Higher or Lower?

[oakroader]

do you enjoy watching your team playing in a higher,more prestigious league but losing more games than they win...or hanker back to the glory days when winning most weeks filled your heart with glee?
i loved last season..not enjoying this one so far....
i know it wont affect all fans but when was your favourite season as a supporter?

 

[MagpieBee]

I've enjoyed the Championship a lot more than League 1 - the quality of football is much much better, and generally the games are more entertaining.

Doesn't hurt that we've been relatively successful since getting promoted though!

 

[BelizeHatter]

This is the League Ive always aspired for us to reach since the dark days. I kinda despise how much of a sellout the Premier League is. Fans are so low on the club and leagues list. Im not sure id want us there but its laughable to consider.

This league is punching above our current weight but id love to be able to survive and stabilise. This is the fifth biggest league on planet football with some monster clubs and resources. They can slap us little boys around a bit if we can stay.

 

[The Southbank]

Would happily see us back in League One - seeing us in the Premier League was okay until the novelty wore off. This league feels like a routine rather than anything enjoyable.

It's hard to get excited by modern football as a whole nowadays but the lower leagues, especially non-league, feel more authentic and enjoyable.

 

[Millerbri]

It's a total grind in the Championship for clubs with our kind of resources.
Sure it's great when you occasionally turn a big club over, but generally it's a season long slog for points.

In one respect it's better in that most teams fancy their chances of 3 points at little old Rotherham, so teams come and attack which makes it more entertaining.

This season we've already found out that teams will sit behind the ball and make it difficult to score, something we are not adapting to too well so far.

 

[SF_]

League One is shite, I'd rather struggle at this level and take the odd unexpected win rather than seeing teams come to Deepdale every week with ten men behind the ball.

 

[Craig]

League One is shite, I'd rather struggle at this level and take the odd unexpected win rather than seeing teams come to Deepdale every week with ten men behind the ball.

Exactly this. We went undefeated at home all last season and I could easily count on one hand how many games I really enjoyed (no 6 jokes thanks) whereas this season, as an example, I really enjoyed the football on display against Leeds even tho it was gutting to lose the match.

 

[Bobbin']

There is absolutely nothing enjoyable about being held to a 0-0 draw at home to Fleetwood and their 62 away fans or travelling to Rochdale to get turned over.

League One can fuck off.

 

[Liam_SWFC]

I remember being hammered away at Leyton Orient and Exeter, being pasted at Hillsborough by Peterborough on a pissing down Tuesday night, and being held to a draw at home against 9 man Yeovil. I'd rather watch us lose at Derby every season than that.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

If every season was like the one we just had in League 1 then sign me the hell up! Problem is they are very rarely like that and are far more often equally difficult slogs through the season as we are going to have this season. For that reason id take the higher standard of play we have seen so far in this league, even though we look set for a long season of struggle.

The quality jump between League 1 and this level is really huge from what we have seen so far and its enjoyable to see us test ourselves at it.

 

[QPR_Matt]

Bit of both really! Happy to fight relegation the odd time but I had mid table nothingness, so in the Premiership id get bored.

Ive been bored in this league for a couple of years and wanting to go down so that we can (potentially) fight for play offs and have that excitement.

I know the Premiership is over priced etc but you still have to have something to aim for.

 

[AnkleBiter]

Our first year in the Premier League was great, but there were plenty of meh moments when you get comfortably beaten but don't feel like you can complain because the oppositions bench is worth more than our club. I fucking loathe VAR so I'm not devastated we left when we did.

I'm terrified of going back to League One though. Fuck that. Took us way too long to get out of it last time.

 

[SoutheySWFC]

I want my club to be the best they can, kids under 20 won't know SWFC were once, briefly, one of the 3 best clubs in the country.

I was 11 when we did that but them 11 year olds now have kids of their own living on scraps, keeping them interested in a local side whilst tv saturates us with the select same clubs is a battle we need to fight.

 

[Craig]

An armchair Man City fan from Plymouth will never know the joy of watching your team lift the Johnstones Paint Trophy (before they ruined it with yoof teams) at Wembley.

 

[Atavistic]

Considering how disastrously our season in the Prem is going so far, give me the Championship any day of the week. Going up only causes us all sorts of issues anyway, as we simply don't have the financial clout to compete.

I mean, as a supporter you want your team to play at the highest level possible, but the Championship is so much more enjoyable than the Premier League because we can at least compete without having to stretch ourselves financially. I never want to drop lower though; sure, League 1 was fun for that one season because of the novelty of playing different teams (and, more importantly, cos we were winning so often), but I feel like anything more than that is just a recipe for disaster for any decently-sized club.

 

[Kenneth E End]

The Championship is a fantastic league. It is daunting however for a team just coming up as the division becomes even more money driven, with many clubs hell bent on selling the family silver just to get into the promised land. A huge jump from League One, not just in footballing standard, but also in coverage and profile. Every game is treated like a live match with all of the extra cameras.

For me, I'd be in the highest league as possible.

