Who are the biggest club on the South Coast? (and where do we sit....)

[BRIGHT ON Q]

I wonder what our average gate would have been if the Amex held 30,000?
I reckon Doncaster(apart from the away),Palace,West Ham would have all sold out.

 

[Acker79]

OK, I'll bite!

Average attendances 11-25 years ago (1.5 points for each 1,000)
Southampton approx 16,000 (24 points)
Portsmouth approx 11,000 (16.5 points)

Seasons in the top flight 11-25 years ago (1.5 points for each season)
Southampton 15 (22.5 points)
Portsmouth 1 (1.5 points)

Major trophies 11-25 years ago (5 points each)
Southampton 0 (0 points)
Portsmouth 0 (0 points)

All time top 6 finishes in top flight (5 points each)
Southampton 3 (15 points)
Portsmouth 5 (25 points)

Top 6 finishes 11-15 years ago (5 points each)
Southampton 0 (0 points)
Portsmouth 0 (0 points)

Top 6 finishes in last decade (5 points each)
Southampton 0 (0 points)
Portsmouth 0 (0 points)

Is this meant to go with your other points system, or are you just ignoring attendances and trophies for the last ten years?

 

[Working class pride]

I wonder what our average gate would have been if the Amex held 30,000?
I reckon Doncaster(apart from the away),Palace,West Ham would have all sold out.

these and a few more. Personally I would have gone to a few more if getting tickets was easier

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

Is this meant to go with your other points system, or are you just ignoring attendances and trophies for the last ten years?

Oh, they were meant to be additions, taking into consideration the extra weightings suggested on this thread.

I can't claim my weightings are beyond dispute. However, besides having too much time on my hands on this otherwise lazy Sunday (!), I've tried to be as fair-minded as possible taking into consideration the factors most fans seem to believe are significant factors and without trying to force through any particular outcome. Here's a summary including Portsmouth, Southampton and Brighton & Hove Albion:

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

Frankly, who cares? If it wasn't for the fact that our local TV comes from Southampton, I'd barely even notice what the Hampshire clubs are doing, any more than I'd care about Andover, Basingstoke and all the other made-up places that Sally Taylor and Fred Dinenage go on and on about. If we were really part of the same region, there would be a half-decent railway or road between here and there.

 

[looney]

All 3 teams crowds have varied and mark them all out as Championship level.

I would say you need to weight it to recent history and its down to how many pots youve won.

Pompey
Brighton
southampton

FA cup trumps Div 1 championship. We are div one champs. This may all change at the end of the season but the stains fans need to suck it up and accept Albion are the pride of the south ATM.

 

[Acker79]

Oh, they were meant to be additions, taking into consideration the extra weightings suggested on this thread.

I can't claim my weightings are beyond dispute. However, besides having too much time on my hands on this otherwise lazy Sunday (!), I've tried to be as fair-minded as possible taking into consideration the factors most fans seem to believe are significant factors and without trying to force through any particular outcome. Here's a summary including Portsmouth, Southampton and Brighton & Hove Albion:

I don't think you've completed the table properly. 11*1.5 = 16.5 not 17, 19*2 = 38 not 17 (the totals are right for this, just the parenthesis in the top row for portsmouth are wrong)

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

I don't think you've completed the table properly. 11*1.5 = 16.5 not 17, 19*2 = 38 not 17 (the totals are right for this, just the parenthesis in the top row for portsmouth are wrong)

Thanks, very well spotted! Here is the amended version...

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

Brighton come 3rd imo but can more than match the top 2 on our day and at the moment we are just starting out a new day-despite your current position Saints.watch out.

Yep. We can and our day is finally here. Both Portsmouth (207k) and Southampton (234k) have smaller city populations than Brighton (250k) and so we are more than on a par in terms of supporter potential, not to mention your Worthings, Hastings, Eastbournes etc. etc.

 

[xenophon]

We'll see on Saturday

Right kids?

 

[Driver8]

Who cares about the past? It's all about the future and ours is brightest.

 

[Simster]

Who cares about the past? It's all about the future and ours is brightest.

Even then it's probably no brighter than Southampton's.

For me, Southampton are comfortably the biggest. Pompey were the biggest before the 1950s ended, but their track record since the 70s hasn't been significantly different to ours really - fleeting spells in the basement and top flights. The difference is that they won the cup (by cheating) and have spent most of that time at the second level whereas we have spent most of it in the third. However, as you say our futures look very different now. Portsmouth bumbling along in front of 11,000 at a delapidated "stadium" and us with 20,000+ crowds in a state of the art arena - they'll probably go down again soon.

