Who writes the Championship script?

You can knock it for its lack of quality and this season that argument might be as true as it has ever been, however there is no denying that few leagues can match the Championship for its remarkable levels of unpredictability, drama and entertainment.

This season those characteristics have been more present than ever before, with this being a campaign where the boundaries between top and bottom have been beyond blurred and where it was possible to go from thinking about promotion one week and then to being realistically worried about relegation the next, whilst for those at both the top and bottom it became almost customary for the teams occupying these places to change on a near weekly basis.

If you needed evidence to convince the doubters the final days proceeding offers you all the ammunition you need; for this was a day that saw over three quarters of the fixtures having possible palpitations in regards to promotion or relegation. At the bottom five sides could have genuinely gone down and over the course of 90 minutes who was occupying that dreaded spot in the drop zone  changed over a dozen times and in the end it took a stoppage time Crystal Palace goal to sentence Peterborough to League One and save Barnsley. The top was just as dramatic with Hull just pipping Watford to the final automatic promotion spot, although that does little justice to the drama that actually unfolded with the Tigers left to wait fifteen minutes to see if a late goal for Watford in a game that was delayed would force them into having nightmares over their late missed penalty and an even later converted spot kick against Cardiff that cost them a win which would have guaranteed promotion. As if that wasn’t enough the fight for the final two play off spots took us right down to the final kick as Leicester left it late to see off Nottingham Forest and therefore knock both Forest and Bolton out of the play off picture.

If an encore was needed then the play offs and their now customary thrills and spills have arrived, although what was witnessed yesterday at Vicarage Road was even more stunning than what we are normally treated to by these knock out games. As Watford and Leicester entered stoppage time their pulsating tie was at 3-3 before the foxes were awarded a more than harsh penalty which looked set to heap yet more misery on a Watford side who were undoubtedly still feeling the scars of that final day heartache, yet in the space of two minutes everything was turned on its head as Anthony Knockaert saw his spotkick saved and moments later Troy Deeney was striking to send Watford to Wembley. This was a quite astonishing end to such a huge game and highlights just how things can change in this division, with Watford going from the dismay of two weeks ago to utter jubilation.

It has been a season where the Championship has lived up to all its best stereotypes in the most dramatic of fashion and whilst every season will not be quite like this, it cannot be denied that this is a league that few can match for its stories, excitement and pure theatre.