Now we're promoted, what are your thoughts on League One ?

[SamUltraRam]

For me, it's travelling to away matches seeing grounds full of fans who aren't glory hunters, they passionately support their local club who probably have no chance of glory - and loads of younger fans who could easily just choose one of the normal 'big 6' to follow - fair play to them

Also, most, if not all of the towns have been a joy to visit, Cheltenham, Oxford, Carlisle, Lincoln, Shrewsbury etc - loved them all

Going to places like Birmingham & Sheffield again won't seem the same

As for the quality of football, it was lower but of course it was, it's the 3rd division

[McArthur Park]

Yep, similar for me, I've really enjoyed the away games, have managed to tick off eleven new grounds over the two seasons.

[Srg]

There’s more teams than most would imagine that try to play football. Just, in general, they end up being pretty blunt in the final third because the quality of pass, movement or shot is less consistent. 

[BramcoteRam84]

Didn’t get to loads of away days managed a few more last season. Enjoyed two good wins at vale, Accrington I thought was quality. Could just park on the main road for free, straight into the pub, then served really quickly in the ground. And we won 3-0, perfect away day.

But league 1 is s**** and I hope we don’t ever go back there. I’m looking forward to playing the usual suspects again. 

[MaltRam]

I liked the away fans, I liked winning most weeks. 

The novelty of third rate away stadia soon wore off (from the comfort of my sofa on RamsTV).

The quality of the football though. Jesus. Compared to the Championship it's awful. Much better entertainment on offer next year...assuming we're competitive.

[IslandExile]

I prefer it to the Premier League. 

If you're outside the clique of Premier clubs then each game is just damage limitation. 

I hope the top six or whatever leave for some TV super league (Harlem Globetrotters anyone?) and the top domestic league becomes more competitive as a result. 

Even the championship is now ruined as a competition by parachute payments tilting the balance. 

At least League One was competitive, unpredictable and, in the most part, entertaining.

[Ram@Lincoln]

I've had a blast going to towns I haven't been to before and visiting stadiums that aren't just soulless generic copies of each other. As said in other posts, the clubs had history, passion and pride for their team and ground. I've loved our time here but now it's time for a return to the big time.

[RadioactiveWaste]

It was fine, but i couldn't really get over that feeling that we "shouldn't" have been there.

 

[uttoxram75]

The Carlisle fans summed it all up for me, 

I met some on the train yesterday who were brilliant. About 30 of us Derby fans got on at Utch station to a chorus of, "your just a bus stop in Stoke" from them. 🤣 A couple of us were offered cans of beer from them and the banter was great,

Walked up to the ground with some blokes who were sound and very respectful about Derby as we were with them. Proper fans of a proper club, they've had very little to cheer over the years but the miles they put in following their club is unbelievable.

Good luck to Carlisle, hope they have a swift return to League 1 and to all the other clubs who have fans who choose to follow their local team rather than be plastic supporters of Man Utd or Liverpool.

[Crewton]

I enjoyed it as much as I did the last time, visiting a few grounds I'd never been to, having the odd night away, and usually winning. I probably enjoyed the football more than many appear to have too. Very pleased to be out of it though as being everyone's cup final got a bit tiresome. 

[Rampant]

Was it just Pompey, Shrewsbury and Moonpig's ambulance chasers who we failed to beat at least once this season? 

With just a point taken from the Shrews they were our 'worst' opponent then I guess.

[Ewe Ram]

I don’t mind what league we are in, I just want Derby to be competitive. I’ve enjoyed league one, but then I don’t like or watch premier league football, I’d rather watch non league 

[Pikeyram]

I've really enjoyed league one, I love the fact that most of our games have been 3pm Saturdays, that won't be the case next year.

Some proper community clubs with lovely old school stadiums, proper football, but pleased to be out of it!

[StaffsRam]

Been nice to play some of the sides who've been stuck down there for years, who we used to play at a higher level. The likes of Oxford, Cambridge, Portsmouth. Just goes to show the strength in depth of our league system when you have the likes of them in the third tier. Also feel that we've definitely added to a decent league during our two-year stint - crowds of 30,000+ in the third division....doubt you see that too often anywhere else. 

The situation wasn't nice, given what it was and how we got there, but take all that away and it's been nice to be playing teams who we haven't played before/for a long time and not just the usual faces. 

That being said, thank f*** we're out of it. The officiating is even worse than we're used to. 

[Igorwasking]

One word - refereeing

[SamUltraRam]

14 minutes ago, Pikeyram said:

I've really enjoyed league one, I love the fact that most of our games have been 3pm Saturdays, that won't be the case next year.

Some proper community clubs with lovely old school stadiums, proper football, but pleased to be out of it!

I forgot about that, football SHOULD be 3pm on a Saturday afternoon and it makes a massive difference to an attending fan

[ramsbottom]

I didn’t get to any away games so I can only really comment on the standard of the football, and to be honest only Stevenage really lived up to the billing of a bunch of cloggers, kicking seven shades out of the opposition.  Pretty much all teams play some decent stuff but, like Carlisle on Saturday, struggle in the final third cus good goal scorers are hard to come by, unless you have comparatively deep pockets.  

[Nuwtfly]

I certainly think we should be casting an eye on it more often as far as recruitment is concerned. Perhaps something we've not done enough in the past! Suspect Warne will do a good job of this.

[sage]

I thought there was more football played than i was expecting, well from the opposition anyway 😄

It's alright for a couple of seasons, maybe better overall for travelling to away games. 

Also, I think the size of the reset we had in terms of what team we put out 2 years ago will be matched in August.

 

[SamUltraRam]

Just thinking back to my comments about the passionate lower league fans, just shows the power of the pyramid system which the Premier League really doesn't seem to care about.

Long live the English League system, protect it, worship it, it's so important