Southampton are realistically on another level - they've spent years in the top flight, play in a big stadium in front of 25,000 and are likely to go up again. They too have reached the cup final in recent seasons and haven't been in division 4 in living memory, having spent just two season in division 3 with us recently. Oh and last season was the first time Albion have finished above Southampton since 1961 so anyone who thinks we're as big as they are is deluded. No surprise too see Looney in that category, obviously.

All three clubs are miles bigger than Bournemouth. I hope we never get mentioned in the same breath as that tin pot club again.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

Southampton are realistically on another level - they've spent years in the top flight, play in a big stadium in front of 25,000 and are likely to go up again. They too have reached the cup final in recent seasons and haven't been in division 4 in living memory, having spent just two season in division 3 with us recently. Oh and last season was the first time Albion have finished above Southampton since 1961 so anyone who thinks we're as big as they are is deluded. No surprise too see Looney in that category, obviously.

Our all time record attendance is 4k bigger than theirs
We've won the Charity Shield
Brighton is a bigger city than Southampton population wise.
They sold out a 15k capacity Dell for most Premiership fixtures - impressive.

Anything they can do we'll be doing in the coming decade.

 

[ROSM]

Even then it's probably no brighter than Southampton's.

For me, Southampton are comfortably the biggest. Pompey were the biggest before the 1950s ended, but their track record since the 70s hasn't been significantly different to ours really - fleeting spells in the basement and top flights. The difference is that they won the cup (by cheating) and have spent most of that time at the second level whereas we have spent most of it in the third. However, as you say our futures look very different now. Portsmouth bumbling along in front of 11,000 at a delapidated "stadium" and us with 20,000+ crowds in a state of the art arena - they'll probably go down again soon.

I agree with you Sim, I enjoyed our rivalry with them last season. I enjoyed seeing Gus wind up Dean Wilkins two seasons ago. I enjoyed the press furore when staains banned press photographers. I enjoy the fact that although bigger, St mary's is an identikit stadium with no soul. However, as it stands now and from the past 40 years, they are the bigger club and they are on an upward trajectory. We are upwards too and I hope our plan allows the foundations to be built to make it sustainable.

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

Since time began Pompey, Stains, Us then Bmth.

AT THE MOMENT : Stains, Us, Pompey, Bmth

 

[Simster]

Our all time record attendance is 4k bigger than theirs

You are sounding desperate. If you want to go on all-time record gates, then both clubs are proper NODDY.

We've won the Charity Shield

Oh, you are desperate. Or are you going to ignore proper achievements like finishing twice in the top division, winning the FA Cup or -playing regularly in Europe?

Brighton is a bigger city than Southampton population wise.

You can never really be sure because it depends how you measure these things. Certainly the city of Southampton feels a LOT bigger than Brighton. And in any case, we are somewhat hampered by being more accessible to London and it's big clubs than Southampton is.

They sold out a 15k capacity Dell for most Premiership fixtures - impressive.

Yes and before that it held nearer 18,000 and in the Keegan era that was completely sold out (while we were getting regular gates of 13-14,000 in the top flight in 1982 and 1983). And before that, The Dell held around 28,000 in 1978 and their gates were similar to ours in that season.

Anything they can do we'll be doing in the coming decade.

I hope you're right there!

 

[Icy Gull]

Can't be arsed to read the whole thread. Let me guess, a few Albion fans think we will be or are as big as Southampton and most of the Southampton fans think we are the same size as Bournemouth?

History means f*** all as far as I am concerned, we are no longer l'il Brighton who play at the decrepit Goldstone, shitty Gillingham or depressing Withdean, We have an amazing stadium and quite probably just as good a future as Southampton and can consider ourselves pretty close to being their equals now. They obviously have the advantage of a decent academy, a bigger stadium at the moment and a squad better equipped for the Championship.

Pompey, appear to be in decline and Bournemouth always have been, always will be no marks.

So we are the 2nd or 3rd biggest club on the South Coast

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

It wasn't a post to be taken literally fella!

 

[Simster]

It wasn't a post to be taken literally fella!

Oh.

 

[klaaturberada]

Given that the question is "Who are...." rather than "Who were...." then I would say it has to be:

1) Southampton
2) Brighton
3) Portsmouth

...based on league position, crowds, infrastructure and potential.

In fact, should you wish to ignore league position and concentrate solely on crowds, infrastructure and potential, Southampton and Brighton are arguably bigger clubs than some current PL clubs (e.g Wigan).