I find the Championship so depressing

[Whitestone]

I will always want Fulham to be playing at the highest level possible with the potential for playing in Europe. If we hadn't struggled so much in our recent excursions into the top flight I don't think there'd be many fans choosing the Championship over the Premier League.

[ScalleysDad]

As the Championship looms ever closer the list of 'accessible games' grows longer and the journeys change quite significantly. Will it be Swansea or Bournemouth and if Reading crack I will be home in time for tea. The grim side of course is that we will miss out on staying in the Prem when the bottom eight Clubs have been decidedly average but we must learn the all important lesson this time round. If we aspire to a Burnley, Norwich, Wolves, Leeds or Southampton model we will need to be so much more savvy and patient in the rebuild and not operate on the wing and a prayer system our current model seems to rely on.

[Chrismmo]

I do enjoy the emptiness of Reading away!

[bobby01]

I don't mind the championship at all, I find games a lot more enjoyable, mind you that was under Slav and not the mind numbing stuff we have endured the last couple of seasons.

[MJG]

People won't like this but it seems that those who are happy to play in the Championship are making excuses to numb the pain of relegation

it's just football, the ups and downs of it. The Champis fine, more games to go to and follow. We win more games. I say that because many don't care about quality of football just the result, so they will be happy.
No one is making excuses just being honest in most cases that what will be will be. PL is dire to watch in majority of games, can't remember the last non Fulham game I have sat down and watched full 90 mins with eyes glued to the TV. PL is not the be all and end all. It's just Division one in a different name.

[Twig]

I hate us being a yo yo club. It's rubbish.  The Championship isn't all bad and some of the best clubs show some quality but there's an awful lot of dross on display. So unless we scale the dizzy heights of the Tigana era I anticipate much more tedious garbage than high quality entertainment.

[ron]

Saying the championship is depressing doesn't say much for leagues 1 & 2, and those further down the pyramid.Those clubs provide pleasure and joy for tens of thousands of fans with a lot less to attract them than the Championship. Perhaps beauty really is in the eye of the beholder after all.

[JoelH5]

Saying the championship is depressing doesn't say much for leagues 1 & 2, and those further down the pyramid.Those clubs provide pleasure and joy for tens of thousands of fans with a lot less to attract them than the Championship. Perhaps beauty really is in the eye of the beholder after all.

Of course it is. It's a crude analogy but the child who lives in rural China doesn't yearn for the PlayStation. The child in Beijing who has one, would do so if it was taken away. You can't miss what you've never had.

[WokingFFC]

I'm not in fact I love the away days in the championship .

Could not agree more, true fans, good atmospheres, 2 games a week, honest players plying their trade, no VAR, what's not to like?

[grandad]

I'm not in fact I love the away days in the championship .

Could not agree more, true fans, good atmospheres, 2 games a week, honest players plying their trade, no VAR, what's not to like?

There will be VAR in the Championship next season.

[JoelH5]

I'm not in fact I love the away days in the championship .

Could not agree more, true fans, good atmospheres, 2 games a week, honest players plying their trade, no VAR, what's not to like?

Honest players. Every single one of them would snap up the chance to play in the PL. Does that mean as soon as they do they aren't honest? And do the fans not become true when they get promoted. That means none of us here are true fans. Not to mention there is VAR next season.

It just furthers my point, no one wants to play in the Championship, we just tell ourselves that to make ourselves feel better.

[FulhamStu]

I enjoy the Championship. Real teams playing in front of true supporters on a more level playing field. Of course I would like us to be in the PL but apart from the financial rewards most outside the "Big 6" are just make weights.

Why does playing the Championship make you a true supporter?. My son since a very young age has been a fanatical Arsenal supporter, he is now in his 40's, is he not a true supporter because Arsenal are in the Premiership.

Probably not 😉

[FulhamStu]

Listen I doubt many, certainly not me are saying they don't want to be in the Premier League, I was just pointing out there are positive aspects of being in the championship.  Knowing you are likely to win more than 5 games is one, there are many others, cost, different grounds, easier to get tickets, yes last time even with a promotion it was as has been said turgid.  If we have a great championship team next season and went up to win a few more games and be mid table then great, that however is so difficult when team like Arsenal have a guy on the bench who cost £70 million.  Championship football needs money but it's not as ridiculous as the Premier League.

[General]

I have found premier league pretty depressing to be honest

I don't find the Premier league depressing for the competition and quality and excitement. I find it depressing because under the khan's they've managed to make a ballsup of not having the right squad and manager in place when we do get up.

With a proper striker signed or mitro playing more regularly or with another manager not Scott Parker, we would have been staying up and would not have bottled it when so close to Newcastle.

