Pevenseagull
meh
- Jul 20, 2003
- 20,681
back in the day attendance figures were bunk because turnstiles were fixed to avoid tax
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Who are the biggest club on the South Coast? (and where do we sit....)
- Thread starter Bring back Bryan wade!!
- Start date
Working class pride
Banned
- Feb 14, 2010
- 4,932
with the tangoman, cowbell and landlady, its difficult to argue with pompey as being anything but a vast footballing empire
SouthamptonGuy
New member
- Apr 3, 2011
- 92
I'm responsible for about 0.3 of the 1980 attendance
haha, good man, or woman.
GoldWithFalmer
Seaweed! Seaweed!
let Southampton fly of to the premier and burn out,pompey are a spent force,bournemouth will never be a threat,brighton will build slowly and we can all come back 5 seasons from now an argue why brighton are number 1 pulling in gates of 25-30k each week.
Garage_Doors
Originally the Swankers
do we assume your a Saints fan ?
GoldWithFalmer
Seaweed! Seaweed!
all the evidence suggests Southampton,but the word deluded makes me think Palace,i think i am wrong.
patchamalbion
Well-known member
this is just another thread that brings out this new found obsession with southampton
we have the scum from croydon in our league ffs. we'll take a lot and it will be a good atmosphere but some of our fans are getting a little bit pathetic
we have the scum from croydon in our league ffs. we'll take a lot and it will be a good atmosphere but some of our fans are getting a little bit pathetic
Garage_Doors
Originally the Swankers
Only in your opinion.
Your too close to be objective. The truth is like it or not it you ask the footballing public of the uk, well over 80% would recognise Pompey as being a bigger club than Saints.
Garage_Doors
Originally the Swankers
I feel the this is more applicable to our obsession with Palace to be honest.
Thisstatement is complete twaddle, domonstrating a staggering ignorance of history. Southampton from joining the league in the 1920's spent all their time in the second or third divisions until 1966, winning in that time a grand total of one division 3(S) championship, whilst Pompey were mostly in division 1, winning it on two occasions. So irrefutably up to then:
1. Pompey
2. Stains
3. Brighton / Bournemouth.
If you take the last 50 years, Southampton have shaded it - 1 FA Cup win each, and Southampton have spent more seasons in the top flight, with their highest finish (2nd.) - overall then, maybe Southampton may just have edged ahead of Pompey, but it's pretty close, to say the least.
Historically, we are third - though now with our new ground and brilliant manager, we may be about to move up the ratings. It'll still be years before we can match Pompey's history, though.
How big a club is would also have to include national and international recognition.
Personally, though, I tend to ignore all of that, all the trophies, how long they've been where, etc. and tend to think of clubs in terms of where they were in the league when I really started noticing that (which isn't really one specific season, but a collection of them over a few years). I don't think of teams as big or small, but think of their 'levels' so to speak.
Southampton are perennial top division strugglers.
Brighton are upper second division (championship)
Pompey are struggling in the second tier, occasionally pushing for top half.
Bournemouth are third division (league one).
For me, QPR and Norwich are top division teams, and I still feel like wigan, west brom, bolton, fulham, stoke don't belong in the top division.
But honestly, the idea of 'how big is your club' just seems like a pissing contest that no one "wins". The size of the club doesn't give you extra points, it doesn't give you extra goals, if you have the same points they don't decide who goes up based on the size of the club. It's completely meaningless. It's like the fans who brag about going to more games than you, or singing more or swearing more or standing up more, or fans who brag about supporting man utd and all the success they have almost like they are fans because of the size of the club.
Personally, though, I tend to ignore all of that, all the trophies, how long they've been where, etc. and tend to think of clubs in terms of where they were in the league when I really started noticing that (which isn't really one specific season, but a collection of them over a few years). I don't think of teams as big or small, but think of their 'levels' so to speak.
Southampton are perennial top division strugglers.
Brighton are upper second division (championship)
Pompey are struggling in the second tier, occasionally pushing for top half.
Bournemouth are third division (league one).
For me, QPR and Norwich are top division teams, and I still feel like wigan, west brom, bolton, fulham, stoke don't belong in the top division.
But honestly, the idea of 'how big is your club' just seems like a pissing contest that no one "wins". The size of the club doesn't give you extra points, it doesn't give you extra goals, if you have the same points they don't decide who goes up based on the size of the club. It's completely meaningless. It's like the fans who brag about going to more games than you, or singing more or swearing more or standing up more, or fans who brag about supporting man utd and all the success they have almost like they are fans because of the size of the club.
Wasn't our feud with palace once a 'new found obsession'?
