Taking the criteria of fanbase, stadium, potential and club history into consideration....

[Thunder Bolt]

Forest? Miles bigger than us... European Champions twice, League Champions in 1978, 2 FA Cups and a handful of League Cups....
Historically, Portsmouth are bigger too, although surrently struggling.
Burnley were huge in the 60s, league champs twice. Ipswich Town ... League Champions in 1962, FA Cup Winners 1978, UEFA Cup Winners 1984.... We may have a big stadium, and a big fanbase, but until we have spent more than just 4 seasons in the top flight, we arent as big as those.... in my opinion.

Nothing wrong with that mind. Lets just enjoy the ride, and relax...

Blackpool have spent 28 years in the top tier and had over 44 internationals playing for them. Players like Stanley Matthews, Jimmy Armfield and Alan Ball have played in their team.

 

[Puppet Master]

Blackburn won the Prem in 1995, not that long ago

 

[Rugrat]

I think some of our fans are getting ahead of themselves too quickly. Sorry. At the moment, we are way down the pecking order - Norwich and Stoke have many years of top flight history, both have won the League Cup, both have played in Europe.... Only when we start to get up there and compete in the Premiership, fairly comfortably, for a few seasons, can we start to rank ourselves above Stok and Norwich. I'd put Blackburn, Bolton and Burnley in that category too. Leeds United, best team in the country for about 7 or 8 years, European Cup finalists in 1975... Wolves ... WBA.... Currently all bigger. In my opinion

We still havent done anything yet... its all potential.

Sensible .... we've spent most of our life in lower leagues. A new stadium and decent crowds for a season and a half as a mid table Championship outfit doesn't suddenly wipe out history

 

[Postman Pat]

This is an average league position as at May 2010, now it may have changed a little, but not a great deal, but it shows where we sit in terms of that particular measure:

1. Liverpool 8.358
2. Arsenal 8.981
3. Everton 9.838
4. Manchester United 10.710
5. Aston Villa 11.180
6. Tottenham Hotspur 12.725
7. Chelsea 14.085
8. Newcastle United 14.302
9. Manchester City 14.692
10. Sunderland 15.532
11. West Bromwich Albion 18.126 (UP 1)
12. Leeds United 18.349 (DOWN 1)
13. Blackburn Rovers 18.910
14. West Ham United 19.119
15. Derby County 19.748
16. Sheffield Wednesday 20.168
17. Wolverhampton Wanderers 20.270 (UP 1)
18. Middlesbrough 20.320 (DOWN 1)
19. Sheffield United 20.654
20. Bolton Wanderers 20.676
21. Birmingham City 22.065
22. Nottingham Forest 22.402
23. Leicester City 23.048
24. Stoke City 23.417
25. Southampton 26.687
26. Burnley 27.018 (UP 1)
27. Ipswich Town 27.061 (DOWN 1)
28. Preston North End 29.081
29. Portsmouth 29.108
30. Charlton Athletic 32.183
31. Huddersfield Town 33.191
32. Coventry City 34.179
33. Fulham 34.370
34. Blackpool 35.255
35. Norwich City 38.807
36. Notts County 40.234
37. Queen's Park Rangers 40.639
38. Bristol City 42.408 (UP 1)
39. Cardiff City 42.518 (UP 1)
40. Barnsley 42.782 (UP 1)
41. Bury 43.343 (UP 1)
42. Crystal Palace 43.819 (UP 2)
43. Grimsby Town 43.906
44. Hull City 44.883 (UP 2)
45. Oldham Athetic 44.978
46. Plymouth Argyle 46.880 (UP 1)
47. Millwall 47.217 (UP 1)
48. Watford 50.313 (UP 2)
49. Bradford City 50.521
50. Swansea City 51.373 (UP 1)
51. Port Vale 51.948 (UP 1)
52. Wigan Athletic 52.250 (UP 3)
53. Brighton & Hove Albion 52.795
54. Reading 53.024
55. Leyton Orient 54.809 (UP 1)
56. Rotherham United 55.321 (UP 1)
57. Swindon Town 55.988 (UP 1)
58. Brentford 56.036 (UP 1)
59. Bristol Rovers 56.325 (UP 1)
60. Chesterfield 57.750 (UP 1)
61. Lincoln City 58.796 (UP 1)
62. Stockport County 60.194 (UP 1)
63. Walsall 60.544 (UP 1)
64. Tranmere Rovers 61.354 (UP 1)
65. Yeovil Town 62.143 (UP 3)
66. AFC Bournemouth 62.288
67. Milton Keynes Dons 62.333 (UP 4)
68. Shrewsbury Town 62.729 (DOWN 1)
69. Doncaster Rovers 63.000
70. Carlisle United 63.338
71. Southend United 64.277 (UP 1)
72. Wycombe Wanderers 65.118 (UP 1)
73. Peterborough United 66.060 (UP 2)
74. Gillingham 66.205
75. Colchester United 67.293 (UP 2)
76. Northampton Town 67.602
77. Scunthorpe United 67.950 (UP 2)
78. Crewe Alexandra 68.407
79. Cheltenham Town 73.455 (UP 1)
80. Accrington Stanley 73.622 (UP 1)
81. Exeter City 74.641 (UP 2)
82. Torquay United 75.270 (RE-ENTRY)
83. Hartlepool United 76.451 (UP 1)
84. Morecambe 76.667 (UP 5)
85. Rochdale 76.756 (UP 1)
86. Darlington 76.901 (DOWN 1)
87. Aldershot Town 77.463 (UP 1)
88. Hereford United 77.655 (DOWN 1)
89. Dagenham & Redbridge 79.667 (UP 3)
90. Barnet 80.533
91. Burton Albion 81.000 (NEW)
92. Macclesfield Town 81.846 (DOWN 1)

