Selhurst Park does not have many great selling points, £30+ a ticket, very difficult to get to, and with all the love in the world, the ground is a shed, writes Albion blogger Jarrod Hill.
Neil Warnock is slowly moulding Crystal Palace in his own image, uncompromising, physical, and in your face.
A draw was probably a fair result and it has enabled us to hold on to second spot, a weekend of mixed results has made the Championship league table tighter than a duck’s bum.
Only seven points separate 1st to 12th position, which brings me to today’s topic of conversation, is the Championship more exciting than the Premier League?
Ok, the Premier League has the better players, more money, and more TV coverage, but does it have more excitement?
Well before we go any further let’s look at some facts, in the last ten years the Premiership has had three different champions, with only six different teams finishing in the top three.
Unpredictable it is not, and this remains its biggest criticism.
The Championship however, has had seven different winners and dozens of teams finishing in the top three, ok, we could argue that once promoted they are no longer in that league for the following season, but one thing is for sure, the Championship is not predictable.
In football terms you cannot argue that the Premiership does not have the better players, but are the games more enjoyable to watch?
Arsenal and Man United are usually good viewing but often one sided affairs, and many teams when playing the top sides adopt spoiling tactics in an attempt to gain an advantage, making the games dour.
Having recently watched a Newcastle game I found myself thinking what an awful spectacle and advert it was for our top league.
Also, how often do the top teams get beaten by bottom teams?
Rarely, yet in the Championship it happens nearly every other week, and the Championship also has an ace up its sleeve, the play-offs.
Two legs and then the final, and every fan I speak to enjoy the excitement and thrill of a winner takes all scenario.
All said and done the Premiership is the place to be, TV coverage, bigger gates, and money, money, money. You get to keep your best players, and even if you fail, they give you parachute money to help you bounce back.
But more exciting than the Championship?
Albion fans what do you think?
19 Comments
Another good article Jarrod,I totally agree with what you say,you get more value for money watching the Championship than the Prem,everytime you watch the Baggies you get two sides to football..from the Baggies, sleek passing movements,cleverly worked goals and delightful skill in between..then you have the opposition playing spoiling tactics or just plain catch-up.
HB cant wait for your res[onse. WBA 3 Cov City 1..BOING BOING
I agree, the Championship is more exciting - when the Baggies are in it. Its nice when we win - makes Saturday nights more enjoyable.
Must admit though, I enjoy the Premiership when we are fighting for survival although it does get depressing as we struggle.
Great being an Albion fan.
I’m surprised that I wasn’t taken into care by social workers when my dad started taking me to watch Bomber Brown & co and getting me hooked.
Phillips back in Albion training………Has made my day!……Boing boing….Great blog jarrod….6 nil tonight to us….
You know what Jarrod, I’m glad soe one has finally had the balls to say it, I’ve oftne said this to mates and they called me mad or say its just cause I’m an albion fan bla bla bla all that usual s**t but maybe now its published they’ll start to listen(they are Villa fans so it usually needs black and white proof). We are pioneers Jarrod haha. I love the Championship!
Jarrod
It`s not even close mate,
the premiership contains three,
four at a push,
elitist institutions.
We all aspire to get to the
“promised land” once there we view
success as finishing in 17th place.
Not all that long ago anyone in the top division,
entered a new season with a certain amount of optimism, that maybe we could do ok, and certainly in the cup competitions,
even those now are confined to the top four.
Aston Villa,
like it or not are a huge club,
they are having a great season thus far,
and the talk is all about the possibility of finishing in the top SIX!!
We all need a Russian oligarch
just to revive the status quo
(not the band LCW)
I am aware my comments look pretty
doom laden,
so i`ll need to confirm that despite what i have said, i DO want
promotion, and a chance to battle for something slightly better than 17th.
I agree aswell. Who wants to spend every weekend watching yer team struggle and be restricted to spoiling tactics. We cannot compete with the Big 4 and many others in the prem.At least we see lots of goals and many of the fans at this level are solid football fans & not the glory hunters u find at most top clubs. Problem is there is a chance we will go up this year & it will be back to misery again..its a hard life innit?
