I vaguely remember trying to calculate this back in 1979. I think the answer I came up with was that at the time we were the 50th club to get into the top division.
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"Not in my Lifetime..."
- Thread starter Beanstalk
- Start date
Indeed. And not only did I believe we would make it back to the top flight, I am convinced we will win the thing in my lifetime (I am 59 in a few weeks time). Determination, patience, planning . . . . it is happening and will happen.
I'm sorry to say that when we were in the top flight last time we had momentum but no infrastructure or knowhow. The way we do things these days is a marvel. Only one recent blip - the Hyppia miasma. Every club has a bad moment.
Something that is also worth noting (and I have mentioned it before in another thread): Brighton and Sussex are lovely. London is very close by. Unlike clubs like Sunderland, Boro, Newcastle and, let's face it, much of the North, we can attract players who find unremitting grime, cold and peevishness a bit off-putting (especially for the Mrs). ManU and Liverpool can cope largely because the Wirrall and the surrounds of Alderly Edge provide a haven of comfort and luxury - it certainly isn't the glam of the Arndale centre or the fleshpots of Mathew Street that reels them in. We have already attracted a few tier 2 standard flairy Spaniards and French. Let's see how attractive we are to talented but sensitive skinned types now we are in tier 1.
Yes, I will not rest until we have won the Champion's League. We can do it. And I am completely sober (even though I'm typing from my hotel room in Amsterdam).
As [MENTION=1800]hoveboyslim[/MENTION] says, I meant we are one of 65 teams to play in the top flight.
And to [MENTION=1575]whitelion[/MENTION] - I never doubted you knew that, I'm just refusing to swallow all this Premier League hype. Football existed before 1992.
Surely you have to agree the Premier League setup is vastly different to how the old First Division was.
The TV money, foreign players, vastly improved stadiums, a 20 team league.
It's a different era even though it is still the top tier of football.
Return of the Rev
Well-known member
Sweating on getting a ticket to see an Albion premiere game before i pop off!
Shooting Star
Well-known member
No, I didn't after last season. Last season epitomised Albion: so close but always the bridesmaid. My dad got married last September and at the reception in the evening my aunt turned to me and asked whether I believed we would ever reach the Premier League. I said in my heart of hearts, no. She agreed.
I am relieved to admit that we were wrong! This team will go down in history. We complain about Leeds, Forest etc living off of the glory years. Well, regardless of what happens in the Premier League, I will always live off of these past two seasons with immense fondness.
I am relieved to admit that we were wrong! This team will go down in history. We complain about Leeds, Forest etc living off of the glory years. Well, regardless of what happens in the Premier League, I will always live off of these past two seasons with immense fondness.
As a man who obviously speaks from experience are the fleshpots of Amsterdam a step up from the fleshpots of Mathew Street?
Nope.
Still the top league in the world. As it always has been.
I refuse to pretend that anything fundamentally changed overnight back in 1992.
We almost did it in 1991( 1 year before the premier league)
That would have been an even greater achievement, as the Goldstone was crumbling then with gates of about 6-8000. After that the club went into freefall.
Still, its interesting to compare Notts County and BHA now.
That would have been an even greater achievement, as the Goldstone was crumbling then with gates of about 6-8000. After that the club went into freefall.
Still, its interesting to compare Notts County and BHA now.
It's all relative.
I'm not prepared to fall for the marketing hype. And I'm in marketing.
I was quite amazed when I found that out. Over half the clubs in the top four divisions have been in the PL. Not just the top division but the top division post-1992 or whenever it was that football 'started'.That includes small clubs such as Swindon, Barnsley and Bradford City as well as the fallen mid-ranking clubs like Blackburn, Portsmouth and Coventry. So if you look at it like that the odds were slightly in our favour.
There were times of course when it looked a million miles away, but then I'm sure it also did for teams like Swansea, Hull and Fulham who were also down at the wrong end of the bottom division with us in 1997. Once we got the new stadium I hoped we might do it before the massive financial disparity between the PL and the EFL made the PL and the top of the Championship a de facto closed shop.
Moshe Gariani
Well-known member
- Mar 10, 2005
- 12,192
This list of winners of Division Three (South) reasonably captures most of our natural competitor clubs (with at least one notable omission)...
1921–22 Southampton
1922–23 Bristol City
1923–24 Portsmouth
1924–25 Swansea Town
1925–26 Reading
1926–27 Bristol City
1927–28 Millwall
1928–29 Charlton Athletic
1929–30 Plymouth Argyle
1930–31 Notts County
1931–32 Fulham
1932–33 Brentford
1933–34 Norwich City
1934–35 Charlton Athletic
1935–36 Coventry City
1936–37 Luton Town
1937–38 Millwall
1938–39 Newport County
1939–40 League abandoned due to World War II
1940–46 League suspended due to World War II
1946–47 Cardiff City
1947–48 Queens Park Rangers
1948–49 Swansea Town
1949–50 Notts County
1950–51 Nottingham Forest
1951–52 Plymouth Argyle
1952–53 Bristol Rovers
1953–54 Ipswich Town
1954–55 Bristol City
1955–56 Leyton Orient
1956–57 Ipswich Town
1957–58 Brighton & Hove Albion
Ipswich Town and Norwich City are the two that always resonate most with me as being quite like us demographically and consistently achieving so much more.
Most like us and underachieving are, I think, Bristol City and Plymouth Argyle.
1921–22 Southampton
1922–23 Bristol City
1923–24 Portsmouth
1924–25 Swansea Town
1925–26 Reading
1926–27 Bristol City
1927–28 Millwall
1928–29 Charlton Athletic
1929–30 Plymouth Argyle
1930–31 Notts County
1931–32 Fulham
1932–33 Brentford
1933–34 Norwich City
1934–35 Charlton Athletic
1935–36 Coventry City
1936–37 Luton Town
1937–38 Millwall
1938–39 Newport County
1939–40 League abandoned due to World War II
1940–46 League suspended due to World War II
1946–47 Cardiff City
1947–48 Queens Park Rangers
1948–49 Swansea Town
1949–50 Notts County
1950–51 Nottingham Forest
1951–52 Plymouth Argyle
1952–53 Bristol Rovers
1953–54 Ipswich Town
1954–55 Bristol City
1955–56 Leyton Orient
1956–57 Ipswich Town
1957–58 Brighton & Hove Albion
Ipswich Town and Norwich City are the two that always resonate most with me as being quite like us demographically and consistently achieving so much more.
Most like us and underachieving are, I think, Bristol City and Plymouth Argyle.