source: freepik
What distinguishes football's top flight from its lower leagues? Obviously, we're talking about the top and non-marquee leagues, but is there something else that separates them, not just in terms of statistics, but also in the minds and hearts of fans and audiences alike?
Football's lower leagues are seen to exist in the shadow of the elite divisions.
League 2, for example, is undoubtedly a lot less popular and watchable than the Premier League, not only because the EPL is the EPL - and we all know what that implies! - but also because secondary leagues eventually provide much less of a spectacle and much less of an interest.
And this does not only concern the fans or the spectators, it also concerns the sports bettors as well, who love to bet on football, but they love to bet on good, exciting and unpredictable football. So, even if all bookmakers listed at reputable betting sites generally promote lower-league betting, they will hardly ever manage to have a good response if these lower-leagues themselves don’t do something to improve their games. But predicting the results of the match is not so easy, even those that seem too obvious. Analysis and statistics are the most important things in predictions,
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It might sound like a personal perspective, but it is becoming more and more widespread that the problem is that lower leagues or the less popular leagues are playing lower quality football in the first place. In case you wonder why, you should probably check an ordinary football match between lower league clubs. Of course this is not the rule and it does not mean that every club in such leagues is incapable of giving a good performance. But for the most part, this happens a lot.
The problem begins with the obvious thing that goes on in the minds of footballers when it comes to manifesting a good game. For them a good game is one that is risk-free and keeps the opponents away from scoring goals. There is much defense and very little offense. There is much prevention and little pursuit. There is much conservatism and little progressivism in the way they are spending their minutes on play.
There is so much risk-aversion and emphasis on keeping a low score that it almost seems predictable. Watching such a game is not nearly as exciting as participating in the sport. And this is not because you can predict what will happen, but rather because you can't.
Meanwhile, everyone who enjoys the sport feels horrible because they don't enjoy watching football matches between lower league clubs, but they also can't actively support such matches. And those of football fans who do appreciate lower league matches, they most likely do so because they are either thoroughly immersed in the sport or the league itself, or because they have other interests in doing so.
Besides the
football style, another thing that is also very different as you go down the leagues is the actual time you get to see football. In the EPL the ball is in play, on average for 58 minutes per game, which means that we have the pleasure of watching actual football played for almost 64% of the regular time. Lower leagues like League 2 can go on average with as low as 48 minutes per game, which reduces the football played to almost 53% of the regular time. That’s a lot to lose!
There are frequent stoppages, a huge amount of throw-ins, and delays due to the fact that everything moves slowly. So slowly that you may miss the action!
So, unless the lower leagues take more serious about the style and type of football played on the pitch, they will never be as popular or interesting to watch as their first-tier counterparts. They need to do something because, after all, football is football, and everyone wants to see a fantastic game!