Now it is just a slog on the Tyne
NOVELTY OF SECOND TIER HAS WORN OFF FOR TOON ARMY...
“ENJOY the Championship!”, rival fans mocked when Newcastle United were relegated.
Well, the Magpies really did savour the experience for a good six or seven months.
It was United supporters who could gloat about their side’s apparent stroll towards promotion while Sunderland fans could only watch red-faced as the Black Cats lurched from one defeat to another.
Now any affinity Newcastle fans have held for the second tier is quickly dissipating as the anxiety, the nerves and the fear take hold.
That is what this division does to you over time.
It grinds everyone down: players, managers, fans, journalists, officials.
No-one involved in this division can escape the inevitable travail which it becomes.
Even Brighton and Hove Albion, who have sealed their Premier League spot for next season, have been far from immune.
The Seagulls had tried – and failed – for more than half a decade to get out of this division.
Finally, after multiple play-off semi-final defeats and then having agonisingly missed out on promotion to Middlesbrough on goal difference alone last season, Brighton have cracked it.
Yet the south coast club’s long wait for promotion simply highlights how much of a toil the Championship is.
The 46-game second-tier season seems to last an eternity.
Think back to that opening-day defeat at Fulham – that feels like a lifetime ago.
A relentless schedule delivers three fixtures a week more often than not throughout the most difficult times of the year; Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, Tuesday.
When your side is winning then you can ride along on the crest of a wave – happily taking each game in your stride.
Between September and November – when Newcastle embarked upon a long winning run – and then again during the first three months of 2017 the Magpies’ on-field form ensured supporters were relishing the Championship experience.
For three years or more, United fans had become almost apathetic towards their club – partly due to their disillusionment with the regime but also due to the fact the team just keep on losing.
Understandably then, the novelty of averaging a victory more than once every other game (regardless of how they fare in their final three matches, Newcastle will end the season with a win ratio of more than 50 per cent) led some Magpies supporters to fall in love with this division.
Yet as those with knowledge of the Championship – as well as Rafa Benitez himself, repeatedly, it must be noted himself – warned, this is an unpredictable league.
That unpredictability arises from the fact the vast majority of sides are of relatively similar ability.
Brighton and Newcastle have only been able to rise to the top due to the individual quality of Anthony
Knockaert and Matt Ritchie (pictured left). Both teams have been made to look ordinary at times, the Magpies twice humbled by lowly Blackburn Rovers. There have been occasions when Newcastle have looked a class above - the 6-0 win at Queens Park Rangers, the 2-0 home victory over Brighton and the 4-0 demolition of Birmingham at St James’ Park.
Yet it is extremely difficult to maintain that over the course of a 46-game campaign, particularly when you are the ‘prize side’ who every other team wants to beat.
Just two wins from their last eight games have seen Newcastle slip from champions-elect to a side who may not even secure automatic promotion.
Suddenly, once you are crawling towards the finish line rather than winning every week, this division does not appear quite as inviting any more.
There were fans who suggested to me earlier this season they would be able to swallow another season in the Championship because they have enjoyed visiting new grounds, watching different teams and seeing the Magpies winning regularly.
For those reasons – and the fact Benitez has started a long-needed rebuild of the club – last season’s relegation may have been a blessing in disguise.
However, as Sunderland fans fear, that is not necessarily always the case.
The Black Cats are concerned their demotion is just the very start of their decline.
There is a doomsday scenario but hopefully United can avoid that.
Newcastle supporters can look at this division with rose-tinted glasses because, during their last two seasons in the second tier, they were either promoted or are still huge favourites to go up.
Yet just look at Norwich City. Look at Aston Villa. It could have been oh, so different. The Championship has been an enjoyable experience for Newcastle fans, a welcome break from the monotony of Premier League toil, but that novelty can rapidly wear off.
After a while, this division becomes a seemingly never-ending slog.
So the sooner they mathematically secure their Premier League status for next season the better.
Newcastle must ensure they get out of the Championship while they can.