Clubs In This League In Size Order

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

Would say Altrincham should be higher. Used to get great gates in the 70s and 80s and used to be above Macclesfield in the non league pyramid regularly!

In fairness Bristol Rovers and Grimsby are in a bracket where they used to bounce between the second and third tiers. So they're very similar to Barnsley, Bristol City, Swindon and Bradford.

Wrexham are in that bracket of clubs that wouldn't look out of place in League One or League Two. If Stockport were in this league I'd say they were similar to Wrexham in this respect.

Chester, Lincoln, Halifax, Torquay and Aldershot are proper League Two clubs that have been replaced by non-league clubs done good and financial dopers like Fl££twood and Crawl£y. Darlington and perhaps Hereford would also have been in this category if they still existed.

Then you have Kidderminster, Macclesfield and Barnet who have had good spells in the Football League but you would genuinely say they're proper Conference clubs along with the likes of For£st Gr££n, Woking, Telford, Southport, Nuneaton, Gateshead, Dover, Altrincham and if they were still in this division Northwich, Ebbsfleet and Barrow and then a plethora of clubs that are now in the Football League like Yeovil, Stevenage, Wycombe and Cheltenham.

 

[B2TF]

Would say Altrincham should be higher. Used to get great gates in the 70s and 80s and used to be above Macclesfield in the non league pyramid regularly!

Can't agree, never made it to the League and never looked like making it since they've had to compete with real football teams, I mean Jesus, even we made it back there, come on.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

Can't agree, never made it to the League and never looked like making it since they've had to compete with real football teams, I mean Jesus, even we made it back there, come on.

They beat us in the FA Cup in the early 1980s and were very bitter a side as shit as we were pre-Dario were constantly scraping the barrel in the Fourth Division whilst their side didn't make the Football League despite winning the Conference. I'd genuinely say they're a Conference side.

Besides you hardly had to compete with anyone anyway given Hereford were financially doomed, Kidderminster and Stevenage had to improve their ground and Cheltenham were only just coming into contention at that time! Don't know how well Rushden were doing around 1998 like but I know Boston and their (some would say fraudulent) dollar weren't in the Conference at that time!

 

[les.gtfc]

How "big" a club is so attendances, history, fanbase etc.

If your going on history then we must surely be the "biggest" club. I'm fairly sure we're the only team down here who have spent a dozen seasons in the top flight and also reached 2 FA Cup Semi-Finals (albeit back in the 1930's) but if you're going on fanbase , average gates etc then Bristol are the biggest club.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

Personally think the best way of gauging it is going from around the time when the Fourth Division was created and the maximum wage was abolished because that allowed clubs like Leeds and Liverpool to rise to the top whereas those historic clubs such as Burnley and Preston never looked capable of competing for major domestic honours again.

 

[Pliny Harris]

Chester, Lincoln, Halifax, Torquay and Aldershot are proper League Two clubs that have been replaced by non-league clubs done good and financial dopers like Fl££twood and Crawl£y. Darlington and perhaps Hereford would also have been in this category if they still existed.

Darlington still exist and so do Hereford essentially, yo. Agreed otherwise.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

Darlington still exist and so do Hereford essentially, yo. Agreed otherwise.

Meant to say if they were still at this level.

 

[Son of Cod]

There's absolutely no way Brizzle can be the biggest, pretty sure they've never even played in a Simod Cup tie.

 

[Pliny Harris]

There's absolutely no way Brizzle can be the biggest, pretty sure they've never even played in a Simod Cup tie.

Sez a lot that we never hear about their West Riding Challenge Cup exploits either.

 

[B2TF]

They beat us in the FA Cup in the early 1980s and were very bitter a side as shit as we were pre-Dario were constantly scraping the barrel in the Fourth Division whilst their side didn't make the Football League despite winning the Conference. I'd genuinely say they're a Conference side.

Besides you hardly had to compete with anyone anyway given Hereford were financially doomed, Kidderminster and Stevenage had to improve their ground and Cheltenham were only just coming into contention at that time! Don't know how well Rushden were doing around 1998 like but I know Boston and their (some would say fraudulent) dollar weren't in the Conference at that time!

