ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP:NO ONE can accuse the English Football League of being boring. This weekend brings the final round of fixtures, with a remarkable 22 of the 72 clubs unsure which division they will be in next season. Thirteen Championship clubs and nine League One sides are either chasing promotion or fighting relegation.
Comparisons between the standard of football in the top flight and the three divisions below are futile but, with the Championship the fourth-best supported league in Europe, it seems safe to assume fans are enthralled by the prospect of following a club in a competition where most finishing positions are not a foregone conclusion.
"The Championship is so unpredictable," says Stoke's manager, Tony Pulis, before their critical home game against Leicester, where a point will ensure the Britannia Stadium hosts Premier League football next season. "There's so much resting on this one afternoon: teams going for promotion, for play-offs, for avoiding relegation. It's a fascinating division and I'm sure there will be twists and turns on this one afternoon as there have been all season."
Should Stoke slip up, Hull City, another unexpected frontrunner, could win promotion to the top flight for the first time. Apart from those two, only Bristol City are sure of a play-off place, as Wolverhampton Wanderers, Ipswich and Sheffield United seek to wrestle the initiative from fifth-placed Watford and sixth-placed Crystal Palace. At the other end Blackpool, Coventry, Sheffield Wednesday, Leicester and Southampton are desperately hoping to remain afloat.
"I can't ever remember a season finishing like this but, not withstanding that, it's the size of the clubs that are involved," said Sheffield United manager Kevin Blackwell. "You've got big clubs at one end, like West Brom and Stoke. And at the other end, you've got Southampton, Coventry, Leicester and Sheffield Wednesday. The crowds this weekend could be bigger than the Premier League and that just shows how big the games are."
Pulis believes the Championship's competitive edge owes much to the clubs' financial parity. Apart from the €14.4 million a year the three sides relegated from the Premier League receive in parachute payments for two years, income does not vary greatly from club to club. "There's a better spread in this division, with the money shared out more, so anyone's capable of beating anybody," said Pulis.
Andy Knee, the Football League's Championship director, agrees the financial structure has helped to create tomorrow's remarkable finale. "The distribution is very equitable," he said, pointing to the €1.28 million each Championship club receives in television revenue. "Certainly the ethos of having a fairly level distribution - balanced and not a huge ladder payment - is one we appreciate bears fruit. It gives everyone a shot at being where they would like to be at the end of the season."
Outside of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool it is difficult to believe many Premier League fans would not welcome a more level playing field. Whereas 45 points separate the top three from the bottom three in the Premier league today, the congested nature of the Championship means Southampton, in 22nd place, are 24 points behind Hull City, in third place. Only two Championship fixtures this weekend involve teams with nothing to play for.