GoldWithFalmer
Seaweed! Seaweed!
to a degree,however Saints? nah-just a bit of fun
- Jul 7, 2003
- 47,630
I must say, before the Saints fan got involved in this debate, I was somewhat surprised to find so many people putting Pompey above them.
Clearly all this is merely subjective but for most of my life following football (barring the last five years or so) Southampton were in the top division. Granted, they were a pretty pointless entity while they were there, and spent January to May every season crapping themselves about relegation before dancing triumphantly around the Dell each time Le Tissier saved their backsides, but I guess they were still there, clinging on.
Pompey have spent most of the same period in the equivalent of the second division, until they got lucky in that the rest of the league was on its knees thanks to ITV Digital, at precisely the same time Milan Mandaric and cheeky old 'Arry found a few spare quid down the back of a sofa. They built that entire period of success on imaginary money, and are now back where they belong (well frankly they're not even down that low because astonishingly, the administrators let them get away with their quite shocking mismanagement).
Two FA Cups against one, blah blah, x number of years in the top division against y...to be honest none of it is really quantifiable, and even Southampton's attendances now are principally on the back of two seasons of success- these 30,000 crowds weren't queuing up outside when they were in administration and battling relegation to the third division. (as an aside, it's amusing how the SFC fan points to the limited capacity of the Dell as a mitigating factor yet doesn't do the same for shitty old Fratton Park when Pompey were in the top league).
If forced, I'd probably put Saints marginally ahead of Pompey in this imaginary battle of the clubs, but both behind some of the other clubs mentioned in this thread (not us, by the way).
Clearly all this is merely subjective but for most of my life following football (barring the last five years or so) Southampton were in the top division. Granted, they were a pretty pointless entity while they were there, and spent January to May every season crapping themselves about relegation before dancing triumphantly around the Dell each time Le Tissier saved their backsides, but I guess they were still there, clinging on.
Pompey have spent most of the same period in the equivalent of the second division, until they got lucky in that the rest of the league was on its knees thanks to ITV Digital, at precisely the same time Milan Mandaric and cheeky old 'Arry found a few spare quid down the back of a sofa. They built that entire period of success on imaginary money, and are now back where they belong (well frankly they're not even down that low because astonishingly, the administrators let them get away with their quite shocking mismanagement).
Two FA Cups against one, blah blah, x number of years in the top division against y...to be honest none of it is really quantifiable, and even Southampton's attendances now are principally on the back of two seasons of success- these 30,000 crowds weren't queuing up outside when they were in administration and battling relegation to the third division. (as an aside, it's amusing how the SFC fan points to the limited capacity of the Dell as a mitigating factor yet doesn't do the same for shitty old Fratton Park when Pompey were in the top league).
If forced, I'd probably put Saints marginally ahead of Pompey in this imaginary battle of the clubs, but both behind some of the other clubs mentioned in this thread (not us, by the way).
GoldWithFalmer
Seaweed! Seaweed!
how many times have Southampton won the the title in the English top flight?
- Jul 7, 2003
- 47,630
I told you I thought it was marginal. This is an opinion based thread, and that's my opinion. Preston North End have league titles in their bag, but I don't think of them as bigger than Southampton. Ipswich Town have a league title. Sunderland have more title wins than Chelsea. What does that tell us?
I think there are a few people on here voting for Pompey to wind up the Saints fans skulking around here because of next week's fixture
SouthamptonGuy
New member
- Apr 3, 2011
- 92
I chose to look at averages over a season rather than one off games, I believe that shows a more accurate representation over each season.
As I showed in my post earlier yes, you did pull in bigger crowds than us on average 4 times in the late 1970's and in 1980.
In two of those seasons you had larger average attendances by less than 1000, which isn't really a strong argument for 'we were much bigger than you in the 1970's'.
Boasting you had bigger one off attendances despite Saints having larger average attendances is almost an admission, on your part, that back in the day your fans cherry picked the games they went to.
I think my earlier post was very clear, factual and non-biased. Saints have had bigger average attendances than Brighton for 50 of the last 61 seasons.
I haven't even offered any opinions in that post, just facts.
For now maybe. But the palace rivalry started out in a similar way (managers antagonising each other, clubs both competing for promotion).
I'm not saying I want it, I just don't like this attitude of "palace are our rivals you're not allowed to have any sort of banter with any other clubs' fans", or this sense that the rivalry withpalace is some how ordain by god, born from the flames of creation, as old as time. Man Utd have rivalries with city, liverpool, and arsenal. Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea have a three way feud, Liverpool feud with everton and united. Clubs can have more than one rival, they can have more than one pair of spicy fixtures a season. If people want to feud with southampton, why can't they?