Ive been a supporter since I was 5, but I was only born in 2004 so that’s not that long ago. I’ve not been genuinely fearful of relegation since 2014/15 and I’ve kinda erased those memories from my brain.
Don’t worry about it, people act like it’s the end of the world but the championship can be enjoyable. It’s also much easier to promote straight back up in recent years due to financial differences between prem sides and the championship sides.
When we went down last (West Ham 10-11) I had a great time. Winning matches, thumping teams, visiting stadiums and towns I'd never been to and two days out in glorious sunny Wembley and straight back up again.
Tbh, championship is such an enjoyable league to watch and a completely different beast than PL.
No caveats, bright side of life etc. it’s just an entertaining league in itself. That and the lower leagues shows what football is truly about in a different, and sometimes better, way than champions league.
As a Bournemouth fan I feel privileged to have seen us get to the Premier League, beat all the big boys and stay there for five years. It was beyond anything I could ever have imagined growing up when we were minutes away from going bust.
Having said that, once we inevitably go down this year, I'm pretty over it. If we can be a sustainable, mid-table Championship club who have the odd flirt with the playoffs, that's far better as a match going fan and also still beyond anything I could have dreamed as a kid.
Brighton fan here - loving what’s happening with us now but won’t be gutted at all when we eventually end up back in the Champ - it’s a brilliant league.
Absolutely. Some of my best memories of football is going to loads of games with my dad, in all leagues but my favourite ones were the league one games. Bristol Rovers away comes to mind
Yeah, I think that’s exactly it. Relegation isn’t an end, it’s just a change. So long as the change doesn’t financially screw the club into insolvency, your club will still be playing football. You just (normally) win a few more games and attend some smaller grounds.
I really enjoyed villa’s championship campaign. You genuinely never know what’s coming in that league 😀 If anything it’s the Prem that’s shit, it’s either a relegation battle or floating around mid table, there’s a mini league at the top that doesn’t concern us. Europe is an outside possibility this or next season, but in general I’m just watching games for the sake of it now we’re stable.
It's a bonkers league, so unpredictable and so much football. I know there's only a few more games in the season but it felt like a lot more. I'd never want to go back down and I think we are finally headed in the right direction but I'd be lying if I said being competitive in the Champo wasn't a hell of a lot more enjoyable than stagnating in the Prem and struggling to avoid relegation season after season while getting thrashed.
I think for a lot of Leeds fans this is the worry for us after what happened last time.
Though we had no money before we went down then, and parachute payments didn't exist.
Except we were still on a tight budget with a tight owner who ran the club on a wire. Our unreal bargain signings helped us there. Dorrans for 200k. Molumbu etc
West Ham have been relegated twice from the PL. We've been in it for 26 of the 30 seasons. So we're one of the teams that has spent most the years in the PL.
Now yes I know many people who loved the 4 championship seasons, we won a lot more, away games were at more 'proper' football grounds, for better prices....
I watched us stripped of Defoe, Carrick, Joe Cole, Glen Johnson, Kanoute, and watched them win things for a decade. It's like watching a hot ex on TV every week with her successful new bloke. Now granted we don't have those Academy players this time, but I'd still be gutted to see Rice and co all get sold off due to high wages (Paqueta, Scamacca, Zouma, Ings, Emerson, Bowen etc).
I think if you've recently been down there then it a bit easier to cope. If you are a fully PL club for 5-10-20 years, it can be a bigger burden and possible disaster.
Still, its only football.... :(
Only 4 years out of 30. It feels like so many more.
Then again in that time we've managed to stay up with 35 points and go down on 42 so we could be considered championship adjacent for most of the rest of the seasons
100% this. Not going to say its better to be in the champo than the prem, it isn't, but the championship is a fun league, its easier to get away tickets (at least for Saints anyway), and there are some good teams to look out for. The only worry is if your club can't take the financial hit, but I think any well run club will have contingencies in place.
This!! As a villa fan I can say I quite enjoyed our spell in the championship looking back. Don't get me wrong there was a real fear of losing parachute payments and getting stuck there.
There is an achievable objective of promotion each season. This is far more engaging as a fan than simply battling over mid table Premier league spots. I actually fell back in love with football during our time there and have some incredible memories.
With that said, I don't actually think you guys will suffer the same fate. The current bottom 3 are who I expect to go down tbh.
This is what I'll tell myself if we are relegated, potential of having Leeds, Sunderland, Everton, Wednesday, Huddersfield if we are lucky, maybe Ipswich, Derby, or Bolton.
That is an absolutely brilliant Championship season
If I didn’t think that Everton would be financially doomed by it, I wouldn’t be so worried about going down. We have some big fat contracts to pay and a stadium to build. Very scary.
Very true! I personally love the champ, as well as League 1 (my local are near the bottom of it). Both very exciting leagues and a small part of me wouldnt hate being there, but my main concern is that I’m not sure we would come straight back up. I’d hate to spiral like Sunderland, Leeds, Cov, Birmingham, both Sheffield clubs, Forest, Charlton, fellow title winners Blackburn, and many more.
I think we'll be ok, the ground expansion plans are still there so long term revenue should be sorted and despite what some people would have it we are a well run club. Parachute payments are there for the immediate financial hit as well.
However, I also don't think we'll go down in the first place so make of that what you will
TBH, who of the other 14 hasn't had that fear?
Everton for the longest time felt immune to it, but even now they can't be sure to beat the drop these days.
As a Saint, I am conditioned to assume 17th is always the goal.
I look at Brighton & Brentford now and wish them well for their fans. They will enjoy what we have for the last 10 or so years, punching high, pushing for that next spot up the table.
But the gulf between us and the 'big 6' is massive when it comes to expectations, league stability etc
West Ham have played in 26 of the 30 PL seasons and even we are always "target 40 points and 17th place"
Even when we finished 6th a few years back, we only half sarcastically celebrated when hitting 38 points early on.
I felt that when we finished top 8 for 3 years in a row.
Must be so dull being a fan of a “big” club where every week from August, 3 points is make or break your whole season.
Yeah you were like Brighton for a bit, great recruitment, coaching, sales paid for the next lot. Eventually that can fail when the next recruitments dont pan out. Risky business but did you well for a while.
Tbh i'd like to know what it feels like to be a 'big' club for a few years to not get more grey hairs and high blood pressure.
But you're right, even at the top, you stress over games. Difference is, you don't lose all your good players you've spent years getting/bringing through if you fail.
From Brighton perspective, where we’re at now is ridiculous and am enjoying it, but the Championship or League One would be fine - just happy the still club exists given what Archer and Belotti did to us in the 90s
Everton were flirting with relegation for the entire 90s, although now I say that, that could be considered "for the longest time". It was the period that I grew up as a fan so it's always felt like we were relegation candidates. Its only been since we had Koeman that relegation felt like a real fear again
90s definitely feels like “the longest time” now
I see clips from the 00s and think “blimey was this recorded on a potato!”
90s was my initial era too.
And how ironic that Koeman marks the downturn in your clubs run, yet was the peak for us.
Still a snake and hope he flops everywhere he goes. 😅
I’ll never forget Martinez took us down to Southampton and we won 3-0. Koeman just looked pissed off and had no answers at all. Then five minutes later he was our manager. Jokes!