 

[Postman Pat]

Found an update of that list for May 2012, and we have actually dropped a place

English averages 2012:

1. Liverpool 8.333
2. Arsenal 8.880
3. Everton 9.788
4. Manchester United 10.541
5. Aston Villa 11.204
6. Tottenham Hotspur 12.548
7. Chelsea 13.875
8. Newcastle United 14.194
9. Manchester City 14.459
10. Sunderland 15.459
11. West Bromwich Albion 17.991
12. Leeds United 18.635
13. Blackburn Rovers 18.876
14. West Ham United 19.174
15. Derby County 20.027
16. Wolverhampton Wanderers 20.239
17. Middlesbrough 20.500
18. Bolton Wanderers 20.593 (UP 1)
19. Sheffield Wednesday 20.761 (DOWN 1)
20. Sheffield United 21.101
21. Birmingham City 22.046
22. Nottingham Forest 22.587
23. Leicester City 23.168
24. Stoke City 23.229
25. Southampton 26.859
26. Burnley 27.080
27. Ipswich Town 27.269
28. Portsmouth 29.341
29. Preston North End 29.460
30. Wimbledon 32.036 (RE-ENTRY)
31. Charlton Athletic 32.631 (DOWN 1)
32. Huddersfield Town 33.505 (DOWN 1)
33. Fulham 33.819 (DOWN 1)
34. Coventry City 34.326 (DOWN 1)
35. Blackpool 35.000 (DOWN 1)
36. Norwich City 38.294 (DOWN 1)
37. Queen's Park Rangers 40.129 (DOWN 1)
38. Notts County 40.531 (DOWN 1)
39. Cardiff City 42.106 (DOWN 1)
40. Bristol City 42.310 (DOWN 1)
41. Barnsley 42.709 (DOWN 1)
42. Crystal Palace 43.694
43. Bury 43.729 (DOWN 2)
44. Hull City 44.563 (DOWN 1)
45. Oldham Athletic 45.309 (DOWN 1)
46. Millwall 46.871 (DOWN 1)
47. Plymouth Argyle 47.612 (DOWN 1)
48. Watford 49.814 (DOWN 1)
49. Wigan Athletic 50.088 (UP 2)
50. Swansea City 50.565
51. Bradford City 51.245 (DOWN 3)
52. Oxford United 51.478 (DOWN 3)
53. Reading 52.318
54. Brighton & Hove Albion 52.435
55. Port Vale 52.505 (DOWN 3)
56. Leyton Orient 54.865 (DOWN 1)
57. Rotherham United 55.837 (DOWN 1)
58. Brentford 55.988 (DOWN 1)
59. Swindon Town 56.282 (DOWN 1)
60. Bristol Rovers 56.729 (DOWN 1)
61. Chesterfield 57.957 (DOWN 1)
62. Milton Keynes Dons 59.000
63. Walsall 60.609 (UP 1)
64. Tranmere Rovers 61.298 (UP 1)
65. Yeovil Town 61.556 (UP 1)
66. Stevenage 62.000 (UP 14)
67. AFC Bournemouth 62.049
68. Doncaster Rovers 62.488
69. Shrewsbury Town 63.000
70. Carlisle United 63.092
71. Southend United 64.565
72. Peterborough United 65.173 (UP 1)
73. Wycombe Wanderers 65.421 (DOWN 1)
74. Gillingham 66.450
75. Colchester United 66.850
76. Scunthorpe United 67.468
77. Northampton Town 68.035
78. Crewe Alexandra 68.591
79. Crawley Town 71.000 (NEW)
80. Accrington Stanley 73.821 (DOWN 1)
81. Exeter City 74.263
82. Cheltenham Town 74.385
83. Torquay United 75.237
84. Hartlepool United 76.024 (UP 1)
85. Rochdale 76.369 (UP 1)
86. Aldershot Town 77.571 (UP 1)
87. Dagenham & Redbridge 78.200 (DOWN 3)
88. Hereford United 78.452
89. Morecambe 80.200
90. Barnet 81.647
91. Macclesfield Town 82.600
92. Burton Albion 84.333

