opportunity to establish themselves in the top-flight.

Having never recovered from their relegation in 2015, QPR have spent more time towards the bottom of the second-tier, which ChatGPT uses to justify the club’s ranking in this list.

Boro’s unlucky nature falls more into the category of near misses when compared to QPR’s fall from grace, with AI citing their play-off final defeat in 2015 as a particular source of heartbreak.

Coming close to the play-offs in 2019 and 2023 by a matter of points on both occasions were times that lady luck wasn’t on Middlesbrough’s side according to ChatGPT.

Often tipped to push for promotion, Boro have flattered to deceive in recent years which AI believe is down to a certain element of unluckiness.

The Baggies are described as a club forever in limbo by AI, constantly bouncing between the Premier League and Championship.

Their failed play-off campaigns in 2019 and 2024 are highlighted as major instances of misfortune, failing to push themselves back into the top-flight.

For a club of West Brom’s stature, missing out on Premier League football so often is described as extremely unlucky by AI, with the chatbot stating that the Black Country outfit are never awful, but never dominant.

Millwall continue the theme of missing out on play-off football being deemed as unlucky by AI, with their shortcomings in 2018, 2020 and 2023 all listed.

Described as the Championship’s eternal outsiders, ChatGPT states that the Lions are nearly, but never where they need to be after 46 games.

Losing key games under pressure is also listed as a particular unlucky trait Millwall possess by the chatbot, something Alex Neil will be looking to overcome this season.

Ipswich Town have enjoyed success in recent years, achieving back-to-back promotions from League One to the top-flight under Kieran McKenna.

Despite that, the period that came before didn’t feature too many highs, with the Tractor Boys consistently underachieving on their ambition to become a Premier League club.

Winning the first division and UEFA Cup was highlighted by AI as the success Ipswich were no longer able to achieve, with play-off heartbreak in 2004, 2005 and 2015 particularly unlucky for the Suffolk outfit.

5 Bristol City

Bristol City are another club that have experienced major highs in recent times, ending their 17-year-long wait for a Championship play-off campaign last term.

This long gap between top six finishes has been cited by the AI as extremely unlucky, with the Robins often flattering to deceive.

ChatGPT highlights the 2008 Championship play-off final as one sore moment in particular, when Bristol City were defeated by Hull City due to a Dean Windass piledriver.

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Coventry City have become regular play-off challengers over the past few years, coming within a penalty shoot-out of promotion to the Premier League in 2023.

However, prior to that came some much more troubling times for the Sky Blues, with ChatGPT highlighting their era of ground sharing as particularly unlucky.

Years of dwindling around the EFL’s lower regions with financial uncertainty constantly looming have seen Coventry supports suffer consistent bad luck, but recent times do appear to be more positive at the CBS Arena.

3 Leicester City

Leicester City’s ranking on this list may come as somewhat of a surprise, due to their Premier League and FA Cup successes over the past decade.

That said, before those achievements came some particularly unlucky times, according to AI, citing their successive play-off final defeats in 1992 and 1993 as perfect examples of this.

In the 21st century, play-off drama including Troy Deeney’s iconic winner for Watford, have been noted as unfortunate defeats that Leicester have suffered.

2 Derby County

Derby County, much like Ipswich, are a club that underachieved given their stature in the 2010s.

AI has highlighted their 2014 play-off final defeat against QPR alongside further shortcomings in 2016 and 2019 as specific occasions the Rams were unlucky to suffer defeat.

Their recent financial mismanagement saw them docked 21 points in 2021, which ultimately condemned Derby to relegation from the Championship.

ChatGPT doesn’t stop there however, suggesting that their dismal 2007/08 Premier League campaign is another example of the Rams’ unlucky nature.

1 Sheffield United

ChatGPT doesn’t pull any punches when discussing the Blades’ unlucky nature, bringing up their treacherous play-off record.

Sheffield United’s defeat against Sunderland at Wembley was the 10th time they’ve failed to achieve promotion via the play-offs and the fifth time they’ve come out second-best in the final.

This is perhaps the definition of unlucky, which explains the AI’s ranking.

The Steel City side’s relegation from the Premier League in 2007 is also highlighted by the chatbot, with West Ham’s ineligible signing of Carlos Tevez keeping the Hammers up at United’s expense.