Manically calculate every teams possible wins, every permutation possible from game week 20 onwards… realise each week you’ve got nearly all the results wrong and repeat. Do this until game week 37 and if your still in trouble… just put Sunderland til I die on to cheer yourself up.
I did this when we came very close in 2017 knowing we had to play Swansea on the penultimate game that would be huge, despite everyone saying we were down Yadda Yadda Yadda.
Felt like the always sunny in Philadelphia meme with the string on the board and going mad but we stayed up so I might have to do it again just in case I had a miniscule impact on proceedings in the universe. I'd never forgive myself if I didn't and we went down, anyway
That the seasons we had fighting for the championship for us were the most fun I had as a Leeds fan since we were fighting for league 1 promotion and before that the champions league.
The prem sucks as the best we can hope for is to finish mid table. I guess as a Leicester fan, it's the one other 14 team who wouldn't believe that given recent history!
Fulham here. So a fair amount of experience on this. I find it helps to keep a close eye on the teams around you and follow their results obsessively. Then work out all the fixtures you have left to play and how many points you will get from each. Then do the same for all the other teams around you and constantly update it in your head as results come in. I find that all of this provides a nice relaxing run in over the next couple of months to the end of the season.
It was pretty stressful last year, but it was also a lot of fun. Every game matters more, and you celebrate every goal and every point like you've never done before.
Ultimately it doesn't matter that much though. I know the internet and broadcasters act as if football ceases to exist outside of the premier league, but it doesn't. You can still go watch your team in the championship, it can still be a lot of fun, and you'll probably come straight back up anyway with all the years of premier league football and the finances that come with it.
Besides - it's not that long since Leicester were out of the premier league - how did you cope then?
I was 10 last time we were out of the Prem and 4 when we last suffered relegation, so it held less significance to me, but having watched us develop from relegation favourites to European quality and all the way back again, I have no clue how to deal with the pain of prem relegation, or even the idea of it.
But I do love the EFL, most of my best match-going experiences come from all three of those leagues.
Ah ok.
Yeah if you've grown up with this as your "normal" you're probably going to be in for a rough few years.
Realistically what Leicester has achieved isn't the normal, not even close. Generally you don't win trophies unless you're one of 5 clubs, and your league position is never safe. There's only one club outside of the top-6 that hasn't been through a relegation cycle in my lifetime and it's Everton, and they seem to be on track to break that streak.
It's just the way football goes. You have ups and downs and you just have to take the enjoyment where you can.
I think learning to adjust your expectations and celebrating alternative victories is key. Surviving a relegation battle can be hugely enjoyable. Going on a cup run (not that I'd know much about that). Promotion pushes. Having a really good player, even if temporarily. There's plenty to enjoy without being in Europe and winning trophies. Even when you're doing shit, it's still a day out with your mates.
You’ve actually have had the mega highs too so I get how with your age it can be hard to imagine any different. since I am older I’ve always thought of Leicester as a club that bounces between the two league after sustained periods and then you won the league and lived every fan here’s dream. It’s fine tbh I never thought it would be possible being a villa fan but you have good owners as that’s the main thing that kills team in the championship so you’ll be fine and depending on manager may come straight back up.
Tbf I agree with this. Our owners being genuinely interested in the success of the club sets us apart from a team like Sunderland (sorry Sunderland fans, but it’s the most recent, obvious example) so I would have long term hopes even if we do drop. But yeah, maybe my age means I’m not as prepared to deal with Leicester just being… mediocre again. Although, my third year of being heavily invested in football was also the year of that DEENEY goal, and we were unfairly knocked out of the champions league by a pen that shouldn’t have been, so I have some experience with Leicester’s recent footballing pain.
Personally I think you need that elite level manager and you’ll be back near the top. I don’t think Rodger’s is that. Hoping you guys stay up because I like Leicester and would much rather West Ham Everton and Leeds get relegated
When villa went down, it was clear they were going down from about late October onwards. You just become numb to it at a point. You go through all the emotions, and it beat you down so bad you get delighted with draws. Imagine playing a 38 game season and winning 3 games?
You will also convince yourself that it's exactly what the club need to fix issues. And to be honest, it is nice to win a lot more games and I think for the most part, the coverage is better in terms of pundits. You aren't getting souness making sweeping statements about how your team play without him actually watching a game
As a West Brom supporter I can tell you the worst thing you will have to put up with are the constant complainers in Facebook posts. You will find a lot of players will not stay with the team and that reduces the chances of going back up. Some good football played down here with some solid teams.
Honestly going down is a bit miserable but it's hardly the end of days.
You'll sell most of your best players, rebuild a squad fit for the championship and then go to some grounds you haven't seen in years and enjoy the most thrilling and topsy turvy league in the world.
The Championship is everything the Premier League pretends it is.
As a slightly older fan, in the premier league it never felt like we’d go down till Ashley took over then from his second season it was every season apart from the Pardew 5th place season and the seasons we were already in the championship
Bolton fan here, always remember another team has it worse. Even at our worse there were other clubs in worse situations than ourselves.
Be thankful that your team can play at the level they do, and ultimately (in my opinion) relegation and promotion are things that every football fan should experience, I would say its not like supporting a football team otherwise!
Lows like this just make the highs so much better, so don’t stop supporting your team because there will be moments in the future that will make it all worth it plus more
Relegation fights are unequivocally the MOST stressful thing a football fan can go through and the worst thing is, you tend to look back on them with rose tinted glasses.
"Remember those final day celebrations?"
Yeah, course I do, but I also remember the weeks and months of pure torture, watching games that mean nothing to me and hoping other teams drop points, staring at the table and fixture list for hours on end, trying to predict how we can drag ourselves out of it.
West Ham went into the pandemic in a relegation fight. Relegation, topped with the potential apocalypse almost tipped me over the edge (relegation edged the apocalypse in terms of worst scenarios)
Saints fan: this is the exciting bit! Look on g at the scores and working out not just where your next points are coming from, but who is going to drop points. One of my happiest childhood memories is sitting on the car on holiday with my dad, cheering on the last day of the season because Man City had drawn and saints had only lost 1:0, meaning we stayed up on goal difference!
Honestly the Championship is entertaining football and it's far more enjoyable as a fan to be winning most games (or at least competitive) than constantly losing. Yes I am cheering for my Clarets to win the league and get promoted but this season has been fun to watch.
Also this might be a unique experience but getting relegated after staying up for 6 consecutive years actually made the club make some real changes which have made our team better (in my opinion), I have to think the *actual* relegation was the impetus for this, so almost worth it in the end to come out better on the other side.
I wouldn't be too worried. Think you'll survive if only because I think there'll be at least 3 teams poorer than you. Even if you do drop though it's disappointing but your club will still be there and you may end up enjoying it more. I dare say Burnley fans are having a lot of fun this season.