 

[BadFish]

Some of our fans are so deluded it is embarassing

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

Found an update of that list for May 2012, and we have actually dropped a place

English averages 2012:

54. Brighton & Hove Albion 52.435

Shows how much we have under achieved really.

 

[Icy Gull]

Funny how the criteria he has chosen suits BHA at this moment in time as well... Surely the size of clubs should be mesured on various things.

Trophys
Historical crowds
Season's in top leagues
Record signing
Size of ground
Played european football
Probably plenty more things you could throw in the mix.

BTW Sheffield Wednesday are bigger then you lot.

Shocking, the best post on the thread comes from a Palace fan.

 

[empire]

Sorry why is it a daft thread, alot of other posters do not seem to think so.......

Please enlighten me.

suggest you read the thread again then

 

[El Presidente]

Norwich, Cardiff, Fulham, QPR for starters are not bigger than us. Were you not around for the sub-5k crowds at Craven Cottage in the late 1990s before Al-Fayed?!?! Arguably we are on a par with Southampton, Forest and possibly Birmingham, and with a 30k Falmer our crowds will only be 4k shy of Tottenscum Hotspunk's crowds.

Is that Forest the double European Cup winners or another one?

 

[Don Quixote]

Anyone that has won the FA cup is bigger than us.

 

[El Presidente]

Sorry why is it a daft thread, alot of other posters do not seem to think so.......

Please enlighten me.

It's not a daft thread, it's a daft conclusion that you have reached.

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

Anyone that has won the FA cup is bigger than us.

Or even any club that has had over four years in the top flight.

 

[sparkie]

'Bigness' means different things to different people. Some prefer the present, some prefer the past, and some prefer the future.

My view of the albion's 'bigness' is current situation, with a nod towards future potential. History and achievements are great and worthy and something different to me - I reckon it is possible to over/under achieve in respect to your 'big status'. In fact, over and under achieving for me is really what football is about - heroic unexpected victories, and dire banana skins and slip ups.

A lot won't agree with me, and so what? Until this measure is defined, there will not be a definitive ranking anyway.

 

[wigman]

Sheffield Wednesday are bigger than us and Fulham are smaller.

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

Calculations for biggest club, as taken from a previous thread:

Average attendances:
All time (1 pt for every 1,000)
11-25 seasons ago (1.5 pt for every 1,000)
Last 10 seasons (2 pt for every 1,000)

Top flight:
All time (1 pt for each season)
11-25 seasons ago (1.5 pt for each season)
Last 10 seasons (2 pt for each season)

Top Six in Top Flight:
All time (1 pt for each finish)
11-25 seasons ago (1.5 pt for each finish)
Last 10 seasons (2 pt for each finish)

Major Trophies:
All time (10 pt for each trophy)
11-25 seasons ago (10 pt for each trophy)
Last 10 seasons (10 pt for each trophy)

 

[Dorset Seagull]

Where this thread falls down is that the criteria is subjective but the actual answer can be quantified. If you bung all the stats from the criteria into a computer it will tell you exactly where we are rated......ok potential is a bit subjective but all the others are known numbers

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

Is that Forest the double European Cup winners or another one?

So if Wigan won the European Cup they'd be a bigger club than Arsenal?

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

Where this thread falls down is that the criteria is subjective but the actual answer can be quantified. If you bung all the stats from the criteria into a computer it will tell you exactly where we are rated......ok potential is a bit subjective but all the others are known numbers

I think 'potential' should be discounted as it is hypothetical, based on what could happen as opposed to what is happening or has happened.

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

So if Wigan won the European Cup they'd be a bigger club than Arsenal?

No, because Arsenal's period of top flight football since 1919, not to mention their major trophies won, would eclipse a single European Cup win, I think.