[Football] Biggest clubs in Britain

[Questions]

I've tried. It makes no difference

You think it would but it doesn't.

If you have a slash with it you can get a register

 

[Han Solo]

If you don't mind me asking (ignore if you do, no problem), but do you work at the moment, and if so, what do you do?

Well, I was supposed to start a new job as a journalist (non-football, but its ok) now, thanks through the help of the Swedish employment services subsidising 90% of my wage for a year.

Me and the employer decided to postpone it for a month though as I have to arrange a funeral for dad, get rid of his shit and sell his apartment. I'm thinking the latter may very well mean a Brighton trip later this year if it turns out he wasn't too indepted.

 

[Triggaaar]

Well, I was supposed to start a new job as a journalist (non-football, but its ok) now, thanks through the help of the Swedish employment services subsidising 90% of my wage for a year.

Cool, good luck with that.

Me and the employer decided to postpone it for a month though as I have to arrange a funeral for dad, get rid of his shit and sell his apartment.

Sorry to hear that

 

[Hamilton]

I think we should seek to play in the Scottish league. Then we’d be the biggest club in Britain. That ‘trophies won’ graphic shows how pointless the Scottish league has always been.

 

[Weststander]

My thoughts on the big club thing.

Most people who go on about it are tedious willy wavers who've never been to a football stadium

But ....

Size matters. That nebulous notion of size is what gets players to sign or to re-sign. It's what get's TV companies to show your games. It's what attracts sponsors. It's what makes a kid want to put on your shirt for their game in the park.

Agree with Mustafa that the best guide to size is the number of fans. Specifically the number willing to pay to watch the games is a far more accurate guide than Insta or whatever followers. The number of people prepared to stick around during a downturn, the number of people you'll regularly take on long trips also a good indicator.

And the other thing about size. It's not monolithic. 30 years ago, we were probably about the 50 to 60th biggest club in the country. Now we're probably between 10 and 15 and higher isn't impossible. A few of the clubs above are dysfunctional.

This is a period in our history where we need to be consciously trying to grow, both in Sussex and outside. The club are making great waves in this direction, but we need to keep it up.

“Willing to pay to watch” criteria depends on the stadium size, some hemmed in by housing and transport or planning restrictions. Packed to the rafters with what they have at every game, but limited capacity.

Then there’s pretendance … stadia such as the Amex have swathes of empty seats when it’s not Manu or Liverpool visiting, yet 31,800 seats are sold. Whilst WHL and Anfield are rammed.

 

[lawros left foot]

Has there been some sort of mistake with this? Cant see Leeds or Sheffield Wednesday at the top of those lists...

Obviously, it’s only about big clubs, and not MASSIVE CLUBS.

 

[Easy 10]

The endless "biggest club" argument always has me glazing over, like when someone starts talking about their Fantasy Football team.

Pass the morphine.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Huddersfield were quite big a hundred years ago.

• First Division (level 1)[a]
  • Champions: 1923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26
  • Runners-up: 1926–27, 1927–28, 1933–34
• Second Division / Championship (level 2)
  • Champions: 1969–70
  • 2nd place promotion: 1919–20, 1952–53
  • Play-off winners: 2017
• Third Division / Second Division / League One (level 3)
  • 3rd place promotion: 1982–83
  • Play-off winners: 1995, 2012
• Fourth Division / Third Division (level 4)
  • Champions: 1979–80
  • Play-off winners: 2004

Cup

• FA Cup
  • Winners: 1921–22
  • Runners-up: 1919–20, 1927–28, 1929–30, 1937–38
• FA Charity Shield
  • Winners: 1922
• Football League Trophy
  • Runners-up: 1993–94

 

[Eeyore]

Which begs the question, how big would be if we actually win something?

About 9 inches

 

[Eeyore]

Brilliant post

A good friend of mine is a West Ham STH, he hates what that club has become, hates the stadium, hates the tourists, but still loves his club. I don't want that for us.

Well quite.

None of this really matters. Unless people choose clubs for their egos. Which many 'supporters' of big clubs do.

If I meet a new work colleague and they tell me they are a Wycombe Wanderers fan, then I'm excited to meet them. If they tell me they support Manchester United then I don't bother talking football. Unless, of course, they speak with a Mancunian accent.

As I've mentioned before, Aldershot Town and Whitehawk are also dear to me. The excitement I have about the potential of three Wembley visits this year is mounting. Shots are in the FA trophy semi-final with a home tie with arch rivals Woking (who a new member of my team supports along with West Ham) and then there's Albion.

No United 'fan' will ever have the joy of seeing their team at Wembley like I would have seeing Shots there with half the ground full. That's because my support for Aldershot comes from the heart and not some egotistical need for validation.

A possible three Wembley trips in a season and not a plastic in sight (assuming that should Albion get through they don't play City) Can you imagine how excited I am at the moment ?

 

[Eeyore]

Huddersfield were quite big a hundred years ago.

