Relegation and Newcastle

            It is truly a bad time to be a Newcastle United fan, and it would definitely be hard to support a team going on a 7 game losing streak; which is their worst Premier League performance yet. It seems as if they are trying to put themselves in a bad position, as they are seemingly toying with the reach of the Premier League relegation. For those of you who don’t know, the English football system is based on promotion and relegation, and as the end of the season is arriving, I figured I might as well talk about it. There are four tiers of league football, and below that is considered non-league. The top two tiers are the well-known Premier League and then The Championship coming in at second tier. I will only explain the relationship between these two leagues, but just know that the rest of the system follows the same principles for the most part. At the end of the regular season, the bottom three teams of the Premier League (based on points accumulated throughout the season: 3 points for a win, 1 for a tie, and none for a loss) are relegated, meaning they move down to the Championship league, not to be confused with the Champions League, for the next season. The top end of the Championship league is promoted, although in a slightly different fashion. The number 1 and 2 teams are guaranteed promotion to the Premier league, and then the third through the sixth have playoffs to secure the final position to be promoted.

            This system has many implications for the league, and it is very influential for some teams much more than others. The system leaves some teams that are being promoted and relegated year after year, sitting at the top of one league and the bottom of another. For others, mostly in the mid-table of the Premier League, relegation is something to be feared, and for obvious reason. I can guarantee that there are plenty of people that have heard of the Premier League and can name a few popular teams, and it is often on TV here in the U.S. On the other hand, if many of those people read this post, it would contain completely new information, and this would be the first time that they had heard of the Championship, and, to be honest, it was the first time that I completely understood how some of the lower ends worked, such as the non-league play. For a club, the difference is night and day. How many people want to buy apparel from a team in the Championship that very few people talk about? Compare that with the popularity and publicity of the Premier League, and at least financially wise, relegation could seem like the end of the world.

            All this, yet Newcastle still aren’t showing any signs of desperation or a desire to stay in the Premier League. Just today against Swansea, a team that had nothing to play for, Newcastle scored early and fans were hoping the end to the nonsense had finally ended. They were nothing but wrong, as Swansea came out of halftime flying; scoring three goals to take the win at 3-2. Next week, Newcastle look to take on Leicester City, a team that has been fighting off relegation all season and, for now, has overcome the bottom three. Leicester has been doing exactly what they needed to the last few games, and Newcastle really should learn something from them. If Newcastle continues this run, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them go to the dreaded relegation, and I can’t say that they won’t have deserved it. To be fair, I am not saying anything about the legitimacy of the lower leagues and their competitiveness, but the Premier League is obviously where a team would rather be.