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English Football - Promotion and Relegation
Oakwell, home of the Barnsley FC, who were promoted to the Premiership for the first time in the team's history this season. One of the interesting features of the Football Association's system is the ability for professional teams in the Premier and Football Leagues
to move up and down as their performance improves or worsens. Unlike sports leagues in the US, where a team is either "major" or
"minor" league, it is possible for a small-town football club in England to move their way up to the "big leagues" if they're willing to commit
the effort and money to get there. Can you just imagine baseball's Birmingham Barons (AA) one day moving to the majors? Or, how about the Cubs playing the likes of the New Orleans Zephyrs or the
Louisville Redbirds because their record wasn't good enough to keep them in the top league anymore? Outrageous, you say? Happens every year in England.
The way promotion/relegation works is simple: The three top teams in the First Division are "promoted" to the Premiership. To balance the number of teams out, the last three Premiership teams are
"relegated" to the First Division. The system works for the lower divisions as well. What this means is that all a team has to do to better themselves is to
put some money into salaries for coaches and players, and their record on the field will move them up in stature. Take the Barnsley Football Club (from Barnsley, Yorkshire), for example. Founded in
1887, Barnsley has never risen above the First Division. Last season, however, they won the First Division, and are now one of the top-flight teams in the country for the first time in 110 years. Barnsley
are struggling to remain in the Premiership, but the fact that they were able to get there at all is what makes English football exciting. Now, if we could just convince MLS to adopt promotion/relegation!
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