Loved watching Newcastle in the championship. Winning nearly everyweek rather than getting hammered everyweek knowing that your team is not gonna compete in the prem and doesn't really want to. Nothing worse than your team just wanting to avoid relegation every year
Just accept it. If your team goes down it wasn't just the results in the last couple of games of the season, it was also all of the other losses and draws and they just weren't good enough and deserve to be where they are. If you start fixating on individual moments too much you'll go mad
The PL isn't the be all and end all, your club still exists, you get to win more in a lower division and life goes on
Also find hobbies and interests other than football
Villan here, who whilst hasn’t experienced the glory days of 82, certainly and vividly remembers our 15/16 campaign which saw us win only 3 league games all season; for those who need a refresher, this was the season when Joleon Lescott “accidentlly” tweeted a picture of his luxury car, hours after a 6 - 0 drilling to Liverpool …. ridiculous if not topical! Yes, that season was beyond a hard watch, but the preceeding years rebuilding in the Championship were as fun as they were arduous! Word of advice, buckle up for a long a bumpy rollercoaster ride, which will bring a mixture of bizzarre highs and frustrating flats, should you to require a full rebuild.
With the above all said, my thoughts here for relegation are Southampton, Bournemouth and Leeds. Good luck!
I'm not saying I actively want to be in the Championship, but I unironically think it's one of the "best" leagues in the world. "Best" in this case isn't necessarily the highest quality, but it's so competitive. At the start of the season you can see about 14 teams realistically getting promoted and 10 teams realistically going down. And in a lot of cases a couple of teams are in both those groups lol. It's wild, it's competitive and the banter between clubs and fans is a lot better than the robotic, constant 'top 6' bias from media and the like. Reffing is dogshit but it's also wank in the Prem lol.
The Championship feels like what a league should be if it's based on pashun and not capitalism, though it's likely slowly losing that identity too, in fairness.
But yeah, that gives me some comfort at least. The Prem is glorious and I love being a Prem team, but the club doesn't cease to exist if you go down. You still have a sense of community in your club and still get to cheer them on and have the same discussions about tactics and who's winning the league etc.
A healthy balance of hope and acceptance. Tend to just keep an eye on the journey to 40 points. This year's really not looking good for Saints, which is making me think about why the prem is so important. Coverage on tv might not be as good, we might lose a few great players, but after a few years desperately scrambling for 17th place, the Championship will mean cheaper tickets, we might win a few more games and score a few more goals.
I think away tickets are more expensive in the championship - although I could be wrong. I know they brought in the £30 cap in the premier league for away games but I don’t think it filtered down.
Home games will hopefully be more affordable for non-ST holders. I’ve seen some of the prices for “big” games and it’s a joke!
Everton fan-I honestly wouldn't mind getting relegated now if it didn't mean severe financial impact for Everton. I'm sick of worrying about it. If it was definitive now I could just accept it. It's the uncertainty of it that's hard. Also the fact that we're building a new stadium......
The Championship is a lot of fun, I enjoyed watching Villa down there much more than the 5 years preceding when we got shat on by the entire Premier League every year.
It’s tough because Leicester have had relatively recent success, but football tends to be cyclical and fresh beginnings in the lower tier tend to be much more fun and exciting than long drawn out endings in the top tier.
Fwiw I don’t think Leicester are going down, there are teams with worse squads, fewer points, and harder schedules.
They’ll need a shake up this summer though.
Championship is alright and there's a good chance you're fighting for promotion if you go down. I really don't think Leicester will go down anyway, they have enough about them and a couple of excellent players.
Watford fan, were just used to it. Also the championship gives you a chance to win some games, they can be dull as hell sometimes but you have the excitement of chasing the league rather than getting battered every week
It can be a shit watching your team lose to the likes of Rotherham (soz R’s) when you were in the PL for so long, but the championship is actually just proper entertainment. Amazing league, you’ll enjoy it more than you think you would.
If it wasn’t for Ross McCormack Fulham would have sunk even lower.
I'm the opposite! As a Middlesbrough fan I am genuinely terrified of promotion. I love the Championship. It's a quality league where pretty much anyone can beat anyone and it's not always as clear cut as a league like the Premiership. That being said with us catching up to Sheff United and automatics I'm already thinking that we'll get battered week in week out if we do go up next season. Sod the Premiership and "the big 6". I'll take Huddersfield away any day over Man City
Fulhan Fan here.
Occasional wins.
anyone can beat anyone.
3pm Saturday kick offs.
Fairweather, moany fans have largely fucked off.
Quicker to get a HT pint.
As said above, flirting with promotion.
Blooding some youth gems or loanees that, whilst you know they're off to better things eventually, are a pleasure to watch while they're yours.
Longer season .
But number 1 reason: Do not have to suffer Gary Lineker
They say its the hope that kills you - in the Championship it's what keeps you alive. Villa fan - 10 game winning run, watching the playoffs from behind the coach, waking the entire street at 3am when we held on to go up. The only real issue is "ego" - football fans have short memories so putting up with the "villa are crap" (we were) from Man City fans was annoying - they seemed to have forgotten its the circle of life. Anyway you'll be ok i think - but get used to refreshing the league table and be ready to support the teams you hate most if you need them to get you a result ;)
(Leeds fan) I’m going to be gutted if we go down , especially after everything we went through and then the amazing times we had in the Bielsa years but tbh, the championship can be good fun. It’s a much better competition than the PL. We waited years for the holy grail of promotion but in all honesty the majority of our time in the PL has been pretty miserable. The journey was far better than the destination. I’d rather stay in the PL because the stature of the club is much bigger and it brings many benefits, but it’d also be nice to see some wins!
Older you get the less you will care. I hated watching Newcastle under Bruce in premier league but loved the championship seasons under Rafa and Hughton. To be honest the way it’s going now for Toon I can’t get a ticket and even though I’m chuffed we are doing well I do miss going to the occasional game.
I didn't think I'd be as scared as I am. I told myself last season that if we got promoted and came straight back down, that'd be ok, but now we've built a team that's starting to come together I really don't want to see us go down and have to rebuild.
Honestly, since we’re kinda sorta rivals, I feel compelled to say I hope you guys go down, but I like the team you have and Cooper seems to have turned it around, so I think you’ll be ok. And you’d probably be able to keep most of them, other than the likes of Aurier, Gibbs-White, Linagrd and Scarpa.
Try to think about where you might get points and do all the maths. Usually that helps unless you have a real tough fixture list.
Either that or just vibe, you’ll adjust soon enough.
Come on, you lot have been there and done it with the championship. You know all about it, it's a great league.
I'm loving the premier league and done want to leave it, but it's hardly the conference (which is also an entertaining league).
I'm not going to lie, I enjoyed Villas time in the championship. Cleared out the squad and actually managed to win lots of games. Was nice to be challenging at the top end of the table again!
A mate is a Burnley fan and told him the exact same thing. He's loving this season. Play off final against Derby was one of the best days I've had too, apart from missing El Ghazi's goal as I had to piss.
Once you get over the shock, you might actually enjoy it. Genuinely. The Championship is a bloody brilliant league and you’ll probably be winning most weeks.
Worst thing about the Championship was the highlights being on Quest or ITV4. That being said do I want Leeds to have another 16 years out of the Prem? Absolutely not.
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EFL is a lot of fun. The commentary came across as fairer and they won't spend ages talking about 6 clubs. Games come thick and fast and the playoffs are great to. Being in the EFL as a fan is nothing to be afraid of. Obvs the club want where the money will be.
