@canefan said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@dogmeat rebounding back into the prem is tough. If Fulham do it that will be a significant achievement
All evidence suggests that bouncing back into the prem is much easier than getting your first promotion. You just have to bounce back within the time the parachute payments last or all your players get raided. Hence why Bournemouth are likely to go up this season.
@kiwipie Totally right - unless you bankrupted yourself getting promoted in the first place - which has happened to a few clubs and consequently have to let your best players go.
@canefane Your comment prompted me to check. Fulham have spent 15 seasons in the Prem this century. Only 10 clubs have managed more - the ever presents plus Man City, Newcastle, West Ham, Villa.
Fulham have spent more time in the top tier than Southampton or Leicester - without ever finishing higher than 7th.
So there have been 50 clubs that have featured in the EPL.
12 of the 22 Founder members are in this years comp. Six of them have been ever present. Eight teams have never been relegated. Three are currently in League Two and 8 are in League One
How many of the 50 can you name?
What would be interesting to know is which teams have spent the longest in the Championship (or the old Div 2) without ever gaining promotion.
@dogmeat said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
So there have been 50 clubs that have featured in the EPL.
12 of the 22 Founder members are in this years comp. Six of them have been ever present. Eight teams have never been relegated. Three are currently in League Two and 8 are in League One
How many of the 50 can you name?
I'll have a go at the more obscure ones.
Barnsley, Bradford, Wimbledon, Portsmouth, Swindon, Oldham (were they still there at the start?) and of the ones currently struggling Wigan, Charlton, Bolton, Ipswich, Sunderland. Did Luton play in the first season or did they get relegated (like Notts County) in the season before - those are the only 2 I can think of who had a chance to drop out of the league altogether.
@bovidae said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
What would be interesting to know is which teams have spent the longest in the Championship (or the old Div 2) without ever gaining promotion.
Of the current batch, Forest & Preston have been there a while without going up (or down)
@kiwipie all correct bar Luton who did indeed go down with County. Swindon were there the first two seasons.
Forest have had three spells in Premiership but haven't featured since 98-99
Preston haven't graced Tier One of English football since 1961. They have actually spent the majority of the last 50 years in the bottom two leagues even having to reapply in 1986. They have only been in the Championship since 2015-16. they are the only First Division Champions yet to feature in the Premier League.
I’ll have a go
Ever Presents
- Totenham Hotspur
- Manchester United
- Chelsea
- Arsenal
- Liverpool
- Everton - courtesy of Sparky
Others
- Fulham FC
- West Ham Utd
- Wimbledon
- Watford
- Reading
- Queens Park Rangers
- Brentford - never been relegated
- Crystal Palace
- Charlton Athletic
- Bournemouth -courtesy of Bovidae
- Barnsley - courtesy of KP
- Derby County
- Coventry City
- West Bromwich Albion
- Aston Villa
- Birmingham City
- Nottingham Forest
- Leicester City
- Stoke City
- Wolverhampton Wanderers
- Manchester City
- Sheffield Wednesday
- Sheffield United
- Wigan Athletic
- Leeds United
- Newcastle United
- Middlesborough
- Burnley
- Bolton Wanderers
- Blackpool
- Blackburn Rovers
- Hull City
- Portsmouth
- Brighton
- Southampton
- Ipswich Town
- Norwich City
- Swansea City
- Cardiff City
- Oldham Athletic - courtesy of Sparky
- Sunderland - courtesy of Sparky
- Bradford City - courtesy of Sparky
- Swindon Town - courtesy of KP
- Huddersfield Town - courtesy of Bovidae
DISQUALIFIED
45. Millwall - courtesy of dogmeat
@bovidae I reckon it's Plymouth Argyle. Certainly the biggest club from the biggest city never to have played at top level.
They have ben tier 3 champions 5 times have had six spells in Tier 2, once for 20 years (including WW2 They finished 4th in 1953, the closest they have ever come to promotion although they did also have a chance in 86 just outside the play-offs. They did get to the FA Cup semis in 1984
@sparky said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
Oldham Athletic, Bradford City and Sunderland have all been in the EPL at some point.
Thanks, how could I have forgotten Sunderland
Just thought of another possibility but can't remember their name but they play in vertical blue and white stripes from memory and come from one of those old towns up north somewhere.
@dogmeat said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@higgins OK It's quite difficult scanning through 50 guresses so only just noticed you have Millwall - which gets the buzzer I'm afraid.
Damn, I have scratched them from my list. What about Swindon, they were a speculative guess.
