In part one, Notts Forest, Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland were examined to see whether there’s life in the slumbering form which might one day restore those clubs to former glories and give long-suffering fans something other than old photos and YouTube clips of The Big Match to sustain them. On with more sleeping giants.
Huddersfield Town
Who? I hear the youngsters say. Well in 1926, the club from Yorkshire won the last of three successive championships.
They were the first club to achieve such a feat. Only Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United have been able to equal this achievement.
The Terriers stayed in the First Division until 1952 and bobbed around the lower divisions until a glorious promotion run saw them back in the top flight in 1970.
However, they were dwarfed by a certain illustrious neighbour at that time and were relegated in 1972, which marked their last dance on the highest stage.
In 1994, Huddersfield moved from their almost 100 year residence at Leeds Road to the McAlpine Stadium, and a new owner in 1998 called Barry Rubery promised to take the club to the Premiership. Instead, he took them to administration.
Currently, Huddersfield ply their trade in League 1, having lost the play-off final to Peterborough back in May for the right to play in the Championship.
It’s doubtful they will ever make an impact on the top flight again, but as of now, they have won only one less title than Chelsea, and one more than Manchester City.
Burnley
Former European Cup quarter finalists, twice winners of the title, founder members of the Football League, pwerhouse of the 1950s and 1960s.
That’s the resume of the club who play out of one of the oddest-sounding home grounds in the league. But will the fans who fill Turf Moor ever see the Clarets achieve the success of 50 years ago?
Well, they were in the Premier League as recently as 2009 but Burnley went straight back down without denting too many reputations along the way (thought they did beat Manchester United 1-0 at Turf Moor).
However, the former giants were near to oblivion in 1987, barely avoiding relegation out of the Football League.
They endured seven years in the fouth tier of football but eventually marked the turn of the century by clawing their way back up to the Championship.
A play-off win against Sheffield United gave the Clarets their Premier League status in 2009, making Burnley the smallest town to host a Premiership side. Sadly, it was a brief flirtation and it seems the little town will support a team that will always fall short.
Leeds United
For most fans of the English game, Leeds are the epitome of the sleeping giant. Many Australian fans charted the club’s progress in the EPL when Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka helped them to a Champions League semi final in 2001.
But this was more like a third dawn for the club, who originally made their name in the late 1960s and early 70s under Don Revie.
They won their first title in 1969, were runners up for the following three years, with each race going down to the last day of the season.
Leeds won a second title in 1974 with a record haul of points for the time (when wins were awarded two points rather than three) and only one loss throughout the season.
They made the Eurpoean Cup final in 1975. But by 1982, Leeds were relegated to the Secibd Division, and there they stayed until 1990.
The second dawn arrived in 1992 when Leeds won the last of the old First Division titles, after Manchester United self-destructed in the run home. In 1993, the club made what now seems the insane decision to sell Eric Cantona to Manchester United.
The third dawn arrived with the appointment of David O’Leary as manager, and a style of football that thrilled audiences.
They never finished out of the top five under O’Leary’s guidance but went heavily into debt in order to try and maintain a top four finish.
The house of cards fell apart and the great club tumbled into the wilderness of League 1 in 2007 and ended up in administration.
Back in the Championship now for a second successive season, Leeds are often cited as the club currently outside the Premiership who would be most likely to get back in and win it.
But that’s an awfully tall order for a club that has as many ghosts of failure as they do stories of success in their professional existence.
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