Doubt it. There were 20 competitive teams back then. Now there isn't.Were the fans of mid table teams saying the same the year we came up? The promoted teams have earned the right to give the big time a shot....how they deal with it is a different matter, but we shouldn't be elitist
Reaching the level where you can play a competitive game against top teams in England is getting more expensive and its looking increasingly clear that England doesn't have 20 teams (optimally it should be around 30 to have some more oompf in the promoted teams) that can compete in the same division as the top 15 or so PL teams.
As things are developing, in a few years every newcomer will be relegated immediately. The way to change this is to make Championship stronger through having more mid-size clubs there (through fewer PL teams) while dividing the PL TV money on fewer teams so that the newcomers have a good chance of buying a super team like all the established ones.