Teams that "belong" in the Premier League

[gezkc]

With the play off positions almost finalised, it's got me thinking about what next year's Premier League could look like, and which of the teams up there really seem like top division clubs.

As an example, when I look at this season's Premier League fixtures, something like Burnley vs Bournemouth just doesn't really feel like a Premier League tie to me, whereas the likes of Leeds Utd vs Aston Villa does.

I've put together a list of the 20 clubs that I feel ought to be in the Premier League. I suspect some of them would be on everyone's list, but I'm sure there are lots here that people would disagree with. I think a lot of it comes down to the era you grew up in (I was a child of the 80s), and the familiarity of seeing certain clubs always up there. Then there are the "big clubs" that based on support alone seem like they ought to be in the top division, but there are also others that I find it harder to justify.

So, if you were to choose your "perfect Premier League", which clubs would be in it?

Here's mine (in no particular order, other than how they sprang to mind):

Arsenal
Man Utd
Man City
Liverpool
Tottenham
Chelsea
Everton
Fulham (obviously!)
West Ham
Newcastle Utd
Leeds Utd
Aston Villa
Sheffield Wed
Southampton
Wolves
QPR
Birmingham City
Blackburn Rovers
Nottingham Forest
Norwich City

Over to you!

[Andy S]

Nobody deserves to be there on their name or size of their club and if you go down that avenue eventually you have clubs missing out due to lack of support. When we were in the bottom league we were getting gates of around 3,000 at home games yet we now get gates of over 20,000. Most teams with a sustained spell in the premiership will see their gates rise. They would also receive sponsorship and be able to improve their grounds. I'm sure Sky hate the clubs like Bournemouth being in the Prem. Well tough titty I say the more the merrier. I would prefer teams to be given a reduction of points depending on where the finish so every team has a chance of winning and being relegated

[Woolly Mammoth]

Nobody deserves to be there on their name or size of their club and if you go down that avenue eventually you have clubs missing out due to lack of support. When we were in the bottom league we were getting gates of around 3,000 at home games yet we now get gates of over 20,000. Most teams with a sustained spell in the premiership will see their gates rise. They would also receive sponsorship and be able to improve their grounds. I'm sure Sky hate the clubs like Bournemouth being in the Prem. Well tough titty I say the more the merrier. I would prefer teams to be given a reduction of points depending on where the finish so every team has a chance of winning and being relegated

Andy S. You have taken the words right out of my mouth. I could not have said it better myself. How boring it would be, lots of 0 0 draws. I love seeing the likes of Bournemouth Burnley etc turn these big time Charlie's over. That's what makes football so unpredictable, and entertaining. As you say no club has a devine right, you have to earn it, with sweat and blood.
Otherwise we might as well stay at home and play on a play station.
The teams at the top are there because they generally spend the most money. Gaurdiola, Mourenhio etc will always need a cheque book. That does not make them better managers or Coaches.
The day the elite take over altogether is the day football as we know it will capitulate.
Why should the rich clubs get all the money.

[WhiteJC]

good game gezkc

whilst I don't believe you were saying they 'deserve' to be in the Premiership (I still think of it as division 1), these are the teams I always think of as "premiership' teams

as your list with these differences
out
Norwich
Birmingham
Blackburn

in
Sheffield Utd
Middlesborough
Portsmouth

funnily enough I don't think of Fulham as a Premiership team, I just don't care, I'll support them in whichever league their in

[filham]

QPR are no way are premiership club , drop them quickly but Sunderland are a huge club with a stadium and fan base to support premiership status.

Also we may find that Brighton with their new stadium could develop nicely into a new mid table premiership club.

[gezkc]

Andy and Woolly - you're quite right, and I don't for a minute seriously mean any particular club has a divine right to be in the top division. This is just a bit of fun, comparing how different people view different clubs.
WhiteJC, thanks for entering into the spirit of how I meant this to be. I agree with you about Fulham actually, but I felt I should put us up there, even if it's a slightly biased viewpoint on my part! Interesting you'd put Sheffield Utd and Portsmouth. I wouldn't have thought of them particularly, but then that's what makes this interesting!
Filham, I agree with you about QPR but I think because they were a local (albeit rival) club where I grew up, they've always been in my consciousness, so I felt I should stick them in my Premier League.
Brighton's an interesting one - I did consider putting them in my 20 actually.

[gezkc]

We have this debate on here quite regularly, in some form or another.

IMO you just have to accept it changes; the question is just how long you think it takes to change.

Would you say Preston and Huddersfield belong in the top flight because of what they did in the 1890s or the 1920s? No.

But then most people would say Leeds and Forest belong in the top flight because they were good in the 1980s.

If you define a "generation" as roughly 20 years then I think that's about the right timeframe to look at, and on the basis that we've spent most of the last generation in the top flight, you can probably say we "belong" there. But every year we're down here, you can see attendances falling, our attraction to sponsors reducing, etc. With the passage of another 5-10 years of reduced revenue, you'd expect our academy and infrastructure to deteriorate, as well as our reputation and prestige, as people forget we were ever in the top flight.

