The greatest thing about English Club Football
In America, professional sports are professional sports. They're the guys getting paid big bucks to play the games we love, and we're the guys on the couch watching them with kettle chips and Natural Ice. There's no in between. But in England (and throughout Europe at that) there's a little something called the relegation system, otherwise known as the football pyramid. Basically it's this: All the clubs in the entire English country are ranked 1 through whatever it be. (By quick estimation I think it's around 1,400 teams - I kid you not) Now - The Premiership consists of 20 of them, the top 20. The Championship consists of teams 21-44, League 1 consists of teams 45-68, League 2 consists of teams 69-92. This is the League portion of the English system following that - well hell, let's just take it directly from Wikipedia to make it faster for me:
"The top tier of non-League football is the Football Conference, which contains a national division of 24 clubs (Level 5), followed by two divisions at Level 6, covering the north (Conference North) and south (Conference South), with 22 clubs each. Some of these clubs are full-time professional and the others are semi-professional. Below the Conference some of the stronger clubs are semi-professional, but continuing down the tiers, soon all the clubs are amateur."
So this is basically the system. As you can see - it's all interconnected, making it a bit easier for the schmuck on the couch, like myself, to feel connected to the teams. And at the end of each season, the top three or so teams go up one division, and the bottom three or so teams go down one division. This makes the whole thing very fluid and exciting (and that isn't even bringing up the wonderful FA Cup - GO ON BARNSLEY!) - and even if your team is on the bottom of the tables, it makes you keep watching and makes the end of the season very very important for not only the good teams, but the bad ones as well. I think it's a brilliant system, and usually I find the relegation battles MUCH more interesting than the Prem Championship races because A) the champion is usually decided around march anyway (usually) and B) the teams on the lower end tend to be the ones with smaller wages, less money flow, and the players are always fighting for spots and careers, and actually give a damn about the teams and supporters they play for. If you're at a top team and you do poorly there's really no need to worry - another team will come in and swipe you up (keep reading for more on this). It's the old trick of getting fired to get a pay raise.
Anyway - I've always loved the relegation battle. Always - that is - until the team I support was actually IN the relegation battle. Well, now we are and I'm not looking so fondly at the cute little relegation battle wayyyyy down there at the bottom of the table!!
So - here are Newcastle United - a team with Shay Given, Michael Owen, Obafemi Martins, Steven Taylor, Damien Duff, Mark Viduka, Habib Beye - all representatives on their respective National teams - are within three points of the "drop zone," and are very much in the struggle to stay in the top flight of the Premiership. Of course, it's easy to say "These players are too good to go down" and just shrug it off like it's just one, big unlucky streak. But I've been following this league to closely to think that ANYTHING can be explained by pure luck. That's NEVER the case. When something happens - ANYTHING - there's a reason for it. So let's take a look at NUFC's situation. They begin the season with Allardyce - a man who plays players out of position, using tactics that none of them are used to or respect. Keep in mind - these players make more in one week than I do in a full year - and they're being told to play differently than how they've played to get to this great point in their career. So obviously this doesn't go well. They lose big time. Then, in January, Big Fat Sam gets the sack - Justifiably - and Keegan comes in. Everyone is genuinely excited because he goes back to the more traditional - and fun and exciting - methods of playing football. By trying to score goals and enjoy yourselves. But it just so happens that at the same time, half the team is either injured, match banned, or in the Africa Cup of Nations. So he takes over only a fragment of the Newcastle side that he was given. Well, by the time he gets the full squad back, we've had losses - big ones - to NUMEROUS opponents - most of which were justifiable, whether it be due to away matches, quality opponents, what have you. It was just a very difficult time in our schedule. And we never stepped up. And somewhere in there, in the whole muck of changing managers, players being gone, fans getting too anxious, the players on this squad realize - we're shit and we're going to keep going down. Now - what do they think to themselves? The best case scenario is that we all play well and work hard and stay up and maybe make something of this squad, and the worst case scenario is that I don't give a crap, we'll lose, and since I'm on the National squad, I'll be able to find a job at any of the other premiership teams. I'll leave Newcastle, and pick up somewhere else." And that didn't seem like that bad of an option. These days in any sport, players aren't tied to a team like they were back in the day. They can be gone with a phone call. They know their own value. So since the Titanic had broken its hull, the players said - "I might as well just sit here on the deck at the lowest point and wait for it to sink - because I can see the rescue boats waiting for me."
Well, my friends, in the world of football, Newcastle United Football Club is the Titanic. It's sinking. Ashley, Mort, and Kev Keegan are all up in the captain's deck wiping the sweat off their brow, the players are comfortable in the rescue boats with the string quartets on them, and all us supporters, me included, are the little twirps running like mad just trying to stay above the freezing water levels. And run and struggle as we may - even if we get to the highest point on this junk metal heap of a club - there's no more rescue boats on the horizon, and the only thing we've got to keep us warm is the comfort of knowing that once our frozen bodies sink to the depths of the ice-cold Coca-Cola Championship, we'll be amongst friends - and without any of these prima donna's who put their ugly mugs on the TV every Saturday night and proclaim loyalty to this "Massive Club."
"The top tier of non-League football is the Football Conference, which contains a national division of 24 clubs (Level 5), followed by two divisions at Level 6, covering the north (Conference North) and south (Conference South), with 22 clubs each. Some of these clubs are full-time professional and the others are semi-professional. Below the Conference some of the stronger clubs are semi-professional, but continuing down the tiers, soon all the clubs are amateur."
