The risk of becoming a "Championship Team" (and subsequently a "League One" team)
My dad is an Ipswich fan, totally random considering he doesn't have a tractor and hasn't been near a farm in years, we often speak about Ipswich and their struggles in trying to return to the Premiership. Unfortunately Ipswich's poor form in the last 25 or so years seems to have beaten all of my dad's optimism out of him, he says to me that it isn't worth them reaching the top flight again as they'll only become the, "Whipping boys" (he actually says "Whipping Boy" in his slight West Indian accent, they never pronounce the "S") and will struggle to compete every week. I disagree, by staying in the Championship Ipswich have, and West Ham ran the risk of, becoming a Championship side, as other Championship sides get better eventually they then struggle to stay in the Championship and run the risk of being relegated to League One. See Leeds, Nottingham Forest and Charlton for examples.
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| Rubbish ball |
That rubbish looking Mitre ball they play with
Everything about the Premiership looks better, for example they get a nice crisp new Nike ball every year. What does the Championship get? Some rubbish little Mitre ball! The Nike ball looks light and high tech, the Mitre like a heavy marble. No wonder most Championship teams just hoof it, there's not much you can do with that rock. And to add insult the injury the Football League say, "Ok we recognise it's a terrible ball so we'll give you one in the colour of your team to play with..." Not good enough! It's like when you get bored on FIFA and you go into the options and start playing around with the unusual balls you can use. "Ooooh!! There's a purple Puma ball..." No! Go out and invest in a decent Nike or Adidas ball, they're £15.99 for two in Sports Direct!
Having to stay up after Match of the Day has finished
Does anyone actually watch the Football League Show?? I barely watch Match of The Day and when I do I'm definitely not awake by the end of it when they're showing a 0-0 at the DW between Wigan and West Brom, so I'll be damned if I'm staying up to wait for them to show 30 seconds of West Ham versus Doncaster. The pundits are rubbish, Steve Clarridge and Leroy Rosenior, really?? As for the games, I have no idea what is going on, they show extended highlights of a game in the Championship, then some Championship goals, then some League One highlights, then some more Championship goals again? What? Give it up BBC.
Games on a Tuesday
As a fan who has held a season ticket for 8 years if there's one thing I hate it's games that take place at any time other than at 3pm on a Saturday. Rushing home from work (sometimes not even going home first), not having dinner, getting in between 10:30-11:00 and to make matters worse the games are always 7:45 kick offs so you struggle to get there on time. They seem to play EVERY Tuesday in the Championship. Use your brains and think of the fans Football League!
Games on a Friday
All of the issues you get with games on a Tuesday then add in that you'll probably want to be out with your mates rather than watching your team take on Coventry City. Once again the Football League showing that they give the fans no thought when they plan the football season.
Games pretty much whenever they can squeeze them in
On top of playing pretty much EVERY Tuesday and plenty of Friday's there's Saturday night's every Bank Holiday, Lunch Breaks whenever they can squeeze a game in. Arrrrrrgh!!
The Premiership song
I love the Premiership song My Saturday Self, I'm not sure why? I think when I hear this for the first time next season it will dawn on me that West Ham are back in the top flight. When I went to my first Championship game since 2005 at the beginning of the season there was an awkward silence after the teams came out (after Bubbles had finished playing), in my head I was humming the Premiership tune. I wont have to come August/September.
Getting to sing, "John Terry! Your mum's a thief...!" solidly for 90 minutes
The only other song that exists in the Premiership that can compete with My Saturday Self is this tribute to John Terry's Mother's penchant for taking items from supermarkets without exchanging them for money. Word of the street is also that, "She'll be running round Tesco's with the shopping in her bag..."
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| Mmmmmmmmmm Lasagne |
I do love playing Sp*rs, their fans will say it means more to us than it does them, as if they're some sort of superclub and to us playing them is a cup final. I enjoy it because I hate them, and they hate us and the game fills me with fear and excitement, and Sp*rs have a habit of charitably gifting struggling clubs with points, thanks for the 4 points last time Sp*rs! Didn't help though did it, can we have 6 next season?
The risk of bankruptcy
All jokes aside West Ham and other teams that get relegated from the Premiership face the prospect of being financially ruined if they don't get back up within a few seasons. I've read that this season our owners had budgeted for us going back up immediately so failure to get back into the top flight was seriously not an option. You only have to look at the likes of Portsmouth and Leeds as examples of what can happen to teams once relegated from the Premiership. Such is the nature of football nowadays, what with the millions of pounds flowing through it every day, unfortunately in order for us to have highs like the Premiership and the Champions League we have to have lows too. Investing in football teams is as good as gambling nowadays unless you have billions...
Anyway I'm rambling now, we're back in the top flight and those were 10 reasons why I'm glad we are. That's the end of domestic football chat until July for me, bring on Euro 2012.
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