The abolition of the maximum wage for footballers at the start of the 1960s brought cataclysmic changes to English football.
Smaller town Lancashire clubs, like Preston North End, Burnley, Blackpool, Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers, had all been strong clubs in the First Division at one stage or another.
However, the abolition of the maximum wage paved the way for domination of the English game by the “big city” clubs of the North-West, London and, to an extent, the Midlands.
It was the decade that Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Leeds United, Tottenham and Chelsea became powerhouse clubs to some extent or another (Arsenal hadn’t picked up a trophy for years at that time).
The decline of the old Lancashire clubs – some of whom had been founder members of the Football League – meant that Preston North End, Blackpool, Bolton and Burnley would never again rank among the top clubs in the country; all of whom suffered a decline in fortunes in the 60s and 70s, with Preston, Bolton and Blackburn in the Third Division by the early 70s. Although, all three clubs regained Second Division status soon afterwards, and Bolton and Burnley still enjoyed First Division stays during the 1970s.
The 1980s were dark days for most of the Lancashire clubs, perhaps mirroring the economic decay of the region – anybody who’s seen Burnley, and is aware of its reputation, will attest to that.
Only Blackburn had anything like prosperity, spending the entire decade in the Second Division, usually near the top of it.
Oldham were another fairly strong Second Division side throughout this time, and even Bury and newcomers Wigan Athletic were doing rather better in the Third Division.
Blackpool, Preston North End, Burnley and Bolton all felt the bitter taste of Fourth Division football.
Blackpool and Preston had to apply for re-election to the league – prior to the introduction of automatic relegation from the Fourth in 1986/87 – but escaped the basement division before too long.
Burnley, a top six club as recently as 1974, were facing relegation from the League altogether by 1987, but escaped on the final day. They took until 1992 to leave the bottom tier.
Bolton had the shortest stay in the basement – one season – and their gradual recovery remains a testament to giving a manager (in this case Phil Neal) time.
Blackburn and Bolton became Premier League clubs in the 1990s, with Blackburn even winning the league itself in 1995. And both clubs remained Premier League clubs this decade. Though precariously at times.
The recovery of Burnley, Preston North End and Blackpool has been one of the biggest change to the football landscape outside the Premiership in the past decade.
The first two returned to the second tier after lengthy absences in 2000. Blackpool were promoted to the Championship in 2007, after 29 years out of that level.
Burnley and Preston are now promotion contenders, and they’d gladly take that after some wretched decades earlier.
Koala Bear
Guest
The Millennium Stadium is owned by Millennium Stadium plc which is a subsidiary company of the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU).[8] The total construction cost of the stadium was GB£121 million,[2] of which the Millennium Commission funded £46m.[9] True Tah, you were right... But aided by a UK Government lottery as I understand... £46m pounds I would imagine an Arab Shiek would rather invest in a side which features or is likely to feature in EPL/UEFA Cup - until Cardiff/Swansea are meeting that criteria, this is unlikely. Don't be so sure ... An Arabian Shiek has been named to support the Tasmanian franchise bid into the HAL.... ~~~~~~~~ KB
True Tah
Guest
KB I understand the WRU went into heavy debt to fund the construction of the new stadium, that to me suggests that they would own the stadium (well with a heavy amount owing to financial institutions). If this was not the case, then why would they be carrying the debt? Im not 100% on the intracies of UCL qualification, but Im sure the champions from the League of Wales get some sort of entry? I would imagine an Arab Shiek would rather invest in a side which features or is likely to feature in EPL/UEFA Cup - until Cardiff/Swansea are meeting that criteria, this is unlikely.
Koala Bear
Guest
True Tah, http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium_pictures/europe/united_kingdom/wales/cardiff_millennium.shtml Does the Welsh Rugby really own the stadium, or are they just the major tenants ...? It seems that the Wales Football Association are also a tenant of the stadium.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Commission In reality it's the home of Rugby and Football paid by a government lottery ... What does all this mean.. ? Is it owned outright by Welsh Rugby or is it the National Stadium owned by the people...? In any case 3m population is worthy of a Football Club to compete in the UCL if ever one day that would happen and if ever the Millennium stadium one day became the home ground for one of the Welsh Football Club.. Considering in Spain's Villarreal FC continue to knock on the door of the UCL's semis and play some fantastic football with a home town population of just 58k and fill their small stadium of 28k when ever they play at home ... Yes Wales only need a cashed up Sheik with foresight to realise the possibilities by buying a run down Welsh Football team, stock it with the best players from all around the world and suddenly you have a team worthy of attracting 75k to home matches and win the EPL and the UCL ... Stranger things have happened.. ;) Onside, I think you spelt Bill Browne's name inccorectly the rest is fine... :lol: ~~~~~~~ KB
David V.
