Mail Sport's preview on what the EFL has to offer this season

EFL SPECIAL REPORT: Mail Sport speaks to a player, manager, executive, sporting director and a fan to get the lowdown on what the Football League – which starts TONIGHT – has to offer this season

• The Football League expected to be as competitive as ever in the coming season
• Standard of football outside of the top flight is constantly improving year on year
• Brexit has seen clubs adopt new strategies as they look to strengthen squads

It is the competition that persuaded Sky to fork out nearly £1billion for television coverage over the next five years. Welcome to the fabulous world of the EFL, England’s historic football competition that produced Jude Bellingham and turned Harry Kane from boy to man.

More supporters attended Championship matches last season than did in France’s Ligue 1, then the home of global superstars Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi. League One – the third tier of English football – attracts more fans than the Dutch Eredivisie, where European giants Ajax and Feyenoord compete. Sunderland’s average crowd last season was higher than that of Juventus.

Yet for all its success, the Championship is also dysfunctional. Clubs regularly spend more than they earn chasing the Premier League dream and find their very existence under threat. It is the league of points deductions and transfer embargoes, with stories of financial mismanagement to blow your mind.

Covid led to belt-tightening – players are rarely offered more than £10,000 per week these days – but not everywhere. How about the club who gave an unwanted player a new deal simply to spread his wages over a longer period, reducing them from £2.5million per year to £1.25m? Or the one regularly handing players between £70-80,000 per week? Thankfully, such agreements are largely a thing of the past.

The parachute payments to relegated clubs Leicester, Leeds and Southampton make them favourites for promotion but it is far from a done deal. As we prepare for a 10-month ride, Mail Sport spoke to a player, a manager, a sporting director, a chief executive and a fan to take the temperature.

Enzo Maresca’s Leicester are the bookmakers’ favourites to secure an immediate return to the top flight

The player – Jake Bidwell, Coventry City. More than 500 appearances for Everton, Brentford, QPR, Swansea and Coventry

The standard in the Championship seems to get better every year. The level you needed to reach even five years ago to perform consistently in this league won’t be good enough anymore.

The young players coming into the competition now are so fit and athletic that you have to do everything right off the pitch to keep up. For example, I rarely touch alcohol during the season these days.

So much has changed tactically too. In recent times we’ve seen managers like Marcelo Bielsa and Rafa Benitez in the Championship and Pep Guardiola’s influence has spread to the younger coaches in the EFL now.

Up to five years ago, a lot of the games were ‘crash, bang, wallop’. Most of the time, you knew exactly what to expect from the opposition. Now coaches are changing formations mid-game, tweaking positions and adjusting styles. You’re always having to think about it.

I enjoy the challenge. The best players now are not just those with the best technique or the fittest. They’re the ones who understand the game the best. They’re the ones who will reach the top.

Jake Bidwell revealed that the standard in the Football League has continued to grow year on year

The manager: Michael Appleton. 425 games as a manager of Portsmouth, Blackpool (twice), Blackburn, Oxford, Leicester (caretaker) and Lincoln

Players at this level nowadays want to know a lot more. They expect to be sent into a game with a high level of detail about exactly what they’re required to do.

They ask a lot of questions before games but that’s a good thing. I want them to have a real understanding of what the opposition is all about. I want them to come and ask me questions if they’re not sure about a certain player.

If you’re a former player who’s had a really successful career you’ll get instant respect but that respect probably won’t last as long as it did 10 years ago. Players want more from you than that.

You also have to be more cautious when you speak to players. Many of the players in the EFL are probably earning more than their managers, and they’ll often outlast managers. It’s not always easy. I like to be straight and realistic but sometimes you have to be more of a politician when handling various people around the club. 

Analysis and statistics have changed the game – but there needs to be a balance. Stats can’t tell you everything and the eye is still a fantastic tool.

Michael Appleton added that players require a higher level of instruction as the league continues to develop

The chief executive: Richard Gould, Bristol City (June 2021-Jan 2023). Now CEO of England and Wales Cricket Board

Luton’s promotion has shown the way to a number of clubs. Finances are important but Luton have proved there are other ways of reaching the promised land.

That said, the parachute payments for clubs relegated from the Premier League mean that it’s a much narrower funnel for everyone else, but I can’t see the Premier League changing anything in that respect.

The issue of ownership is so important. These clubs are community assets and you can’t have people involved who have opaque working practices. There will always be clubs struggling and I believe more will be done to control owners who see ‘get rich quick’ schemes that ultimately they can’t afford.

The key is this: Does the prospective owner have enough cash to get the club to the end of the season and many beyond? The Lansdown family at Bristol City are an example of good owners, doing great things for the wider community

But the Championship and Leagues One and Two are in a unique position. The supporter base is really strong. It’s real, it’s local, fans can support a club nearby and the standard of football is good. The Sky TV deal announced in May was worth nearly £1billion. Overall, it’s in a pretty good place.

Former Bristol City executive Richard Gould claimed Luton’s improbable promotion last year proved spending big isn’t the only way to secure promotion

The sporting director: Chris Badlan. Held recruitment roles at Wolves, Norwich, Coventry and Blackpool

Covid changed a great deal. Before the pandemic you might watch two games on a Monday – one at lunchtime and one in the evening – sand be on the road in between. When we were all stuck at home, people realised they could watch four in a day on video before doing any live scouting.

Brexit also altered the kind of players you could recruit. You knew there was no point looking at players from the Dutch or Norwegian second division because there was no way they’d be granted a work permit. You were forced to look at different markets outside the European Union.

Because of that, the market for English players became more competitive. At Coventry, we’d often target the best players in Leagues One and Two but suddenly we found wealthier clubs were snapping them up. Everyone has had to be creative.

I can’t overstate the influence of data. You’d never simply watch a player a couple of times and sign them on the back of that. And it’s not used only in recruitment, either. The medical department, the analysis department, training, tactics, recovery. Data supports everything.

There may have been hostility towards it a decade ago but now younger coaches like Rob Edwards and Steve Cooper have grown up with it. And older managers are realising that it’s here to stay.

Sporting director Chris Badlan added that younger managers have enjoyed increased success by embracing the importance of data analysis

The fan: Alistair Jones, West Bromwich Albion home and away since 1981

We set up our supporter group, Action for Albion, to highlight the grave concerns we have around the ownership of our club – and we are far from the only ones in trouble. More simply has to be done to protect clubs from unsuitable owners, and we will continue to shine a light on this issue.

The Championship is virtually unique across Europe in that the club in 24th place can beat the team top of the league and I expect it to be just as competitive this season. It’s an expensive business, though.

Ticket prices vary wildly throughout the league and I’d like to see a price cap of £25 for away supporters. When you factor in travel and other costs, high ticket prices risk making the whole thing unaffordable and a big away following does a lot to improve an atmosphere.

In the last few seasons I’ve noticed a slightly unpleasant edge to the atmosphere at certain games. Maybe it’s a post-Covid trend, I’m not sure, but there definitely seem to be more people looking to cause trouble than there were 10 years ago.

Hopefully this season will be memorable for the right reasons, both on and off the pitch.

Longtime West Brom fan Alistair Jones called upon clubs to enact a £25 price cap for away supporters

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