Who are the 3 biggest clubs in the football league

changingman said:
Trophies won seems a fair comparison in which case, as mentioned above, it's Blackburn, Sunderland and Wednesday.

All time record (points per game) would also be a useful indicator, potentially weighted by level/division?

Not sure attendances comes into at all - surely your attendance/support is a geographical quirk only and not indicative of on field success?

Once you get into the EPL there's arguably global fanbase to consider but I would consider the teams with the largest global support would correlate with trophies won anyway? I.e. glory supporters!
Click to expand...
Attendance and geography is a good point. If Newcastle and Sunderland was like the North West there would be several clubs all competing against each other. As it happens, both are one city teams which is very unusual in England.
 
I do think you have to account for attendances, personally.
They undeniably play a part in perception.

They're the main reason people discount the likes of Blackburn.

Leicester would be considered a bigger club than Newcastle in the modern day if they had the same crowds.
 
Take your pick out of Sunderland, Sheff Wed, Derby, Sheff Utd, West Brom, Ipswich, Blackburn and yes Boro.

There are loads of metrics you could use, we have only spent 2 seasons in our entire history in the third tier. It might be the best of out the 72? definitely in the top 3. But then our lack of trophies doesn't help (how we couldn't pick an FA Cup with some of our teams is beyond me!) but then does it matter as much if it happened in the late 1800s and early 1900s - like Sunderland?
 
It all really depends on age and who you can remember being a force to be reckoned with, add fan base to that and I would go for Sheffield Wednesday, Sunderland and Blackburn. Toss up really whether Derby, West Brom, Stoke,Sheffield United and us might deserve a spot. Went for Blackburn based on winning EPL alone and Wednesday/Sunderland on fan base and history.
 
I'm not sure why some fans talk about supporting a big club as some sort of badge of honour. The mackems are the prime example. They constantly like to remind people just how big they are with their attendance this and attendance that drivel.

Sunderland are the biggest club in the EFL if big is defined solely by attendances. But that also makes them the biggest failures as they've achieved nothing for over half a century. If big is defined as success, then Bury are bigger than Boro, as they've won 2 FA Cups to our none. And Preston are bigger than half the current Premier League as they've won the League and done the double. So success alone does not always equal big imo.

Personally speaking, I'm proud of Boro precisely because we're not a big club and never will be, but we've held our own and spent 99% of our entire history in the top two divisions. I've seen us beat the Arsenal 'invincibles' - twice in two weeks - to reach a major final and go on to win it, then compete in Europe and reach a final that only a select few of British clubs have ever managed.

Give me 'little Boro' and its achievements every time over some forever sleeping giant that hasn't achieved anything since the days of black and white TV.
 
Last edited:
Its like when the term 'sleeping giant' is used i guess

Some people will judge on crowds and stadium capacities others on achievements, but if a club hasnt won a major trophy for 40,50 or 60 years does that still make them a big club?

Weren't Sunderland also known as the 'Bank of England' Club?
 
Davey_C said:
Its like when the term 'sleeping giant' is used i guess

Some people will judge on crowds and stadium capacities others on achievements, but if a club hasnt won a major trophy for 40,50 or 60 years does that still make them a big club?

Weren't Sunderland also known as the 'Bank of England' Club?
Click to expand...
I Think in their case the word coma springs to mind.
 
Davey_C said:
Its like when the term 'sleeping giant' is used i guess

Some people will judge on crowds and stadium capacities others on achievements, but if a club hasnt won a major trophy for 40,50 or 60 years does that still make them a big club?

Weren't Sunderland also known as the 'Bank of England' Club?
Click to expand...
In the 1930s there were the biggest spenders, a sort of Chelsea of the 1930s.

In the early 1960s Burnley were deemed the number 2 club in England behind Spurs.

In recent years money has flowed more to the big Metropolitan Clubs (London, Manchester, Liverpool areas).

If I wanted to buy a sleeping giant I would go for Sheffield Wednesday could easy get 40k crowds and hold a Premier League place, but in Div 1. Located in a large Metro area.
 
Otto42 said:
It all really depends on age and who you can remember being a force to be reckoned with, add fan base to that and I would go for Sheffield Wednesday, Sunderland and Blackburn. Toss up really whether Derby, West Brom, Stoke,Sheffield United and us might deserve a spot. Went for Blackburn based on winning EPL alone and Wednesday/Sunderland on fan base and history
Click to expand...
Stoke? Middlesbrough are definitely a bigger club than stoke.
 
