Fridge wrote: ↑Thu Nov 26, 2020 7:01 pm
Forest. Won two European cups but that was 40 years ago. Out of the PL for 22 years.
Average attendance < 30,000
I honestly have not met that many Forest fans in my time. They certainly have a reasonable fan base but would estimate we have more.
A reasonable point. Certainly won’t argue with the logic. I would see them as a historical club, certainly not a big club in the modern game.
Hyperbole.
My mind has not changed. Again, previous statement was hyperbolic.
In my heart? Of course.
In a true sense in terms of the modern game? No, not really.
Again it’s like you say, it all depends how you define ‘big club’
I’d say we have a bigger fan base than Forest, get better attendances, have had more recent success and are more exciting to neutral fans.
So no, I would not say we are a massive club at the moment, certainly not in terms of success. I think we have been in the past and I think our stock has massively increased in the last couple of seasons.
Difference is, I think our rightful place is in the Premier League, whereas I’m not sure Forest’s is. Of course I am biased though.
(I do think that Forest are probably one of the bigger clubs in the Championship right now, but they are just that, Championship)
Most of us will be biased in Leeds favour, to a greater or lesser extent, when it comes to most footie points of view/arguments.
I guess my point was that I wouldn't call Forest, or Sheff Wed (or even Derby), small or very small or small clubs. A small/very small club IMO would be a Yeovil or Cheltenham (with no disrespect intended to them) - that's just the level they are.
I have no love (or particular dislike to be honest) for Forest or Sheff Wed but taking the Leeds spectacles off you have to acknowledge what Forest in particular won (albeit I recognise that was 40+yrs ago now). Crikey, even Sheff Wed have won more Div1 titles than us (going back even further, way back) and probably more domestic cups over the years.
A successful Leeds team should get big crowds as Leeds, after all is the biggest one team city in England. I would guess that our average home attendances have only been above 30k for the last 3 seasons and go back to the beginning of the last decade and I'd bet our average attendances were low 20k's - not unlike a Forest or Sheff Wed when not doing so well.
I think the real advantage we have (over many clubs, not just the likes of a Forest/Sheff Wed/Derby, but also many clubs in the PL) is the potential to get better and bigger. However, to a large extent that comes down to money. You don't have to go back too many years and the likes of Chelsea and Man City were nowhere clubs, but look where ££££ has got them today, with their feet well under the 'Top 6' table.
We are a big club and have the potential to get bigger and stronger but at the moment are miles from the likes of Liverpool/Man Utd/Man City/Spurs.......and even further off the continental giants like Juve/Real Madrid/Bayern/Barcelona.
It's an interesting one to ponder as to whether you have a "rightful" place in the PL - do you again consider the size of your support (home and away), size/quality/capacity of the ground, history, previous trophies etc etc...For example I'm sure fans of clubs like Sunderland or even a Portsmouth would argue they are bigger clubs than say Brighton, but they currently languish in Div1. Ultimately, no one has the divine right to be in the PL. You are normally where you deserve to be. The problem is when the board room/off field activities and mismanagement impact the playing side, drag the whole club down on a spiral of decline, as we know only too well.
But onwards and upwards Fridge
