Clubs you thought were 'big' but now aren't?

gjr69 said:
Celtic and Rangers, when I was a kid Rangers would sign England internationals, that would never happen now.
When was the last time Celtic or Rangers produced a player that the big hitters in the Premier League would want to sign?
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Josh Kerr Celtic to Brighton
Kieran Tierney Celtic to arsenal
Billy gilmour rangers to Chelsea.
 
td53 said:
Problem is Bristol has two clubs and is also a massive rugby town, with both Bristol and Bath (which is a spit away) having big rugby teams. I know Bristol quite well and have a mate who is a gashead and they're rabid, but I think that three/four way split for attention is always a problem in terms of dreaming of being significantly bigger.

I deffo agree tho, if they could sort their ground and get a bit of form, they're bigger than they seem now.
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Since their formation in the 1890s Bristol City have spent just seven years in the top division and Bristol Rovers never. Neither has won the FA Cup, City coming closest in 1909 when they lost the final to Man Utd. The potential for real success with no major English club within c. 80 miles is certainly large but will I believe continue to prove elusive for the foreseeable future for the reasons you have given.
 
LA1 Seasider said:
Stockport and Oldham when I was a kid were ‘big’ compared to us and seen as a bit of a scalp. Even Crewe too.
They were teams for a division or two above back then.
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Don't agree about Crewe but Gary Megson left us to become Stockport manager when they were in what's now the Championship and we got Andy Barlow, Rick Holden and Ian Marshall at the end of their careers from Joe Royle's great OAFC team, who were founder members of the Prem.
 
Dumfriestangerine said:
Josh Kerr Celtic to Brighton
Kieran Tierney Celtic to arsenal
Billy gilmour rangers to Chelsea.
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I'll give you the last 2 but Brighton aren't what I was talking about.
And Celtic and Rangers are a big deal but they are a long way off the top 7 or 8 in England and I can't see that changing any time soon.
 
Midlands clubs really, Wolves, Derby, Cov, West Brom. I suppose you could add the Nobbers to the list if you go back centuries 😂
 
I think Newcastle and Sunderland should be more successful than they are.
If talk to their fans, they think so too! 🙂
 
Lewis_Winthorpe said:
Still probably decent sized clubs but I do find the demise of both Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest amusing. Neither have played top flight football in over 20 years. Both sets of fans are bellends and deserve not to be successful

In my humble opinion of course.
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I was watching a video on YouTube the other day regarding Forest, and it was quite interesting talking of their history with Clough and all that. It got to a bit where one of their fans spoke and he actually said "my life is worse with Forest being in the Championship, I NEED us to be in the Premier League". What a bunch of twats if that is an opinion shared by most of the fanbase.
 
The arrogance of Sunderland/Newcastle fans does wind me up a little bit considering neither have won anything for yonks.

I remember attending the AFC Blackpool game on the day we were meant to play Sunderland, me and my old man went and were chatting all day with Sunderland fans and to be fair to them they were all nice and we got right along with them. But I remember speaking to one and saying to one of them that it is unbelievable that they're in League One and that when we came to their ground it was bizarre it was a League One fixture, I said something along the lines of "its insane that you're in League One, I even think we're a bit above League One" as a sort of compliment and he ROLLED HIS EYES. Talk about arrogance!
 
Wolves is my choice. Quite an honours list...

FA Cup winners 4 times (although the last was 72 years ago).
League Division One Champions 3 times (in the 50s).
And throw in a couple of League Cup wins in the 70s.
Together with England captain and then record caps holder, Billy Wright, through the 50s. He was a one-club player. And also happened to marry a Beverley Sister (the Posh and Becks of the post-war era). It was no coincidence that Wolves domination of the top division ceased on his retirement in 1959. If the European Cup had started properly before 1960, I am sure they could have won one.

Things fell apart in the 80s, along with Molineux itself and it took £70 million from Jack Hayward and 20 years to restore their pride and place in the top league. Now he really was a dedicated owner. Wolves are now owned by a Chinese consortium from which their fans expect much.

However, don’t ask me to applaud their fans. Horrible bunch with whom I had a nasty encounter at an away evening match in the 80s. It was an awful place to get to from the railway station. Molineux was an odd ground then, one huge modern main stand, a large but divided Kop terrace (very basic) and the other two sides were decrepit low sheds which seemed unused.

