Just eight weeks have passed in the Barclays Premiership and already Jose Mourinho's Chelsea have opened up a nine point gap on second placed Charlton Athletic. Their supposed rivals Arsenal and Manchester United are even further adrift - 10 and 11 points respectively - despite their rants last season that Chelsea would NOT run away with the title this time around. Add to this the falling attendances and the increase in ticket prices - and we have a BIG problem on our hands.

Football fans have already witnessed this problem in Italy, but at least there's a little more competition at the top. Juventus and AC Milan are the top dogs in Serie A, but recent rivals such as Lazio and Roma have fallen way behind and play in half empty stadia - mainly down to financial differences within the clubs which simply won't allow them to compete with the top clubs anymore - or at least not to their expected standards.

How Stamford Bridge may look if ticket prices aren't dropped!

Last season saw the Coca-Cola Championship get bigger average gates than the Italian Serie A. Teams such as West Ham United, Sunderland, and Ipswich Town getting bigger gates than Juventus, Lazio, and Roma - and I believe that this may soon be the case in the English league if this seasons statistics are anything to go by.

Take our match with Leeds United for example. 29,986 were at Hillsborough to witness the Owls beat Leeds 1-0 in the Championship. On the same night, Chelsea, one of the best clubs in the world, were playing in the best club competition in the world against Anderlecht and got 29,575 at Stamford Bridge - 500 less than at Hillsborough, and over 11,000 less than a capacity crowd at the Bridge.

So if the big clubs aren't filling the ground then who is? Clubs like Middlesbrough and Sunderland see their stadia half empty week in-week out. Aston Villa are also seeing a drop in crowds but are at least introducing offers such as £15 for adults to go to Premiership games. New boys Wigan filled the JJB for the first game of the season but have struggled to since then. Not surprising really, as they were only getting 3,000 supporters under a decade ago.

Now this is the main the reason for the drop in my opinion. Sure, everyone wants to see the little clubs do well and thats why everyone was willing little Wigan to beat Chelsea on the first day of the season. Everyone would love to see Wigan, West Ham, and Sunderland to stay up this season, and the press would certainly love the so called bigger clubs such as Everton and Newcastle United go down.

The Premiership is beginning to fill up with these smaller clubs, who are fuelled by rich chairman wanting to take their club to the promised land of the premiership. I for one certainly wouldn't complain if a Roman Abramovic turned up at S6 and pumped his fortune in to taking Wednesday back the top division. Is this really what football is about though? I can think of a number of clubs who have found their way to the top division by money, and money alone. Fulham, Blackburn Rovers, Wigan Athletic and Middlesbrough to a certain extent have all found their way to the promised land through big injections of money.

I don't think it's any co-incidence that the smaller crowds are being found at these clubs who just a decade ago would have been seeing crowds much less than 10,000  in much lower divisions. On the other hand, 'bigger' clubs such as ourselves, Nottingham Forest and Leeds United find ourselves with much greater crowds than the aformentioned Premiership clubs but in lower leagues thanks to mis-management of our beloved club.

I'm not saying that bigger city clubs have a devine right to be in the top divisions, but it's just my opinion that should these clubs be in the top flight then I'm sure there wouldn't be such a crisis on the attendance front. No disrespect to the Fulham or Blackburn Rovers of this world, but fans would much rather see a big clash between say Newcastle United and Liverpool than Fulham and Blackburn - the history, the prestige simply isn't there.

It certainly feels to me that the Championship is turning in to a much better league the Premiership is at the moment. Not long ago a crowd of 18,000 would be seen as a big crowd for the second tier in English football, but now there are currently eight clubs seeing an average of more than 20,000 come and watch Championship football.

Molineux - crowds increasing in the Championship

There are certainly no clear run-away leaders in the division, and there is certainly the sense that anyone can beat anyone. We showed that when we beat Leeds the other week. Excitement runs throughout the season with the inclusion of the play-offs. If at all, there are only a small handful of clubs who have nothing to play for coming in to the final few games of the season. In the Premiership last season, the main focus was on the bottom four or five clubs at the end of the season, there was simply nothing else to play for. It looks like it's going to be the same this season.

I also think it's important to note that no club in this division is financially sound enough to walk away with the league. In fact, there are probably as many clubs who are in debt than who are financially stable. Clubs like ourselves, Leeds United, Brighton, Crewe Alexandre, Millwall to name but a few, are all fighting battles off the pitch aswell as on it. There are no multi-million buys in the transfer-market. Clubs rely on bosman transfers, and their own academy to bring through young talent which can help them to the promised land, or that they can sell for a hefty profit.

This can only be a good thing for the game, as more and more English players are seen in the league. Darren Bent is one prime example of a player in the Championship going on to do well in the Premiership and earning a call-up to the England set-up as a direct result. Leroy Lita looks set to do the same as he sets the league alite at Reading.

So instead of travelling miles to watch the Manchester United's of this world, stick with your local team and give them a chance. It's cheaper, and is much more exciting. Your team is also likely to have something to play for rather just being a piece that needs to be there just to complete the jigsaw. The Championship is certainly the place to be! (Though I'm sure fans of clubs in this league won't be complaining come May if they have won promotion!)

Until next time,

Nick

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