by Gaizka Mendieta

Created on: April 25, 2008

I wonder how the title to this argument came about. There are two ways to go about putting in my 2 cents worth. One, what does one have to offer English soccer fans as compared to the other and two, what does one have to offer to English soccer, which in turn affecting English soccer fans, as compared to the other. Both arguments may seem the same and are pointing in the same direction but the way it is argued may differ. In my case, I will debate using the latter. Also, I take it that the Football League also includes the Championship, the second tier of English football. My argument is from the point of view of a foreign fan of the English game.

The most obvious reason why the Premier League has more to offer is the English national team. The last player to represent England while still plying his trade in the Football league was David Nugent currently with Portsmouth. Currently, there are no English players even in contention to represent England while still in the Football League. This may be bias as, coming from Singapore, I have little or no knowledge of the going-ons of the Football league except for knowing the few clubs that are fighting for promotion into the Premier League. It is not because I am ignorant of the other leagues in England or because I am just another "fan" who is just only jumping on the Premier League bandwagon. I have been a fan of English football for as long as I can remember, not only of the Premier League where I am a Manchester United fan, also of the national team where I have adopted it as my second favourite footballing nation, only second to Singapore and that is by default, being a proud Singaporean. Euro 2008 will not be the same without England but that is far off the point. Being a fan for so many years, I have seen a few players from the football league playing for England but this has been uncommon or rare. Why? This is because of the apparent difference in quality between the two.

This brings me to my next reason. Quality. English football have been the connoisseur of the famed yet undesirable style of the long ball. Teams play this way mostly as a result of defending most part of the game. We are seeing lesser and lesser teams in the Premiership playing this way, the direct result of quality foreigners being brought into the Premier League, I will discuss this in detail later. To be honest, the only time I watch a team from the Football League or Championship or Conference teams (Stand up and be proud, Havant and Waterlooville),

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