Twenty four teams make up the Championship with all teams in the division, no matter how small or underestimated, aiming for promotion to the Premier League. As a Cardiff City Supporter through and through, it was possibly one of the worst days in my life as a supporter seeing us lose a hard fought Play-Off Final against Blackpool on 22nd May 2010, but what a story to tell..Blackpool in the Premier League. A small club with faint hope of achieving anything spectacular that season in the Championship, goes on to gain promotion to the Premier League and brush shoulders with the like of Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool. Tipped for relegation by some bookies, discarded as mid-table team by some and never looked at as play off hopefuls, this club goes a long way in proving how the Championship can be the most unpredictable, fascinating and most tightly fought league in football.
The thing about the Championship that separates it from the likes of the SPL, La Liga and Serie A is that anybody can beat anybody. Bookies have a field day every Saturday simply because of the unpredictable nature of the games that day in this league, any team on their day can beat any one of their challengers. In my own personal experience as a Cardiff supporter I've seen us lose leads against opposition that we've dominated throughout a game and lose against teams I thought would be unimaginable to face defeat against (which is not uncommon in the years of being a loyal fan).
One example I can use is a game against Peterborough on the 28th of December 2009. Cardiff going into the game the clear favorites for the victory against a side who looked destined for relegation and were clearly off form. And that became a near certainty at half time with the bluebirds going in at the break 4-0 up and dominating. A comfortable listen on the radio for me driving through Cardiff at the time and a rare moment to relax as a Cardiff fan. The next 45 minutes proved to me how wrong I was. Final whistle blows on this match and the final score..Peterborough 4-4 Cardiff! After this game I have never expected a runaway victory in any match in the championship no matter how big or small which really demonstrates my point of how anybody can beat or at least get a point against anyone else in this league and how It can go a long way in proving my point of the Championship being the hardest league in football.
'Chris Burke can't believe the Peterborough comeback'
Over recent years I've seen the champions of this division develop quite early in the season. The likes of West Brom, Newcastle and more recently QPR have almost runaway with the league in the early stages of the season and gone on to win the title and automatic promotion. However, the other way to get promoted to the promised land is through the Play-Offs. The richest game in football it has been called and possibly the hardest way to go up but also the best. It gives four teams the chance to have one last crack at the Premier League and show worth on the big stage in football, a Play Off Final at Wembley. As a Cardiff fan I have experienced the play-offs and gone through the drama, the joy and the heartache of this special occasion. If automatic promotion is off the cards for your club then everything relies on the play-offs and nothing is spared in the two or three games to follow. Position is key to your route to the final, getting the away leg first gives you that special atmosphere to look forward to for you home leg in the second leg and give you the biggest push towards the final. Then once the drama of the semi-finals are out of the way the next path is down Wembley way.
Beating Leicester in the Play-Off semi finals last year was one of the most stressful two games of my life as a supporter. It came down to a penalty shoot-out, which is a rare occasion down at the Cardiff City stadium/Ninian Park and one that after an exhilarating second leg was one of the most tense experiences I have witnessed. The players stepped up one after another firing their shots into the back of the net building up the tension in the ground with each spot kick. Then it came down to one Leicester player, Yann Kermogant, to step up and keep Leicester in the shoot-out. He stepped up and attempted a deaf little chip to fool Marshall in the Cardiff goal but his effort was one of the poorest penalty kicks you will see to date. Marshall getting his glove to th effort and sending the Bluebirds to Wembley!
The Play-off Final as I have mentioned before was an experience that I would rather forget as a Cardiff fan so the details of the game are now a distant memory for me. The roller coaster experience of the play-offs testing every fans steel and providing a set of mixed emotions for all. But my experience gives me the impression that this league that I watch week in week out really is the hardest league in football. The hardest league to get out of and the hardest league to stay in and definitely the most exciting!
No comments:
Post a Comment