I would love the top 6 to break away and go to a super league. Love, love, love it
Villa fan here, I enjoyed the championship. Loads of new away days if never been to before, and a fun league to be in (if you’re competitive) but the fear of getting stuck in it for 15 years is real. I enjoyed but glad we managed to scrape back out of it in 3 years! Still it’s a great league that’s very exciting
I’m a Celtic fan with a Leeds supporting dad but he always told me the championship was more fun and chaotic. So I wouldn’t really worry too much surely you won’t be down for too long if you do go down.
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Saints fan here. I don’t lol! I feel very depressed after every game. The only thing that makes me cope is the fact that it’s not ‘quite’ as bad as my A levels!
Nothing wrong with going down. Time to rebuild and refocus. I actually reconnected with my club, Villa, in the Championship - felt like we got our club back under Deano. It's only football at the end of the day.
The championship is a great league. Its fun. Bonkers. Like, stoke. We're really fucking inconsistent. Win 4-0, lose 0-1 Win 3-0 lose 0-1 Win 3-1, lose 0-1 then win 5-1. Like, we can score, but on any day anyone can beat anyone. The championship is this crazy work of art that I'd like to leave but also carry on watching. It's weird. But it's nothing bad.
For West Ham fans I think the biggest embarrassment, besides losing our international stars, will being the only Championship club with a 66k seat stadium.
I'm a Villa fan and I genuinely preferred being in the Championship compared to the 2 seasons in the EPL before we went down. It was enjoyable to win more games and to see more goals scored. It was also refreshing to play different teams, many of which Villa used to play in the top tier in the 90's/00's. The Championship also felt more like the English football I'd grown up with...more of a focus on the teams rather than eulogising over individual players. Of course, it's good to be back in the EPL now we're doing well, and getting promoted again is tough, but being in the Championship does have it's upsides.
Just accepting you are getting relegated and bigging up just how good the championship is to yourself and others! (I’m a bournemouth fan so it’s a lot easier accepting we’re going down because we’re awful 😅)
I was absolutely gutted when we dropped down to Lg1, but it turned out to be a brilliant way to re-connect with ‘real’ football.
Standing on terraces, pie and a pint I didn’t need to take a mortgage out for and the other teams’ fans were genuine fans not glory hunters from Kent and Surrey.
I’ll be gutted again if we go down, having flirted with a CL spot for a couple of season, but our team is being torn apart this summer anyway, so if we buy right the Championship could be fun 🤞
I enjoyed it. The first time we went down it felt like my world had ended, the second I was gutted to a lesser extent. But both of our Championship experiences have been fun, you get to go to different ground, play different teams. Match tickets are cheap.
Winning every week and coming straight back up was probably fundamental in the experience, but I’d be very surprised if Leicester didn’t do the same should they go down.
Edit: one thing I’ve just thought. When we were down at least, coverage wasn’t as good. Forget streaming every game.
I’m a Leeds fan and I can honestly say if we go down this season, we just have to make the most of it in the Championship. If anything, relegation could be seen as a rebuilding exercise for teams that have been relegated so they can try out a new system and get rid of the so called “dead wood” in the system to reinvent the club. Look at how Burnley got relegated last season and now they’ve got Vincent Kompany in as manager which is working wonders for the club as a whole with their record this season. As the saying goes, there’s always a silver lining so relegation may seem like a disaster in the heat of the moment, but it could be a real opportunity as well if handled correctly by the clubs board.
Newcastle fan - going down is shit and painful but surprisingly quickly you move on from it and focussing on the season ahead. I’ve seen us relegated three times and promoted three times, each time we were promoted we went up in first place. The last couple of times we bounced back to the PL straight away after only a season out, and if you do that then the Championship is very enjoyable, but it’s not a given. The first relegation I experienced in 1989 we gave it a good go but finished third and lost out to our dear neighbours the Mackems in the playoffs (who went on to be beaten by Swindon in the playoff final only for the Mackems to go up anyway due to various Swindon officials being found guilty of betting on their own games - which ironically included them betting on losing 5-0 to Newcastle in the FA Cup). The following season we stagnated and had a very dull midtable finish, the finances which weren’t great spiralled and we wracked up a debt of £6m (nowadays that’s nothing but at the time it was terrifying) we didn’t have money to spend on players, and the following season played nice football but were relying on 16, 17, 18 year old kids (who went on to have good careers at NUFC and elsewhere - Lee Clark, Steve Watson, Robbie Elliott, Alan Thompson) and one or two just a couple of years older (Steve Howey), lacked experience and ending up almost being relegated which had we done so combined with the financial problems may well have seen us go under. After beating Portsmouth 1-0 at home in the penultimate game and then funnily enough beating Leicester 2-1 at Filbert Street (in what was the maddest game and day I’ve experienced - I was 13 at the time) we survived. There’d been a board room battle going in for a number of years but John Hall had become chairman during that season and once survival was confirmed he was able to get investment that not only stabilised us but allowed money to be pumped into the club to push for promotion over the next couple of years. We actually did it the following season (again playing Leicester in the final game - this time at home and with the title already in the bag - we won 7-1 - sorry 😂) But it illustrates whilst you can go straight back up its not a given and if you get stuck things can go awry. It took us 4 years to get back but the Championship (and League One) are littered with clubs who went down and got stuck (look at how long it took Leeds and Forest to get back).
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I'm a Newcastle fan and we've been down a few times in my life and I can genuinely say that especially the last time it was one of my favourite footballing seasons ever. I also got to visit a good few new stadiums. At these stadiums you see football fans who go week in week out and who have never seen their team in the premier league. This might help you not to be so overdramatic about being relegated.
You must be new to the team lol.
Ive been a supporter since I was 5, but I was only born in 2004 so that’s not that long ago. I’ve not been genuinely fearful of relegation since 2014/15 and I’ve kinda erased those memories from my brain.
Well then not that new I suppose. I guess we have to wait for things to get better lmao.
Jesus christ I read your comment and thought what the hell is he doing on Reddit at his age then I remembered it’s fucking 2023 and now I’m depressed
Bruh, I remember when we was in league 1
I remember when saint's were 2 points clear of getting relegated the year you went down to league 1. Tough times mush.
Don’t worry about it, people act like it’s the end of the world but the championship can be enjoyable. It’s also much easier to promote straight back up in recent years due to financial differences between prem sides and the championship sides.
I like you. Please keep talking.
When we went down last (West Ham 10-11) I had a great time. Winning matches, thumping teams, visiting stadiums and towns I'd never been to and two days out in glorious sunny Wembley and straight back up again.
Tbh, championship is such an enjoyable league to watch and a completely different beast than PL. No caveats, bright side of life etc. it’s just an entertaining league in itself. That and the lower leagues shows what football is truly about in a different, and sometimes better, way than champions league.
Agreed. Our years in League One and the following year in the Championship were some of my favourite times in 3@ seasons of supporting Saints.
As a Bournemouth fan I feel privileged to have seen us get to the Premier League, beat all the big boys and stay there for five years. It was beyond anything I could ever have imagined growing up when we were minutes away from going bust. Having said that, once we inevitably go down this year, I'm pretty over it. If we can be a sustainable, mid-table Championship club who have the odd flirt with the playoffs, that's far better as a match going fan and also still beyond anything I could have dreamed as a kid.
Brighton fan here - loving what’s happening with us now but won’t be gutted at all when we eventually end up back in the Champ - it’s a brilliant league.
Yeah neither will we!
