12/21/24
May 31, 2005
Last one in: West Ham!: The Hammers beat Preston 1-0 to claim the final promotion spot from League 1 to the Premier League. With the promotion, the stand to gain 30m pounds, the same amount that Liverpool got for winning the Champions League just last week.
posted by worldcup2002 to soccer at 02:55 PM - 33 comments
Actually, the West Ham fans could have done with at least another season down in the Championship. The team might (possibly) be called a class outfit on account of their history but their fans certainly are not. Constantly bleating about being too big for that division and that they belonged back in the premiership, I saw them twice in the two years they were down and on both occasions they looked like they were exactly where they belonged. They were a Championship version of Man Yoo - everyone hated their fans and everyone was happy to see them struggle. I'm sure we'll be seeing you again in 2006/07.
posted by Pete at 03:22 PM on May 31, 2005
worldcup: Charlton and Palace are also both London teams.
posted by sauril at 03:31 PM on May 31, 2005
Can someone explain the relegation/promotion dealie? i checked out Championship standings this morning, and West Ham seemed to be in 6th with 73 pts. What of Sunderland, Wigan, Ipswich, Derby and Preston? I understood there to be 3 teams switching leagues; top 3 and bottom 3. [cheesy robot voice]This does not compute with a 6th place team moving up. Bzzzz. Bzzzz. Ping. (smoke rising) [/cheesy robot voice]
posted by garfield at 04:01 PM on May 31, 2005
I wanted Derby!!
posted by StarFucker at 04:11 PM on May 31, 2005
garfield: The top two teams each year are promoted automatically. The next four team (positions 3 to 6) go into the playoffs. Team #3 plays team #6 and team #4 plays team#5. Both matches take place over two legs - home and away - with the winners facing each other in the playoff final in Cardiff (Wembley next year). The winner of that game gets promoted. Some people think it's unfair that the third place team doesn't automatically go up, but it often gives lower placed teams something to play for towards the end of the season. And there are no playoffs for relegation.
posted by afx237vi at 04:12 PM on May 31, 2005
right on. thx afx!
posted by garfield at 04:19 PM on May 31, 2005
And in other, older but similar news, my old hometown Southend has been promoted to League One (fka Division Three) for the first time in almost forever! Wohoo!
posted by sauril at 04:33 PM on May 31, 2005
sauril: Palace are no longer in the EPL. So that leaves five London teams? Arsenal, Charlton, Chelsea, Fulham, West Ham. Good enough. btw, apropos of nothing and everything, there's only one Euro championship team in all of England, and it is LIVERPOOOOOOOOOOL! Hoohoohoo!
posted by worldcup2002 at 04:55 PM on May 31, 2005
It's six. You forgot Spurs. Fuck West Ham. I hope they get back where they belong - in the Championship whingeing about being too good/big for the Division. Did you know West Ham won the World Cup in '66 by the way? Well that's what their tosspot "fans" and the fawning London media would have you believe anyway. Well done Southend. I'll be following the Shrimpers progress in the Championship with interest next season. Let's hope the heady heights don't give them a communal nosebleed.
posted by squealy at 05:25 PM on May 31, 2005
Swansea went up from League Two as well! We have a brand spanking new stadium next year too, so hopefully we'll be able to do it justice by staying up. It's a shame Wrexham went down though, there haven't been any Welsh derbies for a while. At one point last season, it looked like all 3 Welsh teams would end up in League One, but alas not.
posted by afx237vi at 05:31 PM on May 31, 2005
what i love is the silverware the playoff winners get. yee ha! you won... third place! do the promoted teams ahead of them get silverware? FWIW the scottish football promotion system was recently rejigged and will have the top team in Div 3 promoted, with another promotion spot awarded for the winner of a playoff between the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and the team 2nd bottom in div 2. I kind of like the idea of a team having a playoff to avoid relegation the same way teams have a playoff to gain promotion. dunno how that works in practice but this is only division 3 scottish football.
posted by gspm at 05:32 PM on May 31, 2005
Err, League One. I get bloody lost with these new names.
posted by squealy at 05:43 PM on May 31, 2005
You're not the first one, squealy. And probably not the last. And yup, I did forget Spurs. No disrespect meant. So six London EPL clubs.
posted by worldcup2002 at 06:29 PM on May 31, 2005
I will diss the Spurs any day of the week and twice on Saturdays. Because, surely, that bunch of never-achievers deserve it.
posted by billsaysthis at 10:46 PM on May 31, 2005
I'm just curious as to why squealy has so much animosity towards West Ham. Sure, they've got a bunch of hooligans (but, let's face it, there are much worse clubs for it). Maybe it's just the (glorious) claret and blue they play in. heh.
posted by BigCalm at 03:24 AM on June 01, 2005
The hooliganism doesn't bother me at all. Neither do the colours - after all what did Burnley ever do to me? I can't see how I can make this much clearer. Reasons to hate West Ham: 1. The bloody London media swooning with orgasmic delight that West Ham are "back where they belong". 2. Their bloody "fans" suggesting Pardew should be sacked for not getting them promoted automatically - symptomatic of their overbearing arrogance. They're like Man Utd without the success, or the fan base. Or the humility.
