Your First Division/Premier League

When you first get into football you get a strong impression of who is, or isn't a first division/premier league. Even now 45 years later that holds true.

My first division is (22 for me)

Arsenal
Burnley
Chelsea
Coventry
Derby
Everton
Ipswich
Leeds
Liverpool
Leicester
Manchester Utd
Manchester City
Newcastle
Nottingham Forest
Southampton
Stoke
Sheffield Wed
Sunderland
Tottenham
West Ham
West Brom
Wolves

Bizarrely this 22 were never all in the top flight at the same time.

I guess for some, born at the right time, BHAFC feel like a first division team.

I would be interested to see what your 22 or 20 "first division" is.

Agree with that mostly, barring Coventry and Leicester.

My year has Portsmouth in the premier!

Arsenal
Aston Villa
Blackburn Rovers
Burnley
Chelsea
Derby County
Everton
Huddersfield Town
Leeds United
Liverpool
Manchester United
Manchester City
Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest
Preston North End
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield United
Sunderland
Tottenham Hotspur
West Bromwich Albion
West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers

Just missing out would be Blackpool, Charlton Ath, Middlesbrough, Portsmouth and Stoke City

Actually it still seems weird to me not seeing Coventry in the Prem. They were in it for yeeeeeears at one point.

edit

Puppet Master said:

Actually it still seems weird to me not seeing Coventry in the Prem. They were in it for yeeeeeears at one point.

Click to expand...

34 years continuously, 1967 - 2001

1971-72 was my first memory of falling in love with the game

the old 1st division finished like this

1 Derby County
2 Leeds United
3 Liverpool
4 Man City
5 Arsenal
6 Tottenham
7 Chelsea
8 Man Utd
9 Wolves
10 Sheff Utd
11 Newcastle
12 Leicester
13 Ipswich
14 West Ham
15 Everton
16 WBA
17 Stoke City
18 Coventry
19 Southampton
20 Palace
21 N.Forest
22 Huddersfield

out of that lot I would omit Sheff Utd,Palace & Huddersfield

notable absentees

Norwich,Birmingham,QPR,Sunderland,Midd'boro,Sheff Wed & A.Villa who were busy winning the 3rd division!

1. Arsenal
2. Aston Villa
3. Blackburn
4. Bolton
5. Chelsea
6. Everton
7. Leeds
8. Liverpool
9. Man City
10. Man Utd
11. Middlesbrough
12. Newcastle
13. Norwich
14. Nottingham Forest
15. Southampton
16. Sunderland
17. Tottenham
18. West Brom
19. West Ham
20. Wolves

Arsenal
Aston Villa
Birmingham
Blackburn
Bolton
Chelsea
Everton
Fulham
Liverpool
Man City
Man Utd
Newcastle
Norwich
QPR
Southampton
Sunderland
Spurs
Stoke
Swansea
West Brom
West Ham
Wigan

carteater said:

Arsenal
Aston Villa
Birmingham
Blackburn
Bolton
Chelsea
Everton
Fulham
Liverpool
Man City
Man Utd
Newcastle
Norwich
QPR
Southampton
Sunderland
Spurs
Stoke
Swansea
West Brom
West Ham
Wigan

Click to expand...

Wigan? !

I’ve gone a bit further and looked at everyone for the 1976-77 season.

Crawley were in the Southern League 1
Lewes were in Isthmian Div 2
Eastbourne Town were County League champions


