Is the on field quality between the Premier League and the Championship steadily widening, or has the financial gap between the top two divisions of English football grown even bigger?
Case in point. Since the end of the 2022/2023 Premier League season not a single promoted club has survived to stay up for a second consecutive season. Leicester City (twice), Ipswich Town, Southampton, Leeds United and probably Ipswich Town have all been promoted and then relegated in the same season.
Not one of these teams has even been competitive recently in the Premier League following their promotions. Clubs that were earning 80-90 plus points in the Championship are barely even accumulating 10-20 points the following season in the Premier League. Is there a decline in the number of quality players, or are those potential players going to other leagues, or other countries, for bigger paychecks such as Saudi Arabia, or even the States? This gap is growing to a point where promotion to the Premier League is becoming a season-long death sentence to supporters and players.
Personally, I love the promotion/relegation set-up. I think it is exciting to watch at the end of the season, and the Championship Playoffs are special, too, but lately that is where the joy has been ending for these clubs. Either they are not spending enough of their recently gained wealth from the promotion, or it is just bad management that keeps these clubs from having a successful Premier League season the following year. Whatever the reason, something has to be done to this recent trend or the Premier League might as well be just 17 clubs and leave it at that.
This is a system that has shown so much tradition and history over the years, yet in today’s game, something needs to be done to level the playing field for the top twenty clubs in English football.
Cheers.
Gunner1953
What an excellent post! It is a delight to read your insightful analysis presented in an interesting way. This article taught me a lot, and I will be using it again and again. Your expertise is much appreciated.