The English Premier League is easily one of the most popular leagues globally. While it naturally has an army of passionate fans in the UK, football lovers worldwide also like to keep up with what’s happening in it.
Of course, UK football is not just about the Premier League, and there are very watchable EFL leagues below this that draw big crowds. Matches in these leagues also get plenty of attention from sports bettors, in much the same way as EPL games do. This is helped by UK bettors having a range of offers available through sports betting platforms to choose from when betting on matches.
The Championship is one example of an established EFL league and is the next level down from the Premier League. Despite its status, many fear that the gap between clubs in the Premier League and those in the Championship is growing.
But is this really true?
EPL and Championship clubs: a growing chasm
When you start to take a closer look, there seems to be real substance to claims that the gap between EPL and Championship sides is growing. But what specific factors lie behind this situation?
Financial gap
Any discussion on this subject must start with money. Established Premier League sides, for example, are able to generate huge revenues through ticket sales due to the number of people who attend games. Clubs in the Championship cannot hope to attract these kinds of crowds and this means their ticket revenues are significantly less.
Differences in TV rights, sponsorship deals, player sales and revenues from merchandise also feed into the financial gap between EPL and Championship sides. Philippe Coutinho’s £145 million move to Barcelona from Liverpool, for instance, would be impossible for a Championship club to replicate.
But what is the impact of this gap in finances between sides from each league? In simple terms, it means Premier League clubs have a lot more money to spend on buying better players and improving their facilities. This makes it much easier to remain successful and makes it harder for Championship clubs to compete on an equal footing.
Gulf in quality of squads
Although the Championship is a tough league with many decent players turning out each week, it’s fair to say that most would struggle in the Premier League. The speed of play in the EPL plus the technical ability needed to survive is a massive step up from the Championship.
As a result, it becomes clear that the quality of players at Championship sides is nowhere near the level you will find at the majority of EPL teams. While this might not have been so obvious in the past, stepping up from the Championship to the Premier League is not so easy now. This is especially true when you see the amount of elite-level talent the EPL attracts from abroad, which most Championship players cannot quite match.
When you factor in the gap between Premier League—Championship in recent years… MASSIVE. https://t.co/9WJTY3b9UL
— h (@htomufc) April 26, 2024
Proof of this can be found in not only the low number of players that Premier League sides sign from the Championship but also how newly promoted sides into the EPL can struggle. In 2023/24, for example, all three teams promoted from the Championship were relegated. This gulf in the quality is evidence of another gap between sides in each league and could make it hard for sides promoted from the Championship in the previous season to avoid the drop.
Gap in visibility between clubs
Another example of the growing gap between sides in the Premier League and Championship is how visible they are overall. The Premier League, for example, gets prime-time media attention from all the biggest newspapers, who run extensive match reports on each game. There is also the BBC’s famous Match of the Day programme and coverage of EPL games from major broadcasters, which help EPL teams connect with the public.
Championship clubs, on the other hand, do not receive anywhere near the same level of media attention in general. Although games and highlights shows can be found, they are not as high profile as those devoted to the Premier League. By the same token, you can find coverage of Championship games in traditional media outlets, but they typically do not get as many column inches as Premier League matches.
Gap between Championship and EPL can be bridged
While the above might sound alarming for the Championship in general, it’s not all doom and gloom. Players such as Eberechi Eze (who went from QPR to Crystal Palace) and Jarrod Bowen (who went from Hull to West Ham) show that elite-level footballers can be found in the Championship. If teams in this division can develop more players of this calibre and hang on to them, they could bridge the gap.
Clubs that have come up from the Championship and thrived in the Premier League in the last few years also show that any gap can be closed with the right approach. Brentford, for example, have done well by hiring a top-class manager in Thomas Frank, and recruiting players who have what it takes to make it in the EPL. If other Championship sides do this, they could also find it easier to compete with sides in the Premier League.
Premier League and Championship clubs: gap is growing
Although all hope is not lost for Championship sides, it is fair to say that there does appear to be a real gap between them and Premier League teams.
This will make it interesting see just how the three sides recently promoted from the Championship fare in the coming season.