Premier League Shelf Life

I have a theory that it is almost impossible for small town or provincial clubs to survive long term in the Premier League. In fact as the finances and pressures on managers get ever greater the time frame will get smaller.

Even with the backing of wealthy owners eventually it seems to me that these clubs run out of resources and energy. Wanderers survived a relatively long time by throwing money at it together with a very shrewd manager whilst getting established. The relegation last season though had an air of inevitability about it.

Fulham - 13 years now
Bolton - 11
Rovers - 11
Wigan - 8

I believe that even if you can stay up for 2 seasons and get "established" smaller clubs will do well to make it to 6 in future.

Good post Nick.
Yes I agree with you, I think you need a top manager and resources to stay there long term. We were lucky to have a great manager in Big Sam but once he left we soon found ourselves relegated. The same happened with Charlton when Curbs left.
I think Stoke are heading the same way, I would be surprised if they stayed up next season, they seem to be on the decline now.
Fulham have done amazing to stay up as long as they have but they too look like they are now on the decline.

NickFazer wrote:I have a theory that it is almost impossible for small town or provincial clubs to survive long term in the Premier League. In fact as the finances and pressures on managers get ever greater the time frame will get smaller.

Even with the backing of wealthy owners eventually it seems to me that these clubs run out of resources and energy. Wanderers survived a relatively long time by throwing money at it together with a very shrewd manager whilst getting established. The relegation last season though had an air of inevitability about it.

Fulham - 13 years now
Bolton - 11
Rovers - 11
Wigan - 8

I believe that even if you can stay up for 2 seasons and get "established" smaller clubs will do well to make it to 6 in future.

How can you expect to survive in the EPL when your entire team budget is less than one player on the top six teams? Never going to happen unless you have a very clever manager. We had one in BSA and I am sure hoping that DF will develop into a financially sound and tactically smart manager as well. We had one great run, and I think with some shrewd or clever deals, we can go up again. The problem of course, is competing when you go up. It's just survival for a couple of years and mid table at best. Yet, I would take that right now. Here's to a good season ahead and DF finding good talent at a smart price.

Michael Bolton wrote:. We were lucky to have a great manager in Big Sam but once he left we soon found ourselves relegated. .

We had another 5 years in the Premier league after he left, you Chelsea supporting know nowt.

I sort of think you've unproven your own theory a bit, spending a decade in the premier league shows quite a lot of stability.

A club would have to be of at least a certain size to have a chance, but then if they weren't they would unlikely get promoted in the first place.

Aston Villa have never been out of the Premier League, I wouldn't called them a particularly massive club. Theres teams in the Championship who are historically far bigger than Villa.

Its very difficult to get to the top 6-7 regularly without lots of money but any good sized club has a chance of establishing themselves in the Premier League with the right manager/club set up.




Having a shite manager who pisses away all your money and sets the team up for relegation (Megson) can happen to almost any club, small or big (Newcastle).

Done right the fact that theres 4-5 huge teams can actually be beneficial, i.e. we can sell out best players for ridiculous amounts, we've finally cottoned on to the fact that we need to be getting young players in, not ones that are coming up to 30 by the time we've got them.

Mentioned Villa already so ill use them as an example:

2009/10 midfield included: James Milner, Stuart Downing and Ashley Young. Thats around £65 million they got from them three alone!

With the right manager and plan relative stability is achievable, but there will always be blips.

Lofty_Love wrote:Aston Villa have never been out of the Premier League, I wouldn't called them a particularly massive club. Theres teams in the Championship who are historically far bigger than Villa.

Who in the Championship is bigger than Villa? They're not very good but they are a big club. Not many teams have won as much as Villa. Brummy wankers.

So what about substantial cities with only 1 club like Leeds?

Isn't Bolton bigger than many Cities in England?

The biggest town in England is Reading but it hasn't helped them on the football field.

Lofty_Love wrote:I sort of think you've unproven your own theory a bit, spending a decade in the premier league shows quite a lot of stability.

I agree but what I meant was that BWFC had overachieved and that it was likely to get even more difficult from now on for clubs to establish themselves and remain for 6 or more seasons.

We just need a rich investor who supports Bolton. Without money you'll never compete at the top...

BoltonTillIDie wrote:We just need a rich investor who supports Bolton. Without money you'll never compete at the top...

True, Eddie must be skint by now.

BoltonTillIDie wrote:We just need a rich investor who supports Bolton. Without money you'll never compete at the top...

I thought we had, What about QPR

OK I'll re-phrase - We need a very rich investor who'll invest a lot of money

BoltonTillIDie wrote:OK I'll re-phrase - We need a very rich investor who'll invest a lot of money

I thought he had

NickFazer wrote:

BoltonTillIDie wrote:We just need a rich investor who supports Bolton. Without money you'll never compete at the top...

True, Eddie must be skint by now.

Not yet and doubt he will be close to it. Think about it - he has money coming in from his kettle company and regular interest payments from BWFC. Invested wisely in an overseas investment account (such as those in the caymans or Bahamas) and hence quite wealthy no matter what - also don't forget that with BWFC there is a revolvoing facility so no matter how much gets paid off or interest paid it will, no doubt, get re-invested into the club.

But as the last set of figures published most of the loans we have with eddie are now done via a3rd party which is infact an overseas investment company, of which Eddie more than likely recieves a much higher premium than what he would if he invested directly, nowadays.

The question is...

How many of the current EPL teams have not been outside the top flight in the last 15 years?

I can see at least 13 that have been out of the top flight since it started.

Interesting view from Fox Soccer - interesting that they may be forecasting the demise of the Prem now that they have lost the TV rights.

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waynagain wrote:Interesting view from Fox Soccer - interesting that they may be forecasting the demise of the Prem now that they have lost the TV rights.

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That's actually a good and very honest article.

The Premier League is shit. There are some good games, but only because defending is a dying art. How can someone like David Luiz be a top player, he's absolute garbage. He'd have been playing for Barnet if he'd been born 30 years earlier.

Football is dying in this country, and I for one won't shed a tear over it.

Natasha Whittam wrote:

Football is dying in this country, and I for one won't shed a tear over it.

If that happens you will have nothing to moan about.