IT has been easy for Championship club supporters to sneer at Sunderland’s sorry descent to League One in the last few years.

But the fact is the second tier has been made instantly better by the Black Cats winning promotion back into it at the fourth attempt - at least from an atmosphere perspective.

The red-and-white part of the North-East have gone straight in at No1 when Championship supporters were asked to vote on who had the division’s most passionate fanbase.

It came as part of Sky Bet’s Fan Hope Survey where 690 supporters from all of the ultra-competitive league’s clubs had their opinions canvassed.

Millwall followers may sing the chant “No one likes us, we don’t care” - but these results suggest other fans do admire them for their fervent backing.

The South Londoners came second with 13 per cent of the vote - three behind Sunderland - which was a considerable distance ahead of next-best Burnley.

Gary Rowett’s side were not too far off a play-off finish last term, roared on by their pride of Lions fans.

If the Den decibel level can go up a notch or two this season, perhaps this could be their year to finally win promotion to the Premier League.

At the other end of the scale, Rotherham occupied bottom spot, followed by Wigan.

Yet that proves having a passionate fanbase can only take you so far, given they both won promotion automatically from League One last term, unlike Sunderland who had to go through the trauma of a Wembley play-off final.

The Championship have gained Watford this season after their relegation from the big league.

Yet no one is expecting the Hornets’ supporters to bring the noise, as they came in fourth-bottom on the list, just above Reading.

Voters were also quizzed on who they feel is their biggest rival - and the answers were fascinating.

Wales pair Cardiff and Swansea are in agreement that they have no love whatsoever for each other. It is the same story for West Brom and Birmingham.

Yet the level of Middlesbrough’s dislike of Sunderland is not reciprocated - presumably because of Newcastle’s existence. 

Blackburn also appear to have Burnley on their minds more than the Clarets do Rovers.

Championship fans also went a different way to their Premier League counterparts when asked about the UK’s greatest footballing city.

Liverpool edged out Manchester in the second tier, with London trailing in third, compared to the 1, 2, 3 order of Manchester, London and Liverpool according to top-flight supporters.

The next highest after that was ‘Other’, which perhaps speaks to how many cities are represented in the second-tier this season.

The inclusion of Norwich, Bristol, Birmingham, Huddersfield, Cardiff, Sheffield, Blackpool, Luton and Stoke shows how the Championship has most of England covered.