It’s a query beloved of soccer trivialists and diehard followers alike: who’re the largest membership in English soccer?
Everybody could have their tackle it, usually formed by tribal loyalties, however there’s one other debate, much less often aired however simply as worthwhile: who’re the largest English membership by no means to have received a serious trophy? And the week of the 2023-24 FA Cup’s third spherical feels pretty much as good a time as any to have it.
By a decidedly non-scientific method comprised of historic league rating, time spent within the high division and common crowd dimension, now we have narrowed the sphere down to 6 (with apologies to followers of Plymouth Argyle, Hull Metropolis and Bournemouth).
A few different caveats: we’re defining ‘main trophy’ as both the top-flight title, FA Cup, League Cup, Champions League/European Cup and UEFA Cup/Europa League, and we’re solely contemplating golf equipment presently in existence.
Let the controversy start…
Closest name FA Cup runners-up (1990, 2016)
Common all-time league attendance 16,439
Seasons within the high flight (together with the present one) 24
Highest league end Third (1991)
Common all-time league rating 45.54
Seasons in Europe None
Seven minutes.
It sounds so inconsequential, doesn’t it? Not sufficient time to hearken to Purple Rain; simply sufficient time to observe an episode of Bluey. And but for Palace, seven minutes one Saturday in Could 1990 was the distinction between an all-consuming ambition realised and a dream dashed.
The clock at Wembley was displaying 113 minutes, and a scoreline of Crystal Palace 3-2 Manchester United, when Mark Hughes hooked the ball previous Nigel Martyn to make sure the FA Cup remaining went to a replay. The Palace finish, a mass of purple and blue balloons earlier than kick-off, deflated immediately. The replay was misplaced 1-0 – after all – and whereas Palace rued the trophy that obtained away, Alex Ferguson celebrated his first as United supervisor. Apparently, he went on to win a number of extra.
The Palace followers current that day might have been stunned that, 33 years later, main silverware has remained elusive for his or her membership. Steve Coppell had assembled a high-quality crew at Selhurst Park again then, one which completed third within the high flight and received the now defunct Full Members’ Cup the next season, impressed by the targets of Ian Wright and a clutch of different England internationals. And even when that facet broke up, there have been shut calls, together with six semi-finals throughout the 2 main home cups.
But for all that, the trophy cupboard has remained bewilderingly naked.
A re-run of that 1990 FA Cup remaining eight years in the past lastly promised redemption however proved the identical outdated story of superb hope snuffed out: native boy and childhood fan Jason Puncheon put Palace forward within the 78th minute; Juan Mata equalised lower than 180 seconds later. United’s Chris Smalling was despatched off within the first interval of additional time; United’s Jesse Lingard scored a superb winner within the second.
Given the roll name of trophy winners within the final 15 years — assume Wigan Athletic, Swansea Metropolis, Portsmouth and Birmingham Metropolis — Palace’s lack of success stays somewhat bewildering. They’re England’s highest-ranked non-trophy winners by historic league place and (if this issues) common crowd, have been within the high flight for 10 consecutive years now and have some extremely coveted abilities of their squad.
It’s a report which actually must be set proper.
Andrew Fifield
Closest name FA Cup runners-up (1975), Europa League runners-up (2010)
Common all-time league attendance 16,168
Seasons in high flight: 29
Highest league end Seventh (2009)
Common all-time league place: 34.12
Seasons in Europe: Three
Main silverware as soon as appeared a distant dream at Fulham. The west-London membership spent 9 consecutive seasons within the high flight between 1959 and 1968, however except for that period of Johnny Haynes and George Cohen at Craven Cottage, they primarily traversed the decrease divisions.
That has modified within the trendy period. Fulham are considered Premier League staples and have spent 17 of the previous 24 seasons in that division. The catalyst was the arrival of Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed, who purchased the membership in 1997 and bankrolled their return to the highest flight in 2001. Regardless of a tough decade within the 2010s primarily spent within the Championship below new proprietor Shahid Khan, the membership have now restored their Premier League standing having prevented relegation final 12 months.
However a serious trophy has remained elusive.
They’ve gone shut twice. In 1975, when Fulham have been a second-division facet, they reached the FA Cup remaining below Alec Inventory, wherein they misplaced 2-0 to West Ham. Extra just lately, the membership went on an unbelievable run to the Europa League remaining in 2010, however Atletico Madrid defeated them after additional time. Diego Forlan scored the winner within the 116th minute, with the scores tied at 1-1.
