Lesser lights dream as new season begins

The English football season kicks off this weekend as the 72 clubs that make up the Championship, League One and League Two launch their campaigns.

It Is always an exciting time as clubs and fans shrug off disappointments of the previous season and start afresh.

It brings the usual mixture of false hopes and realistic fears as to what lies in store.

In England, most fans have probably adopted a Premier League team to support even if they weren’t born in a city with a top flight club.

But deep down their gut feeling probably lies with their home town team, whatever lowly division they might be in. After all, this is the team they have supported since they were kids.

This is why fans of Barrow, Crewe, Hartlepool and Salford support their teams as passionately as those who back the big boys in the Premier League.

The main interest is naturally in the Championship…