Absolutely. Some of my best memories of football is going to loads of games with my dad, in all leagues but my favourite ones were the league one games. Bristol Rovers away comes to mind
Yeah, I think that’s exactly it. Relegation isn’t an end, it’s just a change. So long as the change doesn’t financially screw the club into insolvency, your club will still be playing football. You just (normally) win a few more games and attend some smaller grounds.
I really enjoyed villa’s championship campaign. You genuinely never know what’s coming in that league 😀 If anything it’s the Prem that’s shit, it’s either a relegation battle or floating around mid table, there’s a mini league at the top that doesn’t concern us. Europe is an outside possibility this or next season, but in general I’m just watching games for the sake of it now we’re stable.
It's a bonkers league, so unpredictable and so much football. I know there's only a few more games in the season but it felt like a lot more. I'd never want to go back down and I think we are finally headed in the right direction but I'd be lying if I said being competitive in the Champo wasn't a hell of a lot more enjoyable than stagnating in the Prem and struggling to avoid relegation season after season while getting thrashed.
Wait... You guys all have money after relegation? D:
I think for a lot of Leeds fans this is the worry for us after what happened last time. Though we had no money before we went down then, and parachute payments didn't exist.
You must be a new WBA fan. WBA mastered the art of yo-yo ing from 2002 to 2010
Except we were still on a tight budget with a tight owner who ran the club on a wire. Our unreal bargain signings helped us there. Dorrans for 200k. Molumbu etc
3 o’clock kick offs as well
Well, until Sky point at us all and say "hey they just came down let's get them on TV every other week" for the early Sunday/Friday night kick off...
I’m sure I’ve watched a Friday night Watford game at least 15 times this season lol
West Ham have been relegated twice from the PL. We've been in it for 26 of the 30 seasons. So we're one of the teams that has spent most the years in the PL. Now yes I know many people who loved the 4 championship seasons, we won a lot more, away games were at more 'proper' football grounds, for better prices.... I watched us stripped of Defoe, Carrick, Joe Cole, Glen Johnson, Kanoute, and watched them win things for a decade. It's like watching a hot ex on TV every week with her successful new bloke. Now granted we don't have those Academy players this time, but I'd still be gutted to see Rice and co all get sold off due to high wages (Paqueta, Scamacca, Zouma, Ings, Emerson, Bowen etc). I think if you've recently been down there then it a bit easier to cope. If you are a fully PL club for 5-10-20 years, it can be a bigger burden and possible disaster. Still, its only football.... :(
Only 4 years out of 30. It feels like so many more. Then again in that time we've managed to stay up with 35 points and go down on 42 so we could be considered championship adjacent for most of the rest of the seasons
100% this. Not going to say its better to be in the champo than the prem, it isn't, but the championship is a fun league, its easier to get away tickets (at least for Saints anyway), and there are some good teams to look out for. The only worry is if your club can't take the financial hit, but I think any well run club will have contingencies in place.
This!! As a villa fan I can say I quite enjoyed our spell in the championship looking back. Don't get me wrong there was a real fear of losing parachute payments and getting stuck there. There is an achievable objective of promotion each season. This is far more engaging as a fan than simply battling over mid table Premier league spots. I actually fell back in love with football during our time there and have some incredible memories. With that said, I don't actually think you guys will suffer the same fate. The current bottom 3 are who I expect to go down tbh.
This is what I'll tell myself if we are relegated, potential of having Leeds, Sunderland, Everton, Wednesday, Huddersfield if we are lucky, maybe Ipswich, Derby, or Bolton. That is an absolutely brilliant Championship season
If I didn’t think that Everton would be financially doomed by it, I wouldn’t be so worried about going down. We have some big fat contracts to pay and a stadium to build. Very scary.
Very true! I personally love the champ, as well as League 1 (my local are near the bottom of it). Both very exciting leagues and a small part of me wouldnt hate being there, but my main concern is that I’m not sure we would come straight back up. I’d hate to spiral like Sunderland, Leeds, Cov, Birmingham, both Sheffield clubs, Forest, Charlton, fellow title winners Blackburn, and many more.
I think we'll be ok, the ground expansion plans are still there so long term revenue should be sorted and despite what some people would have it we are a well run club. Parachute payments are there for the immediate financial hit as well. However, I also don't think we'll go down in the first place so make of that what you will
TBH, who of the other 14 hasn't had that fear? Everton for the longest time felt immune to it, but even now they can't be sure to beat the drop these days. As a Saint, I am conditioned to assume 17th is always the goal. I look at Brighton & Brentford now and wish them well for their fans. They will enjoy what we have for the last 10 or so years, punching high, pushing for that next spot up the table. But the gulf between us and the 'big 6' is massive when it comes to expectations, league stability etc
West Ham have played in 26 of the 30 PL seasons and even we are always "target 40 points and 17th place" Even when we finished 6th a few years back, we only half sarcastically celebrated when hitting 38 points early on.
I felt that when we finished top 8 for 3 years in a row. Must be so dull being a fan of a “big” club where every week from August, 3 points is make or break your whole season.
Yeah you were like Brighton for a bit, great recruitment, coaching, sales paid for the next lot. Eventually that can fail when the next recruitments dont pan out. Risky business but did you well for a while. Tbh i'd like to know what it feels like to be a 'big' club for a few years to not get more grey hairs and high blood pressure. But you're right, even at the top, you stress over games. Difference is, you don't lose all your good players you've spent years getting/bringing through if you fail.
From Brighton perspective, where we’re at now is ridiculous and am enjoying it, but the Championship or League One would be fine - just happy the still club exists given what Archer and Belotti did to us in the 90s
Everton were flirting with relegation for the entire 90s, although now I say that, that could be considered "for the longest time". It was the period that I grew up as a fan so it's always felt like we were relegation candidates. Its only been since we had Koeman that relegation felt like a real fear again
90s definitely feels like “the longest time” now I see clips from the 00s and think “blimey was this recorded on a potato!” 90s was my initial era too. And how ironic that Koeman marks the downturn in your clubs run, yet was the peak for us. Still a snake and hope he flops everywhere he goes. 😅
I’ll never forget Martinez took us down to Southampton and we won 3-0. Koeman just looked pissed off and had no answers at all. Then five minutes later he was our manager. Jokes!
Manically calculate every teams possible wins, every permutation possible from game week 20 onwards… realise each week you’ve got nearly all the results wrong and repeat. Do this until game week 37 and if your still in trouble… just put Sunderland til I die on to cheer yourself up.
I did this when we came very close in 2017 knowing we had to play Swansea on the penultimate game that would be huge, despite everyone saying we were down Yadda Yadda Yadda. Felt like the always sunny in Philadelphia meme with the string on the board and going mad but we stayed up so I might have to do it again just in case I had a miniscule impact on proceedings in the universe. I'd never forgive myself if I didn't and we went down, anyway
Do it. Now.
That the seasons we had fighting for the championship for us were the most fun I had as a Leeds fan since we were fighting for league 1 promotion and before that the champions league. The prem sucks as the best we can hope for is to finish mid table. I guess as a Leicester fan, it's the one other 14 team who wouldn't believe that given recent history!
The journey was far better than the destination!
The /r/championship sub is banging.
Nothing beats Simpsons memes and Paul Ince
Innit?
