Where do clubs belong

Didcotox

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Now that the play offs have finished, and we read the forums of other clubs either celebrating being back where they belong or hating being in this poxy league (Sunderland), it begged the question where do I think clubs belong.

On a quiet Tuesday morning, whilst I wait for my wife to get ready before I take her clothes shopping for her birthday (kill me now), I compiled a list of where I thought clubs belonged. This will vary amongst pretty much every single one of us, depending on your age mostly I guess and where teams were during your informative years, ie youngsters will consider Wigan maybe a premiership or Championship team where as in my initial draft I had them in league 2.

Premiership was fairly easy to compile, as was league 2 but the Championship and league 1 were difficult.

For what it’s worth, here is my list and it may be fun, or take up some close season boredom!

In no particular order;

Premiership
1. Man Utd
2. Liverpool
3. Arsenal
4. Chelsea
5. Man City
6. Villa
7. Norwich
8. Everton
9. Forest
10. Spurs
11. West Ham
12. Southampton
13. Newcastle
14. Leeds
15. Palace
16. Coventry
17. Sheff Utd
18. Sheff Wed
19. QPR
20. Derby

Championship
1. Cardiff
2. Birmingham
3. West Brom
4. Middlesbrough
5. Sunderland
6. Preston
7. Bolton
8. Fulham
9. Millwall
10. Portsmouth
11. Charlton
12. Barnsley
13. Leicester
14. Wolves
15. Stoke
16. Ipswich
17. Bristol City
18. Watford
19. Burnley
20. Hull City
21. Luton
22. Reading
23. Tranmere
24. Blackburn

League 1
1. Peterborough
2. Gillingham
3. Blackpool
4. Bristol Rovers
5. Shrewsbury
6. Huddersfield
7. Bradford
8. Rotherham
9. Brighton
10. Cambridge
11. Oxford
12. Wigan
13. Swindon
14. Oldham
15. Notts County
16. Bournemouth
17. Brentford
18. Swansea
19. Southend
20. Port Vale
21. Walsall
22. Grimsby
23. Plymouth
24. MK Dons (found this the hardest to place as the history is somewhat distorted)

League 2
1. Doncaster
2. Lincoln
3. Crewe
4. Bury
5. Northampton
6. Scunthorpe
7. Carlise
8. AFC Wimbledon
9. Wycombe
10. Rochdale
11. Accrington Stanley
12. Fleetwood
13. Burton
14. Newport
15. Colchester
16. Yeovil
17. Stevenage
18. Cheltenham
19. Mansfield
20. Exeter
21. Morecombe
22. Macclesfield
23. Forest Green
24. Crawley

Also makes you think how many good teams we have lost from the league, Torquay, Stockport, Wrexham, Chesterfield, Orient and Hartlepool off the top of my head.
 
Tranmere in The Championship???

Easy way to find out where a team belongs, its called the league table. Sunderland are where they belong, it's up to them to change it.

Likewise Bournemouth in Lg 1 but Sheff Wed, Coventry and QPR in the PL.
 
Premiership
1. Man Utd
2. Liverpool
3. Arsenal
4. Chelsea
5. Man City
6. Villa
7. Middlesborough
8. Everton
9. Forest
10. Spurs
11. West Ham
12. Southampton
13. Newcastle
14. Leeds
15. Palace
16. Leicester
17. Sheff Utd
18. Sheff Wed
19. QPR
20. Blackburn

Championship
1. Cardiff
2. Birmingham
3. West Brom
4. Norwich
5. Sunderland
6. Preston
7. Bolton
8. Fulham
9. Millwall
10. Portsmouth
11. Charlton
12. Barnsley
13. Coventry
14. Wolves
15. Stoke
16. Ipswich
17. Bristol City
18. Watford
19. Burnley
20. Hull City
21. Luton
22. Reading
23. Bradford
24. Derby