First Division
Pos Club P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Liverpool
42 23 11 8 62 33 +29 57
2 Manchester City
42 21 14 7 60 34 +26 56
3 Ipswich Town
42 22 8 12 66 39 +27 52
4 Aston Villa
42 22 7 13 76 50 +26 51
5 Newcastle United
42 18 13 11 64 49 +15 49
6 Manchester United
42 18 11 13 71 62 +9 47
7 West Bromwich Albion
42 16 13 13 62 56 +6 45
8 Arsenal
42 16 11 15 64 59 +5 43
9 Everton
42 14 14 14 62 64 −2 42
10 Leeds United
42 15 12 15 48 51 −3 42
11 Leicester City
42 12 18 12 47 60 −13 42
12 Middlesbrough
42 14 13 15 40 45 −5 41
13 Birmingham City
42 13 12 17 63 61 +2 38
14 Queens Park Rangers
42 13 12 17 47 52 −5 38
15 Derby County
42 9 19 14 50 55 −5 37
16 Norwich City
42 14 9 19 47 64 −17 37
17 West Ham United
42 11 14 17 46 65 −19 36
18 Bristol City
42 11 13 18 38 48 −10 35
19 Coventry City
42 10 15 17 48 59 −11 35
20 Sunderland
42 11 12 19 46 54 −8 34
21 Stoke City
42 10 14 18 28 51 −23 34
22 Tottenham Hotspur
42 12 9 21 48 72 −24 33
Second Division
Pos Club P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
42 22 13 7 84 45 +39 57
2 Chelsea
42 21 13 8 73 53 +20 55
3 Nottingham Forest
42 21 10 11 77 43 +34 52
4 Bolton Wanderers
42 20 11 11 75 54 +21 51
5 Blackpool
42 17 17 8 58 42 +16 51
6 Luton Town
42 21 6 15 67 48 +19 48
7 Charlton Athletic
42 16 16 10 71 58 +13 48
8 Notts County
42 19 10 13 65 60 +5 48
9 Southampton
42 17 10 15 72 67 +5 44
10 Millwall
42 15 13 14 57 53 +4 43
11 Sheffield United
42 14 12 16 54 63 −9 40
12 Blackburn Rovers
42 15 9 18 42 54 −12 39
13 Oldham Athletic
42 14 10 18 52 64 −12 38
14 Hull City
42 10 17 15 45 53 −8 37
15 Bristol Rovers
42 12 13 17 53 68 −15 37
16 Burnley
42 11 14 17 46 64 −18 36
17 Fulham
42 11 13 18 54 61 −7 35
18 Cardiff City
42 12 10 20 56 67 −11 34
19 Orient
42 9 16 17 37 55 −18 34
20 Carlisle United
42 11 12 19 49 75 −26 34
21 Plymouth Argyle
42 8 16 18 46 65 −19 32
22 Hereford United
42 8 15 19 57 78 −21 31
Third Division
Pos Club P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Mansfield Town
46 28 8 10 78 42 +36 64
2 Brighton & Hove Albion
46 25 11 10 83 40 +43 61
3 Crystal Palace
46 23 13 10 68 40 +28 59
4 Rotherham United
46 22 15 9 69 44 +25 59
5 Wrexham
46 24 10 12 80 54 +26 58
6 Preston North End
46 21 12 13 64 43 +21 54
7 Bury
46 23 8 15 64 59 +5 54
8 Sheffield Wednesday
46 22 9 15 65 55 +10 53
9 Lincoln City
46 19 14 13 77 70 +7 52
10 Shrewsbury Town
46 18 11 17 65 59 +6 47
11 Swindon Town
46 15 15 16 68 75 −7 45
12 Gillingham
46 16 12 18 55 64 −9 44
13 Chester
46 18 8 20 48 58 −10 44
14 Tranmere Rovers
46 13 17 16 51 53 −2 43
15 Walsall
46 13 15 18 57 65 −8 41
16 Peterborough United
46 13 15 18 55 65 −10 41
17 Oxford United
46 12 15 19 55 65 −10 39
18 Chesterfield
46 14 10 22 56 64 −8 38
19 Port Vale
46 11 16 19 47 71 −24 38
20 Portsmouth
46 11 14 21 53 70 −17 36
21 Reading
46 13 9 24 49 73 −24 35
22 Northampton Town
46 13 8 25 60 75 −15 34
23 Grimsby Town
46 12 9 25 45 69 −24 33
24 York City
46 10 12 24 50 89 −39 32
Fourth Division
Pos Club P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Cambridge United
46 26 13 7 87 40 +47 65
2 Exeter City
46 25 12 9 70 46 +24 62
3 Colchester United
46 25 9 12 77 43 +34 59
4 Bradford City
46 23 13 10 78 51 +27 59
5 Swansea City
46 25 8 13 92 68 +24 58
6 Barnsley
46 23 9 14 62 39 +23 55
7 Watford
46 18 15 13 67 50 +17 51
8 Doncaster Rovers
46 21 9 16 71 65 +6 51
9 Huddersfield Town
46 19 12 15 60 49 +11 50
10 Southend United
46 15 19 12 52 45 +7 49
11 Darlington
46 18 13 15 59 64 −5 49
12 Crewe Alexandra
46 19 11 16 47 60 −13 49
13 Bournemouth
46 15 18 13 54 44 +10 48
14 Stockport County
46 13 19 14 53 57 −4 45
15 Brentford
46 18 7 21 77 76 +1 43
16 Torquay United
46 17 9 20 59 67 −8 43
17 Aldershot
46 16 11 19 49 59 −10 43
18 Rochdale
46 13 12 21 50 59 −9 38
19 Newport County
46 14 10 22 42 58 −16 38
20 Scunthorpe United
46 13 11 22 49 73 −24 37
21 Halifax Town
46 11 14 21 47 58 −11 36
22 Hartlepool
46 10 12 24 47 73 −26 32
23 Southport
46 3 19 24 33 77 −44 25
24 Workington
46 4 11 31 41 102 −61 19

