[Albion] Why do so many of our fans think we are still a 'small club'?

[Mustafa II]

We're not anymore... and we probably never will be again.

 

[Hamilton]

Are we a big club then?

 

[Hamilton]

I mean, we’re bigger than say AFC Flyde and smaller than Real Madrid.

We could try to narrow it down like that.

 

[jakarta]

Lets compromise - medium sized?

 

[Eeyore]

I think it's better than being a big club plastic.

I still think of us a Division Three club done well. I like to think of us that way. It means we appreciate things more. No sense of entitlement, more pleasure.

Never forget the rock from which you were hewn.

And don't forget, Leicester City fans probably thought that they would never be going back downstairs. Southampton too. And Leeds

 

[Bozza]

Lets compromise - medium sized?

Why? You can go large for an extra 30p.

 

[Silverhatch]

It’d take 10 years of top 4 finishes and a couple of (recognised) pots for us to even register. Or be bought by a state.

 

[Somethingdean]

All it takes is Roberto leaving, one ill-judged managerial appointment, then one more and we could well be in the championship. Unless you're Real Madrid, anything can happen.

 

[griff9]

Many clubs have been a success in the prem and ended up back down the divisions...
We are living the dream now but nothing lasts forever.

Everton, Bolton, Leeds, Burnley and Sheffield United have all been where we are now and aren't now!
And plenty more then that too

 

[Questions]

We were always under achievers back in the old third division days.

 

[South Stand Bonfire]

All it takes is Roberto leaving, one ill-judged managerial appointment, then one more and we could well be in the championship. Unless you're Real Madrid, anything can happen.

100% this although NO ONE is immune from relegation at some point. I mean, look what happened to Sheffield Wednesday.

 

[Dave the OAP]

I think it's better than being a big club plastic.

I still think of us a Division Three club done well. I like to think of us that way. It means we appreciate things more. No sense of entitlement, more pleasure.

Never forget the rock from which you were hewn.

And don't forget, Leicester City fans probably thought that they would never be going back downstairs. Southampton too. And Leeds

And the twats

 

[Algernon]

Never forget the rock from which you were hewn.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

Ah, Leeds syndrome. That’s sweet.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

We're not anymore... and we probably never will be again.

I can't speak for everyone but I've been watching the Albion for about 35 years, and probably two thirds of that has been spent watching crap football in the lower half of the Football League, in front of 2,000 at Gillingham, or 6,000 at Withdean, or 5,000 in the darker days of the Goldstone's history.

You might consider it backward looking to remember that so clearly. Personally I think it ensures some of us will never, ever take our current position for granted.

 

[BadFish]

The whole big club, little club etc thing is utterly meaningless. The argument goes round and round depending on the metric you choose to measure the size of your club by.

It seems to be that most fans choose the metric that best suits their situation to measure their clubs size. So Leeds and Wednesday think they are huge clubs based on their history and Chelsea and City think they are also huge based on more recent achievements.

We are a club doing well at the moment but so we can see ourselves as bigger than we were. However by many metrics we are still a small club.

 

[Mustafa II]

It seems that most people here think that any club outside The Premier League is a 'small club', and that relegation immediately relegates a club to 'small club' status.

No. Wasn't too long ago that all our fans were local and mustering 10,000 people to a big game would be impressive.

Now we have fans all over Sussex and beyond, from Bognor to Hastings, from Tokyo to Quito. We easily now have thousands, probably tens of thousands, of fans all around the globe. We now dominate the county of Sussex - not Man U or Liverpool, anymore.

We ain't going to lose them, even if we are relegated.

It's why the likes of Newcastle, Wolves and West Ham weren't doomed to become a 'small club' following relegation... and exactly why we won't either.

It's extremely hard for a 'small club' to acquire generations of new fans... but once new fans are required, it would take decades of lower league football to lose them.

 

[pocketseagull]

Think the obsession of 'small club' or 'big club' is just an embarrassing aspect of football tbh.

 

[Insel affe]

We were a big club, in the fourth and third divisions back in the day, perineal underachievers trying to get that one spot for promotion from division three south, a medium size club in division two or Championship, we have won nothing yet and for that reason, we will be looked at by certain fans of certain clubs as being in a false position and our day in the sun will end soon.
They maybe right, with Blooms planning we may achieve success in the near future in a major trophy, then maybe just maybe this fan who saw us play away at the likes of Wigan and Carlisle with less than 50 away fans present, may just consider us as an above average side club, but never big.

Big heads come with Big clubs, the joy on folks faces around the ground as we went 4-0 against Tottenham recently was of still disbelief and utter delirium…
That tells me, most of our fans don’t consider us big.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

It seems that most people here think that any club outside The Premier League is a 'small club', and that relegation immediately relegates a club to 'small club' status.

No. Wasn't too long ago that all our fans were local and mustering 10,000 people to a big game would be impressive.

Now we have fans all over Sussex and beyond, from Bognor to Hastings, from Tokyo to Quito. We easily now have thousands, probably tens of thousands, of fans all around the globe. We now dominate the county of Sussex - not Man U or Liverpool, anymore.

We ain't going to lose them, even if we are relegated.

It's why the likes of Newcastle, Wolves and West Ham weren't doomed to become a 'small club' following relegation... and exactly why we won't either.

It's extremely hard for a 'small club' to acquire generations of new fans... but once new fans are required, it will take decades to lose them.

Are you bored ? Watch the darts or something.