GazBoro said:
I'm not sure why some fans talk about supporting a big club as some sort of badge of honour. The mackems are the prime example. They constantly like to remind people just how big they are with their attendance this and attendance that drivel.

Sunderland are the biggest club in the EFL if big is defined solely by attendances. But that also makes them the biggest failures as they've achieved nothing for over half a century. If big is defined as success, then Bury are bigger than Boro, as they've won 2 FA Cups to our none. And Preston are bigger than half the current Premier League as they've won the League and done the double. So success alone does not always equal big imo.

Personally speaking, I'm proud of Boro precisely because we're not a big club and never will be, but we've held our own and spent 99% of our entire history in the top two divisions. I've seen us beat the Arsenal 'invincibles' - twice in two weeks - to reach a major final and go on to win it, then compete in Europe and reach a final that only a select few of British clubs have ever managed.

Give me 'little Boro' and its achievements every time over some forever sleeping giant that hasn't achieved anything since the days of black and white TV.
Click to expand...
We are not a little club really. We are bigger than majority of the clubs in efl.
 
changingman said:
Trophies won seems a fair comparison in which case, as mentioned above, it's Blackburn, Sunderland and Wednesday.

All time record (points per game) would also be a useful indicator, potentially weighted by level/division?

Not sure attendances comes into at all - surely your attendance/support is a geographical quirk only and not indicative of on field success?

Once you get into the EPL there's arguably global fanbase to consider but I would consider the teams with the largest global support would correlate with trophies won anyway? I.e. glory supporters!
Click to expand...
Agree on average level/position but don't agree on attendances and trophies. I'd say attendance is a bigger indicator. You can get small clubs having either decent histories or one off successful seasons, but a club that's got more support is always going to be perceived as bigger within reason.
 
GazBoro said:
I'm not sure why some fans talk about supporting a big club as some sort of badge of honour. The mackems are the prime example. They constantly like to remind people just how big they are with their attendance this and attendance that drivel.

Sunderland are the biggest club in the EFL if big is defined solely by attendances. But that also makes them the biggest failures as they've achieved nothing for over half a century. If big is defined as success, then Bury are bigger than Boro, as they've won 2 FA Cups to our none. And Preston are bigger than half the current Premier League as they've won the League and done the double. So success alone does not always equal big imo.

Personally speaking, I'm proud of Boro precisely because we're not a big club and never will be, but we've held our own and spent 99% of our entire history in the top two divisions. I've seen us beat the Arsenal 'invincibles' - twice in two weeks - to reach a major final and go on to win it, then compete in Europe and reach a final that only a select few of British clubs have ever managed.

Give me 'little Boro' and its achievements every time over some forever sleeping giant that hasn't achieved anything since the days of black and white TV.
Click to expand...
Boro aren't a little club at all, relative to most we're quite big
 
Not sure if it makes us a big club but since our promotion from Division 3 back in 1987 we are one of only about a dozen* clubs to spend every season in the top 2 leagues of English football. Not bad for a small town in Europe.

*there may be one or two more to add to that but not many!
 
Medium sized club us. However, absolutely unique in that we can command decent sized gates but have relatively won nothing. I wouldn’t say bigger than the likes of Burnley, Sheffield Utd, small in comparison with Sunderland but infinitely better!
 
Away followings are a reasonable indicator of a club's stature. The bigger clubs travel well regardless of where they're playing.
 
If you go on historical crowd size and points in the top division since football began. These are low variance, higher n number sample size measures. Big to me should factor long term measurement of success and long term stature/draw of the club.

Trophies are high variance, plenty of decent sized clubs won nothing and plenty of smaller clubs one a few just because they had a one off great squad or investment for a year.

Sunderland (unfortunately, even though they have been **** for 40 years) and Sheff Wed tick all those boxes. Sheffield United, West Brom and Blackburn are very similar to ourselves. Think we were 20/21 overall on long term top league record and attendances last time I checked.

Teams like Portsmouth etc are no marks. Plenty of teams in the prem are no marks Bournemouth, Brentford, Fulham, Brighton etc. Let's not mix up long term and short term.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top