So this is basically the system. As you can see - it's all interconnected, making it a bit easier for the schmuck on the couch, like myself, to feel connected to the teams. And at the end of each season, the top three or so teams go up one division, and the bottom three or so teams go down one division. This makes the whole thing very fluid and exciting (and that isn't even bringing up the wonderful FA Cup - GO ON BARNSLEY!) - and even if your team is on the bottom of the tables, it makes you keep watching and makes the end of the season very very important for not only the good teams, but the bad ones as well. I think it's a brilliant system, and usually I find the relegation battles MUCH more interesting than the Prem Championship races because A) the champion is usually decided around march anyway (usually) and B) the teams on the lower end tend to be the ones with smaller wages, less money flow, and the players are always fighting for spots and careers, and actually give a damn about the teams and supporters they play for. If you're at a top team and you do poorly there's really no need to worry - another team will come in and swipe you up (keep reading for more on this). It's the old trick of getting fired to get a pay raise.
Anyway - I've always loved the relegation battle. Always - that is - until the team I support was actually IN the relegation battle. Well, now we are and I'm not looking so fondly at the cute little relegation battle wayyyyy down there at the bottom of the table!!
So - here are Newcastle United - a team with Shay Given, Michael Owen, Obafemi Martins, Steven Taylor, Damien Duff, Mark Viduka, Habib Beye - all representatives on their respective National teams - are within three points of the "drop zone," and are very much in the struggle to stay in the top flight of the Premiership. Of course, it's easy to say "These players are too good to go down" and just shrug it off like it's just one, big unlucky streak. But I've been following this league to closely to think that ANYTHING can be explained by pure luck. That's NEVER the case. When something happens - ANYTHING - there's a reason for it. So let's take a look at NUFC's situation. They begin the season with Allardyce - a man who plays players out of position, using tactics that none of them are used to or respect. Keep in mind - these players make more in one week than I do in a full year - and they're being told to play differently than how they've played to get to this great point in their career. So obviously this doesn't go well. They lose big time. Then, in January, Big Fat Sam gets the sack - Justifiably - and Keegan comes in. Everyone is genuinely excited because he goes back to the more traditional - and fun and exciting - methods of playing football. By trying to score goals and enjoy yourselves. But it just so happens that at the same time, half the team is either injured, match banned, or in the Africa Cup of Nations. So he takes over only a fragment of the Newcastle side that he was given. Well, by the time he gets the full squad back, we've had losses - big ones - to NUMEROUS opponents - most of which were justifiable, whether it be due to away matches, quality opponents, what have you. It was just a very difficult time in our schedule. And we never stepped up. And somewhere in there, in the whole muck of changing managers, players being gone, fans getting too anxious, the players on this squad realize - we're shit and we're going to keep going down. Now - what do they think to themselves? The best case scenario is that we all play well and work hard and stay up and maybe make something of this squad, and the worst case scenario is that I don't give a crap, we'll lose, and since I'm on the National squad, I'll be able to find a job at any of the other premiership teams. I'll leave Newcastle, and pick up somewhere else." And that didn't seem like that bad of an option. These days in any sport, players aren't tied to a team like they were back in the day. They can be gone with a phone call. They know their own value. So since the Titanic had broken its hull, the players said - "I might as well just sit here on the deck at the lowest point and wait for it to sink - because I can see the rescue boats waiting for me."
Well, my friends, in the world of football, Newcastle United Football Club is the Titanic. It's sinking. Ashley, Mort, and Kev Keegan are all up in the captain's deck wiping the sweat off their brow, the players are comfortable in the rescue boats with the string quartets on them, and all us supporters, me included, are the little twirps running like mad just trying to stay above the freezing water levels. And run and struggle as we may - even if we get to the highest point on this junk metal heap of a club - there's no more rescue boats on the horizon, and the only thing we've got to keep us warm is the comfort of knowing that once our frozen bodies sink to the depths of the ice-cold Coca-Cola Championship, we'll be amongst friends - and without any of these prima donna's who put their ugly mugs on the TV every Saturday night and proclaim loyalty to this "Massive Club."
posted by darkred at 8:32 PM
4 Comments:
Thanks for the explanation of the leagues that you guys follow, that makes a lot more sense and no I half way understand what a drop zone is...
I believe you grossly underestimate the loyalty that CAN be provided to players still, even in the top teams. For example, Man United has had players that have come up in their youth system that have played for 15+ years for United and have consistently performed in the first team (namely Giggs, Scholes, what used to be the better Neville but now might labled the lesser Neville).
Yes, most players still leave for a bigger pay day (Beckham) or for more playing time (P. Neville, Nicky Butt---your favorite player HA!).
I don't see NUFC dropping because the teams that are in the relegation zone are playing top flight teams in the upcoming fixtures (Man United plays Derby (20th) and Bolton (18th) in the upcoming weeks) and most likely will not be picking up points.
Youre right, kramer, there are many exceptions to my rule. But if you think that, on the whole, your wonderful Manchester United players are there because they love Manchester United and not because they can get an enourmous paycheck and win trophies for themselves, then your being a bit naive...I'm sure Tevez and Ronaldo were Red Devils since the age of 5. :)
And yes - we've got one of the easier schedules when compared with some of the other low teams. Which gives me confidence - but it's also just another way that NUFC can blow everyone's minds and fail yet again, to lose to the lowest teams, rather than the highest ones!
Correct, who DOESNT want to win? Yeah, there are tons of foreign born players on United but the Premiership as a WHOLE has TONS of foreign born players now, unfortunately. The days of all English premiership teams are gone. You have to look down to the 21 and below teams to see that stuff
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