Are you sick and tired of seeing the same teams in the same positions every season? Do you want to watch a club that's in the playoff final one year and just above the relegation zone in the next? Do you want a league that's incredibly unpredictable? If your answer is YES to all of the above, then we have just the league for you — the English Championship.
Yep, you heard me. That league below the Premier League and above League One.
“I’m liking what I’m hearing, but I need more,” you may say, so here's a guide as to why you should immediately start following this league.
The unpredictable nature of the Championship can be so agonising for fans of teams in the division.
Take Reading, for example. Last season, Jaap Stam guided them all the way to the playoff final, and they went to penalties against Huddersfield Town. You can probably figure out what happened in that match. Now, Reading are sitting just five points above the relegation zone. They are probably safe this season, but you don’t often see that much of a free fall in football. Well, unless you're a Sunderland fan. If you are, my condolences.
When you realise that Sunderland have only won 12 league games in the last 2 seasons... pic.twitter.com/6tNpNUzpZC
— Footy Accumulators (@FootyAccums) April 22, 2018
Taking a look back at last season in the Championship, Wolves finished 15th, Aston Villa finished 13th and Cardiff City finished 12th. Fast forward one year, and Wolves are going up, Cardiff is sitting in second place and on course for automatic promotion and Villa are sitting in fourth.
In the 2015-16 season, Fulham finished 20th and Huddersfield Town finished 19th — both of those clubs made the playoffs in the 2016-17 season, with Huddersfield winning that on penalties. Talk about a change in fortunes.
Some of the players in this league are easily Premier League quality. If you take a look at some of the top teams this season, they have players who are definitely too good for the Championship, with one example being Wolves signing Ruben Neves from FC Porto. Neves dropped down from playing in the Champions League and having away days at the Camp Nou and the Allianz Arena to having away days at the mighty Burton Albion and Barnsley.
Wolves got their recruitment bang-on this season, and they are reaping the rewards as they were recently crowned champions and are promoted to the Premier League.
The quality of the teams in the Championship is outstanding, too. Both Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest have won the Champions League (Villa in 1982 and Forest in 1979 and 1980), yet they are somehow now plying their trade in England’s second division. Leeds United also made the Champions League final back in 1975. There are plenty of historic teams playing in the Championship, so if you’re a soccer fan and a sucker for historic clubs, take your pick of one of those three teams.
The Championship is also home to some of the best young English talent on offer. What’s more important is that they are getting plenty of game time. Ryan Sessegnon, a left back for Fulham who is turning into the English version of David Alaba in terms of positional flexibility, became the first ever player outside the Premier League to be shortlisted for the PFA Young Player of the Year award. Jack Grealish has also been lighting up the field for Aston Villa.
"Grealish!!!! Glorious!!!! Well, despair for Neil Warnock; delight for Aston Villa, for his Royal Highness and for Fulham!"
Jack Grealish v Cardiff City (10/04/2018) pic.twitter.com/M0sxjqHJdX— AVFC Goals (@avfcgoals) April 11, 2018
It’s not just this season — we have witnessed the growth of several young players in the Championship. Tammy Abraham single-handedly kept Bristol City up with his goals, and he now plays for Swansea City in the Premier League. Wilfried Zaha earned himself a move to Manchester United in January of 2013 due to his outstanding performances at Crystal Palace when they were in the Championship.
Yes, the Zaha project at Manchester United didn’t go very well. But the fact that it was Sir Alex Ferguson who signed him is an indicator of how young talent in the Championship is viewed by some of the biggest names in management.
So, if you find yourself saying, “I am going to follow one league, and one league only,” next year, make it the Championship. Thank us later.
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