 

[Ciderup]

After 4 (?) seasons in the Championship, I really do enjoy the division but would dearly like to see my team in the top flight again. Not just for the money but moreso for younger fans that weren't around last time we were up there (1976-1980).
I agree with the Hatters that the standard is much higher here, than in L1. We found it very hard after our promotion so it's refreshing to hear that it's still the same. It seems that surviving that first season up here makes all the difference and all 3 promoted sides are having a right good go this time around, good on them. Rotherham could establish themselves at this level but can't seem to get past that 'first season' but will keep trying, I've little doubt.
Offer me a couple of seasons in the £££ league and I would be happy to come back to the Championship, it's a great league. The aspiration of the club, is most certainly the Premier league though, not necessarily the fans so please don't take this as arrogance, our CEO even stated last week that we are targeting promotion.

 

[SMH]

No win in the Championship or League One replicates the feeling of winning a Prem game. I’d be buzzing for the whole week on the rare occasion we won a game and the atmosphere at home games made the match day experience worthwhile even when we lost.

League One is horrible. Playing in a just over quarter full stadium against teams who put 11 men behind the ball in a non existent atmosphere. We got around 98 points and it was soul destroying to watch.

Championship is somewhere in the middle of the two.

 

[WilsdenBantam]

Of course you should want your club to play at the highest standard possible, with full stadiums and a chance of some atmosphere.

It's 15 years since we were at this level and 18 since the premiership, and all but 2 seasons have been shite since. I'd rather lose to Wednesday or Leeds, than lose to a 93rd minute winner from Forest Green with their only shot on target. Even if you do well the football is often terrible, and most teams in league 1 and 2 bring less than 5-600 which makes for a terrible atmosphere. Anyone happy to be relegated from this league deserves 6 years in league 2 to stop them complaining.

 

[Bobbin']

Of course you should want your club to play at the highest standard possible, with full stadiums and a chance of some atmosphere.

It's 15 years since we were at this level and 18 since the premiership, and all but 2 seasons have been shite since. I'd rather lose to Wednesday or Leeds, than lose to a 93rd minute winner from Forest Green with their only shot on target. Even if you do well the football is often terrible, and most teams in league 1 and 2 bring less than 5-600 which makes for a terrible atmosphere. Anyone happy to be relegated from this league deserves 6 years in league 2 to stop them complaining.

I remember getting relegated from this league 3 years ago with MK Dons and their fans on here said they were pleased because they weren’t ready and would give them a chance to come back stronger. 2 years later, they were relegated to League 2.

 

[WilsdenBantam]

I remember getting relegated from this league 3 years ago with MK Dons and their fans on here said they were pleased because they weren’t ready and would give them a chance to come back stronger. 2 years later, they were relegated to League 2.

Some of our lot said they hoped we wouldn't get promoted in 13/14 when we started like a house on fire, including beating Brentford 4-0 because we weren't ready apparently. We sold Wells in January, and 5 years later were relegated back to league 2. Happy days.

 

[Liam_SWFC]

Sometimes clubs need to take a step back to take 2 forward, I'd never want my club to suffer a relegation though.

 

[GTFCfish]

League 2 is shit, at times really really shit, full of cheating bastards playing for nearly every club, but give me that over the pit of fucking despair that is the National League any day.
The Luton fans will know exactly where I’m coming from here.

 

[Kenneth E End]

League 2 is shit, at times really really shit, full of cheating bastards playing for nearly every club, but give me that over the pit of fucking despair that is the National League any day.
The Luton fans will know exactly where I’m coming from here.

To be fair, I quite enjoyed it at times.

 

[Etienne Vermeer]

I've watched us in the top division, was fun pissing in the rich club's cornflakes now and then. Be a waste of time going up now, competing just to stay there.

 

[BelizeHatter]

To be fair, I quite enjoyed it at times.

One season novelty........maybe. Not the five we managed tho.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Yeah the FA Trophy was a bit of a joke, qualifying for the FA Cup pretty galling, some of the players we had turning out for us really embarrassing and some of the performances we put in at home were truely woeful. Losing at home to Dartford always sticks in my mind for how abject it was as with Hyde at home being the real nadir of it all. Oh and anything Braintree related too!

But it had its moments certainly. The away days were pretty fun and relaxed. That last season where we finally “pissed the tinpot league” was brilliant too. Definitely one of those periods where at the time it felt like we would never get out of there especially after the playoff defeats, but in hindsight you can see moments that you enjoyed.

Now I’d never want to go back though!

 

[WilsdenBantam]

Non league trash.

 

[TomPNE94]

I want us to get to the Premier League obviously but I genuinely think one season would be enough for me. Especially if VAR is still there.

 

[Fedora Dale]

There is absolutely nothing enjoyable about being held to a 0-0 draw at home to Fleetwood and their 62 away fans or travelling to Rochdale to get turned over.

League One can fuck off.

Not a fan of Fish and Chips, then?

League One is a weird one. You’ve got clubs like Rotherham (and Wigan and Millwall previously) who were good, solid, competent promotion teams, but who struggle to compete with the moneyed clubs when you go up. I think Charlton also fall into this category. Then you've got the slumming giants like Sunderland and Ipswich, down through incompetence and struggling to turn it around.

At the other extreme, you've got the small, well-run clubs like ourselves, Wycombe, Accrington, AFC Wimbledon and Shrewsbury. We're always among the favourites to go down, on size alone we should go down, but there's always a Bradford, Scunthorpe or Oldham about to have a "mare" and fill a relegation slot.

Mind you, Wycombe are flying this season. I'd love to see the reaction of certain defenders to having to circumnavigate Akinfenwa at set pieces if they do make it up!