Will English football’s sleeping giants awaken?
Roar Guru By apaway, 23 Aug 2011 apaway is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- english football, English Premier League, EPL, football, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday, Sunderland
Since English football’s first championship season in 1888/89, there have been 23 different winners of the title known until 1992 as the 1st Division championship, and from 1993 onwards, the Premiership.
All 23 of those clubs still ply their trade in the three top divisions in English football.
The Premier League has raised the profile, wages, revenue and exposure of English football to heights not imaginable in the late 1980s.
However, it has also realistically restricted the possible pool of winners, with the dominance of Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea being briefly disturbed by Blackburn Rovers in 1995.
As the Premier League enters its 20th season, it is worth reflecting on some of the clubs that were former giants of the game, and whether they ever will be again.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST
The answer to two great trivia questions: Forest are the only club to have won the championship the year after being promoted from the second tier. They are also quite possibly the only club in Europe who have won more European (Champions League) Cups than they have domestic titles.
Their success could be put down to one man – Brian Clough. One of the greatest English managers the game has seen, a recalcitrant, ascerbic, brilliant coach who never got the England job due to his desire not to be pigeon-holed. He spoke his mind and was without doubt “The Special One” years before Mourinho was born. He achieved miracles with Forest but it was old hat to him, as he’d done the same thing with Derby County earlier in the 1970s.
But his legacy to the game was the Forest side he guided from the 2nd Division to a European Cup win in the space of three seasons. Currently Forest ply their trade in the Championship, and made the play-offs last season. However, Brian Cloughs are thin on the ground these days so their chances of repeating the dizzying heights of 1977-79 seem slim.
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY
For a while last season, South Yorkshire’s Owls looked like they might drop to League 2, the 4th tier of English Football. They are without doubt the biggest club to have dropped the furthest in their recent tumultous history.
Sheffield Wednesday have won the same number of titles as Chelsea (4). However, their last win was in 1930. In 1992, they had a chance to snatch the title on the penultimate day of the season, but a 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace saw them share second place with Manchester United, behind winners Leeds United. The following year they were runners up in both the League Cup and FA Cup, losing both finals 2-1 to Arsenal, the FA Cup only after a replay which was decided in the last minute of extra time.
Despite huge support and with one of the biggest home grounds in the country in Hillsborough, it has been a sliding level of success since then. The Owls came close to the Championship play-offs in 2008 but were relegated to the third tier in 2010, four seasons after climbing out of League One.
Their hopes for success and a restoration of their former lofty status appear to be pinned on new owner Milan Mandaric, who bought the club last season and cleared their debts. Mandaric has had a chequered past as a football chairman. He was arrested in 2007 on charges of corruption but was released without charge.
Under his ownership, Leicester City were relegated from and promoted back to the Championship. He went through four managers in one season while at Leicester – one of them, Gary Megson, is Wednesday’s current boss. If Milan’s money can talk, perhaps the Owls might dream of better days.
SUNDERLAND
One of the twin North-East giants (with fierce rivals Newcastle United), Sunderland sit sixth on the ladder of most League titles. However, 5 of their 6 titles were earned before World War One. They faded as a force in top flight football after being relegated from the 1st Division in 1958. Their fortunes were turned around not by a League success, but by an act of giant-killing that has become FA Cup folklore. In the 1973 Final, as a 2nd Division club close to relegation, they beat reigning holders and Euro powerhouse Leeds United 1-0 at Wembley.
The Black Cats have led a yo-yo existence in recent times, constantly bouncing between the Premiership and the Championship. In 1999, they won the Championship with a then-record haul of 105 points. In 2003, they were relegated with a then-record low of 19 points.
After an excellent start to last season, manager Steve Bruce had to stave off a relegation dogfight at the end of last season. He has bought well and wisely according to many pundits, and perhaps 2011/12 is the year that Sunderland re-establishes some degree of consistency. While not a realistic chance of usurping the Big 4 or 5, the Black Cats could settle in the upper half of the league, and score more than 19 points!
Coming up: Huddersfield Town, Leeds United and Burnley. And are Liverpool now officially asleep?
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August 24th 2011 @ 8:25am
Futbanous said | August 24th 2011 @ 8:25am | Report comment
The EPL is a double edged sword,whilst in reality the standard of English football has improved,for me its only at the very top & for a select few clubs.
The rest are on a treadmill trying to keep up & if they lose their footing & drop back into the Championship its very difficult to get back on again as Wednesday,Notts Forest,Leeds etc have found out.
Chelsea are only notable because a rich Russian took them over. In other words money counts more than tradition in the new era of EPL & the rest of the divisions. The more you succeed the more you succeed.