League 1
1. Peterborough
2. Gillingham
3. Blackpool
4. Bristol Rovers
5. Shrewsbury
6. Huddersfield
7. Tranmere
8. Rotherham
9. Brighton
10. Cambridge
11. Oxford
12. Wigan
13. Swindon
14. Oldham
15. Notts County
16. Bournemouth
17. Brentford
18. Swansea
19. Southend
20. Port Vale
21. Walsall
22. Doncaster
23. Plymouth
24. MK Dons (found this the hardest to place as the history is somewhat distorted)

League 2
1. Grimsby
2. Lincoln
3. Crewe
4. Bury
5. Northampton
6. Scunthorpe
7. Carlise
8. AFC Wimbledon
9. Wycombe
10. Rochdale
11. Accrington Stanley
12. Fleetwood
13. Burton
14. Newport
15. Colchester
16. Yeovil
17. Stevenage
18. Cheltenham
19. Mansfield
20. Exeter
21. Morecombe
22. Macclesfield
23. Forest Green
24. Crawley

I woud agree with most but would have Blackburn in the premier league over Coventry and Leicester over Derby. I used to love watching Leicester on match of the day play at filbert street with players like muzzy izzet tearing up the wing.

I was thinking this morning that I'm glad the teams that went up in the play offs are all teams that almost feel like they belong in the league that they are going up to.
 
I'm struggling with this a bit. Would you say where a club 'belongs' is just where it has historically been most often? Or should clubs with bigger support be higher? Or those with more financial backing? Or (as league tables show) those who have managed to put a decent team together consistently over a period of years?

I actually think one of the most exciting things about our pyramid structure was that it was perfectly possible for a lower league team to climb to the top and for a 'bigger' club to tumble down the leagues. It's still possible to some degree, but nowadays the amount of money needed to get a team up the leagues (and keep them there) is prohibitive and makes it much less likely.
 
I was thinking about this and the village teams the other day. Crawley and Stevenage, much as I despised them in the Conference days, do seem to have established themselves as league clubs. I bet on them to get relegated every season and end up disappointed. It probably helps that they are actually decent sized towns so can actually get some support. Also Stevenage is a "new town" and Crawley has expanded in size over the decades. So this probably also affects my thinking of where a club belongs as being where it was in 1980 or whenever I got my first panini album.
 
I was thinking about this and the village teams the other day. Crawley and Stevenage, much as I despised them in the Conference days, do seem to have established themselves as league clubs. I bet on them to get relegated every season and end up disappointed. It probably helps that they are actually decent sized towns so can actually get some support. Also Stevenage is a "new town" and Crawley has expanded in size over the decades. So this probably also affects my thinking of where a club belongs as being where it was in 1980 or whenever I got my first panini album.
Agree. Didn’t Stevenage fail to get into the league in the mid nineties as their ground wasn’t up to standards?
 
I'm struggling with this a bit. Would you say where a club 'belongs' is just where it has historically been most often? Or should clubs with bigger support be higher? Or those with more financial backing? Or (as league tables show) those who have managed to put a decent team together consistently over a period of years?

I actually think one of the most exciting things about our pyramid structure was that it was perfectly possible for a lower league team to climb to the top and for a 'bigger' club to tumble down the leagues. It's still possible to some degree, but nowadays the amount of money needed to get a team up the leagues (and keep them there) is prohibitive and makes it much less likely.
Very difficult to quantify really, and we will all have our own perceptions. I created the post as most clubs fans have a sense of where they belong. Ie Villa saying they’re back in the premiership where they belong and Sunderland fans saying league one is beneath them.
 
I suspect most clubs (or at least their supporters!) think they are below where they should/could/ought to be.
 