And I will not forget Stearman purposely raking DJ’s achilles with his studs from behind and DJ getting sent off for retaliation in our away Prem match. The Ref and Lino missed the evil provocation.
 
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Lytham_fy8 said:
Coventry for me, 35 years in the top league and a cracking FA cup Final.
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I used to watch the Sky Blues sometimes in my youth.

In November 1970 I was at Highfield Road for the second leg of their Fairs Cup tie with Bayern Munich. The Germans had a host of world cup stars such as Maier, Beckenbauer, Hoeness and Muller.

Coventry won 2.1.

Unfortunately they'd lost the first leg 6.1, but the 26,000 there that night still enjoyed the win.
 
It really grates on me when you read in the papers or hear on commentary that a team doesn't 'belong' in a certain division or are 'back where they belong ' if promoted to a higher division.

You BELONG in the division you're in, that's why this season Sunderland are league 1, Bolton are league 2 and Preston unfortunately are in the championship.

I've also had the conversation of the "big" club debate on here from time to time.
A criteria using Chamoionships won, domestic trophies won finals reached, European trophies won finals reached, fan base (English), fan base (world wide)
Undoubtedly both Manchester United and Liverpool are the biggest clubs in England.
 
I came across this table here the top 20
Nobbers were 39th Blackpool 40th
So when we get promoted this season we'll "be back where we belong"😏🤣🤣🤣Screenshot_20210227-192826_Chrome.jpg
 
I remember in 1990 it was a big deal that we played QPR in the cup 3 times. Division 1 team with some great players (David Seaman, Paul Parker, Andy Sinton, Wilkins and Sansom).
 
To be honest all above pretty well covered.
Leeds Sunderland Birmingham and the two Sheffield clubs stick out for me
Followed by Bolton Forest & Derby.....🚌#98
 
Lewis_Winthorpe said:
Yeah Sunderland is a good shout. Huge club, good history yet are struggling in a league they deserve to be in but shouldn't be in if you get my point.
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On Sunderland, the whole town / City is footie mad, it runs the economy - everything is geared for success but I don’t think players over the years can cope or deliver the expectancy down to pressure.

I lived in Newcastle but both times I have visited Sunderland and stayed it’s quite clear it’s a massive football force just not reflected on the pitch.

the side that beat Leeds in ‘73 was immense - that Final performance for a good Div 2 side was utterly amazing

last time I went, though they didn’t win every person I met in shops, the street, pubs knew they hadn’t won - the match day experience especially after, was truly huge for theCity even at League 1 level which for a lower league is a good for footie
I went to Ipswich some years ago and the whole place was a ghost town and they won !
 
Wizzerboy said:
I came across this table here the top 20
Nobbers were 39th Blackpool 40th
So when we get promoted this season we'll "be back where we belong"😏🤣🤣🤣View attachment 5025
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That table is a right load of old cobblers. How do City and Newcastle get crowd ratings that high? Newcastle averaged around 15,000 for a long period in the 1980s. City's ground only held thirty odd thousand.
 
basilrobbie said:
That table is a right load of old cobblers. How do City and Newcastle get crowd ratings that high? Newcastle averaged around 15,000 for a long period in the 1980s. City's ground only held thirty odd thousand.
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Ok, so you don't agree so its cobblers 🤷‍♂️
I only tried to put something out there as a guide, I didn't say it was set in stone but you always come across as an "I know better than you" poster in nearly all your posts.
So, draw up a list that isnt cobblers that we can all drool over🤦‍♂️
 
RCSeasider said:
Bristol Rovers are a good shout. The name Jamie Cureton still gives me shivers. I'm going to throw Notts County in there, I'm sure they were in Division 1 when I started following football in the 90's. Allardyce left and went there, the stadium always seemed massive compared to ours (and may still be) and I'm sure they could still fill it with success.

Going abroad I'd say Deportivo La Coruna, we're littered with Spanish and Brazilian internationals and champions league regulars. When you look in to them it's actually a relatively small stadium and area and they were definitely in their purple patch.
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Notts County, great shout.
 
