With the new English football season upon us it is fairly obvious that most of our attention will be focused on the Premier League for the next nine months or so.

To be fair, that is understandable for a variety of reasons. For a start, many of the teams we Maltese support can be found there. And even those of us who don’t follow the likes of Manchester United or Liverpool find ourselves sucked in by the money and marketing of the world’s richest league.

However, I think we would all be wise to keep one eye on the Premiership’s baby brother this year because, in terms of excitement and competition at least, I reckon the Championship will be the one to watch.

It’s nearly always the case that the second tier of English football has some big teams in it. But this year, more than any other I can remember, the division has a vibrancy about its line-up that is quite remarkable.

For starters, you have the teams that came down from the Premier League last season – Birmingham City, Blackpool and West Ham United. While Birmingham have been severely weakened by their financial problems, and Blackpool may have found their natural level, West Ham are looking lean, mean and ready for action.

In Sam Allardyce they have appointed someone I consider to be one of the top English managers in the modern game. If anyone is capable of getting the Hammers promoted at the first time of asking, then it is Big Sam.

Then you have Leicester City, the Manchester City of the second tier. They have Sven Goran Eriksson in charge and have spent plenty of money building a team to get back into the big time.

And what about Nottingham Forest with Steve McClaren in charge? He might not be everyone’s favourite manager but there is no doubting his experience and, in most cases, his track record.

In just those three teams – Leicester, West Ham and Forest – you have two former England managers, and one who probably should have been given the job. When did the Championship contain so many bosses of that calibre before?

Then there are the likes of Cardiff City and Reading, who both made the play-offs last season and will be eager to go one step further this time round.

And let’s not forget Leeds United. It’s not that long ago they were playing in the semi-final of the Champions League. If you had to pick one team that has Premiership written all over it then I think it would be the one from Elland Road.

If all that wasn’t enough, how about we throw in another 12 teams who were recently in the Premier League? Burnley, Hull City and Middlesbrough, for example, will all be itching to get back to the top flight and replenish their rapidly draining coffers.

Of course, there are a few sides who don’t have as much history or glamour behind them – the likes of Brighton, Peterborough United and Doncaster Rovers. But those are very much the minority in this season’s Championship, whereas in the past they would probably have made up half the division.

There has been quite a bit of talk about reshaping English football in recent years and creating a Premiership 2. But do we really want to create another financial monster?

Does the Championship deserve a bigger share of football’s financial cake? Yes. Should it be given more television prominence? Absolutely. But does it need renaming, rebranding and commercialising to within an inch of its life? I don’t think so.

As it is now, the financial rewards on offer for teams promoted from the Championship are immense and that adds enough spice to the league. So why try and fix something that isn’t broken?

As someone who has followed this particular league for most of the past 20 seasons, mostly through necessity, I can tell you it has an awful lot going for it. The football may not have the finesse of the Premiership but it makes up for it in so many other ways: passion, excitement and twists.

And this season all the ingredients are there to make it quite possibly the most enthralling Championship campaign in its history.

It’s just a shame the aforementioned ‘necessity’ – supporting Sheffield United through thin and thin – means most of my attention will be on League One this season.

But I promise you I will be keeping a very close eye on what is going on in the league above the Blades.

And those of you who genuinely adore football, even if Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea or Liverpool are your first loves, would be well advised to do the same.

It’s going to be a good one.

If at first you don’t succeed…

The expression suggests that if you don’t succeed at first you should try and try again. Which is a wise approach to life.

However, I don’t think whoever came up with that saying meant that when you fail you should try and do something similar, but much, much more difficult.

Try telling that to young Max Lonsdale.

The 18-year-old midfielder was released by Macclesfield Town last season, and for most that would have probably spelt the end of their dream of playing professional football.

When a League Two side deems you not quite good enough then the only way is probably down.

However, Lonsdale is slightly more determined than that, apparently, and is certainly not short of self-belief.

Instead of slipping away into non-league obscurity or walking away from football entirely, he put together a DVD of himself playing for Macclesfield reserves and sent it all the way to the top – Sir Alex Ferguson.

Although I imagine the Manchester United boss must get hundreds of these videos every season, something must have stood out in this one as he passed it on to one of his coaches.

And, as a result, Lonsdale was given a one-week trial with the English champions which was subsequently extended to two weeks. During that time he made two appearances for United’s reserves.

Of course, that isn’t a guarantee of anything, and the young lad is still waiting to see if he might actually be offered a contract, but it just goes to show that if you don’t persist you will never know what you might have achieved.

In fact, even if United don’t offer him anything I think it is almost certain now that some other, maybe slightly less illustrious club, will. After all, if the lad is good enough for United to seriously consider him, then he must be good enough for at least a Championship team.

I’ve watched a bit of the video he sent out – it’s posted on Youtube – and I have to say he does look quite handy. A bit of a Bryan Robson type with an eye for goal and bags of energy. I can see him slotting in perfectly just behind Wayne Rooney.

We’ve got the opportunity for a perfect rags-to-riches football story here.

Sir Alex, make it happen.

sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com
Twitter: @maltablade