These near-misses have entered Fulham folklore as a result of cup runs have in any other case been few and much between. The membership have reached the FA Cup semi-finals on 5 different events, in 1908, 1936, 1958, 1962 and 2002. They’ve additionally received some ‘second-tier’ trophies within the trendy period: particularly the second-division title in 2001 and 2022, and an Intertoto Cup in 2002. However a serious home trophy has felt a great distance off. Not less than till just lately.
The summer season 2021 appointment of coach Marco Silva, and his subsequent successes, has raised hopes of one other well-known Fulham cup run.
They reached a quarter-final for the primary time since that 2009-10 European marketing campaign once they confronted Manchester United within the FA Cup in March, and scored first at Previous Trafford, just for their hopes to be dashed throughout 90 seconds of chaos halfway via the second half. This season they’ve gone one higher, making the final 4 of the League Cup for the primary time within the membership’s historical past. They may face Liverpool over two legs later this month to determine who faces Chelsea or Championship facet Middlesbrough at Wembley on February 25.
That tie, with each video games to be performed whereas Mohamed Salah is away taking part in for Egypt on the Africa Cup of Nations and the second leg at Craven Cottage not Anfield, represents Fulham’s greatest probability of main silverware for greater than a decade. And success would safe legendary standing for all concerned.
Peter Rutzler
Brighton & Hove Albion
Closest name FA Cup runners-up (1983)
Common all-time league attendance 12,660
Seasons in high flight 11
Highest league end Sixth (2023)
Common all-time league rating 52.53
Seasons in Europe: One
There may be rising justification for Brighton to be considered the largest English membership by no means to have received a serious home or European trophy.
Most of their 122 years in existence have been spent within the decrease divisions — which explains that modest common all-time league rating — however that’s altering. They’ve now been within the high two tiers for 13 seasons in succession, are of their seventh season in a row within the Premier League, are taking part in in Europe for the primary time and are on track for his or her third top-10 end on the trot.
The typical all-time league attendance of beneath 13,000 calls for context. In the dead of night days of the Nineties, when they virtually dropped out of the fourth division into non-League, they have been taking part in in entrance of crowds of round 2,000 throughout two years of floor sharing with Gillingham, 75 miles (120km) from Brighton.
The return house to play at Brighton’s Withdean Stadium — a transformed athletics monitor with a capability of round 8,000 — dragged on for 12 years earlier than they moved into the brand new Amex Stadium, the place crowds have been repeatedly round or simply above 30,000 within the Premier League.
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Their await main silverware might finish this season. They’re via to the final 16 of the Europe League of their continental competitors debut, with a sensible probability of going additional. Additionally they went shut within the FA Cup final season, shedding on penalties to Manchester United at Wembley within the semi-finals. En route, they received 1-0 within the final 16 at Championship facet Stoke Metropolis, who’re additionally their third-round hosts on Saturday.
For golf equipment of Brighton’s stature, durations of success are cyclical. Nonetheless, with lifelong fan Tony Bloom on the helm and overseeing a top-quality hierarchy, envied participant recruitment with a pathway for younger gamers, the flexibility to draw high abilities akin to present Barcelona loanee Ansu Fati and a high-class head coach in Roberto De Zerbi, the indications are that they won’t fall away any time quickly.
Andy Naylor
Closest name: League runners-up (1983), FA Cup runners-up (1984, 2019)
Common all-time league attendance: 11,619
Seasons in high flight: 14
Highest league end: Second (1983)
Common all-time league rating: 50.31
Seasons in Europe: One
Watford are aggressive on this recreation of high trumps, ending as runners-up for 3 main trophies and stepping into Europe.
Solely 24 golf equipment have ever received England’s high division, and Watford are in a choose group of solely eight to have come second with out ever ending high, being crushed solely by Bob Paisley’s all-conquering Liverpool facet in 1982-83 of their debut top-flight marketing campaign below Graham Taylor. They’d taken the league by storm after three promotions in 5 seasons from the outdated fourth division. Luther Blissett’s 27 league targets received him the Golden Boot, however Watford finally completed 11 factors behind Paisley’s supreme crew. Of these eight runners-ups, Watford are one among solely three (with Bristol Metropolis and Oldham Athletic) to haven’t received a serious trophy in any respect.
There was one other shut name 12 months later when Taylor’s facet misplaced 2-0 to Everton within the FA Cup remaining. They’d competed in Europe that very same season for the primary and solely time, exiting within the third spherical of the UEFA Cup (as we speak’s Europa League, and a straight knockout competitors in these days) to Sparta Prague after beating Kaiserslautern and Levski Sofia.