Very well put!  :54:

[AlexW132]

Arsenal
Aston Villa
Blackburn
Bolton Wanderers
Charlton Athletic
Chelsea
Everton
Fulham
Leeds United
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Middlesbrough
Newcastle
Portsmouth
Sheffield United
Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United
Wigan Athletic

[twang]

Arsenal
Aston Villa
Birmingham
Brighton
Chelsea
Everton
Fulham
Huddersfield
Leeds
Liverpool
Manchester Utd
Manchester City
Newcastle
Nottingham Forest
Portsmouth
Sheffield United
Sheffield Wednesday
Southampton
Tottenham
West Ham

[Burt]

Over the years we have had 25 seasons in total in the top flight (be it the Premier League, or old Division 1).

That puts us 35th in that particular table... Behind the likes of Birmingham, Coventry, Portsmouth, Huddersfield, etc.

Check it out here (despite the title of the URL it goes up to the 16/16 season):
http://www.myfootballfacts.com/SEASONS-IN-TOP-FLIGHT----1888-89-to-2009-10.html

[NogoodBoyo]

I don't think anybody belongs in the Premier Division.  Teams have to earn the right to be there.  It doesn't happen so ofter now, but it's great to see huge clubs like ManUre, Chelsea, Leeds and Newcastle relegated, or regulated as an AmericanI once met thought was the correct verb.
Nogood "relegation is the best, itis" Boyo

[AlexW132]

Arsenal
Aston Villa
Birmingham
Brighton
Chelsea
Everton
Fulham
Huddersfield
Leeds
Liverpool
Manchester Utd
Manchester City
Newcastle
Nottingham Forest
Portsmouth
Sheffield United
Sheffield Wednesday
Southampton
Tottenham
West Ham

Huddersfield have never been in it?

[Carborundum]

 As a child of the seventies who grew up up watching lower division football,  I got my Division 1 info from a combination of Football focus, Shoot magazine, Panini stickers and school playground conversation.  Entirely based on this, I find it amazing that Leeds and Forest arent in the top flight.  More amazing is that Watford and Bournemouth, who were lower division staples, are now in the premier..  Most amazing of all is that Wimbledon and Wigan made it.  I remember when the bottom four teams in division 4 had to "apply for re-election", the whole thing was a stitch up between chairmen and every club got enough votes to survive.  Workington, Southport and Rochdale were usually in the bottom four.  So it was astounding to see both Wimbledon and Wigan teams finally get into the leagues... and win the FA cup.  Considerably more amazing than Leicester winning the Premier actually.

I love the fact that these things happen in football.  They happen because it's a team game and sometimes something gets built that is far more than the apparent sum of its parts.  It's a truly beautiful thing that resonates deeper than football.

[dannyboi-ffc]

Man Utd
Liverpool
Arsenal
Chelsea
Spurs
Everton
Man City
Villa
Leeds
Newcastle
Southampton
West Ham
Sunderland
Sheff Wed
Wolves
Blackburn
Bolton
Leicester
WBA
Fulham/Charlton/Norwich


Just missing out Birmingham, Sheff Utd, Forest, Derby, Stoke, Portsmouth. Don't really see much difference between these clubs. You can't live off of trophies won 40 years ago forever.

Honourable mention for the forgotten Bradford who get massive gates in league one.

[thebumponleroyshead]

Arsenal
Aston Villa
Birmingham
Chelsea
Stoke
Leeds
Portsmouth
Newcastle
Sunderland
Sheffield Wed
Tottenham
Newcastle
Liverpool
Man U
Man C
Everton
Southampton
Nottingham Forest
Leeds
Stoke

[Woolly Mammoth]

Arsenal
Aston Villa
Birmingham
Chelsea
Stoke County
Leeds
Portsmouth
Newcastle Albion
Sunderland
Sheffield Wed
Tottenham
Newcastle Alexandra
Liverpool
Man U
Man C
Everton
Southampton
Nottingham Forest
Leeds
Stoke Argyle

Are there two Stokes, City & United, or is it Rovers or Wanderers ?
Same goes for Newcastle

[EastEndWhite]

The teams already there and that stay there and those that win promotion.

[Apprentice to the Maestro]

There is a table at the bottom of this article (sorry, I cannot seem to cut-and-paste it) that lists the number of games clubs have spent in the top division (up to 2013):

https://www.theguardian.com/football/datablog/2013/apr/17/football-league-125-years#data

Everton top the table with 4284 games. Fulham come in 35th with 954 games just ahead of Norwich and QPR.

[AlexW132]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier_League_records_and_statistics#All-time_Premier_League_table
Here's the all time Premier League table, we are sitting pretty in 16th which is pretty decent.

[Barrett487]

Arsenal
Aston Villa
Birmingham
Chelsea
Stoke County
Leeds
Portsmouth
Newcastle Albion
Sunderland
Sheffield Wed
Tottenham
Newcastle Alexandra
Liverpool
Man U
Man C
Everton
Southampton
Nottingham Forest
Leeds
Stoke Argyle

Are there two Stokes, City & United, or is it Rovers or Wanderers ?
Same goes for Newcastle

and Leeds