The Championship is the place where it's at

grenache

As a fan of a Championship club, i wholly and totally agree with this guy, 100% biased of course. Man City and their millions aside, the PL has gone stale for me. As is evident in United and Chelsea winning 21 of the last 28 major domestic trophies. City, United and Chelsea are gonna be in their own little winners group for the next few years, with Arsenal and the rest playing catch up. You wont see any club like Forest, Derby, Leeds, Villa, Ipswich, Watford or Everton challenge the status quo as happened in the 70s and 80s.

It's all got rather predictable. The same cannot be said for The Championship, which now has a deservedly higher profile than ever before.

http://www.sabotagetimes.com/football-sport/the-premier-league-best-in-the-world-its-not-even-the-best-in-england/

A competitive league full of good football, exciting young players and unpredictable results. No, it's not the Premier League, it's the Championship. Here's why it deserves some of the adulation bestowed upon it's bigger brother..

Football’s back. Back with a bang according to some. A lot has already been made of a “crazy” weekend in the Premier League. Proof, according to a hysterical Martin Tyler on SUPER SUNDAY that it’s without doubt, officially, unarguably, the best league in the world. Yes, the Manchester City vs Southampton match was exciting. But was it really that amazing? We all knew Southampton would eventually crumble and it didn’t really take much effort from City for them to do so. Wasn’t it so predictable? Who decided that this obvious league where only a handful of teams can duke it out for the title was the best in the world? Is it even the best in England? I present to you another league for our consideration. Less shiny, less glamorous, less boring. It’s the Championship.

It had me from kick off. By the ninety minute mark I was full on head over heels, hopelessly enamoured, wholly smitten with this new league. It was Charlton’s first match back in the Championship after a three-year absence. My infatuation may come as a surprise to some. After all, I did watch my team concede a 94th minute equalizer. The following five minutes were admittedly gut-wrenching. Yet the anger and despair soon subsided. I realised that my new love and I were in it for the long haul. Charlton were in the Championship. Finally. I had just seen my team play some great football against a team full of good players. I’d had a great day out in a big city and in a big stadium.

That’s one of the Championship’s biggest appeals these days. The weird families at the end of the road that bring the housing prices down have been forced out, in their place are the more reputable, more aspirational and more attractive. Gone are the likes of Stockport, Tranmere, Doncaster, Colchester and other small-time clubs. In their place are teams with big stadiums, real history and recent success. Leeds, Blackburn, Sheffield Wednesday, Forest, and, dare I say it, Charlton.

The Radiator

It really isn't though

grenache

The Radiator wrote: »

It really isn't though

If you're a fan of predictability, then you're probably right.

The Radiator

grenache wrote: »

If you're a fan of predictability, then you're probably right.

There are many other leagues with similar varition from season to season which have a far greater quality of football than the Championship which get a lot more TV coverage

TerryTibbs!

Hey if I supported a Championship club I'd try to big it up too.

Good luck with this.

Paully D

Got to say, some of my most enjoyable memories following Sunderland have been when we've been in the Championship. It's probably more to do with the fact that over my lifetime when we've been in the Championship we've tended to win a huge amount of our games, but I still enjoy watching it. That said, I'd be delighted if I never saw us play in that division ever again.

Don't really like the comment in the last paragraph though when he says ''small-time clubs'' such as Colchester have been replaced by real clubs such as Leeds. That's exactly the sort of attitude that fans of traditional Championship clubs get in a huff about when fans of Premier League teams say the same thing about the likes of, for example, Blackpool.

It's a great league to watch though in terms of its unpredictability. Any one of about 15 teams could realistically challenge for promotion/playoffs every year. I always enjoy the Friday night Championship game on Sky when they have it on.

grenache

The Radiator wrote: »

There are many other leagues with similar varition from season to season which have a far greater quality of football than the Championship which get a lot more TV coverage

There are?

Jelle1880

2. Bundesliga.

But yeah, I have to agree though that the Championship is a good competition and has caused the occasional upset every year.

Paul Tergat

In fairness the championship would probably follow a similar sort of pattern if it didnt have promotion.

If it was some stand alone league there would be better supported teams and lesser supported teams and the ones with the money and support would be winning it every year.

Having said that, I love all English league football. League 2 is fantastic tbh

thebaz

kind of agree , the quality of football is probably not great , but what it lacks in skill , it makes up for with passion and eveness - knowing that players are not earning a weekly salary of what the average man makes in a year also helps - for the game of the people

Jelle1880

Second tier leagues ?

I highly doubt it.

GavRedKing

I've cleared up a few posts, please keep it on topic and about the OP or dont bother to post, simple.

Thanks.

