The Bohemian
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- Joined
- Jul 24, 2012
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Plenty on this forum write disparagingly about the quality of League One, describing it as "the Pub League", "this shit league", "this god forsaken league" and worse.
The "Pub League" tag was used by Blades fans to bait 'the dark side' when they were relegated to the third tier in 2010. When we joined them a year later my expectations of the quality on offer were still coloured by memories of our two 1980s spells in the lower leagues when overall standards were pretty turgid.
To my eyes, things have improved immensely in the intervening 30 years. Almost without exception, teams are fit and well organised. Individual technique has improved as players have had to adjust to games being played at a quicker tempo, placing greater demands on passing, movement and keeping possession.
Defensive errors are invariably punished, as we found to our cost last season (e.g. Chesterfield (A), Gillingham (A) and Peterborough (H) ) and easy points are a rarity.
What's more, winning automatic promotion from the so-called Pub League requires a squad with the ability and momentum to compete effectively at a higher level. An analysis of the 10 teams occupying the top two berths in League One over 5 seasons, from 2009/10-2013/14, reveals that 3 (Southampton, Norwich and Bournemouth) are in the Premier League, 6 remain in the Championship and only 1 (Doncaster) has been relegated back to League One.
So isn't it time to give this very competitive league the respect it deserves, enjoy the generally high standard of football on offer and accept that getting out of it was never going to be easy?
The "Pub League" tag was used by Blades fans to bait 'the dark side' when they were relegated to the third tier in 2010. When we joined them a year later my expectations of the quality on offer were still coloured by memories of our two 1980s spells in the lower leagues when overall standards were pretty turgid.
To my eyes, things have improved immensely in the intervening 30 years. Almost without exception, teams are fit and well organised. Individual technique has improved as players have had to adjust to games being played at a quicker tempo, placing greater demands on passing, movement and keeping possession.
Defensive errors are invariably punished, as we found to our cost last season (e.g. Chesterfield (A), Gillingham (A) and Peterborough (H) ) and easy points are a rarity.
What's more, winning automatic promotion from the so-called Pub League requires a squad with the ability and momentum to compete effectively at a higher level. An analysis of the 10 teams occupying the top two berths in League One over 5 seasons, from 2009/10-2013/14, reveals that 3 (Southampton, Norwich and Bournemouth) are in the Premier League, 6 remain in the Championship and only 1 (Doncaster) has been relegated back to League One.
So isn't it time to give this very competitive league the respect it deserves, enjoy the generally high standard of football on offer and accept that getting out of it was never going to be easy?