Heading into the new season the financial rewards of reaching English football’s promised land, The Premier League, have never been more attractive to those clubs in the leagues below who dream of the cash influx from all the bells and whistles that come with a season in the big time however to achieve this holy grail some clubs are choosing to potentially spend over the odds to reach their domestic peak.
Championship Overspending: A Dangerous Game
The gamble is one, where if it pays off, is a one of great reward. Over £100 million just for one season in the big time, regardless of where the club finishes. The money made and success gained in the short term can however blind long term effects of the Championship spending spree.
The latest club to splash, or at least attempt to, big money on transfer fees and wages are Middlesbrough. The North East side have resigned one of their academy graduates, Stewart Downing from West Ham for a reported fee of around £7 million. Although this outlay one one player in the Premier League has become almost routine, in The Championship this is a fairly recent phenomenon. But Boro have not stopped there in their quest to launch themselves back into the English top flight, a cataclysmic offer of £14 million for Blackburn striker Jordan Rhodes is reportedly in the pipeline.
If this transfer were to come to fruition, the pressure upon Rhodes to perform and Middlesbrough to be promoted will be enormous. Fulham fell victim to the big transfer fee last season when purchasing Ross McCormack from Leeds for a hefty £11mil, only to struggle to really get anywhere near the dizzy heights of promotion. Rhodes himself was the subject of another big money transfer when Blackburn secured his signing from Huddersfield for £8mil back in 2012 and although Rhodes himself has performed, Blackburn have at times, even struggled to stay in the second tier at all.
The dangerous nature of over spending has taken one club to the brink of massive fines and even a potential expulsion. The club in question, Queens Park Rangers.
QPR spent over the odds on a number of players including Bobby Zamora, who has only just been released. The Hoops avoided a massive fine from the Football League after breaching their financial fair play rules however overspending during their time in the Championship, as well as the Premier League, has came back to bite the London club who posted substantial losses last season and have swiftly returned into the second tier.
The gamble of spending a lot of money to reach the promised land in any other division around the world would usually have a pretty successful hit ratio however as The Championship is without doubt one of the most competitive leagues around and spending big doesn’t always equal a winning formula as teams such as last seasons champions, Bournemouth proved.
With the league about to kick into action again it will be a long and interesting season watching the comings and goings of players and managers, the ups and downs of the race for promotion, the scrap to avoid relegation and whether the big money boys make it to the promised land come May.
