Coz I'm bored I had this idea and posted on the west ham board tho its more suited to this one so here we go... If we had a premier league based on who should be in it on, say, quality of supporters, moral grounds, historic grounds who would be in it? I would suggest (in no particular order) 1. West Auckland (Two world cups) 2. West Ham (One World cup, first Wembley final, Bobby Moore, Alf Garnett 3. Man U (Busby, Fergie, Best and Ronaldo) 4. A Nottingham (Cant decide between Forest – Clough- or County – History. I think county have to win) 5. A Sheffield (It started there but which one? Utd or Wednesday? My heart says Wednesday, my head says Utd, maybe we should just go for FC) 6. Spurs (the first double, Jimmy Greaves) 7. Arsenal (you know it really is a good name. Henry, Charlie George, the 30’s) 8. Leeds (you need a bad guy in every drama) 9. Newcastle (wor Jackie – and by extention both Charltons – and the fans 10. Liverpool (Shankly keegan and the sublime cretinism of Ian Rush) 11. Wolves (They just sound big and lets face it they are called Wolves) OK we need at least 9 more, any ideas?
Everton - Dixie Dean (60 goals in ONE season. Amazing), Alan Ball, Brian Labone, 9 league titles, 5 FA Cups.
funnily enough, but spot on. The first club was Sheffield FC, formed in 1857, who still exist somewhere deep in the depths of the non-league system - Northern Premier League 1 south as it turns out. Wednesday and United are young upstarts, formed in 1867 and 1899 respectively.
So wednesday are older than united? i didnt know that. Bramall lane is out then and Hillsborough in (maybe), I dont know the name of FC's ground.
they've played at a variety of grounds, including Bramall Lane, at the time the home of Yorkshire Cricket Club. Bramall Lane was a cricket ground until 1974, with the wicket being roughly where the main stand tunnel is now. It meant from a footballing perspective, the ground only had three sides, with the other side being another 80 yards of turf before you got to the pavillion. Northampton had a similar (but far crappier - jeez it was shit) stadium when they used to share with their county's cricket club. They now play in a village just outside Sheffield. But back on topic, I'd suggest that the oldest, and therefore clearly most historic, of the current premiership clubs should be allowed in.
Soo...12. Everton 13. Sheffield FC 14. Preston North End 15. Sunderland (are we scraping the Barrel here?) 16. Aston Villa (very old and as Tom Hanks says, it is a good name) Reading are old but…..naaah! Where’s the romance? The passion and the past? I’d need some persuading. Chelsea. I can see past the oligarch years, to Osgood and Bonetti, but they don’t move me. Always seemed a bit ‘west end smartarse’ somehow. Anyway the cat cost us the cup in 1970
come on, if only for the FA Cup history. Not only have we lost more FA Cup games than any other league club (the older clubs than us didn't always enter) we hold the record FA Cup defeat for a league club, home and away. We lost 0-7 at home to Man City in 1968, but trumped that with a fantastic 0-18 (yes eighteen nil) defeat to Preston in 1894. Played in a downpour, the Preston goalkeeper played the match with a coat on, and their fullback left the pitch completely to get over his flu (slightly underdiagnosed as he died of TB seven month's later). In April 1931 we recorded our highest ever score in the second division, winning 7-3, and Arthur Bacon scored a club record 6 goals in the match. So pleased were we with this win that we decided to win no more second division matches for 55 years. We celebrated our centenary by getting relegated to division 4 for the first time in our history, going down losing 1-2 at Aston Villa, the winner coming from an own goal by the fans' player of the year. Than man voted our greatest ever player played for us in the 4th division. Robin Friday was very talented, but was also a copious user of illegal substances and painted the walls of his club flat near elm park black as a black room is less scary during an acid trip, and was possibly the only football league player to have been hospitalised after having his rectum pierced by a scaffolding pole during a building site accident. We survived being merged (read asset stripped) by Oxford owner Robert Maxwell in 1983, and celebrated by going back down to the 4th division when Exeter scored a very late winner that sent us down, with fans already on the pitch celebrating staying up. Happier times followed, and the club even lifted its first ever cup at Wembley 5 years later, beating "top division giants" Luton 4-1, and getting relegated again two months later. During the 1997/8 season, the club built the Madejski stadium. To celebrate this moment, in customary fashion, the team got relegated again, setting a new club record of seven consecutive defeats. And to prove that was no fluke, they equalled that record 8 games later. Now that's history. Oh, and also as the way things are going we aren't going to be in the real one next season. we celbrated btw, the chelsea franchise comment wasn't abaout recent history, but their formation. On the basis of having a stadium, and being in a part of the country the league wanted to gain a bigger footprint in, Chelsea were elected to the league without ever having kicked a ball previously.