Although 23 out of 92 clubs is still only a quarter that have won the top tier title its still a lot better than present,where only 4 out of 92 stand a chance.
The difference prior to EPL days is that footballing ability(within your club)determined which division you competed in from season to season.
Of course bigger clubs in larger cities did better than clubs from smaller, towns a natural consequence of larger attendances,but overall there was a balance.
Nowadays the only balance that counts is in your bank account.
Cant see it changing,but for fans of former great clubs it must irk to see that the only way forward is for an overseas billionaire or group take control. Man City being another recent example.
August 24th 2011 @ 5:28pm
apaway said | August 24th 2011 @ 5:28pm | Report comment
Futbanous
I agree and ultimately I don’t think its healthy for the game domestically.
In the 20 years of the EPL, there have been 4 different winners. In the 20 years prior to the EPL, there were 7 (Liverpool, Leeds, Notts Forest, Derby County, Everton, Arsenal, Aston Villa).
The interesting part is the list of runners up in the 2 decades prior to the Premier League: clubs such as Queens Park Rangers, Watford, Southampton, Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town finished second. Hard to imagine any of those names filling an automatic Champions League place anytime soon.
August 24th 2011 @ 9:10am
Fussball ist unser leben said | August 24th 2011 @ 9:10am | Report comment
Some great memories from the past, apaway … thank you.
As a Man United fan, Notts Forest, in particular, remind me of how tough life used to be following United during the 70s & 80s.
From 1977, English clubs won the European Cup (UCL) 6 years in a row and 7 out of 8 … but, NOT once was Man United involved in the tournament.
August 24th 2011 @ 6:12pm
Ben Carter said | August 24th 2011 @ 6:12pm | Report comment
Telling stat there involving Forest Fuss. Makes you wonder whether the EPL era has actually been good for the sport at a continental level, too, in a way. Do we still see that battlers’ fairytale run in the European Cup now? The answer would appear to vary between “heck no!” and “nah, not really”. A shame, to be honest.
August 24th 2011 @ 7:01pm
Fussball ist unser leben said | August 24th 2011 @ 7:01pm | Report comment
Ben
I think there’s still room for the UCL to produce “the romantic result” but, the romance seems to die at the 1/4 final or Semi-Final stage.
You prompted my to take a trip down memory lane and here are some of the “less fashionable teams” (and how far they progressed), who had the big boys with the big bucks looking over their shoulders:
2011: Schalke 04 (Semi-final) – fairytale 1/4 final where they knocked out the prior Champions, Inter.
2010: Lyon (1/4 finals) – but, they knocked out mighty Real Madrid in the Round of 16
2009: Villarreal (1/4 finals)
2008: Schalke & Fenerbahce (1/4 final)
2007: PSV, Valencia (1/4 final) : our very own lad, ex-GCU and now Newcastle Jets, Jason Culina was in the PSV team that knocked out EPL giants Arsenal but lost to Liverpool in the 1/4 final
2006: Villareal (Semi), Lyon (1/4), Benfica (1/4) .. Benfica knocked out the UCL Champions, Liverpool in the Ro16
2005: PSV (Semi) lost the 1st leg to mighty AC Milan 2-0 but produced a stunning home 3-1 win but missed out on playing in the final on the Away Goals Rule!
2004: AS Monaco knocked out Chelsea to reach the FINAL; … and Deportivo La Coruna also made the Semi-Final! “The Special One” won his first UCL with Porto … so, 3 out of 4 “unfashionable” semi-finalists
2003: Ajax (1/4 final) … they knocked out AC Milan in the Ro16
2002: Bayer Leverkusen knocked out Man United to reach the Final but lost to one of the most spectacular goals of all time – a Zizou volley on his non-preferred left foot!
2001: Leeds United (Semi) the year our lads – a 22 year old Harry Kewell and Dukes – nearly lived the fairytale; and “unfashionable” Valencia lost the final on penalties
2000: Valencia beat mighty Barcelona to reach the final but lost to another La Liga rival, Real Madrid
August 24th 2011 @ 10:59pm
apaway said | August 24th 2011 @ 10:59pm | Report comment
Great list, Fussball, but I wonder if any of them have quite the romance of Nottingham Forest going from Division 2 to League Champions to back-to-back European Cup winners., all in successive seasons. To put it in context, that would be like QPR, Norwich or Swansea winning the Premiership this season then winning the following two Champions League finals.
August 25th 2011 @ 10:19am
Fussball ist unser leben said | August 25th 2011 @ 10:19am | Report comment
You’re right apaway … doubt there’ll ever be another “Notts Forest fairytale” in my lifetime.
But, I guess, there probably won’t be another Brian Clough in my lifetime.
