Why preferring the EFL to the Premier League is to prefer the unpredictable to the predictable, the drama to the melodrama, the goal to the maybe-goal, and the competition to the procession.
Really well put. I’m a Luton fan and the play off final was one of the best days of my life. The novelty of being back in the top flight after 32 seasons meant I mostly enjoyed the experience of the PL. It was a pleasure watching Ross Barkley play for us and we were surprisingly competitive up until February when the ridiculous injury list took its toll, but the last few months were not much fun. We’ve also ‘only(!)’ spent about £15M net since promotion which has helped to fund the new stadium and secure the club’s future. Do I want to get promoted again this season? Yes, because that will mean we win plenty of games, which is enjoyable. But the feeling won’t be quite the same 2nd time around and I’m not desperate to get back to the PL for the football. The well paid pundits mostly know less about 20 teams than Ali and George know about 72. And the premier league is so stop start if you’re not in Europe. While 46 league games can sometimes feel like a slog, there seemed to be a lot of downtime last year!
Really good read! Petition to reorganise the Championship as a continuation of the old division 1 and remove promotion to the Premier League, if they want a closed shop give them it! But I completely agree on your competitiveness point, EFL is streaks ahead rightly or wrongly.
Hmm. I agree with the sentiment of this. Greatly enjoying League 1 and all the new teams and grounds as a Brum fan, putting aside the financial imbalance our own investment has introduced this far down the pyramid.
As for the PL, it will be interesting to see if we can bridge the financial divide when/if we get there with our owners ambitious plans.
More broadly the two teams conspicuous by their absence in this article are Brentford and in particular Brighton who have proven you can break into the PL and settle there with the right strategy . Are they going to win the PL? No. But a Europa League spot is still open to the right team. And I am interested to see what that lot on the other side of the expressway can do this year. Top 4 and a CL run for a team that was in the championship 5 years ago is pretty good going...
On Brighton/Brentford... Yes, I take your point, but only so far. Two teams with two owners (who profile very similarly) who have taken a data-led approach and made smart choices with players and managers. Their strategy was quite radical; however, it is only sustained by, first, losing lots of money, and second, balancing the books by being a top flight club. The problem I have with this is that it's the preserve of the wealthy.
In Germany, data is shared among all clubs. In England, it isn't. B/B have seized an opportunity and it's worked. But I don't think it's a sign that the top flight has appropriate levels of competitive balance. (Sam)
I'm not sure the bundesliga is the epitome of a league without a boring outcome (last season excluded) but an interesting point on data. There's this Hearts deal for example which I don't really understand.
What about villa's rise? Or do you also ascribe that to financial muscle that you'd rather not see (though I don't know of any European league that isn't dominated by a small number of teams with CL money)?
No, the Bundesliga is certainly not. My point was more that B/B's rise isn't necessarily built from the ground up on a platform available to everyone else.
Obviously, perfect equality is not the answer. The best teams should get rewarded for being the best (competition prize money). But I think the PL - through its rules and riches - now feeds itself. The lack of balance has become wildly exaggerated because of the money, and the money has led to top-flight football being, almost a different sport altogether. Surely there are ways to counter-balance the lack of competition? The league structure does that in the EFL; it doesn't in the PL.
That second to last paragraph is what I have to say to my colleagues and friends who doesn't understand why I don't watch the PL anymore, and haven't for many years. And I too grew up with the PL, and have a lot of good memories, just like you.
And the part about wanting the journey but not the destination really resonates with me. I really want Blackburn to be best and to get promoted, but if they actually do, I know I will end up watching them less.
The ideal situation would be that promotion to the PL is an overwhelmingly positive experience though, right? Relegation is tolerable; you can even have a great, fun experience as a fan and still get relegated. That's just ups and downs. The problem is that, as a fan of a promoted club, you go into 80% of games knowing you have next to no chance of winning. In the Championship and below, there's always a chance... that's why the EFL is great. (Sam)
Great read this Sam, as a little old Wigan fan of over 40 years & seeing my team play 8 years in the money pit league, and i was truly amazed we managed to last that long like many other people was I’m sure! Apart from the first season as i remember & especially the very first game against Chelsea to José Mourinho Chelsea, and getting robbed by a late Crespo strike. The rest was a feeling of, Get us out of this league!! Now I’m very sure The Legend that is Mr Dave Whelan would have scoffed at my thoughts! But it definitely wasn’t for us, and i no now we’ve been through tough times over the years since Mr Whelan sold up. But give me what we have now, a steady well run club anytime. A billionaire owner yes, but a man running us by our means. Hopefully we’ll get the taste of Championship football again sometime soon, but, I’m not interested in tasting the prawn sandwich brigade again thank you. Regards.
The prawn sandwich was voted Britain's favourite. Maybe tastes are changing and I'm not changing with it.
But going back to the era of Crespo. There were still shocks then. We could see the direction the PL was heading towards, but there was still an element of competitiveness that - IMO - is lacking now. The best bit was the fact your team got proper coverage in the PL (MOTD etc). Today, hopefully, your team gets good coverage no matter the league. (Sam)
I am a Leeds fan, and in those last 2 years in the PL, I hated going to the games. I didn’t start following my team, and going to the game knowing we were going to lose. Variance means that there was the odd win, but setting out on the season trying to win 9 games isn’t for me
Can we have the Championship and finish top 2, and the PL money, but not play in the PL?
