Drama to the last in the Championship

Earlier this week, it was announced that England’s second tier, the Coca Cola Championship, was the 4th highest league in Europe for attendances. Not bad that, achieving higher attendances than many top flight leagues across the continent, including Italy’s Serie A.

And after a day of unbelievable tension and drama on the final day of the season, it is easy to see why so many fans watch Championship football. Issues at both ends of the table had not been settled before play, and every match saw something tangiable at stake.

The attendances reflected this. 36,208 were at Hillsbrough to see if Sheffield Wednesday could avoid the drop, while 31,957 paid to see if Southampton could do likewise against Sheffield United. And 26,609 looked on as Stoke City battled Leicester City, in a game which had promotion at stake for the home team and relegation woes for the Foxes.

For the neutral and big fan of the Championship league that I am, it was one exciting day with many twists and turns. At the top, West Bromwich Albion had all but secured promotion and were seeking the title. A 2-0 win at Queens Park Rangers saw former Hibernian boss Tony Mowbray secure the championship in his first full season at the Hawthorns and the Baggies’ first trophy in 40 years.

Beneath them, it was still wide open as to who would accompany the champions into the top flight. Stoke and Hull City went into it in contention- Stoke required a point, while a defeat and a Hull win would see Phil Brown’s Tigers edge ahead of Stoke.

As it turned out, Hull lost 1-0 at Ipswich and missed out but enter the play offs- a fantastic achievement after narrowly avoiding relegation last term.

So that meant Stoke’s 0-0 draw with Leicester sent the Potters to the Premier League for the first time, sparking wild celebrations at the Britannia Stadium. Some of their fans were unhappy when manager Tony Pulis returned from Plymouth Argyle, but he will go down in folklore there. And I’m sure celebrity fan Nick Hancock will have celebrated as wildly as anyone.

But, in contrast, you only needed to look to the away section and Leicester’s large following. Their draw, coupled with Southampton’s remarkable victory over Sheffield United, meant that they took the drop into League One for the first time in their history and the Saints survive. Its been a truely wretched season for City, and not even Ian Holloway’s arrival from Plymouth in October could halt a spectacular fall from grace. League Cup winners as recently as 2000 and in the Premier League four years ago, relegation will be a bitter pill for the Foxes contingent to swallow.

But it was elation for Saints, whose traumatic season ended on a high. Facing administration if they went down, Stern John rode to the rescue with 2 goals and the decisive winner, despite being sent off with 10 minutes to go. Leicester’s result also meant joy for Midlands rivals Coventry City, who survived despite a 4-1 thrashing by Charlton Athletic at the Valley.

So a dramatic day which also saw Crystal Palace and Watford seal their play off places alongside Hull and Bristol City, who finished 4th in their first season after promotion. The play offs will see Hull City play Watford and Crystal Palace take on Hull in a 2 legged match, with the winners advancing to the final at Wembley to determine who will claim the third Premier League promotion spot.

This is football at its best. Pure theatre, where nobody knows what the ending will be. Victorious Baggies boss Mowbray summed it up while basking in the glory of his team’s title win by saying “I’m delighted to get out of this division because teams like QPR will make it an extremely competitive league next season along with teams coming down and coming up.

“The Championship will be a very tight division again.”

And that is why the fans continue to pack into the grounds. Unpredictablity and drama. What football is all about.