Name 5 bigger clubs than us

[Villanation]

Thing is are we talking big or bigness in terms of stadium and earnings, wealthy owners, or achievements, if we are talking success how can anybody possibly leave out Nottingham Forest, you can no more leave out Nottingham Forest than you can Aston Villa,  the obvious is where does the glory sit and on that you can make a credible case for including Arsenal.

For me a good measure of this thread is what any club aim to achieve and what they would consider as the very pinnacle of success and that is to conquer Europe, ask Wenger if he would prefer to win the Premiership or Europe, pretty sure what he would say, on that basis it has to be Man Utd, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest, all conquerors of Europe and major domestic trophies to boot.

[PONGO49]

Nottingham forest have 2 European cups...

[Villanation]

Nottingham forest have 2 European cups...

Exactly.......

[PeterWithesShin]

I base club size on what they've done since football started, rather than a few years of bought success (I think we know who we're talking about!) or even success that was the exception to that clubs general history. That's why I never include a club like Forest in the top echelon of clubs.
So even though we have won very little in modern times, we are still more often than not, at the high end of the league and in with a decent shout to win a cup most years.

[cdbearsfan]

Not many clubs have won this lot...

[Ads]

Ok Top 10 "Biggest" English clubs all things considered:

1. Man U
2. Liverpool
3. Arse
4. Villa
5. Everton
6. Spurs - Haven't won enough titles
7. Chelsea - Let's see how they do when Abramovich gets bored.
8. Man C - 1 FA Cup win in the last 40 odd years doesn't make you massive.
9. Leeds - would be higher 10 years ago
10. Newcastle - size of fanbase only

If it's ambition then teams like Stoke are certainly showing more - they are strengthening season by season whereas we're getting weaker. Stoke will finish above us this season.

He raises a real issue guys.

How the fuck do we stop the mighty Stoke, truely one of the biggest clubs in the land?

[cdbearsfan]

Confuscate their towel and move the advertising hoardings.

Oh sorry, was it rhetorical?

[Ads]

Confuscate their towel and move the advertising hoardings.

Oh sorry, was it rhetorical?

I don't know! All I know is that I've shit my pants at the thought of Stoke and their ambition.

[cdbearsfan]

If you listen very carefully you can hear Pep Guardiola trembling at the prospect of Stoke coming to take over as the pre-eminent force in World football.

Hoof!

[PeterWithesShin]

I can imagine the plastic Chelsea/Manc fans learning the words to Delilah even as we speak, just in case Stoke win the league.

[Ads]

I can imagine the plastic Chelsea/Manc fans learning the words to Delilah even as we speak, just in case Stoke win the league.

Why have you structured the last part of that sentence to suggest that it is not a foregone conclusion that Stoke, and their ambition, will win the league?

[PeterWithesShin]

I can imagine the plastic Chelsea/Manc fans learning the words to Delilah even as we speak, just in case Stoke win the league.

Why have you structured the last part of that sentence to suggest that it is not a foregone conclusion that Stoke, and their ambition, will win the league?

Because i'm trying to remain in denial at how far behind Stoke we are.

[cdbearsfan]

I don't reckon they're ready just yet. Need a bit more height in the side first.

[NeilH]

As painful as it is to say it, you have got to measure the size of a club in terms of visibility and shirts flogged worldwide. Outside of the UK we are virtually unknown and despite our list of honours, we come way down the list of the clubs below for the reasons below:-
1.   Manure – The ultimate moneymaking machine
2.   Liverpool – The achievements of the great teams of the 80’s coupled with the romanticed view of the Kop make them the team to support for the average Malaysian who believes they like football for the all the right reasons.
3.   Chelsea – Money does buy you fans and they’ve created a big enough profile over the years in the Chumps League to justify it
4.   Arsenal and Spurs – Both London team, both have had/have glamorous players playing for them and both are seen as playing wonderful football to the foreign press.
5.   Man City – They are very quickly doing what Chelsea did and have already developed a very healthy following.

The rest – We fall into this category. Most of the Dutch or Germans I speak to (and they are pretty knowledgeable) know us and have a very healthy respect for the club as a great old traditional British club. On the whole they see us only for the tradition, a sort of living museum where football is played. Not a bad thing, but it’s not really the reputation that we want.

[Concrete John]

As painful as it is to say it, you have got to measure the size of a club in terms of visibility and shirts flogged worldwide.

Simply cannot agree with that. 

It's a symptom of the present success a club has and not a measure of it.