With three clubs reaching the FA Cup semi-finals and a host of surprises cropping up along the way you'd be forgiven for thinking that a revival has begun in lower league football. But one look at the lower half of the Premier League table should inform you that those who come up to the most lucrative league in the world rarely seem able to cut it. Every season, apart from the 2001-02 season, at least one promoted club has returned back from whence they came. In fact in 1997 all three were relegated.

Photo by Ofey

So we come to this season and the group of teams that have risen to the top of the Championship. Already questions are being asked of the teams looking for those three precious spots at the top table of English football. Let's take a look at the six teams who occupy the automatic and play-off positions as of the 25^th April 2008:

1.      Stoke City: Haven't been in the top flight for 22 years and a club that made a loss of £3m last season suggests they will not have the financial muscle to stay up.

2.      West Bromwich Albion: Have become a yo-yo side in recent years having spent three years in the Premier League and twice being relegated. Proven in the FA Cup to struggle against top sides, losing to Portsmouth in the semi-final, most likely to stay up if promoted though.

3.      Bristol City: Haven't been in the top division for 28 years, have the smallest ground and the fewest employees at the club. Still relying on the players that took them to the Championship two years ago and haven't made a profit for 14 years as a business.

4.      Hull City: Biggest city in Europe never to have a club in a top flight division. Geographical placement could mean they struggle to attract new players like Sunderland have. Do have a good fan base and a decent financial backer though.

5.      Watford: Twice they have tasted the top division, twice they have finished bottom of the league. Still have a lot of the same players they had the last time they were in the Premier League who proved then that they can't cut it.

6.      Crystal Palace: Have graced the Premiership four times and each time they have gone straight back down. Poor financial set-up with the club running at a lose previously, having to rely on home grown talent this season that probably wouldn't have the experience to cut it in the big league.

The brief look at the promotion contenders maybe a gloomy one and there is every chance that at least one of the clubs will stay up but with the gap between the Premier League and the Championship continuing to grow we shouldn't hold out for a competitive league next season. It already seems set in stone that the big four (Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool) will be the top four till the end of time and with a lot of other well established clubs racking in the money from the new television deal it seems newly promoted sides will continue to struggle.

Looking at the teams that were promoted last season (Birmingham, Sunderland and Derby) it's fairly obvious to see where they are going wrong. A lack of Premier League quality players means that all three sides lack goals and are often very shaky at the back. This is taken to the extreme in Derby's case who are set to become the worst Premier League team in history having only won once this season and have managed to concede a staggering 75 goals so far . Every Championship club will be dreading becoming the laughing stock that Derby have but it could well be a reality next season when you look at the likes of Bristol City and Stoke, two sides who lack even the financial muscle of Derby.

Once again in football it all comes down to money and with the new television deal done between Sky and Sentanta the Premier League clubs .The new television deal means that each top flight club will receive, on average, £45m per season from the new contract. Contrast this with the Championship clubs who receive just £1m per season and it's no wonder they struggle when they come up.

David Gold, Birmingham City chairman, realises that this new deal means we will have a less competitive league on our hands, both in the Premier League and the Championship: "The major issue and the reason to get promoted now is to get relegated. The reality is that the real difference is that if you can be in the Premiership with this new money, the gap between the relegated teams and the others in the Championship becomes huge." The clubs that go down this season will receive £11m per year for the first two season's now which could well mean that team's who come down this season will bounce straight back and we could well end up with clubs yo-yoing between divisions.

 
The dilemma comes when you realises money doesn't always buy success and the nightmares some clubs have faced after splashing the cash to maintain their Premier League status. Take Bradford City for example, spent big in their second season in the top flight which, after relegation, nearly cost them dearly. Now they find themselves in the bottom tier of English football.

The Championship is synonymous with the idea that anybody can beat anybody but in the Premier League that is a fantasy where teams in the lower half of the table are happy if they just take a point off one of the big four. Watford manager Aidy Boothroyd sums up the Championship nicely when he said: "The way this league is going, it could be that you'll need the highest amount of points ever to avoid relegation and the least amount to win promotion." The latter tells a story. The culture shock that the newly promoted teams face after coming through a league where anyone can gain promotion is monumental and some fail to cope with it, a reality that more and more will continue to face as the gap continues to widen between the two leagues.