LOL. OK so are there any reasons why you should be in the premiership. Coz after that litany of disaster you're in a league of two alongside Accrington Stanley. Do any other teams have such a record of persistant disaster? I really want to know.
Rochdale may not match them on disaster, but they are the least successful club in England. Members of the Football League since 1921 they have only been promoted once in 1969 (alhtough when the regional third divisions were changed to national divisions they just made the higher one only to be relegated after one year) and have currently spent the last 34 seasons in the bottom division.
hmm, hows about basing it on how long the club has spent in the top division? YEARS - Club 104 - Everton (1st) 103 - 102 - 101 - 100 - 99 - 98 - 97 - 98 - 96 - Aston Villa (2nd) 95 - 94 - 93 - 92 - Liverpool (3rd) 91 - 90 - Arsenal (4th) 89 - 88 - 87 - 86 - 85 - 84 - 83 - 82 - Manchester United (5th) 81 - 80 - 79 - 78 - Manchester City (6th) 77 - Newcastle United (7th) 76 - Sunderland (8th) 75 - 74 - 73 - 72 - Chelsea, Tottenham (9th,10th) 71 - West Brom (11th) 70 - 69 - 68 - Bolton Wanderers (12th) 67 - Blackburn Rovers (13th) 66 - Sheffield Wednesday (14th) 65 - 64 - Derby County (15th) 63 - 62 - 61 - 60 - Wolves, Sheffield United (16th,17th) 59 - 58 - Middlesbrough (18th) 57 - 56 - Nottingham Forest (19th) 55 - 54 - Birmingham City (20th) So there you have it. Nottm Forrest, Wolves, Sheff Utd, Shef Wed, and West Brom are the only clubs not in the Premiership that deserve to be in the Premiership. AND....the Premiership just wouldn't be the same without Everton in it.
well, Reading are the oldest club in the premiership. They are also the only club in the history of English football (of those who have been there) to have never been relegated from the top flight (although we might have to speed up the voting process for that to remain true). Our 106 point record in 2006 makes us technically the team that has most deserved to be promoted to the top division ever. If Reading weren't in the premiership then whose games would Tony Gubba have to comentate on?
The totals listed are up to the end of last season so West ham would be joint 23rd with Leeds on 50 seasons. If you include this season then they would be level with Burnley at 22nd.
Tony Gubba comentates like a child opening his christmas presents - oh MY! It's an action man tank commander. WOULD you believe it? With the realistic hair AND gripping hands, just incredible! Sometimes games need that. hmm, other premiership reasons.... although no longer with us, the away end toilets at elm park were the only ones in the country with the walls covered in ivy - on the inside. The Madejski stadium is one of the very few grounds in the country (perhaps the only) where you can get a pint of guinness on the concourse. We are the only club team in England to have beaten the full Italian national team in a match. we hold the record for being unbeaten in football league matches - 50 years from 1871 to 1921. That we didn't play any in the period is a trifling detail. We do actually hold the genuine league record for the longest period of time without conceding a goal - it wasn't this season I hasten to add. 1,103 minutes, or 6 days shy of 5 months. We do also hold the record for the best start to a league season by any English professional team, winning the first 13 games in 1985.
Cardiff City should be in there for being the only team from outside of Wales to win the FA Cup and having fans that travel abroad every other week.
I'm well aware, I have Welsh ancestors. But there is no point in England that is more than 400 miles from Cardiff. It's hardly anymore of a hardship for supporters from Cardiff to travel than it is for supporters of any other club, except maybe the London clubs. Do they have to go through customs? Is there an inspection? Is traveling from Cardiff to London any different than traveling from Newcastle to London?