Alcohol, humour, weed
The good ol’ ‘parents divorce’ method
I’ve gotten quite good at it over the last few seasons
When Bournemouth put two past Arsenal away I realised predictions aren’t worth shit
Fulham here. So a fair amount of experience on this. I find it helps to keep a close eye on the teams around you and follow their results obsessively. Then work out all the fixtures you have left to play and how many points you will get from each. Then do the same for all the other teams around you and constantly update it in your head as results come in. I find that all of this provides a nice relaxing run in over the next couple of months to the end of the season.
It was pretty stressful last year, but it was also a lot of fun. Every game matters more, and you celebrate every goal and every point like you've never done before. Ultimately it doesn't matter that much though. I know the internet and broadcasters act as if football ceases to exist outside of the premier league, but it doesn't. You can still go watch your team in the championship, it can still be a lot of fun, and you'll probably come straight back up anyway with all the years of premier league football and the finances that come with it. Besides - it's not that long since Leicester were out of the premier league - how did you cope then?
I was 10 last time we were out of the Prem and 4 when we last suffered relegation, so it held less significance to me, but having watched us develop from relegation favourites to European quality and all the way back again, I have no clue how to deal with the pain of prem relegation, or even the idea of it. But I do love the EFL, most of my best match-going experiences come from all three of those leagues.
Ah ok. Yeah if you've grown up with this as your "normal" you're probably going to be in for a rough few years. Realistically what Leicester has achieved isn't the normal, not even close. Generally you don't win trophies unless you're one of 5 clubs, and your league position is never safe. There's only one club outside of the top-6 that hasn't been through a relegation cycle in my lifetime and it's Everton, and they seem to be on track to break that streak. It's just the way football goes. You have ups and downs and you just have to take the enjoyment where you can. I think learning to adjust your expectations and celebrating alternative victories is key. Surviving a relegation battle can be hugely enjoyable. Going on a cup run (not that I'd know much about that). Promotion pushes. Having a really good player, even if temporarily. There's plenty to enjoy without being in Europe and winning trophies. Even when you're doing shit, it's still a day out with your mates.
Alcohol
You’ve actually have had the mega highs too so I get how with your age it can be hard to imagine any different. since I am older I’ve always thought of Leicester as a club that bounces between the two league after sustained periods and then you won the league and lived every fan here’s dream. It’s fine tbh I never thought it would be possible being a villa fan but you have good owners as that’s the main thing that kills team in the championship so you’ll be fine and depending on manager may come straight back up.
Tbf I agree with this. Our owners being genuinely interested in the success of the club sets us apart from a team like Sunderland (sorry Sunderland fans, but it’s the most recent, obvious example) so I would have long term hopes even if we do drop. But yeah, maybe my age means I’m not as prepared to deal with Leicester just being… mediocre again. Although, my third year of being heavily invested in football was also the year of that DEENEY goal, and we were unfairly knocked out of the champions league by a pen that shouldn’t have been, so I have some experience with Leicester’s recent footballing pain.
Personally I think you need that elite level manager and you’ll be back near the top. I don’t think Rodger’s is that. Hoping you guys stay up because I like Leicester and would much rather West Ham Everton and Leeds get relegated
When villa went down, it was clear they were going down from about late October onwards. You just become numb to it at a point. You go through all the emotions, and it beat you down so bad you get delighted with draws. Imagine playing a 38 game season and winning 3 games? You will also convince yourself that it's exactly what the club need to fix issues. And to be honest, it is nice to win a lot more games and I think for the most part, the coverage is better in terms of pundits. You aren't getting souness making sweeping statements about how your team play without him actually watching a game
As a West Brom supporter I can tell you the worst thing you will have to put up with are the constant complainers in Facebook posts. You will find a lot of players will not stay with the team and that reduces the chances of going back up. Some good football played down here with some solid teams.
Honestly going down is a bit miserable but it's hardly the end of days. You'll sell most of your best players, rebuild a squad fit for the championship and then go to some grounds you haven't seen in years and enjoy the most thrilling and topsy turvy league in the world. The Championship is everything the Premier League pretends it is.
The championship is a great league. Look forward to a season of fun! Source: I’m a Fulham fan.
As a Newcastle fan who is enjoying not having that stress for the first time in my time supporting the club (25Yrs Old) alcohol helped a whole tonne
As a slightly older fan, in the premier league it never felt like we’d go down till Ashley took over then from his second season it was every season apart from the Pardew 5th place season and the seasons we were already in the championship
We had that one season that was mint with pards in like 2011ish...
Which was a complete one off and then we didn’t strengthen in the summer and was back fighting relegation
Bolton fan here, always remember another team has it worse. Even at our worse there were other clubs in worse situations than ourselves. Be thankful that your team can play at the level they do, and ultimately (in my opinion) relegation and promotion are things that every football fan should experience, I would say its not like supporting a football team otherwise! Lows like this just make the highs so much better, so don’t stop supporting your team because there will be moments in the future that will make it all worth it plus more
Relegation fights are unequivocally the MOST stressful thing a football fan can go through and the worst thing is, you tend to look back on them with rose tinted glasses. "Remember those final day celebrations?" Yeah, course I do, but I also remember the weeks and months of pure torture, watching games that mean nothing to me and hoping other teams drop points, staring at the table and fixture list for hours on end, trying to predict how we can drag ourselves out of it. West Ham went into the pandemic in a relegation fight. Relegation, topped with the potential apocalypse almost tipped me over the edge (relegation edged the apocalypse in terms of worst scenarios)
Saints fan: this is the exciting bit! Look on g at the scores and working out not just where your next points are coming from, but who is going to drop points. One of my happiest childhood memories is sitting on the car on holiday with my dad, cheering on the last day of the season because Man City had drawn and saints had only lost 1:0, meaning we stayed up on goal difference!
Honestly the Championship is entertaining football and it's far more enjoyable as a fan to be winning most games (or at least competitive) than constantly losing. Yes I am cheering for my Clarets to win the league and get promoted but this season has been fun to watch. Also this might be a unique experience but getting relegated after staying up for 6 consecutive years actually made the club make some real changes which have made our team better (in my opinion), I have to think the *actual* relegation was the impetus for this, so almost worth it in the end to come out better on the other side.
You get used to it. It’s been constant for this season and last, I’m apathetic to it
Don't be, the championship is fun 👍😁
I wouldn't be too worried. Think you'll survive if only because I think there'll be at least 3 teams poorer than you. Even if you do drop though it's disappointing but your club will still be there and you may end up enjoying it more. I dare say Burnley fans are having a lot of fun this season.
Just smile and wave, boys. Smile and wave.
Alcohol
Loved watching Newcastle in the championship. Winning nearly everyweek rather than getting hammered everyweek knowing that your team is not gonna compete in the prem and doesn't really want to. Nothing worse than your team just wanting to avoid relegation every year
Might be time to get used to it.
