The Football League – Bringing us the drama TV tells us we need

By John Buckwell

Next week the football season starts. “Incorrect!” many cry, “The Premier League doesn’t start for two weeks!”. Although true, it is not what I mean. I’m talking about the Football League… Real football.

Sure the Premier League has the pace and the power; Obviously Spanish football has tika-taka and the best team on the planet; and Italian football has… er… political intrigue. But the Football League has what ITV and Sky keep trying to force us to believe these three leagues have: Drama.

Last year, QPR won the league at the canter that most expected but who foresaw newly promoted Norwich following them? Sheffield United dropped down to League One and Swansea completed their rise through the leagues.

In League One Southampton were dead certs to walk the League and Sheffield Wednesday were looking forward to reigniting the fires of the Steel City derby by bouncing straight back to the Championship. Yet Brighton stormed the League with relative ease and Sheffield Wednesday languished in mid-table with other recent Premier League relegatees Charlton.

League Two was all drama, with Chesterfield taking the title but with three teams Bury, Wycombe and Shrewsbury battling for the last two automatic playoff spots on the last day of the season. Barnet performed a great escape condemning Lincoln City and Stockport County to the misery of dropping out of the football League.

What the Football League offers is unpredictability and excitement.

In the Championship, Leicester City and West Ham should walk back up to the Premier League this year but Nottingham Forest, Birmingham City and Reading will think differently. Ipswich, Middlesbrough and outsiders Leeds and Southampton will all have high expectations…

Compare this to the main 3 Leagues: Manchester United or Chelsea (and Man City if they spend enough) will win the League in England, Inter or AC Milan will win Serie A and Barcelona or Real Madrid will win La Liga. What chance is there that Fulham will win their league? Or Stoke? Or even giants like Valencia or Juventus? Drama? None to be seen here.

Then there’s the managers. The Championship boasts two of the last three England managers in Steve McLaren and Sven Goran Eriksson. Then there’s the ego that is Sam Allardyce dropping down to haul West Ham back into the big time. The charismatic Gus Poyet has an ambitious chairman and high expectations and all-round nice guy Chris Hughton has a point to prove. Ian Holloway has charisma and incredible likeability along with the pressure of proving his Blackpool side can repeat their heroics of the season of 2009/10.

Press conferences will be interesting and the top managers will actually talk to the media and also entertain. Football has moved away from entertainment at times to focus on technicality and the enforcement of minor infractions of the laws.

The point is that drama comes of unpredictability; an open league where anyone can win it; managers with big personalities and not wildly disparate budgets; clubs over-performing to win the league and clubs failing to meet expectations.

The Championship race is described by Sky as the race for the biggest prize on earth, but is it? Winning the league almost always leads to swift relegation or mid-table mediocrity. The excitement comes from taking a point or three from the big boys or staying up. I can guarantee that West Ham fans will enjoy this season more than the last because they will be in a league where there is no glass ceiling and a successful season is finishing 6^th.

Don’t get me wrong, the Premier League will always be the Holy Grail, but the Football League is where the excitement is.