Nostalgia ain't what it used to be! Here's my 22:

Arsenal
Burnley
Chelsea
Coventry City
Crystal Palace
Derby County
Everton
Ipswich Town
Leeds United
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest
Sheffield Wednesday
Southampton
Stoke City
Sunderland
Tottenham Hotspur
West Bromwich Albion
West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers

Notters said:

Wigan? !

Click to expand...

I know right.

bearing in mind I was only 7 or 8 when they were first in the premier league, I still think of them as a premier league club.

wallyback said:

When you first get into football you get a strong impression of who is, or isn't a first division/premier league. Even now 45 years later that holds true.

My first division is (22 for me)

Arsenal
Burnley
Chelsea
Coventry
Derby
Everton
Ipswich
Leeds
Liverpool
Leicester
Manchester Utd
Manchester City
Newcastle
Nottingham Forest
Southampton
Stoke
Sheffield Wed
Sunderland
Tottenham
West Ham
West Brom
Wolves

Bizarrely this 22 were never all in the top flight at the same time.

I guess for some, born at the right time, BHAFC feel like a first division team.

I would be interested to see what your 22 or 20 "first division" is.

Click to expand...

Looks to me like the 1969-70 first division if Leicester hadn't been relegated and a certain little-known South London club promoted ...

Not Andy Naylor said:

Looks to me like the 1969-70 first division if Leicester hadn't been relegated and a certain little-known South London club promoted ...

Click to expand...

True.

Derby had only recently been in the first division when I got into football, so never felt like a 2nd div club to me.

I started collecting stickers in '94.

1. Arsenal
2. Aston Villa
3. Blackburn Rovers
4. Chelsea
5. Coventry City
6. Crystal Palace
7. Everton
8. Ipswich Town
9. Leeds United
10. Leicester City
11. Liverpool
12. Manchester City
13. Manchester United
14. Newcastle United
15. Norwich City
16. Nottingham Forest
17. Queens Park Rangers
18. Sheffield Wednesday
19. Southampton
20. Tottenham Hotspur
21. West Ham United
22. Wimbledon

carteater said:

I know right.

bearing in mind I was only 7 or 8 when they were first in the premier league, I still think of them as a premier league club.

Click to expand...

I think you're a perfect example of the op's point. What we think of as top division is hugely influenced by the teams that were at the peak when we were kids.

My 22 for what it's worth

Arsenal
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Coventry
Derby
Everton
ipswich
Leicester
Liverpool
Man City
Man U
Newcastle
Norwich
Nottingham Forest
QPR
Sheff Wed
Southampton
Stoke City
Tottenham
West Ham
Wimbledon
Wolves

wallyback said:

When you first get into football you get a strong impression of who is, or isn't a first division/premier league. Even now 45 years later that holds true.

My first division is (22 for me)

Arsenal
Burnley
Chelsea
Coventry
Derby
Everton
Ipswich
Leeds
Liverpool
Leicester
Manchester Utd
Manchester City
Newcastle
Nottingham Forest
Southampton
Stoke
Sheffield Wed
Sunderland
Tottenham
West Ham
West Brom
Wolves

Bizarrely this 22 were never all in the top flight at the same time.

I guess for some, born at the right time, BHAFC feel like a first division team.

I would be interested to see what your 22 or 20 "first division" is.

Click to expand...

First Division 1969/70 would have got close to that. With the exception of a certain team then playing in claret and blue..we stayed up with a playing record of H W5 D6 L10 A W1 D9 L11 = 27 points, equal to 33 today. Amazing, I think it was Sheffield W and Sunderland on 26/25 points below us.