@bovidae said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
Picard's favourite team - Huddersfield Town
Yeah, that's them, they did not last long from memory. Maybe a couple or three seasons at best.
Bournemouth is the last - well done guys.
I always miss Swindon. I always remember them but have a blank on the name of the town itself.
@dogmeat said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
Bournemouth is the last - well done guys.
I always miss Swindon. I always remember them but have a blank on the name of the town itself.
Top roundabout in Swindon - not much else
I reckon Rochdale must be the most uneventful club in the league - barring losing an early League Cup final when nobody took it seriously. Joined Third Division North when it formed in 1921 then went into the 4th when the league went nationwide in 1959. Promoted from Div 4 to Div 3 (League 2 to 1) on 3 occasions but never lasting for long. Never made the 2nd tier or dropped out of the league. Any better offers?
@dogmeat said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
Luton the only team with a chance of becoming number 51 this season. The only other 2nd tier sides who haven't reached the EPL are Preston, Bristol City and Peterborough
@dagrubster said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
Liverpool is a fantastic away side and has lots of firepower that can score from a number of different sources and ways.
You are right that city are favourites, one thing that will be interesting is that City dont have to win the game. That may force them into a tactical change and mindset they arent used to which could allow Liverpool to take advantage.
Saying that, Liverpool have some difficult matches outside of City so it would be a herculean effort if they do win the league
I think that match will peter out to a fairly boring draw as both teams will play not to lose - either 0-0 or 1-1 - and City will drop points elsewhere. Don't ask me where, but I think they will do so inadvertently after surviving that match and then focusing too much on the UCL
@junior said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@dagrubster said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
Liverpool is a fantastic away side and has lots of firepower that can score from a number of different sources and ways.
You are right that city are favourites, one thing that will be interesting is that City dont have to win the game. That may force them into a tactical change and mindset they arent used to which could allow Liverpool to take advantage.
Saying that, Liverpool have some difficult matches outside of City so it would be a herculean effort if they do win the league
I think that match will peter out to a fairly boring draw as both teams will play not to lose - either 0-0 or 1-1 - and City will drop points elsewhere. Don't ask me where, but I think they will do so inadvertently after surviving that match and then focusing too much on the UCL
Neither City nor Liverpool suit playing not to lose so I think both teams will go for it. Liverpool will be a bit less reckless than usual and City will be wary of fast breaks as well.
@dogmeat said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
Luton seem well run and punch above their weight
Is Kenilworth Rd EPL compliant?
No idea sorry. Luton were out of the league less than a decade ago so it has been quite a rise back up.
@kiwipie said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@dogmeat said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
Luton seem well run and punch above their weight
Is Kenilworth Rd EPL compliant?
No idea sorry. Luton were out of the league less than a decade ago so it has been quite a rise back up.
I remember Luton back in the 80s. They had a good first division team. Will this be their first time back up since then?
@canefan Luton were relegated in 91 and had a pretty dire 25 years after that mainly due to financial mismanagement (entering administration three times). They spent 5 years in the Conference Only gaining promotion back to the Football League 8 years ago.
I don't think they will go up but it would be a fantastic story if they did. They now run at a profit and the most expensive player in their squad cost 1.5 Mill pounds - this season. The first time they had spent more than a mill in 18 years!
I googled to answer my own question. It seems there are plans to move away from Kenilworth Road and into a new stadium which would mean losing what must be the most unusual stadium entrance in football as @KiwiPie posted above
@sparky said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@mariner4life said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
EPL title race over
Liverpool now 11/1, Chelsea 23/1. Man City now overwhelming favourites to retain the title. Eight points clear. I think this will be Over Before Easter.
Open this thread and saw this as the first post.
@kiwipie said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@dogmeat The manager Nathan Jones is following a similar path to Eddie Howe at Bournemouth - doing so well at a small club that he was poached by Stoke and when he was sacked there, he went back to Luton and they have been thriving since.
Howe was never sacked, started at Bournemouth, went to Burnley, he left Burnley under personal conditions (which may have been, you've been told), but he wasnt marched and went back to Bournemouth, where he wasnt sacked there either..
17 days later
@majorrage said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
2-2 in the big one.
Super high quality game.
Second half couldn't match the first half and the early equaliser for Liverpool meant neither team was desperate to get a winning goal. Liverpool had a few chances until the hour mark and then seemed to settle for the draw. Sterling narrowly offside when he scored and then Mahrez with a huge chance at the death.
Some of the skills on display are awesome to watch. Liverpool uncannily good at playing long and finding the striker's feet - in fact the long passing from both teams is so good, you're surprised when one goes astray.