posted by squealy at 04:47 AM on June 01, 2005
1. True, you don't hear them harping on about Sunderland being back, despite Sunderland having a bigger fan base and stadium than the Hammers, oh, and being a better side. But that's a problem with the (London) media, rather than the Hammer's themselves. 2. I totally agree with you. I was stunned when listening to 606 that West Ham fans wanted to sack the man that got them promoted. That's pure arrogance. But that still doesn't make me hate them. Milton Keynes Dons, now, there's a team that makes my blood boil. And Man United fans who couldn't tell you who was the manager before Ferguson, and ...hmm...think I'll stop here, before I offend everyone!
posted by BigCalm at 07:31 AM on June 01, 2005
I still wanted Derby...
posted by StarFucker at 08:31 AM on June 01, 2005
And I was pulling for Preston since I have friend from there. I'm sure my friend enjoyed their season nonetheless, despite the disappointment at the last. We Are PNE!
posted by trox at 08:53 AM on June 01, 2005
Can someone either explain to a Yank or point me in the right direction to understand how the British Leagues are set up. I enjoy following the EPL a bit and reading all of your posts but have no clue how the leagues are set up and the structure and such.
posted by scottypup at 09:46 AM on June 01, 2005
4 leagues, on top of each other Premiership: 3 relegated Championship: 2 auto-promoted, 1 playoffs, 4 relegated. League 1: 3 auto-promoted, 1 playoff, 4 relegated. League 2: 3 auto-promoted, 1 playoff, 2 relegated. Below: conference - supposedly 'amateur' league. Below this, have a look at The Pyramid. We've just gone through a painful renaming scheme, which has just confused everyone - when ever anyone says 'Division 1' you have to clarify whether they mean the top league, the second league, or the third league, because of pointless and confusing name changes over the last 15 years. It'd be simpler to just rename them after say, teletubbies than the system we've got at the moment. The rules on European qualification however, require degrees in advanced mathematics to understand however.
posted by BigCalm at 09:58 AM on June 01, 2005
Well that makes a little sense. :) So the teams are relagated to a lower division when they finish in the bottom 3 or 4 or 2 depending on the league. Is this done each year or do they have to finihs down there two years in a row or something. Also in League 2 where are the teams relagated to? The conferences based on their geographic location? Are the amateur league teams able to move up or is it simply amateur play and they are not tied to the conferences?
posted by scottypup at 10:44 AM on June 01, 2005
talkin' about england anyone see the england v.s. colombia game yesterday. Hat trick by Michael Owen and i think two were assist by Beckham. Awesome game, at least for a "friendly"...
posted by watiny21 at 11:29 AM on June 01, 2005
It wasn't on tv!
posted by StarFucker at 11:44 AM on June 01, 2005
scotty: Promotion and relegation happens at the end of every season. You only get one chance. That's what makes it interesting.
posted by worldcup2002 at 12:19 PM on June 01, 2005
btw, promotion and relegation is an extremely sensitive topic here at SpoFi. You should've seen when we tried to institute it for our EPL Fantasy League. Whooo!
posted by worldcup2002 at 12:20 PM on June 01, 2005
Oh yeah, so who got relegated this year? Are we doing it? COME ON YOU SLUGS!!
posted by StarFucker at 12:25 PM on June 01, 2005
As far as I recall the first England goal was an assist by Joe Cole (and was offside) and the second was assisted by Peter Crouch (and should have been disallowed because the free-kick was taken whilst the ball was moving). Only the third, legitimate goal was a Beckham assist. As regards to EPL FFL, relegate the bottom half i.e. 15th and below, or not at all. I'm still voting for not at all.
posted by squealy at 02:40 PM on June 01, 2005
scottypup, it might also be helpful for you to know those four divisions represent 92 professional teams, 20 in the top division, 24 each in the remaining three. The teams that get relegated from the bottom division go amateur, from what I understand, and there's no consequence for where the teams are geographically regarding promotion/relegation. squealy, once again you're right on with the goals analysis from yesterday...only the third was a legit goal and looking at the entire game, a draw would have been a fair result and I also think the game against the U.S. should have been a draw but hey, if we can't fucking finish, we lose! I was at the game in Chicago and will write more about it soon but I'll say this: Chicago is a great city.
posted by Texan_lost_in_NY at 03:01 PM on June 01, 2005
Thanks for all the explanations guys. It helps a lot to understand what you all are talking about. I like the idea of promotion and delagation. That would be nice to see in the states in baseball.
posted by scottypup at 04:03 PM on June 01, 2005
Re: Saturday's US-England match. Tell me we didn't miss Brian Ching for finishing and Damarcus Beasley racing up the wing. Josh Wolff and Steve Ralston are not equal substitutes and I think that was the difference for us. Glad you had a fun trip, TliNY.
posted by billsaysthis at 08:57 PM on June 01, 2005
yeah billy, we absolutely missed them along with Eddie Johnson and John O'Brien. Wolff runs his socks off and really gives defenders problems but he still reminds me of someone who didn't start playing the game until he was 14. When he gives himself some space with his running, he doesn't know what to do with the damn ball. Of course, if you've ever seen him shoot, it's no wonder he hesitates. I would like to see Arena make him and out and out winger...make the game easy for Josh.
posted by Texan_lost_in_NY at 10:16 AM on June 02, 2005
CORRECTION: ... Championship -- not League 1 -- to the EPL. Infernal naming system. I can't keep up. Anyway, good to have the Hammers back. Always a class outfit. So how many London EPL teams does that make? Arsenal, Chelsea, Fulham, West Ham, ...