Premiership
1. Man Utd
2. Liverpool
3. Arsenal
4. Chelsea
5. Man City
9. Spurs
10. West Ham
11. Everton
12.Newcastle

Premiership 2
1. Villa
2. Middlesborough
3. Leicester
4. Southampton
5.Sunderland
6. Blackburn
7. West Brom
8. Wolves
9. Stoke
10. Watford
11. Burnley
12. Palace


Championship
1. Cardiff
2. Birmingham
3. Sheff Utd
4. Norwich
5. Fulham
6. Ipswich
7. Bristol City
8. Leeds
9. Derby
10.Wigan
11. Hull City
12. Luton
13. Reading
14. Preston
15. Bolton
16.Portsmouth
17. Swansea
18. Sheff Wed
19. QPR
20. Millwall
21. Charlton
22.Bournemouth

League 3
1. Peterborough
2. Gillingham
3. Blackpool
4. Bristol Rovers
5.Brentford
6. Huddersfield
7. Tranmere
8. Rotherham
9. Brighton
10.Plymouth
11. Oxford
12.Burton
13.Swindon
14. Oldham
15. Notts County
12. Barnsley
13. Coventry
14.Crewe
15.Scunthorpe
16.Exeter
17.Colchester
18. Southend
19. Port Vale
20. Walsall
21.Bradford
22.Doncaster

League 4
1. Grimsby
2. Lincoln
3.Cambridge
4. Bury
5. Northampton
6..MK Dons
7. Carlise
8. AFC Wimbledon
9. Wycombe
10. Rochdale
11. Accrington Stanley
12. Fleetwood
13. Newport
14. Yeovil
15. Stevenage
16. Cheltenham
17. Mansfield
18.Shrewsbury
19. Morecombe
20. Macclesfield
21. Forest Green
22. Crawley
 
Love the differences of opinions. For me Norwich are a premiership team. Guess that viewpoint was formed when they were fighting for European spots with players like Bryan Gunn, Robert Fleck and Ruel Fox and wearing that iconic kit with green diamond patterns.
 
Premiership
1. Man Utd
2. Liverpool
3. Arsenal
4. Chelsea
5. Man City
9. Spurs
10. West Ham
11. Everton
12.Newcastle

Premiership 2
1. Villa
2. Middlesborough
3. Leicester
4. Southampton
5.Sunderland
6. Blackburn
7. West Brom
8. Wolves
9. Stoke
10. Watford
11. Burnley
12. Palace


Championship
1. Cardiff
2. Birmingham
3. Sheff Utd
4. Norwich
5. Fulham
6. Ipswich
7. Bristol City
8. Leeds
9. Derby
10.Wigan
11. Hull City
12. Luton
13. Reading
14. Preston
15. Bolton
16.Portsmouth
17. Swansea
18. Sheff Wed
19. QPR
20. Millwall
21. Charlton
22.Bournemouth

League 3
1. Peterborough
2. Gillingham
3. Blackpool
4. Bristol Rovers
5.Brentford
6. Huddersfield
7. Tranmere
8. Rotherham
9. Brighton
10.Plymouth
11. Oxford
12.Burton
13.Swindon
14. Oldham
15. Notts County
12. Barnsley
13. Coventry
14.Crewe
15.Scunthorpe
16.Exeter
17.Colchester
18. Southend
19. Port Vale
20. Walsall
21.Bradford
22.Doncaster

League 4
1. Grimsby
2. Lincoln
3.Cambridge
4. Bury
5. Northampton
6..MK Dons
7. Carlise
8. AFC Wimbledon
9. Wycombe
10. Rochdale
11. Accrington Stanley
12. Fleetwood
13. Newport
14. Yeovil
15. Stevenage
16. Cheltenham
17. Mansfield
18.Shrewsbury
19. Morecombe
20. Macclesfield
21. Forest Green
22. Crawley
Bit harsh on Nottingham Forest, they have won the Champions League, but you've chucked them out of the league entirely ?
 
Entering into the spirit of things, I'd definitely have Torquay in there (at the expense of Forest Green) and probably Wrexham instead of Crawley. Both based on the number of supporters and history of the clubs.
 
Surely you just look at which teams have spent the most time in the top flight;

 
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