Actually, wait, The Championship is shit.

A demonstration of this was seen in February. Ipswich fans visiting Brighton’s American Express Community Stadium (I particularly like the juxtaposition of ‘American Express’ and ‘Community’) had a banner protesting against EPPP confiscated by the stewards. And that’s Brighton, one of the smaller clubs in the Championship who have only been in the top flight for one brief period in the late 1970s. And I haven’t even mentioned Ken Bates…

The fear is that the clubs could take this a step further. There has been muttering in the recent past about the potential for the Championship to breakaway from the Football League and become Premier League Two. The Championship clubs already receive 80% of the Football League’s broadcasting revenues (12% to League One and 8% to League Two). But breaking away and joining forces with the Premier League, as Phil Gartside suggested in 2008 (two 18-team divisions was what was proposed), would give them a slice of a potentially much bigger pie, and the removal of promotion from and relegation to the Football League would safeguard their futures.

It goes without saying that such a move would be disastrous for the rest of the Football League. And while there may be no immediate prospect of this happening, there is growing self-interest and self-importance in the Championship. The Football League have done well to develop it into a successful division, but the teams are starting to believe the hype. I fear for the day where it reaches the tipping point. Because, like EPPP, there will be little the smaller clubs can do to stop it.

Relegated Premier League clubs have little to fear from the Championship. They won’t feel out of place.

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