Is the League upside-down?

So-called "big clubs' need to put the present ahead of the past

By Joe Short

Southampton consider life in League One

Last weekend saw more chapters added to the tragic tale of what are arguably some of England’s more prestigious clubs, with the relegation of Charlton Athletic, Southampton and Norwich City into the bleak, long-ball wastelands of League 1.

They have joined a band of clubs, such as Leeds United, Leicester City and Millwall, to have fallen further down the league hierarchy, after once reaching so high at the top.
Unfortunately, it looks as though the face of the football league is beginning to change. Supposed “big clubs’ are now seeing themselves relegated, with teams of no-hopers and echoing shells for stadiums sending them down dismally quickly.
In just three seasons, Charlton have managed to undo everything ex-manager Alan Curbishley had set up, to plummet from an eight-year high in the Premier League, to a place in English Football’s third tier.
What is intriguing though is the surprise this has generated. The general opinion from supporters and pundits appears to be that thorough-bred “big’ clubs such as Charlton and Southampton should not be going down.
Instead, lowly clubs with smaller fan bases deserve to stay lowly with small fan bases.
This is the same thought that was voiced when Leeds got relegated back in 2003, the same when Manchester City were down in the then-called “Division Two’ in 1998, and it will certainly be the same if Newcastle see themselves out of England’s elite this season.
What surprises me is a notion voiced that “smaller’ clubs such as Wigan Athletic and Hull City should make way for the larger ones.
Listening to Radio 5Live’s 606 Phone-in last weekend, an irate Newcastle United fan was questioning why his team should be put under the strain of relegation, when clubs with smaller fan bases such as Hull get to stay up.
This is an absurd suggestion. The thought of playing in a higher league purely on the basis of club stature is one that can only be voiced by those drunk on passion and pride for their clubs.
What is sometimes difficult to grasp is that the cycle of football will always continue. Every team has its ups and downs; Leeds are currently swilling around the bottom of a down, whilst Hull are arguably on the crest of an up.
So why can’t Newcastle, Southampton, Charlton and the likes respect this turning of the tables?
No club has a divine right to play in the top flight, as much as no club has a divine right to play in Europe (I’m looking at Tottenham fans here), or win the league (ahem, Liverpool).
Maybe it’s forgotten that Manchester United were once roughing it in 1974’s Division Two, whilst Aston Villa had almost two decades outside the top league.
The cycle will always continue. Many would say Nottingham Forrest, two-time European Cup winners, should be up there with the best.
It’s a sorrowful indictment on the game of football when fans begin to argue the stature of a club. Are Forest bigger than Arsenal? They’ve won more European honours after all.
Are Middlesbrough bigger than Newcastle, with a League Cup to their name compared to the Magpie’s trophy-less streak of over 50 years?
The way I see it, we need to look at the present. A club does not have a right to play in a league on the basis of its history. It is what happens now, in this season, that dictates what level you play in the next.
People may argue that Newcastle, if relegated, have more of a right to be in the Premier League than newly promoted Wolverhampton Wanderers. However, right doesn’t get you anywhere.
You have to earn the right, as Leeds and Southampton have found to their detriment, but Wolves and Wigan have found to their credit, to play at the highest level you can.
If you can’t hack it, you will be found out, with no second chances. And it’s a long road back to the top.