I have felt that the magic has ebbed away in recent years, with money being a big factor. It used to be that smaller/less fashionable teams like Grimsby, Crewe, Doncaster, Gillingham, Port Vale and Shrewsbury could have solidify themselves in the 2nd tier for a good few seasons if they chanced upon a winning manager of formula. Wimbledon overachieved for years in the top tier.
However, now this doesn’t seem to be the case. You know that teams who drop from tier one to two and two to three will do well next season, due to money and parachute payments. It was always true that the bigger clubs tended to fare well and relegated teams would stand a good chance of a return, but look at it now. Norwich, Watford, Bournemouth and Fulham seem to forever yo-yo between the Premier League and Championship because they have too much spending power for the Championship, but not enough for the Premier League. Likewise, Rotherham, Wigan, Barnsley and Peterborough in League One and the Championship. The effect of money dominates and you have to spend an astronomical amount of money to stabilise in the 2nd tier, which makes a dream like our 00s good run seem next to impossible now. We won’t have the days where Crewe, Stockport and Doncaster can have many year runs in the 2nd tier, because they don’t have the resources, which has killed the joy for me to some degree. The league pyramid benefits are that in theory, even the unfashionable teams can have a good run with a good manager or ownership. It doesn’t really feel that way now, because wage demands and money mean the Peterboroughs and Wycombes can’t have a good stay in the 2nd tier. And while yo-yo teams have always existed, I never got the impression it was as prevalent as today. It just seems to kill the hope when you know that the chances for others is getting less likely.
