Is the gap widening between the PL and Championship

[tiger76]

I raise this premise as it's looking highly likely both Norwich & Watford will make an immediate top flight return, and Bournemouth could well also make the play-offs.

Also 7 of the 8 FA Cup quarter-finalists are current PL teams, and the other was Bournemouth who only went down last season.

Plus 6 of the 8 EFL Cup quarter-finalists are also current PL teams, with only Brentford and Stoke breaking the mould, and traditionally this isn't a tournament that PL clubs have taken that seriously.

And in addition there's a strong chance 2 of the 3 promoted clubs will drop straight back down, in Fulham and West Brom, with the other Leeds doing OK in their 1st season back in the big time, but even they may finish in the lower half of the table.

If this is the case, and there's still some debate whether it is or not, then surely that can only be a good thing for BFC, however whether it's a good thing for the long-term health of the game is another matter entirely, I'd hope the last thing anybody wants is effectively a closed shop amongst the PL elite.

[EricaJacko]

Not at all. Year after year and season after season some people get sucked into the false theory that the Championship is getting more difficult and now we have the opposite. The difference hasn't changed in 20 years.

[ClaretTony]

Hugely widening - and the gap I think will only get greater

[gawthorpe_view]

Hopefully.

[Chester Perry]

If an independent regulator gets installed then the parachute payments could disappear - they may be watered down as a result of the strategic review - part of which is to establish a Premier League position prior to the whole game government review and part of which is to deal with the fall out from Project Big Picture.

Of course parachute payments were initially strengthened to make teams promoted to the Premier League more competitive by encouraging them to spend money on better players and the attendant wages - our 1st promotion to the Premier League contributed to that thinking. There was even talk at one stage of refusing to give parachute payments to teams that did not splash out on promotion, that was mellowed to the 2 years of parachutes if you went straight back with 3 years if your Premier League stay lasted 2 season or more.

The whole parachute payment premise was based on making the Premier League more competitive to encourage those lucrative TV rights. Of course now the league has become too competitive for the "greedy six" (as Kieron Maguire has taken to calling them) and they are now working on ways of weakening everyone else to stabilise their own position and sense of entitlement

[Burnleyareback2]

It’s still a tough league. I think the promise of mythical endless riches makes it tougher than any other league though.

[ClaretTony]

The greedy six being Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool and the two Manchester clubs and yet when the PL first started it was Everton in there and not Man City.

[Chester Perry]

The greedy six being Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool and the two Manchester clubs and yet when the PL first started it was Everton in there and not Man City.

It was 5 then and Chelsea were not part of it either

[ClaretTony]

It was 5 then and Chelsea were not part of it either

So only five - thinking about it Chelsea were nothing much of a club back in the early 90s.

[huw.Y.WattfromWare]

Gap definitely widening and covid will spread the gap further.

[Quickenthetempo]

So only five - thinking about it Chelsea were nothing much of a club back in the early 90s.

It was the big 4 until Liverpool started finishing 6th.

[ClaretTony]

It was the big 4 until Liverpool started finishing 6th.

Liverpool were involved at the start with Man U, Everton, Spurs & Arsenal

[superdimitri]

I think the gap between the rich and famous and everyone else is widening but there's also now a second gap between clubs that have unfair financial gains who don't quite spend as much as the typical top 6.

Clubs like Leicester, West Ham, Wolves, Aston Villa and Leeds have spending power that means even we can't compete with signing similar targets.

There are of course recent financial flops like Newcastle, Sheffield UTD and Bournemouth but it's not as common.

If each to premier league team was like Liverpool and spent more within their means it would be a lot fairer and the gap would be smaller. Right now you've got the top 6 teams, and about another 5 that can spend a lot more than anyone else.

If you include clubs like Brighton who've had 300m in recent investment then the gap is even wider.

Luckily though the championship dream is still possible because there's just enough teams like us who can possibly drop, and newly promoted teams can still compete with. They can still compete to not be in the bottom 3 despite having the bore of being a heavy underdog in 75% of games.

[box_of_frogs]

I thought the gap was definitely getting wider when Bournemouth waltzed past us without breaking sweat. You could easily tell which team was in the PL and which was fighting to try and get into the Play Offs.

[CardiffClaret]

Not only is there a large gap between the Championship and the Premier League, but also a large gap between the Championship and League One. The difference in finances of the clubs between those two divisions is huge, especially when you consider the amount of cash being splashed around in the Championship in an attempt to get to the riches of the Premier League.

[NottsClaret]

Depends what you mean by gap. Financially it’s always widening, that’s the system and how the Premier League likes it.

But the best players have always played for the top flight clubs. Adding some 000’s to their salaries doesn’t make them similarly better at football.

Don’t tell me you can see a gulf when we play a football league club. We’d just be marginally better over 46 games at that level, which is all you need to be.

[bfcjg]

With all the foreign owners who care little for the history of the game but care about their investment it might add to the narrative that relegation is pointless as you come back up therefore stop relegation .

[SouthLondonexile]

Short answer is yes.
There has been a pattern of clubs going up and down from the premiership. The so called yo yo phenomenon.
eg Crystal Palace, Norwich , West Brom, and to some extent ourselves. However the key factor here is continuity
Good judgement(Dyche) and the magic ingredient of luck also help enormously.
There are many clubs who simply fall apart after their premiership experience. Derby, Forest, Sunderland I could go on.

[SalisburyClaret]

In financial terms the gap widens all the time, but in footballing terms not much to choose between top 8 in Championship and bottom 8 in PL.
Championship players are usually fitter but often lack the ability to squeal and roll around when lightly touched - which is a key skill in the PL

[GodIsADeeJay81]

Short answer is yes.
There has been a pattern of clubs going up and down from the premiership. The so called yo yo phenomenon.
eg Crystal Palace, Norwich , West Brom, and to some extent ourselves. However the key factor here is continuity
Good judgement(Dyche) and the magic ingredient of luck also help enormously.
There are many clubs who simply fall apart after their premiership experience. Derby, Forest, Sunderland I could go on.

I think it was Boro who used to label us as the yoyo club yet they've done it more than us

Amusingly this downward part of their yoyo is financially crippling them as shown by their debts of £200 million announced recently.

[Fretters]

Not at all. Year after year and season after season some people get sucked into the false theory that the Championship is getting more difficult and now we have the opposite. The difference hasn't changed in 20 years.

I can't believe it's 20 years ago Ipswich finished 5th in their first season after promotion.

I know we saw similar with Sheff Utd last season but I do think the gap has widened hugely.

[Quickenthetempo]

Wage bills are certainly getting further apart.

[Top Claret]

The gap is definitely getting wider due to the parachute payments getting larger. You only have to look at the championship to see that Watford and Norwich look dead certs to be bouncing straight back up

[TsarBomba]

Hugely widening - and the gap I think will only get greater

Agree.

Norwich were rank bad in the PL last year, but are walking the Championship.

I’ll be very interested to see how they do when they come up again, and if they have learnt from their previous mistakes.

[boatshed bill]

Probably.
Parachute payments for the likes of Norwich (and us once),
And the fortunes that can be earned if your club has even a few years at the top table, meaning an ex PL club should be better equipped to finance bouncing back.

[Nonayforever]

Yes, there is a huge divide appearing.

I'm pretty certain the top six would like to become the top four at the expense of City & Chelsea.

Some clubs are stable, some clubs survive on the behest of their owners untill they either croak it or get tired of funneling money down a black hole.