Good blog Jarrod. I’ve said on more than one occasion on here and on the Wolves blogs that the Premiership is overhyped. Oh it’s good to watch when you get two good teams really going at each other but more often than not there’s too much money at stake and you get the usual turgid affair. I think a lot comes down to the Media as well. Look at most newspapers the morning after a weekends football or a set of evening games and 95% of the space is devoted to Premier matches. Sometimes your’re lucky if you get half a page covering all the other games. Most of the space is devoted to the Big 4 and no-one else gets a look in. Is it any wonder that the youngsters of today only ever want a Man U or Arsenal shirt - it’s all they ever see in the media !! Having said that, don’t forget that we all want our team in the premiership - and hopefully the Wolves and the Baggies will be there next season - perhaps then we can give the Premiership the real excitement of a Black Country derby !!
Nice one jarrod… this echos something i have been saying since the end of last season.
Last season was FANTASTIC !! We scored 100 goals, played greatr football, finished 3rd, went to Wembley - who would not enjoy that ?
Just cos we lost 1 game (ok it was at wembley) why were we expected to forget all that had gone before ?
I look at Charlton - a team who have struggled for years in the prem - a team that probably lost more than they won and generally had low expectations. After all that they still GOT RELEGATED !!
I like this league - only cos we are a top team in it and TM is giving us great football- its exciting, has a good standard of football with lots of good players and if we repeat last season - ie win lots of games, go to wembley and fail at the final hurdle, i for one won’t be Too upset.
Bomber, the Legend of The Vine, i like the fact you try to write about something different, other than just reporting on the games or who are our best ever xi. One thing you failed to mention though is the price difference between leagues, i am often baffled why clubs get promoted receive millions from sky and then increase the ticket prices. Ripping off the loyal fan!!
Oh and bomber, now that you are published, does this mean you are now respectable???
Not to be confused with respected (as always).
Bomber, please write a blog about the away day experience, maybe a collection of funny stories??
So far, everybody seems to be quick to talk about how much more competitive the Championship is, and perhaps rightly so.
But these parachute payments are turning the Championship the same way was the Premiership. Don’t get me wrong, they’ve certianly helped us, we wouldn’t be in this position without them, but look at the teams challenging over the last few years.
If we’d won at Wembley last year, the 3 to have gone up would’ve been the 3 that came down in the previous year. This year, 2 of our main rivals are Watford and Charlton (Bryan Robson is putting paid to the other relegated club).
Whichever 2 teams join Derby in the Championship will be slugging it out for the automatic places.
Don’t get me wrong, I agree with your blog (very good by the way), and Premiership millions are ruining the game, but I think we’re gradually seeing that seep down, and hopefully it won’t ruin the Championship in the next 10-15 years.
Oh - obviously i realise we finished 4th, not 3rd LOL !!
Good posts from 1 to 5.
I always prefer our seasons in the chamionship. Yes it’s unpredictable, but we see more wins than losses and although it goes against the grain to say it, struggling for survival in the premiership, is not my idea of fun. And unless we find a Russian billionaie sugar daddy, that’s the way it’s always gonna be.
But hang on, with Tony Mowbray’s exciting brand of fluid attacking football, maybe, just maybe….
Premiership football has become predictable and sad, and the situation will become worse. I cannot begin to describe the number of kids who I encounter that live nowhere near Lancashire, yet support Man Utd. They are the glamorous team constantly emblazened across our TV screens. The media make it difficult to get excited about supporting anybody other than Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, or Liverpool.
Merchandising funds therefore swell the coffers of those clubs beyond the vast booty that they receive from their competition successes. The best players only want to go to those clubs because they have the money, the fans, and the media exposure. And thus the vicious cycle is perpetuated.
To add insult to injury, the FA Cup, which once featured thrilling upsets, now predictably also goes to one of the “big four” each year. It is time to exclude the teams who compete in the Champions League from the FA Cup, to give the other teams something worthwhile to pursue.
In Premiership we mostly lose!
Championship we mostly win!
Premiership lose, Championship win,lose,win. What do you prefer? I hate when we lose so i think i’m happier in the championship even though my heart says premiership. Its a tough old call!
Sorry friends, some very negative thoughts i think. personally i would like to see the baggies playing and beating the top teams, getting to Europe, bringing big nights back to the Hawthorns. Bolton were an up and down team but they managed it. TM might have the right style to do it too. Good blog too Jarrod
Im liking the blog!
what u say is true but we dont play football like you so we wouldn’t no!
total tosh how anyone say they would rather watch or play in the championship is rubbish and just about sums up peoples thoughts at the poorthorns
18 - yeah you would rather watch man Utd, liverpool Chelsea etc.. even if they smash you every week.
Glory hunter.