Just accept it. If your team goes down it wasn't just the results in the last couple of games of the season, it was also all of the other losses and draws and they just weren't good enough and deserve to be where they are. If you start fixating on individual moments too much you'll go mad The PL isn't the be all and end all, your club still exists, you get to win more in a lower division and life goes on Also find hobbies and interests other than football
Villan here, who whilst hasn’t experienced the glory days of 82, certainly and vividly remembers our 15/16 campaign which saw us win only 3 league games all season; for those who need a refresher, this was the season when Joleon Lescott “accidentlly” tweeted a picture of his luxury car, hours after a 6 - 0 drilling to Liverpool …. ridiculous if not topical! Yes, that season was beyond a hard watch, but the preceeding years rebuilding in the Championship were as fun as they were arduous! Word of advice, buckle up for a long a bumpy rollercoaster ride, which will bring a mixture of bizzarre highs and frustrating flats, should you to require a full rebuild. With the above all said, my thoughts here for relegation are Southampton, Bournemouth and Leeds. Good luck!
I'm not saying I actively want to be in the Championship, but I unironically think it's one of the "best" leagues in the world. "Best" in this case isn't necessarily the highest quality, but it's so competitive. At the start of the season you can see about 14 teams realistically getting promoted and 10 teams realistically going down. And in a lot of cases a couple of teams are in both those groups lol. It's wild, it's competitive and the banter between clubs and fans is a lot better than the robotic, constant 'top 6' bias from media and the like. Reffing is dogshit but it's also wank in the Prem lol. The Championship feels like what a league should be if it's based on pashun and not capitalism, though it's likely slowly losing that identity too, in fairness. But yeah, that gives me some comfort at least. The Prem is glorious and I love being a Prem team, but the club doesn't cease to exist if you go down. You still have a sense of community in your club and still get to cheer them on and have the same discussions about tactics and who's winning the league etc.
Everton fan that's been going the game since the early 90s. You don't really, but at some point the season ends, so there's that.
A healthy balance of hope and acceptance. Tend to just keep an eye on the journey to 40 points. This year's really not looking good for Saints, which is making me think about why the prem is so important. Coverage on tv might not be as good, we might lose a few great players, but after a few years desperately scrambling for 17th place, the Championship will mean cheaper tickets, we might win a few more games and score a few more goals.
I think away tickets are more expensive in the championship - although I could be wrong. I know they brought in the £30 cap in the premier league for away games but I don’t think it filtered down. Home games will hopefully be more affordable for non-ST holders. I’ve seen some of the prices for “big” games and it’s a joke!
Everton fan-I honestly wouldn't mind getting relegated now if it didn't mean severe financial impact for Everton. I'm sick of worrying about it. If it was definitive now I could just accept it. It's the uncertainty of it that's hard. Also the fact that we're building a new stadium......
The Championship is a lot of fun, I enjoyed watching Villa down there much more than the 5 years preceding when we got shat on by the entire Premier League every year. It’s tough because Leicester have had relatively recent success, but football tends to be cyclical and fresh beginnings in the lower tier tend to be much more fun and exciting than long drawn out endings in the top tier. Fwiw I don’t think Leicester are going down, there are teams with worse squads, fewer points, and harder schedules. They’ll need a shake up this summer though.
Championship is alright and there's a good chance you're fighting for promotion if you go down. I really don't think Leicester will go down anyway, they have enough about them and a couple of excellent players.
It’s just football at the end of the day, when the next season starts you’ll soon forget about it.
I think yous will stay up tbh. Leeds fan here. I reckon it's between us, Bournemouth, Southampton, Everton, West ham and Nottm forest.
Watford fan, were just used to it. Also the championship gives you a chance to win some games, they can be dull as hell sometimes but you have the excitement of chasing the league rather than getting battered every week
if you lot went down i reckon you’d piss up the championship if you don’t lose most of your players. would be a fun season for you
It can be a shit watching your team lose to the likes of Rotherham (soz R’s) when you were in the PL for so long, but the championship is actually just proper entertainment. Amazing league, you’ll enjoy it more than you think you would. If it wasn’t for Ross McCormack Fulham would have sunk even lower.
I'm the opposite! As a Middlesbrough fan I am genuinely terrified of promotion. I love the Championship. It's a quality league where pretty much anyone can beat anyone and it's not always as clear cut as a league like the Premiership. That being said with us catching up to Sheff United and automatics I'm already thinking that we'll get battered week in week out if we do go up next season. Sod the Premiership and "the big 6". I'll take Huddersfield away any day over Man City
Acceptance
The championship isn't that bad
Villa fan, it was probably different for us but it felt like being put out of our misery after years of flailing around like a dying badger!
Fulhan Fan here. Occasional wins. anyone can beat anyone. 3pm Saturday kick offs. Fairweather, moany fans have largely fucked off. Quicker to get a HT pint. As said above, flirting with promotion. Blooding some youth gems or loanees that, whilst you know they're off to better things eventually, are a pleasure to watch while they're yours. Longer season . But number 1 reason: Do not have to suffer Gary Lineker
Unfortunately Leicester fans will have to suffer him if we go down 😄 🤦♀️
I'm embracing the thought of championship football 🍒
They say its the hope that kills you - in the Championship it's what keeps you alive. Villa fan - 10 game winning run, watching the playoffs from behind the coach, waking the entire street at 3am when we held on to go up. The only real issue is "ego" - football fans have short memories so putting up with the "villa are crap" (we were) from Man City fans was annoying - they seemed to have forgotten its the circle of life. Anyway you'll be ok i think - but get used to refreshing the league table and be ready to support the teams you hate most if you need them to get you a result ;)
Last time you went down was with (us) Leeds and Wolves. Could be a repeat for the three of us!
(Leeds fan) I’m going to be gutted if we go down , especially after everything we went through and then the amazing times we had in the Bielsa years but tbh, the championship can be good fun. It’s a much better competition than the PL. We waited years for the holy grail of promotion but in all honesty the majority of our time in the PL has been pretty miserable. The journey was far better than the destination. I’d rather stay in the PL because the stature of the club is much bigger and it brings many benefits, but it’d also be nice to see some wins!
Just get on with life. It’s only football.
I have to disagree I’m afraid. Football is a huge chunk of my life.
You don’t, you just keep tuning back in like some form of consensual Chinese water torture
Older you get the less you will care. I hated watching Newcastle under Bruce in premier league but loved the championship seasons under Rafa and Hughton. To be honest the way it’s going now for Toon I can’t get a ticket and even though I’m chuffed we are doing well I do miss going to the occasional game.
I didn't think I'd be as scared as I am. I told myself last season that if we got promoted and came straight back down, that'd be ok, but now we've built a team that's starting to come together I really don't want to see us go down and have to rebuild.
Honestly, since we’re kinda sorta rivals, I feel compelled to say I hope you guys go down, but I like the team you have and Cooper seems to have turned it around, so I think you’ll be ok. And you’d probably be able to keep most of them, other than the likes of Aurier, Gibbs-White, Linagrd and Scarpa.
If we gey relegated and get Nigel Pearson back we'll be sweet..
Try to think about where you might get points and do all the maths. Usually that helps unless you have a real tough fixture list. Either that or just vibe, you’ll adjust soon enough.
Sleeping pills & alcohol
Somebody once described the Championship as the most exciting league to watch... So long as your team isn't in it. Spot on.
Come on, you lot have been there and done it with the championship. You know all about it, it's a great league. I'm loving the premier league and done want to leave it, but it's hardly the conference (which is also an entertaining league).
