They think it's all over, it soon will be

It was 2001, Coventry City were in danger of dropping out of the Premiership, and I was confronted with an agonising choice. Should I witness the end of my football team's 34 years in the top division? Or should I be at the birth of my first child?

Actually, this dilemma was less serious than it looked. Unlike my impending fatherhood, the predicament facing my football team was far from unprecedented.

On at least 10 occasions during my lifetime, Coventry had faced a fight for survival on the final day of the season. I had been there for most of them. Each time, they had clung on. It never occurred to me that the Sky Blues would actually be relegated.

But this time they were and sank into the Championship never to return.

M y son, born three hours before Coventry slipped out of the most lucrative football league on the planet, is now a fantastic, funny young man with everything to look forward to. In contrast, my football team has had heaped upon it one misery after another: mid-table obscurity, a second relegation, administration, and a brief period of homelessness.

That is the thing about relegation. It can be a difficult habit to kick. Once you start slipping down the leagues there is little to cushion the descent. Ask Portsmouth, who dropped from the Premiership to the equivalent of division four in just four seasons.

It makes this time of year the most anxiety-inducing of the season for many football fans: the point at which the majority of relegation spots are decided.

A headline-chasing survey last year said many male football fans compared the pain of relegation to childbirth. That is nonsense. It is closer to an aching grief, that will only slightly subside by the start of the next season. The lower leagues are littered with clubs who, having once enjoyed the riches of the Premier League - where next season even the worst team will earn at least £130m - struggle in their new surroundings.

But although nobody volunteers for it, relegation can be cathartic. It offers the chance for clubs to revitalise themselves. Clear out overpaid players and replace them with young locals; bring in investors with long-term ambitions and introduce financial planning that helps cushion against the bad times. It is a time for forensic examination of the business.

It will not work for all clubs but the likes of Southampton and Swansea have both gone through this painful process and come out the other end, better run, and successful on the pitch.

<

The tabular content relating to this article is not available to view. Apologies in advance for the inconvenience caused.

The fight to stay in the Premiership still has three weeks to run but the fact that Bournemouth, and its Russian owner, have made it this far can only act as a strong incentive for others.

There is no way to airbrush the fact that relegation battles are painful. But for the masochistic football fan there is another positive. For those who have watched their teams toil all year as an irresistible gravity dragged them to depths from which they must now try to recover, the final fight against relegation is often the only time when they might finally have something to celebrate. As the final day nears, the anticipation intensifies for a result that really matters.

It is often the most gut-wrenching, uncomfortable 90 minutes of the season. But also the most vivid - every kick, every offside, every decision is contested. For fans, avoiding relegation on the last day of the season is a wonderful feeling.

On Sunday, lower down the football food chain, Coventry face their latest final day crisis. To avoid relegation from League One (actually the third division) they must at least draw against Crawley Town. All 6,000 tickets were sold within hours - these are the days when football fans, among the most sentimental folk on the planet, want to be there to witness the moment.

As for my son, he decided to insulate himself from such end of season angst. He supports Chelsea, which is almost as heartbreaking as relegation for some fathers.

tom.o'[email protected]

© The Financial Times Limited 2015. All rights reserved.
FT and Financial Times are trademarks of the Financial Times Ltd.
Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in any way.
Euro2day.gr is solely responsible for providing this translation and the Financial Times Limited does not accept any liability for the accuracy or quality of the translation