The world's attention may be focused on the two-horse race for the over-hyped, over-priced and under-English-represented Premier League, but a glance down the lower reaches of the English football pyramid will highlight the more exciting and competitive nature of football supported by the majority of fans in England. The race for the Championship title is bubbling along nicely, with the top five or six teams still in contention for automatic promotion. League 2 is more open still with seven or eight teams in with a shout of promotion halfway through the season. However, being a Swindon Town fan, I would like to focus on League 1 and assess the title race that sees, at Christmas, four clear contenders for the two automatic promotion places up for grabs at the end of the season.
The graph below shows the progress of the top four teams of League 1 since the start of the season - the dates denote the days when any particular match was played in the league and each of the four teams' position on that date after the matches were played.
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| Scrumpy the Robin (Bristol City) |
Bristol City would appear to be the clear favourites, but with 45 points before the matches to be played on Sunday 28th December 2014, the club is only one point ahead of the three clubs below them in League 1. However, the Bristol "Robins" have held top spot since September and hung on to it tenaciously despite defeats to promotion rivals Swindon Town and Preston North End.
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| Rockin' Robin (Swindon Town) |
Sunday's games may well see a change at the top. with the leaders away to Gillingham, a team that has started to find a rich vein of form. Nothing short of a win will be good enough for City as MK Dons, who still have a game in hand to play, are at home to Walsall, who sit currently 15th in League 1 and who were beaten at home on Boxing Day 1 - 4 by Swindon Town. The Swindon "Robins" face Port Vale at home with the visitors to the County Ground 12th in the league. Preston North End go to Crewe to play a team who are the only other side to beat the leaders Bristol City (1 - 0 on 20.12.14) and who won on Boxing Day away to Oldham Athletic (1 - 2).
If the current top four teams are still in contention come the Easter fixtures, then Swindon Town's two games at that time (Good Friday and Easter Monday) could be pivotal to the decision on who finishes top of the league. On Friday 3rd April 2015, Swindon Town are home to MK Dons and on Monday 6th April, they face Bristol City at Ashton Gate. Those six points may prove crucial to the decision on which two teams are promoted automatically to the Championship and who lifts the trophy as League 1 Champions on the final day of the season proper on Sunday 3rd May 2015
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