LOV's Big Championship Preview Part 1: Teams A-L

Football is back. After a dull summer in which we've had to put up with the pointless Confederations Cup and some people actually got excited about meaningless pre-season 'tournaments' the wait is now over and the new Championship kicks off in just under four hours.

So without further ado, here is the first part of our guide to the teams Bolton Wanderers will be facing this season upon their return to the second tier of English football - beginning with teams A to L.

Aston Villa

Manager: Steve Bruce

Stadium: Villa Park

Finish last season: 13th

Players In: John Terry (free, Chelsea), Chris Samba (free), Glenn Whelan (£1.45m, Stoke City), Ahmed Elmohamady (£935k, Hull City), Sam Johnstone (loan, Man United)

Players Out: Jordan Veretout (£5.95m, Fiorentina), Carlos Sanchez (£2.55m, Fiorentina), Nathan Baker (undisclosed, Brsitol City), Aaron Tshibola (loan, MK Dons), Bradley Watkins (free, Slough Town), Libor Kozak (released)

Last Season Top Scorer: Jonathan Kodjia (19)

Barnsley

Manager: Paul Heckingbottom

Stadium: Oakwell (23,009)

Finish last season: 14th

Players In: Liam Lindsay (£340k, Partick Thistle), Stevie Mallan (£196k, St Mirren), Lloyd Isgrove (free, Southampton), Zeki Fryers (free, Crystal Palace), Cameron McGeehan (undisclosed, Luton Town), Joe Williams (loan, Everton), Jason McCarthy (undisclosed, Southampton), Ethan Pinnock (undisclosed, Forest Green), Ike Ugbo (loan, Chelsea)

Players Out: Marc Roberts (£3.4m, Birmingham), Marley Watkins (free, Norwich City), Ryan Williams (free, Rotherham), Elliott Lee (free, Luton Town), Callum Evans (free, Forest Green), Jack Cowgill (free, Boston United), Josh Scowen (free, QPR), Cole Kpekawa (undisclosed, Colchester United), Kayden Jackson (undisclosed, Accrington Stanley), Lewin Nyatanga, Matty Templeton (free), Aidy White, Ryan Templeton (all released)

Last Season Top Scorer: Sam Winnall (11)

Birmingham City

Manager: Harry Redknapp

Stadium: St Andrews (29,409)

Finish last season: 19th

Players In: Marc Roberts (£3.4m, Barnsley), Craig Gardner (£1.5m, West Brom), Cheikh N’Doye (free, SCO Angers), David Stockdale (free, Brighton),

Players Out: Kerim Frei (£1.28m, Basaksehir), Diego Fabbrini (loan, Real Ovideo), Andrew Shinnie (loan, Luton Town), Viv Solomon-Otabor (loan, Blackpool), Charlie Cooper (free, Forest Green), Koby Arthur (free, Macclesfield Town), Reece Brown (free, Forest Green), Charlee Adams (free, Sagenham & Redbridge),

Last Season Top Scorer: Lukas Jutkiewicz (10)

Brentford

Manager: Dean Smith

Stadium: Griffin Park (12,573)

Finish last season: 10th

Players In: Ollie Watkins (£1.7m, Exeter City), Neal Maupay (£1.7m, St Etienne), Henrik Dalsgaard (£935k, Zulte Waregem), Kamohelo Mokotjo (£850k, FC Twente), Emilio Marcondes (free, Nordsjaelland), Luke Daniels (free, Scunthorpe United)

Players Out: Philipp Hofmann (£638k, Greuter Furth), Akaki Gogia (£638k, Dynamo Dresden), Alan McCormack (free, Luton Town), Jack Bonham (loan, Carlisle United), Konstantin Kerschbaumer (loan, Armenia Bielefeld)

Last Season Top Scorer: Lasse Vibe (15)

Bristol City

Manager: Lee Johnson

Stadium: Ashton Gate (27,000)

Finish last season: 17th

Players In: Famara Diedhiou (£5.1m, SCO Angers), Eros Pisano (free, Hellas Verona), Nathan Baker (undisclosed, Aston Villa)

Players Out: Lee Tomlin (£2.8m, Cardiff), Mark Little (Bolton, free)

Last Season Top Scorer: Tammy Abraham (23)

Burton Albion

Manager: Nigel Clough

Stadium: Pirelli Stadium (6,912, 2,034 seated)

Finish last season: 20th

Players In: Liam Boyce (£485k, Ross County), Matthew Lund (free, Rochdale), Stephen Warnock (free, Leeds), Hope Akpan (free, Blackburn Rovers), Luke Murphy (loan, Leeds), Jake Buxton (undisclosed, Wigan)

Players Out: Sam Hornby (free, Port Vale), Marcus Horness (free, Port Vale), Phil Edwards and Callum Reilly (both free, Bury), Tom Flanagan, Jon McLaughlin, Lee Williamson and Charlie Gatter (all released)

Last Season Top Scorer: Jackson Irvine (10)

