Martin Allen believes Conference is hardest to get promoted from
Tuesday 28 April 2015 12:27, UK
Barnet manager Martin Allen believes the Conference is the hardest division to get out of, after guiding his side to the only automatic promotion place this season.
The Sky Bet Championship is often regarded as the most difficult of the three Football League divisions to secure promotion from, but League One is statistically the trickiest.
An average win percentage of 54.35 per cent and an average points total of 86.57 is required to secure a place in the Championship.
That compares to a win average of 53.55 per cent and a points total of 85.47 to reach the Premier League from the Championship, with a win average of just 50.38 and an average points total of 81.68 enough to advance out of League Two.
But Allen is convinced the Conference, where only the champions go up as of right, is the toughest to progress from.
"I can't see that the Championship is the hardest to get out of. Three teams go up, two automatically, one through the play-offs," he told The Morning View on Sky Sports News HQ.
"Where we've just been, the Conference, only one club goes up automatically as champions, with second, third, fourth and fifth going into the play-offs.
"So for me, the Conference has got to be the hardest division to get out of, without a shadow of a doubt."
Fellow guest Tony Gale, who was part of successful promotion campaigns as a player at West Ham and Fulham, agrees with Allen but feels the pressure of trying to secure a place in the top-flight can make the Championship equally tough.
"Every single division is hard but with the Championship, the rewards are so great - you get into the Premier League," he said.
"But you are working just as hard in the lower divisions on a shoestring budget, whereas with the Championship you have some top players in it and the top clubs there usually have the bigger budgets.
"It's been ultra close this season because no one has run away with it. We’ve enjoyed it and it’s been brilliant but every league can be hard to get out of."