Guest
And Cardiff and Swansea are doing well in the Championship. Swansea once graced the top flight and did well for one year there!
True Tah
Guest
David as someone with Lancs ties, I definitely enjoyed the article. Koala - re: the lack of Welsh clubs in the top flight, 1) The two clubs in the CC Championship are Cardiff City and Swansea City 2) Forgive me if Im wrong but Im sure either of these two sides won the FA Cup in the 1920s. 3) Milennium Stadium capacity is 75,000, and its owned by the WRU in any event. Im not sure why the lack of success, but whilst both these two clubs enjoy a lot of success in terms of crowds, outside them, Welsh futbol is in the doldrums, the crowds for some of their recent FIFA WCQ matches have been awful (in contract, the Wales v Canada rugby match drew 60K). Wales only has about 3m people, so in terms of attractiveness, Western Sydney would be at least as attractive as a Welsh side to an Arab Sheik.
onside
Guest
A Welsh football team from, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwiillantysiliogogogoch ,caught the train to,Gorsafawddachaidraigodanheddogleddiionpenrhynareurdraethceredigion , to play a visiting New Zealand team from,Tetaumatawhakatangihangakoauaotamateaurehaeaturipukapihimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuaakit anarahu, that was refereed by an official from Thailand who once played center back for, Krungthepmahana kornamornratanakosinmahintarayutthayamadilokphopnopparatrajathaniburiromudomrajaniwesmahasatharnam orornphimarnavatarnsathitsakkattiyavisanukamprasit. Bob Smith and Bill Brown from Hull ran the line.
Koala Bear
Guest
Viscount, (pardon me David V for being a bit off topic) I know very little about Welsh football .. only that a Welshman some 30 years ago once told me that the best footballer ever to come out of Wales was big John Charles http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Charles I would have loved to see him play .. his career stats seem amazing... ~~~~~~~~~~ KB
David V.
Guest
Well Sheffield United have become top dogs in Yorkshire by default. And they should go up this year. Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds have nobody to blame but themselves for the mess they got into- living beyond their means. The same fate that visited upon the East Midlands clubs too, and will very likely visit Newcastle.
Viscount Crouchback
Guest
"I have often wondered why Welsh clubs haven’t made more of an impact in the top flights of English football as well (Bristol City and Cardiff City)". Good heavens, dont say that in Bristol. It's on the right side of the bridge - so far as they're concerned anyway! The success of the Lancastrian clubs over the past ten years has been remarkable. But the plight of Yorkshire's clubs has been equally remarkable, and very sad. It's incredible that cities the size of Sheffield and Leeds have no Premiership representation while tiny towns like Wigan and Blackburn have become established top division clubs. In the long-term performance tends to track crowd size, but it's remarkable how clubs can escape that causal relationship for a decade or two.
David V.
Guest
Koala Bear, well Sam Hammam was the closest there was ;) In all seriousness, I do these articles out of love for football, and because I want to show there's more to football than the constant circle jerk about the "latest and greatest".
dasilva
Roar Guru
Yeah. I'm in the same boat as onside I generally only comment when I have something to argue with or debate with. However I do enjoy reading your articles and learn a bit more about football history and the lack of comment doesn't mean your articles aren't good but it just means they are not controversial or divisive.
Koala Bear
Guest
David V, yes an interesting article .. I have often wondered why Welsh clubs haven't made more of an impact in the top flights of English football as well (Bristol City and Cardiff City) with a magnificent 90k millennium stadium in Cardiff ... a primed location for a cashed up Arabian Sheik to make a splash into the big time.. All the ingredients are there to build a super club from nothing and yet nothing happens... ~~~~~~~~ KB
onside
Guest
David I enjoyed reading your story.I am sure others have.I have no comments to add other than I hope you dont think the paucity of responses reflect a lack of interest.This sort of article is a pleasure to read.Thankyou.