Clubs in this league in Size Order

[Ciderup]

Missed this earlier

Got me hook, line and sinker Wolfie.

 

[TomPNE94]

Steady on mate it wasn't like they broke any domestic transfer records....

Exactly

"In 1986, at the invitation of the then chairman Bill Fox, Jack Walker, then a vice president at the club, donated the funds for a new stand at the dilapidated Ewood Park. The WalkerSteel (now known as the Riverside) Stand was built.[7] It is also thought that his money was used to pay for the acquisition and wages of Ossie Ardiles and Steve Archibald in the 1987-88 season.[5]

He took full control of the club in January 1991, having backed the club on a regular basis for five years previously, and within the first three years he spent £25 million on new players, twice breaking the British record for the most expensive transfer of a football player, signing Alan Shearer from Southampton for £3.3million in 1992 and Chris Sutton from Norwich for £5million in 1994.

In the early stages of his ownership of Blackburn, he also tried to bring England internationals Geoff Thomas and Gary Lineker to the club, but bids for both players failed.

The Ewood Park ground was reconstructed at a cost of more than £20 million to give it a capacity of just over 30,000, with a new Jack Walker Stand providing a lasting tribute.

When he bought Blackburn, the 1990-91 season was half completed and they were just above the relegation zone."

The prosecution rests, your honour.

 

[M Dogg]

Blackburn are surely the biggest club out of our current Lancashire contingent aren't they?

Bolton, Preston and Burnley fans are just fronting yeah?

They won a Premier League title!!!!

 

[Walkley_Owl]

Throughout history clubs have bought titles but Blackburns was the first one I properly remember....

 

[Gerry Gow]

Pre War Burnley and Preston were probably the bigger clubs in Lancashire and post War you'd have to say Bolton and Blackburn have taken over slightly.

I think that's a fair reflection, from afar in the South West I think clubs in the Lancashire area are all similar sized but Blackburn slightly edging it. A Premier League title helps

 

[HertsWolf]

Exactly

"In 1986, at the invitation of the then chairman Bill Fox, Jack Walker, then a vice president at the club, donated the funds for a new stand at the dilapidated Ewood Park. The WalkerSteel (now known as the Riverside) Stand was built.[7] It is also thought that his money was used to pay for the acquisition and wages of Ossie Ardiles and Steve Archibald in the 1987-88 season.[5]

He took full control of the club in January 1991, having backed the club on a regular basis for five years previously, and within the first three years he spent £25 million on new players, twice breaking the British record for the most expensive transfer of a football player, signing Alan Shearer from Southampton for £3.3million in 1992 and Chris Sutton from Norwich for £5million in 1994.

In the early stages of his ownership of Blackburn, he also tried to bring England internationals Geoff Thomas and Gary Lineker to the club, but bids for both players failed.

The Ewood Park ground was reconstructed at a cost of more than £20 million to give it a capacity of just over 30,000, with a new Jack Walker Stand providing a lasting tribute.

When he bought Blackburn, the 1990-91 season was half completed and they were just above the relegation zone."

The prosecution rests, your honour.

At Wolves, our ground and modest success (Championship title, League 1 title) was achieved not with money but the blood and sweat of metalworkers, miners and candlestick makers. We expect players to come and play for us not for money, nor Bentleys nor free Two Together Railcards and sordid, nasty bus passes. No. We expect players to lick the stands clean after home games and spend much of the week knelt on the ground naked to be used as a bike rack for the directors.

We don't have advertising on our shirts nor around the ground, nor do we have any commercial sponsors: ours is a charitable institution, a gift to the nation, like Spitfires, Marmite and nickel-plated souvenir toenail cutters from Sheffield.

We survive on bread and water, and our first team busks on Saturday mornings outside Dunelm. And brass band music playing on windswept streets of houses with outside toilets and a man in an allotment proudly bearing his parsnips for Mrs Hutchinson and her cat.

For football is about England. Like crumpets and scones. And road-kill badgers and men with moustaches picketing the Saltley coke-works.