Whilst we could still catch burnley I'd be surprised if we do. We've been so ineffective at winning games and getting the necessary points. We've been far to soft a team and I put that down to lacking a decent manager. Wish I didn't have to say that as I like Parker as a man and think he may do well later in his managerial career but he needs to be let go as he's currently not good enough for the premiership. Far too one dimensional, lacking creativity to change things quick enough and address issues like goalscoring.

[Cambridge Pete]

Please guys lets not have an argument over what makes a true supporter. I am just happy to watch Fulham, Would prefer the Premier League but have enjoyed watching Fulham in all four Divisions. There are some who have only ever seen us in one of the top two divisions. They are just as true a supported as anyone else. We all support Fulham

[perry geyton]

Oddly enough playing against the so called big clubs used to be exciting. Fancy little Fulham winning at Old Trafford. But now the big clubs no longer feel as big as they once did. We don't feel as big as we were when we had our 13 season or whatever it was spell in the Prem. Football and the big clubs no longer hold the same fascination.

The Championship just feels like a mixture of the honest week in week out struggle and roller coaster ride that football used to feel like. It just feels less fraudulent. Does that make sense? So going to the Championship, promotion is the aim but we have become a yoyo club so the struggle and the journey is always more entertaining than the final destination.

Yep 👍🏼

[WindyCity]

I'm just depressed not to be in top flight next season.  I know many in this forum 'just love' Championship football.  Sorry, but that doesn't work for me.  Of course, everyone can find their own particular space for football enjoyment, but a franchise like FFC should be a regular participant in top flight.  This season was very frustrating.  A couple of peaks, but mostly valleys I'm afraid.  But I'd still rather be fighting it out in top flight.  And the way this team is shaping up, what with the inevitable departures and just what is left on the table, Championship football may be short lived, and League 1 not a too distant prospect.  Where's my beer??

[FulhamStu]

Please guys lets not have an argument over what makes a true supporter. I am just happy to watch Fulham, Would prefer the Premier League but have enjoyed watching Fulham in all four Divisions. There are some who have only ever seen us in one of the top two divisions. They are just as true a supported as anyone else. We all support Fulham

I was only messing about.  I know fans who support 2 teams, one in div 1 and one Premiership.   If they want to do that then fine.  I also know many fans who are passionate fans of big 6 who have never been to a game and never played.  I always try and get them to support local teams, my family all came from Fulham, if they came from Torquay, I would probably support them but I could support Man United who have many more fans in Devon than Torquay do.  There are no rules, but it's very easy to support a big team, my youngest son supported Man U when he was 8 but when he grew up he changed his mind and came over to the black and white side.  My eldest has always been a passionate Fulham fan and season ticket holder even though he lives closest to Crystal Palace.

[ScalleysDad]

I do enjoy the emptiness of Reading away!

No need to go all sentimental with us. It was strange that a Mad Stad with so many empty seats still took an age to get out of the car parks. Lots of ups and downs here of course, the beauty of the Ruiz and Berbatov goals, the joy of a few pints at the station and a long sleep on the train, the Waitrose meal deal and of course the fiasco in the fog. I am not promoting the Championship at all but trips to Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle hold no good memories whatsoever especially when shoe horned into the worse section of whichever soulless amphitheatre.
However still five games to go so let's see what happens.

[ScalleysDad]

Please guys lets not have an argument over what makes a true supporter. I am just happy to watch Fulham, Would prefer the Premier League but have enjoyed watching Fulham in all four Divisions. There are some who have only ever seen us in one of the top two divisions. They are just as true a supported as anyone else. We all support Fulham

I was only messing about.  I know fans who support 2 teams, one in div 1 and one Premiership.   If they want to do that then fine.  I also know many fans who are passionate fans of big 6 who have never been to a game and never played.  I always try and get them to support local teams, my family all came from Fulham, if they came from Torquay, I would probably support them but I could support Man United who have many more fans in Devon than Torquay do.  There are no rules, but it's very easy to support a big team, my youngest son supported Man U when he was 8 but when he grew up he changed his mind and came over to the black and white side.  My eldest has always been a passionate Fulham fan and season ticket holder even though he lives closest to Crystal Palace.

United are everywhere bless them. If you know Sowton Services at the bottom of the M5 a number of modes of transport would be lined up to take exiles to various grounds. We were there one morning for something and the call outs went "Darts mini bus ready for Birmingham bay 12, airport shuttle service for Bristol Airport and connections to Ashton Gate is running late and coaches for Manchester are ready...... coaches A to E to the left and F,G, H and executive straight ahead from the doors"
NINE flipping coaches.