Is this the hardest year ever for promoted Premier League clubs? Fulham and West Brom deserve our sympathy

Fulham and West Brom
(Image credit: PA Images)

It is the pay-per-view derby. Fulham and West Bromwich Albion may have coveted the Premier League millions when they were Championship clubs last season. Now their supporters find themselves being fleeced by the top flight’s greed. Or, perhaps more accurately, not watching their teams play in Monday’s graveyard slot. Albion’s stalemate with Burnley reportedly attracted under 1,000 paying customers. Their trip to Fulham has the potential to prove a record-breaker of sorts.

Fulham and West Brom both have more pay-per-view games than points, even if Monday’s meeting offers one the chance to change that. What it might not alter is perceptions: both seem universally tipped for a swift return to the Football League.

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Richard Jolly

Richard Jolly also writes for the National, the Guardian, the Observer, the Straits Times, the Independent, Sporting Life, Football 365 and the Blizzard. He has written for the FourFourTwo website since 2018 and for the magazine in the 1990s and the 2020s, but not in between. He has covered 1500+ games and remembers a disturbing number of the 0-0 draws.