If you’re a fan of a one horse race then the Scottish Premiership is the place for you, with a guaranteed pay out on a horse which can’t lose.
If though, you like your excitement to come with a charging stampede towards the finishing line, with the winner uncertain, and maybe even in a photo finish, the Championship is the place to be.
Scotland’s top football division is currently being outshone in terms of excitement and unpredictability by the one below, where any one of five or six clubs, currently separated by six points, are in with a realistic chance of winning the league.
Before a ball is kicked in the top flight, Celtic are guaranteed to be crowned champions. Their financial muscle insists on that outcome. The division below though, sees real cut throat competition and a genuine sense of anticipation in every game.
It’s also providing some real surprises, with two of the big clubs, Falkirk and Inverness, languishing in the relegation zone and already in serious trouble.
That can be seen by the firing of Falkirk boss Peter Houston, just seven games into a season which has yielded three points from a possible 21 for the bamboozled Bairns fans, who were expecting another promotion tilt.
At the top end, Dunfermline Athletic are currently heading the chasing pack.
The Pars are one of Scotland’s great old football clubs, who in their glory days of the 1960s, cut a swathe through European football, winning matches against Spain’s mighty Valencia, and humbling top English opposition like Everton.
Under fan ownership, the East End Park outfit have put some dark days behind them and are reborn with a re-invigorated sense of purpose. Crowds are rising and the team, under manager Allan Johnston, are playing fast attacking football, with 21 goals scored in their opening seven league games as they sit top of the table.
St Mirren too, with Jack Ross in charge, are revitalised after the trauma of relegation two seasons ago and having narrowly escaped relegation last time out. The Paisley Buddies sit just a point behind the leaders, and the match I watched between the pair recently was a thrilling end to end affair, with great goals and non stop excitement, in front of nearly 7,000 fans.
Dundee United, Livingston, Morton, and Queen of the South, are all in hot contention, in a league where almost every club is capable of beating the other. That gives the Championship a sense of possibilities which the Premiership sadly lacks, with its inevitable outcome of Celtic winning it, unlike a league competition where several clubs will take the race to the wire.
Today, I’ll be in the radio gantry for Dunfermline v Dundee United, a game likely to draw a crowd bigger than many regular Premiership fixtures.
It’s been eagerly anticipated and will give a pointer to the outcome of the league flag, but no more than that. Unlike the Premiership where the crown is effectively decided at the start of the season, the Championship coronation is likely to keep us on tenterhooks until the throne is finally occupied.
