The English Championship

For any of you who wondered what the "Championship" (second tier football) in England is like, here is a little snapshot for you. It was new to me as well to be honest but it was a great day out.  With still two weeks before the Bundesliga kicks off my wife and I went to watch Brighton and Hove Albion play the first match if the 2014/15 season in the Amex Stadium.

Okay, the atomoshphere wasn't quite like the Olympiastadion but that wouldn't be a fair comparison. Both sets of fans were in good humour for the most part and there was a healthy contingent of away fans in the south stand. There was some singing of the standard songs in the stands "Hey Jude" and "Sussex by the sea". I tried to film some of it with my phone but the microphone picked up a disproportionate volutes from the PA which doesn't really do it justice but hey, it's justva phone so I can't complain to much!

They faced Sheffield Wednesday, a team they had drawn against in most if their recent encounters but long term, they had struggled against.

Although Sheffield had slightly more of the possession Brighton (the Seagulls) were the better team for most of the match I felt. Thus was perhaps summarised by the shots. Brighton had 11 shots with 5 on target whilst Sheffied had three shots, one on target but scored from it! Brighton had their chances (albeit not that many) but part of the difference was them not taking them. The other part was Andrew Croft getting red carded early in the second half - that really didn't help!

The match ended 0:1 and we enjoyed our rare taste of English football and found the "Championship was . . not bad at all!!

Here are a few photos from our visit to give you a small taste of what it was like at The Amex.