Everybody knows the English Premiership collectively has the best players, the best coaches, the most glamorous stadiums and the most money of any professional football (soccer) league in the world…….but does all of this make it the best league?
Every year you can almost certainly guarantee that the top four in the Premiership are going be Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool. We used to start the season wondering who is going to take the title out of a group of about 10-15 teams, but know it will always be one of these four.
Not so long ago we had teams such as Blackburn Rovers and Leeds United winning the title in the top flight of English football…….now the best Blackburn Rovers can hope for is a place in the UEFA cup and as for Leeds………they are going to be starting the season rock bottom in the third tier of English football with a 15 point deduction.
Is the gulf between these teams luck……NO………its money. There is so much money pumped into the Premiership these days through multi million pound television deals, sporting brand endorsements and shirt sponsorship that the BIG FOUR keep getting bigger whilst the others just try and hold to their coattails.
If we look at the other end of the Premiership table at the relegation battle you can almost predict the outcome there as well as you can at the top of the table. Out of the three clubs that gain promotion from the Championship each season it is almost guaranteed that at least two of the three will be involved in the relegation battle right from day 1 until the end of the season, with two of them probably dropping back down to the Championship after only one season.
All of this means that The Premiership title is a four horse race and the relegation battle 66% decided before the first kick of the first game.
Exciting for the neutral………..I think NOT.
Many of the above traits also apply in the top flight Spanish and Italian leagues. When do you ever hear of A.C Milan of Barcelona being involved in a relegation dogfight or Racing Santander piping Real Madrid to the La Liga title?
I know a lot of you will be saying “but they have the best players”, “They sell 80,000 tickets per game”, but all of that makes for exciting one off matches, not an exciting league.
Now for the case for the Championship (The most exciting League in the WORLD)
I believe the Championship really IS the most exciting and competitive football (soccer) league in the world.
The biggest difference between the Championship and the other top flight leagues is the fact that 90% of the clubs have a genuine chance of gaining promotion.
Whether they gain this promotion through winning the league title, being the runner up of winning the play offs they all (well about 90%) have a great a realistic chance of making it to the golden payday which is the Premiership.
I believe that the Championship is the 6th best attended football league in the world (figures based on average crowds per club, not the total of all clubs). This is because the football is of a very high standard at very good or at least improving stadiums for about 50% of the price of a ticket to any game in the Premiership.
There is no BIG FOUR in the Championship because the best two (plus one from the play off scramble) take the elevator into the Premiership passing the relegated three from the Premiership on the way. As well as the promotion to the Premiership, three unlucky teams take the drop into League One (third tier of the English football League), this ensures that unlike the Premiership, the Championship has 6 new faces every year.
You may say that surely the three coming down from the premiership will go straight back up because they have the best players and the biggest wallets…………..but as West Ham, Leeds and Ipswich have proven in the last 5 or 6 years, it is not that easy…..
In an effort to stay in touch with the established clubs in the Premiership the promoted clubs tend to spend well above their means both on transfer fees and players wages. This then leads to a “fire sale” if they get relegated as they need to cash in on their high profile players, not only to recoup the transfer fees spent, but they also need to offload the high wage earners they took on long term and expensive contracts in the hope of staying the in the BG TIME.
All of these factors lead me to believe that the Championship is the most competitive and exciting league in the world. It may not have the big name international players or the corporate branding of the Premiership, but what it does have is the unknown……..
Discuss
Add this link to...
Tell a friend
Is the CHAMPIONSHIP the best Football (Soccer) League in the WORLD?
Is the CHAMPIONSHIP the best Football (Soccer) League in the WORLD?
Everybody knows the English Premiership collectively has the best players, the best coaches, the most glamorous stadiums and the most money of any professional football (soccer) league in the world…….but does all of this make it the best league?
Every year you can almost certainly guarantee that the top four in the Premiership are going be Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool. We used to start the season wondering who is going to take the title out of a group of about 10-15 teams, but know it will always be one of these four.
Not so long ago we had teams such as Blackburn Rovers and Leeds United winning the title in the top flight of English football…….now the best Blackburn Rovers can hope for is a place in the UEFA cup and as for Leeds………they are going to be starting the season rock bottom in the third tier of English football with a 15 point deduction.
Is the gulf between these teams luck……NO………its money. There is so much money pumped into the Premiership these days through multi million pound television deals, sporting brand endorsements and shirt sponsorship that the BIG FOUR keep getting bigger whilst the others just try and hold to their coattails.
If we look at the other end of the Premiership table at the relegation battle you can almost predict the outcome there as well as you can at the top of the table. Out of the three clubs that gain promotion from the Championship each season it is almost guaranteed that at least two of the three will be involved in the relegation battle right from day 1 until the end of the season, with two of them probably dropping back down to the Championship after only one season.
All of this means that The Premiership title is a four horse race and the relegation battle 66% decided before the first kick of the first game.
Exciting for the neutral………..I think NOT.
Many of the above traits also apply in the top flight Spanish and Italian leagues. When do you ever hear of A.C Milan of Barcelona being involved in a relegation dogfight or Racing Santander piping Real Madrid to the La Liga title?
I know a lot of you will be saying “but they have the best players”, “They sell 80,000 tickets per game”, but all of that makes for exciting one off matches, not an exciting league.
Now for the case for the Championship (The most exciting League in the WORLD)
I believe the Championship really IS the most exciting and competitive football (soccer) league in the world.
The biggest difference between the Championship and the other top flight leagues is the fact that 90% of the clubs have a genuine chance of gaining promotion.
Whether they gain this promotion through winning the league title, being the runner up of winning the play offs they all (well about 90%) have a great a realistic chance of making it to the golden payday which is the Premiership.
I believe that the Championship is the 6th best attended football league in the world (figures based on average crowds per club, not the total of all clubs). This is because the football is of a very high standard at very good or at least improving stadiums for about 50% of the price of a ticket to any game in the Premiership.
There is no BIG FOUR in the Championship because the best two (plus one from the play off scramble) take the elevator into the Premiership passing the relegated three from the Premiership on the way. As well as the promotion to the Premiership, three unlucky teams take the drop into League One (third tier of the English football League), this ensures that unlike the Premiership, the Championship has 6 new faces every year.
You may say that surely the three coming down from the premiership will go straight back up because they have the best players and the biggest wallets…………..but as West Ham, Leeds and Ipswich have proven in the last 5 or 6 years, it is not that easy…..
In an effort to stay in touch with the established clubs in the Premiership the promoted clubs tend to spend well above their means both on transfer fees and players wages. This then leads to a “fire sale” if they get relegated as they need to cash in on their high profile players, not only to recoup the transfer fees spent, but they also need to offload the high wage earners they took on long term and expensive contracts in the hope of staying the in the BG TIME.
All of these factors lead me to believe that the Championship is the most competitive and exciting league in the world. It may not have the big name international players or the corporate branding of the Premiership, but what it does have is the unknown……..
Discuss
Add this link to...
Tell a friend
Goal or miss is a football transfer rumour site where fans can discuss and post transfer rumours for their clubs.
Comments