Cardiff City

Manager: Neil Warnock

Stadium: Cardiff City Stadium (33,280)

Finish last season: 12th

Players In: Lee Tomlin (£2.8m, Bristol City), Danny Ward (£1.53m, Rotherham), Neil Etheridge (free, Walsall), Lee Camp (free, Rotherham), Callum Paterson (free, Hearts), Nathaniel Mendez-Laing (free, Rochdale), Loic Damour (free, Bourg-en-Bresse)

Players Out: Idriss Saadi (£1.28m, Strasbourg), Emyr Huws (undisclosed, Ipswich), Semi Ajayi (undisclosed, Rotherham), Adam Le Fondre (free, Bolton), Peter Whittingham (free, Blackburn), Tom Adeyemi (free, Ipswich), Adedeji Oshilaja (released)

Last Season Top Scorer: Kenneth Zohore (12)

Derby County

Manager: Gary Rowett

Stadium: Pride Park Stadium (33,597)

Finish last season: 9th

Players In: Andre Wisdom (£1.96m, Liverpool), Tom Huddlestone (£1.87m, Hull), Curtis Davies (£485k, Hull)

Players Out: Will Hughes (£7.74m, Watford), Tom Ince (£7.74m, Huddersfield Town), Cyrus Christie (£2.38m, Middlesbrough), Abdoul Camara (free, Guingamp), Alefe Santos (free, Yeovil Town)

Last Season Top Scorer: Tom Ince (14)

Fulham

Manager: Slavisa Jokanovic

Stadium: Craven Cottage (25,700)

Finish last season: 6th

Players In: Aboubakar Kamara (£5.1m, SC Amiens), Ibrahima Cisse (£2.13m, Standard Liege), Marcelo Djalo (£680k, CD Lugo), Tomas Kalas and Lucas Pizaon (both loan, Chelsea), Oliver Norwood (loan, Brighton)

Players Out: Scott Malone (£3.32m, Huddersfield), Jozabed Sanchez (£2.98m, Celta Vigo), Richard Stearman (£961k, Sheffield United), Cameron Burgess (undisclosed, Scunthorpe), Lasse Vigen Christensen (undisclosed, Brondby), Jack Grimmer (free, Coventry City), Ryan Tunnicliffe (free, Millwall), Jesse Joronen (free, AC Horsens), Scott Parker (retired)

Last Season Top Scorer: Tom Cairney (12)

Hull City

Manager: Leonid Slutsky

Stadium: KCOM Stadium (25,450)

Finish last season: 18th (Premier League)

Players In: Kevin Stewart (£3.8m, Liverpool), Ondrej Mazuch (£1.7m, Sparta Prague), Ola Aina and Michael Hector (both loan, Chelsea), Liam Edwards (free, Swansea), Fraizer Campbell (free, Crystal Palace)

Players Out: Harry Maguire (£11.6m, Leicester City), Andrew Robertson (£7.65m, Liverpool), Eldin Jakupovic (£1.96m, Leicester), Tom Huddlestone (£1.87m, Derby), Ahmed Elmohamady (£935k, Aston Villa), Curtis Davies (£485k, Derby), Johan ter Horst (free, Maidstone), Josh Tymon (free, Stoke City), Shaun Maloney and Alex Bruce (both released)

Last Season Top Scorer: Robert Snodgrass (7)

Ipswich Town

Manager: Mick McCarthy

Stadium: Portman Road (30,311)

Finish last season: 16th

Players In: Joe Garner (£935k, Rangers), Tom Adeyemi and Emyr Huws (both free, Cardiff), Dominic Iorfa (loan, Wolves), Bersant Celina (loan, Man City)

Players Out: Paul Digby (free, Mansfield), Christophe Berra (free, Hearts), Steven Taylor (free, Peterborough United), Josh Emmanuel and Kieffer More (both loan, Rotherham), Giles Coke, Leon Best and Jonathan Douglas (both released)

Last Season Top Scorer: Tom Lawrence (9)

Leeds United

Manager: Thomas Christiansen

Stadium: Elland Road (37,890)

Finish last season: 7th

Players In: Pontus Jansson (£3.23m, Torino), Samu Saiz (£2.98m, SD Huesca), Hadi Sacko (£1.7m, Sporting Lisbon), Mateusz Klich (£1.45m, FC Twente), Caleb Ekuban (£476k, Chievo Verona), Felix Wiedwald (£425k, Werder Bremen), Ezgjan Alioski (undisclosed, FC Lugano), Vurnon Anita (free, Newcastle), Matthew Pennington (loan, Everton)

Players Out: Charlie Taylor (free, Burnley), Jordan Botaka (free, Sint Truiden), Lee Erwin (undisclosed, Kilmarnock), Marco Silvestri (undisclosed, Hellas Verona), Lewie Coyle (loan, Fleetwood), Luke Murphy (loan, Burton), Ross Turnbull, Giuseppe Bellusci and Billy Whitehouse (all released)

Last Season Top Scorer: Chris Wood (27)