August 24th 2011 @ 12:08pm
whiskeymac said | August 24th 2011 @ 12:08pm | Report comment
good one – forest and leeds are names I wld love to see in the EPL. Ken Bates isnt. Wednesday, Ipswich, Watford etc i think will be destined to be yo-yo teams on a good day. Have liverpool gone to sleep you ask? No. Domestically they recently (ish) came second (and should have won) but its been a long time for them hasnt it…. in europe they have been going OK if the last 10 years are taken into account as recent =) Arsenal (my team), Liverpool, Everton, Spurs etc are all looking to regain themselves (some more than others) and work out how to counter russian and dubai dlollars and that wily old scottish b’strd.
August 24th 2011 @ 5:17pm
apaway said | August 24th 2011 @ 5:17pm | Report comment
Whiskeymac
Manchester United went 26 years without a title, and were relegated in 1974. Liverpool are now 21 years without a title and while they haven’t suffered the drop, it’s probably fair to say that 2 decades is a long time for one of the country’s biggest clubs to have not won the title. Maybe we can say they are dozing…
August 25th 2011 @ 9:00am
whiskeymac said | August 25th 2011 @ 9:00am | Report comment
26 wonderful years….
I agree it s along time, and especially for a club which thinks (or shld i say thought) of itself as having a divine right on winning domestic titles, but in the same period (91 to now) they have still won some silverware of importance (in Europe at least). Dozing at home, partying abroad.
August 24th 2011 @ 3:09pm
Stephen Smith said | August 24th 2011 @ 3:09pm | Report comment
Futbanous – I’m afraid its not just England, its the way things are in most countries. Take Spain – a two-horse race every year with the rest feeding off scraps, overseas owners (Malaga, Getafe) and huge debts. Barca and Madrid negotiate their own tv deals which jsut make them richer every year, particularly when they earn millions in the Champs League as well.
August 24th 2011 @ 10:38pm
NF said | August 24th 2011 @ 10:38pm | Report comment
Look I’m a casual observer of football and one day I watched some old highlight packages of the EPL during it’s inception in the 90′s and it’s amazing to think the likes of Queens Park Rangers, Norwich City, Sheffield Wednesday & Nottingham Forest were given in a red hot go. I expect there to be different winners than the big 4 in years to come hopefully it will happen as success doesn’t last forever change will occur the question it which teams will step up onto the plate to join the next step.
August 24th 2011 @ 10:56pm
apaway said | August 24th 2011 @ 10:56pm | Report comment
We can only hope, NF. Norwich are unbeaten so far this season in the league!
August 24th 2011 @ 11:00pm
NF said | August 24th 2011 @ 11:00pm | Report comment
Good start last year in my first year of following the EPL I picked Blackpool I knew they were not going to qualify for the Champion’s league or challenge the EPL title but I knew they have a red hot go I enjoyed there attacking style of play too bad they got relegated so once again I’m supporting the recently promoted sides such as Swansea, Norwich, and QPR realistically I know they won’t go far in the EPL but they keep trying.
Rugby League is my favorite sport but I will always keep my casual eye on football when it’s on.
August 24th 2011 @ 11:15pm
NF said | August 24th 2011 @ 11:15pm | Report comment
apaway
What your thoughts of La Liga when you consider the fact it’s a two horse race every year between Real and Barcelona it’s interesting for me how supporters of the other 18 teams in La Liga to be excited for the season knowing realistically the chances of getting the title is very slim also consider the amount of debt the Spanish clubs are in also and the unfair tv deal.
A solution would be an equalization policy for all tv income and other revenue streams to all 20 clubs so aleast they can either pay off debts, increase there wage bills to get better talent & retain talent, gain resources and more money for the football department in general. Now correct me if I’m wrong it how a football club works since from what I see it’s anything goes the rich get richer, the poor gets poorer and as a result the inequality gap grows by the years.
Here’s an interesting article about it: http://www.villarrealusa.com/2011/6/22/2235734/spanish-football-finances-in-the-spotlight
August 26th 2011 @ 1:06pm
apaway said | August 26th 2011 @ 1:06pm | Report comment
NF
La Liga trades a lot on the brilliance of Barcelona. However, it is a strong competition and the likes of Valencia, Athletico and in the past Deportivo La Coruna have looked capable of upsetting the dominance of Real and Barca. My fear is that the gap is getting wider and wider as both clubs have seemingly bottomless pits of money with which to attract the best players. That’s not healthy for the league and is a situation that has made two-horse races out of the leagues in Scotland, Portugal and the Netherlands, to name a few.
August 25th 2011 @ 12:42am
PaddyBoy said | August 25th 2011 @ 12:42am | Report comment
Just quietly, how glorious would it be to see Birmingham pull out a Europa League win from Div 2?