• First Division (level 1)[a]
  • Champions: 1923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26
  • Runners-up: 1926–27, 1927–28, 1933–34
• Second Division / Championship (level 2)
  • Champions: 1969–70
  • 2nd place promotion: 1919–20, 1952–53
  • Play-off winners: 2017
• Third Division / Second Division / League One (level 3)
  • 3rd place promotion: 1982–83
  • Play-off winners: 1995, 2012
• Fourth Division / Third Division (level 4)
  • Champions: 1979–80
  • Play-off winners: 2004

Cup

• FA Cup
  • Winners: 1921–22
  • Runners-up: 1919–20, 1927–28, 1929–30, 1937–38
• FA Charity Shield
  • Winners: 1922
• Football League Trophy
  • Runners-up: 1993–94

I was having this conversation with my Leeds based boss this week. I wondered that they would be the natural rivals for them. They told me that for some time they were. And, indeed, for a long time Huddersfield were the bigger club. Hudders are no small fry. They are still topping 20,000 in Div 3.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

I don't know about that.

Sweden and Norway were the first countries to buy the rights ($800 per game ) to show games from the English top flights, back in 1969.
Around 35% of the population in Sweden watched the weekly game.

Today 20% of Swedish football fans over 50 claim they got their favorite team through this. Most of the other 80% obviously support a Swedish team.

And it lasts! Take SwedeWolves for example: 500+ members, annual member trips bringing 40-50 people to England - PL, Championship or League One doesn't matter.

Even if a few million people following the team right now might drop off in worse times, the club has likely made a few hundred thousand people "permanent" fans over the last half a dozen years.

Does that hold for the under 50s too? Particularly the younger generations?

It just doesn't tally with my personal experience but I'm happy to be wrong on it. Having a worldwide army of Albion is pretty cool.

I'm also still not sure that having that would make us a big club if every other club that spends a few years in the premier league also has it. There have been something like 40 or50 different teams who have played in the premier league.

 

[oldboyroy]

Simple answer. Manchester United.

 

[Han Solo]

Does that hold for the under 50s too? Particularly the younger generations?

It just doesn't tally with my personal experience but I'm happy to be wrong on it. Having a worldwide army of Albion is pretty cool.

I'm also still not sure that having that would make us a big club if every other club that spends a few years in the premier league also has it. There have been something like 40 or50 different teams who have played in the premier league.

For those under 50 there has been more options: the Italian league was very popular on TV for a few years in the late 80s and early 90s, so Italian teams has a fair bunch of Swedish fans born in the 1970s etc.

What this big survey mentioned is that those below 50 more often claimed they had gotten their favorite team "because of a player" or "because of a friend supporting the same team". But I do think that existed in the past as well... if Brighton had been playing in the 12th tier with shite amateur players throughout the entire last century, would there be 30k people in the stands today? Bit dubious, no? People like a bit of magic on the ball.

As for the 51 teams in the Premier League... viewership in the first seasons was 90%+ domestic. In the mid and late 90s, Europe joined in and started watching. Japan and South Korea arranging the 2002 World Cup, with China participating and United States beating Portugal and Mexico to go through from the group stage, was a real catalyst in awakening new markets.

I'd say any team from that point onwards has a significant global fanbase, likely increasingly so the more modern you go - PL viewership has never decreased. So teams like Coventry and Sheffield W might be above us in the PL marathon table but I don't think they have more fans than us.

We've played or been trying to play attractive attacking football for 5.5 years, reached some good positions in the league, frequently been the no 1 "hipster" option, we have signed players from countries that has rarely otherwise been represented. For instance, ChatGPT based on available data has us as the 5th most popular English team in Japan..

How many of the new global (and local for that matter) fans are permanent? Well, only one way to find out: get relegated... many would lose interest - perhaps the majority. But a few hundred thousand likely would not.

Does it make Brighton a big club? Well, thats all subjective really - do you think there's 10 big clubs in the world? 50? 100? What is the scientific definition of "big"?

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

For those under 50 there has been more options: the Italian league was very popular on TV for a few years in the late 80s and early 90s, so Italian teams has a fair bunch of Swedish fans born in the 1970s etc.

What this big survey mentioned is that those below 50 more often claimed they had gotten their favorite team "because of a player" or "because of a friend supporting the same team". But I do think that existed in the past as well... if Brighton had been playing in the 12th tier with shite amateur players throughout the entire last century, would there be 30k people in the stands today? Bit dubious, no? People like a bit of magic on the ball.

As for the 51 teams in the Premier League... viewership in the first seasons was 90%+ domestic. In the mid and late 90s, Europe joined in and started watching. Japan and South Korea arranging the 2002 World Cup, with China participating and United States beating Portugal and Mexico to go through from the group stage, was a real catalyst in awakening new markets.

I'd say any team from that point onwards has a significant global fanbase, likely increasingly so the more modern you go - PL viewership has never decreased. So teams like Coventry and Sheffield W might be above us in the PL marathon table but I don't think they have more fans than us.

We've played or been trying to play attractive attacking football for 5.5 years, reached some good positions in the league, frequently been the no 1 "hipster" option, we have signed players from countries that has rarely otherwise been represented. For instance, ChatGPT based on available data has us as the 5th most popular English team in Japan..

How many of the new global (and local for that matter) fans are permanent? Well, only one way to find out: get relegated... many would lose interest - perhaps the majority. But a few hundred thousand likely would not.

Does it make Brighton a big club? Well, thats all subjective really - do you think there's 10 big clubs in the world? 50? 100? What is the scientific definition of "big"?

That was actually pretty much my original point!

Along with my disbelief that we have a big overseas fanbase. I'm willing to concede defeat on that one, even if my own experience is contrary to what I'm being told by others.