A decade ago...

[SheffWedFan]

A decade ago, the Premier League looked like this:

ARSENAL - still in EPL
ASTON VILLA - still in EPL
BRADFORD CITY - now in League 2
CHELSEA - still in EPL
COVENTRY CITY - now in Championship
DERBY COUNTY - now in Championship
EVERTON - still in EPL
LEEDS UNITED - now in League 1
LEICESTER CITY - now in Championship
LIVERPOOL - still in EPL
MANCHESTER UNITED - still in EPL
MIDDLESBROUGH - now in Championship
NEWCASTLE UNITED - now in Championship
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY - now in Championship
SOUTHAMPTON - now in League 1
SUNDERLAND - still in EPL
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR - still in EPL
WATFORD - now in Championship
WEST HAM UNITED - still in EPL
WIMBLEDON - moved to Milton Keynes, became MK Dons

BIRMINGHAM CITY - were in old Division 1
BLACKBURN ROVERS - were in old Division 1
BOLTON WANDERERS - were in old Division 1
BURNLEY - were in old Division 2
FULHAM - were in old Division 1
HULL CITY - were in old Division 3
MANCHESTER CITY - were in old Division 1
PORTSMOUTH - were in old Division 1
STOKE CITY - were in old Division 2
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS - were in old Division 1
WIGAN ATHLETIC - were in old Division 2

Makes you wonder where everyone will be in another 10 years. Will a current EPL team be a Bradford, and go into freefall? Will a current League 2 team do a Hull and make it all the way from the basement to the top tier?

[RichardL]

A decade ago, the Premier League looked like this:

BIRMINGHAM CITY - were in old Division 1
BLACKBURN ROVERS - were in old Division 1
BOLTON WANDERERS - were in old Division 1
BURNLEY - were in old Division 2
FULHAM - were in old Division 1
HULL CITY - were in old Division 3
MANCHESTER CITY - were in old Division 1
PORTSMOUTH - were in old Division 1
STOKE CITY - were in old Division 2
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS - were in old Division 1
WIGAN ATHLETIC - were in old Division 2

perhaps more telling is that of those 11, Bolton, Burnley, Fulham, Portsmouth, Wolves and Wigan have all been in the 4th tier since the 80s, while Birmingham, Man City and Stoke have all been in the 3rd tier.

Hull City have also opted to play in a kit which is exactly the same as the Wolves kit of 83-86, which was the one they wore during their 3 year plunge from Div 1 to Div 4 in consecutive seasons.

[Big Soccer Member]

A decade ago, the Premier League looked like this:

ARSENAL - still in EPL
ASTON VILLA - still in EPL
BRADFORD CITY - now in League 2
CHELSEA - still in EPL
COVENTRY CITY - now in Championship
DERBY COUNTY - now in Championship
EVERTON - still in EPL
LEEDS UNITED - now in League 1
LEICESTER CITY - now in Championship
LIVERPOOL - still in EPL
MANCHESTER UNITED - still in EPL
MIDDLESBROUGH - now in Championship
NEWCASTLE UNITED - now in Championship
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY - now in Championship
SOUTHAMPTON - now in League 1
SUNDERLAND - still in EPL
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR - still in EPL
WATFORD - now in Championship
WEST HAM UNITED - still in EPL
WIMBLEDON - moved to Milton Keynes, became MK Dons

BIRMINGHAM CITY - were in old Division 1
BLACKBURN ROVERS - were in old Division 1
BOLTON WANDERERS - were in old Division 1
BURNLEY - were in old Division 2
FULHAM - were in old Division 1
HULL CITY - were in old Division 3
MANCHESTER CITY - were in old Division 1
PORTSMOUTH - were in old Division 1
STOKE CITY - were in old Division 2
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS - were in old Division 1
WIGAN ATHLETIC - were in old Division 2

Makes you wonder where everyone will be in another 10 years. Will a current EPL team be a Bradford, and go into freefall? Will a current League 2 team do a Hull and make it all the way from the basement to the top tier?
This goes some way to proving that the gap between the Championship and the Premiership isn't as big as some say. Although certainly bigger than it used to be, you won't get any Notts. Forests again anytime soon, Championship sides can certainly battle it out in midtable in the Premiership consistantly.

[Matt Clark]

Not sure about that. How many Championship sides have come up and "battled it out in mid-table consistently" over the past 10 years or so? I have neither the time nor the patience to trawl through RSSSF myself right now to work it out, but I'm guessing two things:

1) it's not that many and
2) a 10-year plot would show a declining trend.

Off the top of my head, only Wigan, Blackburn, Sunderland, Bolton and Middlesbrough have managed more than 2 consecutive seasons in the top-flight after being promoted up into Premier League for the first time in the past 10 years. And of those, only Wigan and Bolton can really be deemed to have emerged from a real lower order and gone on to have made and sustained a genuine step-change in standards.

As to not getting any Notts Forests anytime soon, Leeds, Charlton, Wimbledon, Southampton and Derby have all done Notts Forests in recent years. Fine, none of them are two-time European Cup winners, but then Notts Forest themselves were hardly recent behemoths when they began their present slide into semi-permanent obscurity.

And with Newcastle's relegation only 10 weeks ago, it's hard to argue that another such slide is a remote possibility.

[thetoffees]

I agree Matt, look at League One now, littered with ex-Premier Leage clubs who over-streched themselves in a desperate attempt to stay up and couldn't cope financially when they went down.

I reckon at least half of the current Premier League would face administration if they were relegated.

I have a feeling Newcastle will have to secure promotion this year otherwise their debts will catch up with them and they could join the likes of Norwich and Charlotn in division three