Coillte_Bhoy

Jelle1880 wrote: »

Second tier leagues ?

I highly doubt it.

4th tier?

Jelle1880

Coillte_Bhoy wrote: »

4th tier?

Well, I know one 4th tier league which is getting a massive amount of media attention :P

Fr Tod Umptious

The Radiator wrote: »

There are many other leagues with similar varition from season to season which have a far greater quality of football than the Championship which get a lot more TV coverage

can you give me a few examples please

That_Guy

I'd agree with this. Very hard league to call and always offers up some great games.

Play-off's are absolutely must see every year.

The Internet

Is this the kind of thread where if I say something about supporting Irish teams I'll get banned?

Oat23

I enjoy watching the playoffs each year, but I was never too fussed about the rest of the season. I plan to watch a few Cardiff games that are on TV to see Kim Bo-Kyung this season though. It's much better than the EPL in my opinion.

CSF

Oatesy23 wrote: »

I enjoy watching the playoffs each year, but I was never too fussed about the rest of the season. I plan to watch a few Cardiff games that are on TV to see Kim Bo-Kyung this season though. It's much better than the EPL in my opinion.

Was at the Cardiff game on Sunday, he didn't start.

Oat23

CSF wrote: »

Was at the Cardiff game on Sunday, he didn't start.

He was late into the team I think, with the Olympics and then he had to return to SK till his work permit came through. He's quality, wont be too long before he is starting .

mike65

Out of 24 teams you'd hesitate to cross more than a few off the list for the top six, you sure couldn't say that about the Prem.

I hope that the Championship is still the place to be next season :pac:

The_Kew_Tour

While it was nice to beat Shels to first division title in last minute, last year, or seeing Hibs cruise to First division title in 99, I would still rather face mid table in Premier division then lift First Division title.

The same for Championship teams. I dont care what they say, but can they honestly tell me they rather trip to Hull or one to Anfield?

Anyone who is happy with second best is happy just to tag along.

I am talking about teams with resources of being in best division. Different for smaller teams.

Corholio

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

While it was nice to beat Shels to first division title in last minute, last year, or seeing Hibs cruise to First division title in 99, I would still rather face mid table in Premier division then lift First Division title.

The same for Championship teams. I dont care what they say, but can they honestly tell me they rather trip to Hull or one to Anfield?

Anyone who is happy with second best is happy just to tag along.

I am talking about teams with resources of being in best division. Different for smaller teams.

Don't think anyone is saying they'd prefer to be there to be honest. Just that, a lot of the time it's a more exciting league to watch and more competitive. There's something special about a promotion too. It's a different feeling to winning a cup.

The_Kew_Tour

Corholio wrote: »

Don't think anyone is saying they'd prefer to be there to be honest. Just that, a lot of the time it's a more exciting league to watch and more competitive. There's something special about a promotion too. It's a different feeling to winning a cup.

OP seems to think so.

quarryman

As a Leeds supporter I want to agree with this but I'd still give anything to be back in the Premiership.

sheao

To be honest I love watching the championship.
It's a league that is very hard to predict and also going by how the promoted sides have done in the premiership in recent years it also shows that the quality of football is quite high aswell.

wonderfullife

I don't know enough about other countries to know for sure but i would say that the Championship is one of the strongest, most exciting 2nd tiers in the world. Probably one of the richest too, there's plenty of cash being splashed about in the Championship!! it's a great league year on year throws up some wonderful games and stories! Teams like Swansea have shown it can be done playing "football" too

toc2012

quarryman wrote: »

As a Leeds supporter I want to agree with this but I'd still give anything to be back in the Premiership.

As a Palace fan I feel the same

grenache

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

OP seems to think so.

No I don't. I'm merely saying its a more competitive and entertaining division than the PL. Anybody can beat anyone. The same is not true of the PL.

The_Kew_Tour

grenache wrote: »

No I don't. I'm merely saying its a more competitive and entertaining division than the PL. Anybody can beat anyone. The same is not true of the PL.

Oh well you did title it and spoke about it being place to be.

Fair enough though

grenache

thebaz wrote: »

kind of agree , the quality of football is probably not great , but what it lacks in skill , it makes up for with passion and eveness- knowing that players are not earning a weekly salary of what the average man makes in a year also helps - for the game of the people

Sweet Jehovah, you don't half like to patronise. If you've ever bothered to watch the Championship, you'll appreciate that any of the top 5/6 teams could comfortably survive in the PL, and the football is of good quality.

kryogen

Even as a premier league team fan I have to admit I genuinely love watching the Championship, it is up there as one of the toughest divisions in Europe imo and the winner each year deffo earns it!