Same conditions for Altrincham and they weren't even close. Rushden were riding on Max Griggs millions while we were paying Geoff Horsfield £120 a week. Altrincham have yo-yod between north and premier and have had a few spells down there besides the times they've been relegated but didn't go down, which puts them on a par with clubs like Tamworth. They were big fish when the pond was populated only by the minnows and they liked to pretend they were equal to a League club but they've been shown their true status since the real clubs started turning up here.

 

[Pliny Harris]

Same conditions for Altrincham and they weren't even close. Rushden were riding on Max Griggs millions while we were paying Geoff Horsfield £120 a week. Altrincham have yo-yod between north and premier and have had a few spells down there besides the times they've been relegated but didn't go down, which puts them on a par with clubs like Tamworth. They were big fish when the pond was populated only by the minnows and they liked to pretend they were equal to a League club but they've been shown their true status since the real clubs started turning up here.

And the times we've been bottom of the football league but didn't go down, which puts us on a par with Enfield and Runcorn?

 

[B2TF]

We finished bottom of the League twice and have been relegated both times.

Crewe weren't far behind us either in the re-election stakes back in the day.

 

[B2TF]

As a matter of interest, a Darlington fan I know told me about a letter sent to Kettering Fc by a well known Football League club. He'd met a Kettering official in the course of his job, who told him they'd written to every club in the League asking them to support the Kettering bid for election. This club had written back to say "Thank you for your letter, but we usually vote for Darlington". He went on to say that many of the bigger clubs used to travel up on the East Coast line on their way to play at Newcastle or Sunderland and used to stop off or stay over in Darlington to use their training facilities and there was no way Darlo would ever be voted out. Quite right.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

Haha good old re-election. We were pretty much the most tinpot club in the Football League until before Dario, think we've finished bottom of the Football League a record nine times and faced election on 20+ occasions. The Station always saved us from being voted out every year due to its proximity to the ground and direct trains to all corners of the country pretty much. Obviously thanks to Dario we've grown significantly in size and stature as a club since those dark days.

 

[dan_wrexhamafc]

Rovers are the biggest, I'd say us and Grimsby are on a par with each other maybe us slightly more due to the cup runs in the past and the games like Porto but lets me honest it really doesn't make 1 bit of difference anyway

 

[B2TF]

Grimsby are about twice as big as Wrexham. How many years have Wrexham spent in second or first tier? Games against Porto dont count when only reason you got to play them was because you beat Cardiff or Swansea in Wales' county cup.

 

[dan_wrexhamafc]

Grimsby are about twice as big as Wrexham. How many years have Wrexham spent in second or first tier? Games against Porto dont count when only reason you got to play them was because you beat Cardiff or Swansea in Wales' county cup.

I'm sorry but i don't think this threads for you, what is it 7 years history?

 

[Gladders]

For once he is talking sense though

 

[dan_wrexhamafc]

For once he is talking sense though

Probably is tbh but he needs to remember his club aren't the sensation he believes

 

[B2TF]

3 promotions and 2 play offs in 6 years of history looks pretty sensational to me.

 

[dan_wrexhamafc]

3 promotions and 2 play offs in 6 years of history looks pretty sensational to me.

Didn't Chester get to this level quicker? Only came back 5 years ago so that must mean Chester are better then Halifax?

 

[springerbfc]

There's only one way to settle this argument - which club has won the most Conference championships? Fan base, cup runs, FL history blah blah blah who gives a monkeys.

We can boast two titles plus a solitary Clubcall Cup win. We probably win.

Thanks

 

[les.gtfc]

 

[springerbfc]

1936?! You might want to move on.

 

[Bluandwite]

Didn't Chester get to this level quicker? Only came back 5 years ago so that must mean Chester are better then Halifax?

Took us three years (as quickly as is possible), took Halifax five years. We both came up to this league together.

 

[ShrewdBlue]

I'd say Grimsby are the biggest in this league followed by Bristol Rovers.

 

[rudebwoyben]

Those highlights are even worse quality than our club highlights earlier this season.

 

[Padge]

Its Bristol, Grimsby then Wrexham. Then i have a fairly hard time doling the rest out.

 

[Dan_Macclad]

It's the conference, we are all small time tinpotters.

 

[GTFC1979]

1936?! You might want to move on.

Ok, GTFC 2014 Lincolnshire Cup winners, beat that tinpotters!!