EFL Championship REVIEW 15 Aug 2026: Bolton Back with a Bang, Lincoln's 65-Year Wait Ends in Defeat

Bolton Wanderers marked their first Championship match in seven years with victory, beating Preston North End 2-1 at the Toughsheet Community Stadium. Sam Dalby put the hosts ahead in the 14th minute and Thierry Gale doubled the lead in the 25th minute, before Jusef Erabi pulled one back for Preston in the 86th minute. The club had announced before kick-off that the stadium had sold out for the first time since Boxing Day 2011, and it was the sides' first Championship meeting since 2018-19, when they shared a 2-2 draw and a 2-1 Preston win. Bolton boss Steven Schumacher had a message for the crowd afterwards: "It's going to be an exciting ride, so strap in!" He added, "That's what this division is like, it's mental," after a nervy finish in which Preston almost salvaged a point. Preston's Paul Heckingbottom was left to reflect on defensive errors for both goals, saying simply, "You give any team in the Championship a two-goal lead, it's hard."

Lincoln City's return to the second tier after 65 years away could hardly have started more dramatically. Adam Reach put the newly-promoted Imps ahead inside 12 minutes at the Riverside Stadium, but Middlesbrough hit back through a Will Lankshear double, the striker levelling just after the hour and stabbing in a stoppage-time winner to make it 2-1. The defeat ended a 29-match unbeaten run for Lincoln that stretched back through their League One title-winning campaign, and came in the first game under the club's new joint head coaches, Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw, who stepped up after Michael Skubala left for Bristol City in May.

That connection had an ironic footnote at Ashton Gate, where Skubala's first home league game in permanent charge of Bristol City ended in a 0-2 defeat to Millwall. Josh Coburn scored either side of half-time, in the 41st and 50th minutes, and City had been reduced to ten men from the 36th minute when A. Randell was sent off.

Portsmouth suffered a wild afternoon at Fratton Park, leading through T. Devlin's 15th-minute goal only to concede three times before the interval as QPR came from behind to win 1-3. Ilias Chair equalised in the 33rd minute, K. Saito put the visitors ahead seven minutes later, and Chair completed his brace right on the stroke of half-time.

Charlton Athletic also came from behind to win, beating Derby County 2-1 at The Valley after S. Szmodics had given the visitors an early lead. L. Jones levelled in the 61st minute and T. Campbell struck the winner with ten minutes left. Elsewhere, West Brom came from goalless at the break to win 1-2 at Norwich City, A. Heggebo and J. Morgan scoring in the last quarter-hour before M. Kvistgaarden's 90th-minute reply for the Canaries; Swansea came from behind to beat Stoke City 1-2, J. Opoku cancelling out E. Bocat's early opener before A. Idah's 66th-minute winner.

Sheffield United and Birmingham City shared a goalless draw at Bramall Lane in the Blades' season opener, with Birmingham having finished 10th and Sheffield United 13th when the sides last met in the Championship.