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That preliminary spell within the high division lasted six years, with Watford ending within the high 12 each season till relegation in 1988. Solely two of the following 27 campaigns have been spent within the Premier League — after play-off remaining wins towards Bolton (1999) and Leeds (2006) — which meant goals of cup success receded.
However one other Premier League promotion in 2015 rekindled these hopes, and Watford reached one other FA Cup remaining in 2019, solely to run into extra all-time nice opponents in Manchester Metropolis. The 6-0 scoreline was an undesirable record-equalling shedding margin in an FA Cup remaining.
Watford stay one among solely three English golf equipment to be FA Cup runners-up twice with out successful it, together with Birmingham (who do have the comfort of a League Cup remaining victory to their identify) and Palace. However for all that, they’ve punched above their weight.
Adam Leventhal
Closest name League Cup semi-finalists (2021)
Common all-time league attendance 9,624
Seasons in high flight Eight
Highest league end Fifth (1936)
Common all-time league rating: 55.65
Seasons in Europe: None
Brentford have loved a historic interval of success since Matthew Benham turned majority shareholder in June 2012. They have pulled themselves up from mid-table within the third tier then to a ninth-place end within the high flight final season, lacking out on Europa Convention League soccer by two factors. However the one factor that’s lacking from their cupboard is a serious trophy.
Brentford have by no means performed in Europe, and their present type, which has seen them lose seven video games out of eight to spiral in direction of hassle on the foot of the desk, signifies that appears unlikely to vary anytime quickly. Their greatest probability of successful a trophy this season is within the FA Cup, however even there, a third-round draw towards in-form fellow Premier League facet Wolverhampton Wanderers is hardly ideally suited.
Coach Thomas Frank’s facet haven’t been any additional than the fourth spherical of that competitors within the final 4 years. Nonetheless, they did go on a formidable run to the semi-finals of the 2020-21 League Cup, when nonetheless a Championship facet. They misplaced 2-0 away towards Tottenham Hotspur in a tie lowered to 1 leg to ease fixture congestion associated to the Covid pandemic, and have been unfortunate Ivan Toney had a possible second-half equaliser disallowed for a good offside at 1-0.
Brentford have spent the vast majority of their historical past taking part in within the decrease leagues and, as their self-deprecating followers by no means tire of reminding their rivals, have the repute of being “only a bus cease in Hounslow” (the district of west London they name house). With traditionally larger rivals Chelsea and Fulham located shut by, main trophies have been all the time more likely to show elusive — even when the membership did have success below Harry Curtis within the Thirties, ending fifth in 1936.
Successful an overdue trophy within the subsequent few years could be unbelievable for the followers, take the membership’s profile to a fair greater degree and hold their fairytale going. However it is going to be a tricky ask.
Jay Harris
Bristol Metropolis
Closest name League runners-up (1907); FA Cup runners-up (1909)
Common all-time league attendance 13,628
Seasons in high flight 9
Highest league end Second (1907)
Common all-time league rating 41.43
Seasons in Europe None
Bristol Metropolis?! How did they make the checklist?
Hey, we’re speaking concerning the 1908-09 FA Cup finalists right here, and a membership who had completed second within the league two years earlier. Certainly, some may describe that decade as a golden period for Metropolis, who’ve spent a very long time punching beneath their weight.
Bristol, which is accepted on numerous inhabitants/boundary measurements to be the seventh-largest metropolis in England, has by no means staged a Premier League match (Bristol Rovers, Metropolis’s bitter native rivals, are a part of that dialog too), and silverware has tended to come back within the type of the EFL Trophy, which Metropolis have lifted 3 times (each golf equipment have misplaced within the remaining twice).
The closest Metropolis have come to competing for a serious trophy since that 1909 remaining was six years in the past, once they reached the semi-finals of the League Cup, defeating 4 Premier League golf equipment on the way in which, together with Manchester United, earlier than shedding to eventual winners Manchester Metropolis 5-3 on mixture.
These glory days in the beginning of the earlier century could appear additional away than ever — Metropolis are eleventh within the 24-team Championship, albeit solely 4 factors off the play-offs — however a minimum of Sunday’s FA Cup third-round tie away to West Ham presents a uncommon probability to indicate off the membership’s undoubted potential.
Stuart James
(High pictures: Getty Photos)
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