"big" Clubs.

[MikeO]

Interesting take from a Spurs fan (from SpursPies.tv).

 

In the aftermath of Sunday's cup victory, a lot of articles in the mainstream press have pointed to the fact that Spurs are the first non-'Big Four' club to win a major trophy since Middlesbrough won the same competition in 2004.

 

The fact that four clubs have had such a stranglehold on our domestic game is certainly an astonishing development, but it does lead to some interesting questions. For years, fans of clubs such as Spurs, Everton, Manchester City, Aston Villa and others have argued over whether or not their clubs still count as 'big', despite prolonged periods without success.

 

The desire to be considered 'big' is seemingly huge in the modern game, and the established Big Four, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea, rarely miss an opportunity to stress just how mighty and powerful they are. The recent publishing of football's richest clubs only served to emphasise this fact, in which United were surpassed only by Real Madrid, and the other three clubs all featured in the top 8.

 

But truly, can money be a serious factor in deducing whether or not a team is 'big'? The only two English clubs outside of the Big Four to be featured were Spurs and Newcastle, but surely Newcastle's lack of silverware leaves them a long way behind the likes of Villa and Everton when it comes to stature.

 

Truly, in my eyes, the size of a football club can be measured on three equally important factors. Trophies, fanbase, and fame. These can all be measured to varying degrees of accuracy, and I don't think there are any other factors that play anything more than a minor role in the assessment of a club's influence.

 

Using these factors, there are a couple of indisputable facts. Only the most ardent of Liverpool or City supporters would attempt to argue that Manchester United are not the biggest club in England.

 

United have now amassed 16 league titles, only two behind Liverpool, and though they have underperformed in Europe, their complete dominance of the English game over the last 15 years is enough to secure their place at the top of the pile. Liverpool's tradition and continued cup success sees them run United a close second, whilst, as much as it pains me to say it, Arsenal have third place pretty much sewn up.

 

 

Then comes the difficult part, under the current hierarchy, those West London upstarts would presume that their place in the top four biggest clubs is assured, but as far as I'm concerned they fall short on all three counts, and there are a whole host of clubs with more of a claim than Chelsea.

 

The Spurs cause gathers momentum on the back of our latest victory, but taking my lilywhite-tinted spectacles off for a second, I'd have to concede fourth place to Everton, due to their far superior league record. Both clubs have very similar sized fanbases, and were both members of the old 'Big Five', but sadly our lack of league titles means that Everton just about pip us, though their lack of any sort of success whatsoever in recent times makes it a very close-run thing.

 

Then there is the possibility of Aston Villa, who have a lot of league titles and FA Cups, all amassed mainly in the 19th century. I would put us ahead of Villa though, on account of our successes having at least taken place in the last 100 years. Villa do have a European Cup to their name, but it is their only piece of European silverware, and they have only two league cups to their name since that win in 1982.

 

After Villa, I would place Chelsea, who had only one league title to their name pre-Abramovich, and were genuinely an irrelevance in terms of global standing until as recently as five years ago. They may have picked up a handful of trophies in recent years, but quite apart from their pitiful history, their fanbase is only a fraction of the clubs I rank above them, and it shows no signs of increasing. They notoriously struggle to sell out Champions League matches, and it's safe to say that if the likes of Spurs, Villa or Everton were able to break the top four, then they would have no such problems.

 

Below Chelsea, there are a number of clubs vying for position, and it's tough to deny the claims of Newcastle and Man City, despite each club's perennial struggle for silverware. Both teams have loyal fanbases, who have suffered through more false dawns than they would care to recall.

 

So, without further ado, here is how the 20 Premier League teams rank in order of stature.

 

1.Manchester United

2.Liverpool

3.Arsenal

4.Everton

5.Spurs

6.Aston Villa

7.Chelsea

8.Newcastle United

9.Manchester City

10.West Ham United

11.Derby County

12.Sunderland

13.Blackburn Rovers

14.Bolton Wanderers

15.Birmingham City

16.Fulham

17.Portsmouth

18.Middlesbrough

19.Reading

20.Wigan Athletic

 

[Bill]

Good reasoned argument but he does'nt have to convince me, i have always known that Everton Football Club are a Massive Club, and will continue to believe so until my dying day.