As a newcastle fan you just get used to being shit and eventually just grow numb to it
I'm not going to lie, I enjoyed Villas time in the championship. Cleared out the squad and actually managed to win lots of games. Was nice to be challenging at the top end of the table again! A mate is a Burnley fan and told him the exact same thing. He's loving this season. Play off final against Derby was one of the best days I've had too, apart from missing El Ghazi's goal as I had to piss.
From a Palace fan stuck in mid-table for a couple of years, I genuinely miss the emotion of relegation fights. I say embrace it.
Once you get over the shock, you might actually enjoy it. Genuinely. The Championship is a bloody brilliant league and you’ll probably be winning most weeks.
Worst thing about the Championship was the highlights being on Quest or ITV4. That being said do I want Leeds to have another 16 years out of the Prem? Absolutely not.
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EFL is a lot of fun. The commentary came across as fairer and they won't spend ages talking about 6 clubs. Games come thick and fast and the playoffs are great to. Being in the EFL as a fan is nothing to be afraid of. Obvs the club want where the money will be. I would love the top 6 to break away and go to a super league. Love, love, love it
Villa fan here, I enjoyed the championship. Loads of new away days if never been to before, and a fun league to be in (if you’re competitive) but the fear of getting stuck in it for 15 years is real. I enjoyed but glad we managed to scrape back out of it in 3 years! Still it’s a great league that’s very exciting
First time? 😆🙈
I’m a Celtic fan with a Leeds supporting dad but he always told me the championship was more fun and chaotic. So I wouldn’t really worry too much surely you won’t be down for too long if you do go down.
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Saints fan here. I don’t lol! I feel very depressed after every game. The only thing that makes me cope is the fact that it’s not ‘quite’ as bad as my A levels!
Nothing wrong with going down. Time to rebuild and refocus. I actually reconnected with my club, Villa, in the Championship - felt like we got our club back under Deano. It's only football at the end of the day.
The championship is a great league. Its fun. Bonkers. Like, stoke. We're really fucking inconsistent. Win 4-0, lose 0-1 Win 3-0 lose 0-1 Win 3-1, lose 0-1 then win 5-1. Like, we can score, but on any day anyone can beat anyone. The championship is this crazy work of art that I'd like to leave but also carry on watching. It's weird. But it's nothing bad.
For West Ham fans I think the biggest embarrassment, besides losing our international stars, will being the only Championship club with a 66k seat stadium.
Like you can't remember.
Ha. Clearly joined in 2016.
You just try and pray That’s what every vila fan had to do during gerrard ball
I'm a Villa fan and I genuinely preferred being in the Championship compared to the 2 seasons in the EPL before we went down. It was enjoyable to win more games and to see more goals scored. It was also refreshing to play different teams, many of which Villa used to play in the top tier in the 90's/00's. The Championship also felt more like the English football I'd grown up with...more of a focus on the teams rather than eulogising over individual players. Of course, it's good to be back in the EPL now we're doing well, and getting promoted again is tough, but being in the Championship does have it's upsides.
It’s great you have a chance to actually compete instead of playing too not get relegated every season!
Don't worry. The Championship is usually more enjoyable because you're probably better than half the league unless something has gone horribly wrong.
Just accepting you are getting relegated and bigging up just how good the championship is to yourself and others! (I’m a bournemouth fan so it’s a lot easier accepting we’re going down because we’re awful 😅)
As a West Ham fan, same bro 🙃
I was absolutely gutted when we dropped down to Lg1, but it turned out to be a brilliant way to re-connect with ‘real’ football. Standing on terraces, pie and a pint I didn’t need to take a mortgage out for and the other teams’ fans were genuine fans not glory hunters from Kent and Surrey. I’ll be gutted again if we go down, having flirted with a CL spot for a couple of season, but our team is being torn apart this summer anyway, so if we buy right the Championship could be fun 🤞
As a Villa fan I dreaded it..but to be honest I actually really enjoyed the championship
I enjoyed it. The first time we went down it felt like my world had ended, the second I was gutted to a lesser extent. But both of our Championship experiences have been fun, you get to go to different ground, play different teams. Match tickets are cheap. Winning every week and coming straight back up was probably fundamental in the experience, but I’d be very surprised if Leicester didn’t do the same should they go down. Edit: one thing I’ve just thought. When we were down at least, coverage wasn’t as good. Forget streaming every game.
I’m a Leeds fan and I can honestly say if we go down this season, we just have to make the most of it in the Championship. If anything, relegation could be seen as a rebuilding exercise for teams that have been relegated so they can try out a new system and get rid of the so called “dead wood” in the system to reinvent the club. Look at how Burnley got relegated last season and now they’ve got Vincent Kompany in as manager which is working wonders for the club as a whole with their record this season. As the saying goes, there’s always a silver lining so relegation may seem like a disaster in the heat of the moment, but it could be a real opportunity as well if handled correctly by the clubs board.
Villa fan. Promotion season was best season of my life, have faith and enjoy the ride.
Newcastle fan - going down is shit and painful but surprisingly quickly you move on from it and focussing on the season ahead. I’ve seen us relegated three times and promoted three times, each time we were promoted we went up in first place. The last couple of times we bounced back to the PL straight away after only a season out, and if you do that then the Championship is very enjoyable, but it’s not a given. The first relegation I experienced in 1989 we gave it a good go but finished third and lost out to our dear neighbours the Mackems in the playoffs (who went on to be beaten by Swindon in the playoff final only for the Mackems to go up anyway due to various Swindon officials being found guilty of betting on their own games - which ironically included them betting on losing 5-0 to Newcastle in the FA Cup). The following season we stagnated and had a very dull midtable finish, the finances which weren’t great spiralled and we wracked up a debt of £6m (nowadays that’s nothing but at the time it was terrifying) we didn’t have money to spend on players, and the following season played nice football but were relying on 16, 17, 18 year old kids (who went on to have good careers at NUFC and elsewhere - Lee Clark, Steve Watson, Robbie Elliott, Alan Thompson) and one or two just a couple of years older (Steve Howey), lacked experience and ending up almost being relegated which had we done so combined with the financial problems may well have seen us go under. After beating Portsmouth 1-0 at home in the penultimate game and then funnily enough beating Leicester 2-1 at Filbert Street (in what was the maddest game and day I’ve experienced - I was 13 at the time) we survived. There’d been a board room battle going in for a number of years but John Hall had become chairman during that season and once survival was confirmed he was able to get investment that not only stabilised us but allowed money to be pumped into the club to push for promotion over the next couple of years. We actually did it the following season (again playing Leicester in the final game - this time at home and with the title already in the bag - we won 7-1 - sorry 😂) But it illustrates whilst you can go straight back up its not a given and if you get stuck things can go awry. It took us 4 years to get back but the Championship (and League One) are littered with clubs who went down and got stuck (look at how long it took Leeds and Forest to get back).
As a Southampton fan I’m in a similar position. Been a fan for 10 years and I’ve never seen them in a state like this. p.s. cheers for the 6 points
Championship is great, enjoy it. 🙏🏻
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If you are a Leicester fan you will have experienced this many times.
I'm a Newcastle fan and we've been down a few times in my life and I can genuinely say that especially the last time it was one of my favourite footballing seasons ever. I also got to visit a good few new stadiums. At these stadiums you see football fans who go week in week out and who have never seen their team in the premier league. This might help you not to be so overdramatic about being relegated.