Teams that are in the "wrong" division

Chris_from_Sidcup

Carter said:

Southampton from that list are the ones that scream top division to me 

Brighton, Wolves, Bolton, Palace, Norwich, Oxford and Oldham I see as 2nd tier 

Bournemouth, Burnley, Brentford, Fulham, Hull, Swansea all 3rd tier and below 

Bromley, Salford and Accrington. Nah, non-league 

Credit to all of them who are where they are on merit/money/a succession of good decisions but thats where I see them. I reckon this would be a similar theme to "what music do you love" as those opinions by me are largely based on where these clubs were in my formulative years of growing into football. 

Why would you have Oxford/Oldham as 2nd tier but Burnley/Fulham in the 3rd tier?

Oxford have always been a pretty small club, barely averaging 10k.
Oldham historically have always been a lower league team, they had a few seasons in the late 80s/early 90s when they were half decent but that was mainly down to them having a plastic pitch. When the pitch went, they fell back to the lower leagues.
Burnley have spent over 100 years in the top 2 divisions and less than 20 in the lower 2.
Fulham likewise have spent the vast majority of their history in the top 2 divisions.

MuttleyCAFC

I think we are a championship team but one that has the potential to be unlocked into a Premiership team. Our catchment area gives us an amazing opportunity and it is as strong as it has ever been. But to release that potential we need some prolongued success which is easier said than done.

KiwiValley

Man City shouldn't be in the Prem re their cheating.!

ShootersHillGuru

EveshamAddick said:

Wonder how much this is to do with grounds/capacity? Hard to believe  Bournemouth and Brentford can maintain top tier status with capacities of 11,000 and 17,000.

That’s exactly the thing. Attendance and location used to mean a lot in determining the “status” of a club. No more. A very very rich person can now come along and buy success and status ala Wrexham, Brentford and Bournemouth. That’s not to say any of those clubs are not well run and earning the right but there’s no way that any of those three clubs would be achieving what they currently are back in the day.

Carter

Chris_from_Sidcup said:

Carter said:

Southampton from that list are the ones that scream top division to me 

Brighton, Wolves, Bolton, Palace, Norwich, Oxford and Oldham I see as 2nd tier 

Bournemouth, Burnley, Brentford, Fulham, Hull, Swansea all 3rd tier and below 

Bromley, Salford and Accrington. Nah, non-league 

Credit to all of them who are where they are on merit/money/a succession of good decisions but thats where I see them. I reckon this would be a similar theme to "what music do you love" as those opinions by me are largely based on where these clubs were in my formulative years of growing into football. 

Why would you have Oxford/Oldham as 2nd tier but Burnley/Fulham in the 3rd tier?

Oxford have always been a pretty small club, barely averaging 10k.
Oldham historically have always been a lower league team, they had a few seasons in the late 80s/early 90s when they were half decent but that was mainly down to them having a plastic pitch. When the pitch went, they fell back to the lower leagues.
Burnley have spent over 100 years in the top 2 divisions and less than 20 in the lower 2.
Fulham likewise have spent the vast majority of their history in the top 2 divisions.

I think I quantified it, thats where I remember them being when I was really getting into football 

Fulham were propping the whole league pyramid up in the early and mid 90s until Al-Fayed got involved. Dirty team as well, some hard players there. Appreciate they were a bit of a popular team in the 60s or 70s but by the time I'd encountered them they were shite 

Burnley I remember as the Adrian Heath, Stan Ternant side that were left in the dust by Blackburn in the 3rd tier. Last 20 years have been mainly good for them though 

Oldham were a premier league founding member and had some decent players, also unlucky to go down that season 

Oxford, they are more of an anomaly, they were on a football I had as a kid with other division one teams and I'm sure Notts County were one of them too. I associate Oxford with Joey Beauchamp who used to look like Maradona whenever we played them. I also see Swindon Town as a big club from the premier league/Glenn Hoddle time 

iainment

letthegoodtimesroll said:

Every team is where they are and where they are heading at the end of this season on merit. To suggest otherwise is delusional or sour grapes.

Seen the news about Chelsea today? Merit had nothing to do with their success under Abramovich (sp). Money talked.

cabbles

I always think this depends on when you grew up.  I was born in 82 so someone like Sheff Wednesday were a staple of the top division in my younger years, but someone born in 2000 would see them as a championship team at best.  

Similarly someone born in the 90s might think Wigan are a team you associate with the Premier league, they even won the FA Cup, yet they’re potentially going down to League 2 next season, and for many born pre 80s, that’s exactly where they belong 

Gribbo

Wrexham - Should be in Welsh League Division 2

carly burn

Bournemouth are playing about 5 steps up from where they should be!!

Stefco

EveshamAddick said:

Wonder how much this is to do with grounds/capacity? Hard to believe  Bournemouth and Brentford can maintain top tier status with capacities of 11,000 and 17,000.

I think it's more to do with historical positions, & the fact that they had small grounds to begin with.

The Secret Footballer commented in his book that having a big or small stadium doesn't mean a lot in the Premier League, as the old adage of "The fans pay your wages" is neutered, because of all the money that flies around.

jose

This is from a When Saturday Comes special from 1991.

DaveMehmet

carly burn said:

Bournemouth are playing about 5 steps up from where they should be!!

No wonder they win a lot of headers