The English Premier League is a big deal. It is the Promised Land. All roads lead there and if you are not in that division you are not worth mentioning. Or at least that is the assumption…
In truth the division below is just as exciting. According to the league controllers in 2010, “The Championship is now the fourth most watched league in Europe with a total audience of more than 9.9m [regular] fans. Only Germany’s Bundesliga (13.1m), the Premier League (12.9m) and Spain’s La Liga (11.0m) can boast more fans through the turnstiles, with the Football League’s top division attracting more supporters than Italy’s Serie A (9.1m) and France’s Ligue 1 (7.6m)”.
On top of this the Championship is said to be thriving with this attention. It is a more intense league than the Premier League because there are a lot more games. 46 regular season games to be precise. The top two sides in the league of 24 get automatically promoted to the EPL. The bottom 3 are automatically relegated to League One. However, the teams from 3rd to 6th at the end of the season go in to a play-off situation where there is a battle to be the third side lifted into the EPL for next season.
The play-offs consist of two two-legged semi-finals and then a one-off final at Wembley. The winner of the play-off is instantly promoted and declared the winner of “the richest game in football”.
Again in 2010 it was estimated by financial experts Deloitte that winning the play-off final was worth around £40m in extra revenue as the side would go on to enjoy the spoils of television revenue, increased gate receipts and commercial opportunities. As well as this it could be worth some £90m to take part in the EPL.
Coming through such pressured situations can only ensure that soccer is either more robust in that league, or that the quality of play has increased. Already this season it has been noted that Swansea, Norwich and at times QPR, the three promoted sides for 2011/2012, have all played good soccer. This has drawn some like Arsene Wenger to suggest that the Championship is a proving ground for confident, skilful soccer stars that can step up into the Premier League.
So with 10 or so games left this season it could be worthwhile paying attention to the Championship. As it stands Southampton are top of the league. They have the runaway league top scorer Ricky Lambert, who has scored 21 goals this term (6 more than anyone else), up front and they are only three points ahead of West Ham in second, who have played one game less.
It is tight down there. All of the top 10 sides have a realistic chance of having a play-off place. Southampton and West Ham have slugged it out all season and it will remain to be seen if they can hold on to the two automatic promotion places or if perennial challengers Reading can push their way in and displace one of the two.
The play-off games are always keenly contested and sometimes have a little bit of edge. I would recommend trying to catch some of the action.
Before then, though, the final games have to be played. A lot more could happen between now and May, when the play-offs take place. By that time we will know at least two sides who will be playing Premier League soccer in 2012/2013. We will also know who has fallen out of the top division.
Oh yeah, and bring tissues. There are always tears when a team goes down or the play-offs are on. Always.