Thanks John. It shouldn’t be that way, should it? The top flight should have enough give to make the league competitive enough. It’s desperately lacking. (Sam)
Really well put. I’m a Luton fan and the play off final was one of the best days of my life. The novelty of being back in the top flight after 32 seasons meant I mostly enjoyed the experience of the PL. It was a pleasure watching Ross Barkley play for us and we were surprisingly competitive up until February when the ridiculous injury list took its toll, but the last few months were not much fun. We’ve also ‘only(!)’ spent about £15M net since promotion which has helped to fund the new stadium and secure the club’s future. Do I want to get promoted again this season? Yes, because that will mean we win plenty of games, which is enjoyable. But the feeling won’t be quite the same 2nd time around and I’m not desperate to get back to the PL for the football. The well paid pundits mostly know less about 20 teams than Ali and George know about 72. And the premier league is so stop start if you’re not in Europe. While 46 league games can sometimes feel like a slog, there seemed to be a lot of downtime last year!
Really good read! Petition to reorganise the Championship as a continuation of the old division 1 and remove promotion to the Premier League, if they want a closed shop give them it! But I completely agree on your competitiveness point, EFL is streaks ahead rightly or wrongly.
Hmm. I agree with the sentiment of this. Greatly enjoying League 1 and all the new teams and grounds as a Brum fan, putting aside the financial imbalance our own investment has introduced this far down the pyramid.
As for the PL, it will be interesting to see if we can bridge the financial divide when/if we get there with our owners ambitious plans.
More broadly the two teams conspicuous by their absence in this article are Brentford and in particular Brighton who have proven you can break into the PL and settle there with the right strategy . Are they going to win the PL? No. But a Europa League spot is still open to the right team. And I am interested to see what that lot on the other side of the expressway can do this year. Top 4 and a CL run for a team that was in the championship 5 years ago is pretty good going...
On Brighton/Brentford... Yes, I take your point, but only so far. Two teams with two owners (who profile very similarly) who have taken a data-led approach and made smart choices with players and managers. Their strategy was quite radical; however, it is only sustained by, first, losing lots of money, and second, balancing the books by being a top flight club. The problem I have with this is that it's the preserve of the wealthy.
In Germany, data is shared among all clubs. In England, it isn't. B/B have seized an opportunity and it's worked. But I don't think it's a sign that the top flight has appropriate levels of competitive balance. (Sam)
I'm not sure the bundesliga is the epitome of a league without a boring outcome (last season excluded) but an interesting point on data. There's this Hearts deal for example which I don't really understand.
What about villa's rise? Or do you also ascribe that to financial muscle that you'd rather not see (though I don't know of any European league that isn't dominated by a small number of teams with CL money)?
No, the Bundesliga is certainly not. My point was more that B/B's rise isn't necessarily built from the ground up on a platform available to everyone else.
Obviously, perfect equality is not the answer. The best teams should get rewarded for being the best (competition prize money). But I think the PL - through its rules and riches - now feeds itself. The lack of balance has become wildly exaggerated because of the money, and the money has led to top-flight football being, almost a different sport altogether. Surely there are ways to counter-balance the lack of competition? The league structure does that in the EFL; it doesn't in the PL.
That second to last paragraph is what I have to say to my colleagues and friends who doesn't understand why I don't watch the PL anymore, and haven't for many years. And I too grew up with the PL, and have a lot of good memories, just like you.
And the part about wanting the journey but not the destination really resonates with me. I really want Blackburn to be best and to get promoted, but if they actually do, I know I will end up watching them less.
The ideal situation would be that promotion to the PL is an overwhelmingly positive experience though, right? Relegation is tolerable; you can even have a great, fun experience as a fan and still get relegated. That's just ups and downs. The problem is that, as a fan of a promoted club, you go into 80% of games knowing you have next to no chance of winning. In the Championship and below, there's always a chance... that's why the EFL is great. (Sam)
Great read this Sam, as a little old Wigan fan of over 40 years & seeing my team play 8 years in the money pit league, and i was truly amazed we managed to last that long like many other people was I’m sure! Apart from the first season as i remember & especially the very first game against Chelsea to José Mourinho Chelsea, and getting robbed by a late Crespo strike. The rest was a feeling of, Get us out of this league!! Now I’m very sure The Legend that is Mr Dave Whelan would have scoffed at my thoughts! But it definitely wasn’t for us, and i no now we’ve been through tough times over the years since Mr Whelan sold up. But give me what we have now, a steady well run club anytime. A billionaire owner yes, but a man running us by our means. Hopefully we’ll get the taste of Championship football again sometime soon, but, I’m not interested in tasting the prawn sandwich brigade again thank you. Regards.
Brian Kelsall 👍⚽️
The prawn sandwich was voted Britain's favourite. Maybe tastes are changing and I'm not changing with it.
But going back to the era of Crespo. There were still shocks then. We could see the direction the PL was heading towards, but there was still an element of competitiveness that - IMO - is lacking now. The best bit was the fact your team got proper coverage in the PL (MOTD etc). Today, hopefully, your team gets good coverage no matter the league. (Sam)
This is spot on!!
I am a Leeds fan, and in those last 2 years in the PL, I hated going to the games. I didn’t start following my team, and going to the game knowing we were going to lose. Variance means that there was the odd win, but setting out on the season trying to win 9 games isn’t for me
Can we have the Championship and finish top 2, and the PL money, but not play in the PL?
Thanks John. It shouldn’t be that way, should it? The top flight should have enough give to make the league competitive enough. It’s desperately lacking. (Sam)
The ‘Top 6’ don’t want it to be competitive as they don’t want anyone interfering with their revenue, so they can keep the status quo
As you say, Leicester were a complete outlier and have done all they can to make sure that doesn’t happen again. Depressing
You captured this really well