It depends on your age, as 20's said earlier. My interest started in the mid 50's so I found the 1955 table from t'internet. It also illustrates the point we discussed in a separate thread about who kids supported at school, and why there are so many old codgers in our fan base. Damn those Oystons who lost us a whole generation! [Calm down - don't get started on that again!]

Anyroadup, these are my big clubs, though if trying to reconstruct it from memory I would have excluded Luton and Huddersfield. I would have included S. Weds too.

Also there's a surprising omission. No prize for spotting it.

1955 DIVISION 1 TABLE

PTS
1 Manchester U 60
2 Blackpool 49
3 Wolverhampton W 49
4 Manchester C 46
5 Arsenal fc 46
6 Birmingham C 45
7 Burnley 44
8 Bolton W 43
9 Sunderland 43
10 Luton T 42
11 Newcastle U 41
12 Portmouth 41
13 W.B.A 41
14 Charlton A 40
15 Everton 40
16 Chelsea 39
17 Cardiff C 39
18 Tottenham 37
19 Preston N E 36
20 Aston Villa 35
21 Huddersfield T 35
22 Sheffield U 33
 
Wizzerboy said:
Ok, so you don't agree so its cobblers 🤷‍♂️
I only tried to put something out there as a guide, I didn't say it was set in stone but you always come across as an "I know better than you" poster in nearly all your posts.
So, draw up a list that isnt cobblers that we can all drool over🤦‍♂️
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I wasn't having a go at you. I think it's the table that is a bit rubbish, not you. It's certainly a talking point though, kudos for that.

I wouldn't draw up a table like that, I think it's subjective and a bit pointless.
 
Yep, Notts County, had a couple of decent seasons but never been a big club for at least over sixty years. Port Vale have never been a big club full stop.
 
basilrobbie said:
That table is a right load of old cobblers. How do City and Newcastle get crowd ratings that high? Newcastle averaged around 15,000 for a long period in the 1980s. City's ground only held thirty odd thousand.
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City used to hold 80,000 tho at one point. From my (utterly nerdy) memory, I think their record crowd is about 81k...
 
basilrobbie said:
I wasn't having a go at you. I think it's the table that is a bit rubbish, not you. It's certainly a talking point though, kudos for that.

I wouldn't draw up a table like that, I think it's subjective and a bit pointless.
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The thing is Robbie you could compile 10 different lists on this subject using different formulations.
All ten would be different but all would hold some credibility.
I just posted that particular one as a talking point.
It got you talking anyhow 😉
 
td53 said:
City used to hold 80,000 tho at one point. From my (utterly nerdy) memory, I think their record crowd is about 81k...
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I think Man U's biggest ever attendance was at Maine Rd when they were still bombed out post war.
 
20togo said:
Yep, Notts County, had a couple of decent seasons but never been a big club for at least over sixty years. Port Vale have never been a big club full stop.
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Agree with both those. Notts County were massive around the turn of the century, hence Juventus playing in black and white stripes in honour of the mighty Notts County.
 
Wizzerboy said:
The thing is Robbie you could compile 10 different lists on this subject using different formulations.
All ten would be different but all would hold some credibility.
I just posted that particular one as a talking point.
It got you talking anyhow 😉
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As I said, kudos for that.

Incidentally, these things are cyclical (or were). I think I'm right in saying that between the wars, Man United were the second best supported team in Manchester.
 
What comes out of all these posts is that it definitely depends on how old you are.

I could never see the likes of QPR as a big side. Maybe a match to us, but no more.
 
Wizaard said:
Agree with both those. Notts County were massive around the turn of the century, hence Juventus playing in black and white stripes in honour of the mighty Notts County.
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Think you just need to clarify which century for the younger fans amongst us. 😉 😀
 
Wizaard said:
Agree with both those. Notts County were massive around the turn of the century, hence Juventus playing in black and white stripes in honour of the mighty Notts County.
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Juventus adopted B&W stripes soon after they were formed because I believe a Notts County fan sent them a full team’s set of shirts to play in. When formed, Juve was a relatively poor club, basically a youth club (hence their name) formed by Turin students.

They originally played in pink shirts with black pantaloons and the players wore ties or bow ties with their strip (1897 photo). Maybe the pink shirts were originally white but had been ruined in the wash by their mothers! Hence used to play football in. But pink did not give the macho impression they wanted!
1615046444302.jpeg
 
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