Given how much is expended by legions of British, Russian, Thai, Emirati, Saudi, American owners, I'd say Congratulations to Blackburn on how to effectively spend money on constructing a decent ground and building a winning team. Money, as often as not, buys ignominious failure, as Newcastle, Sunderland, QPR, Cardiff, Wigan, Orient and others prove every season. Give a football manager tens of millions of pounds and he is as likely to buy crud as decent footballers.

 

[Millerbri]

I don't really get this animosity against Blackburn TBH, I seem to remember cheering them to the title at Man Utd's expense.
Don't most clubs have success because they have the biggest budgets in their respective leagues.
Let's face it we would all love a money man to come into our club's and win us a title.
Maybe people should read this before bleating on.
http://www.theguardian.com/football...23/blackburn-premier-league-title-earned-1995

 

[Muzzle]

Pre War Burnley and Preston were probably the bigger clubs in Lancashire and post War you'd have to say Bolton and Blackburn have taken over slightly.

I think that's a fair reflection, from afar in the South West I think clubs in the Lancashire area are all similar sized but Blackburn slightly edging it. A Premier League title helps

Not even close, Bolton and Blackburn has always been the bigger clubs, and between the two or us, it is fairly close

 

[TomPNE94]

Not even close, Bolton and Blackburn has always been the bigger clubs, and between the two or us, it is fairly close

Always? Really? I mean I know I'm clutching at straws but we were definitely bigger than both at one point.

 

[SF_]

Not even close, Bolton and Blackburn has always been the bigger clubs, and between the two or us, it is fairly close

Any size difference is marginal, we're all pretty average-sized clubs at best and have all enjoyed success/ been competitive in the top flight in different eras.

This season we're all probably bottom half Championship teams who will all get similar gates, except Burnley who should be going for top 6. Bolton and Blackburn's crowds have plummeted since relegation from the Premier League and current gates are a fair reflection on their core fan base. Although Blackburn could see another sharp drop if they stop the cheap season tickets.

 

[WhiteRussian]

I don't get this 'buying a tile' either. All the top clubs buy their title. Look at Man City and Chelsea. United too, although the argument there is that they are self financing while the others rely on a sugar daddy.

Bournemouth in the Championship. Bristol City in div one. It's all about money and who you can buy. Yes there have been some spectacular implosions as per QPR but without money you aren't going to consistently be at the top.

 

[Scrumpy]

I don't get this 'buying a tile' either. All the top clubs buy their title. Look at Man City and Chelsea. United too, although the argument there is that they are self financing while the others rely on a sugar daddy.

Bournemouth in the Championship. Bristol City in div one. It's all about money and who you can buy. Yes there have been some spectacular implosions as per QPR but without money you aren't going to consistently be at the top.

I hope you're not saying we 'bought' the title'?! Or tile for that matter

Our signings:
Luke Ayling - OOC, free.
Korey Smith - undisclosed (nominal) fee.
Mark Little - OOC, free.
Luke Freeman - undisclosed (nominal (thought to be £100k)) fee.
Aaron Wilbraham - OOC, free.
Wade Elliott - OOC, free.
Kieran Agard - Undisclosed (thought to be £750k) fee.

Yes, we had more money to spend, but we didn't actually 'push the boat out' and 'go crazy'. Many were frees or nominal transfer fees. The only one we paid some real dosh for was Kieran Agard. Our transfers were pretty much on par, if not under, the amount of dosh we got for selling Sam Baldock. Around £2M I think.

The main reasons for such a successful is by having a well balanced, hard working and tight nit squad of about 19/20 players. Group morale was also a biggie.

As for The Championship, I'd say we are now a bottom/mid size club at most and will have to spend a bit to compete and push on for (in an ideal world) a top half finish.

I'd personally be happy if we managed anywhere above 18th with a nice cushion from the drop. Though I do believe we've got enough momentum and 'feel good' to do well this up-coming season.

Would we have done so well if we didn't get a decent amount for Baldock? Probably not. So thanks Sam.

I think that as a club, you need to invest wisely, more so now with financial fair play. In League One, we also had more of a draw to bring in and interest the quality we obtained, money was something we gained to capitalize on that matter!

 

[TomPNE94]

No way was Freeman only 100K. Most of L1 were after him last summer.

 

[JJH]

He wasn't at all.

Freeman was rumoured to be around 700k, and Korey Smith was part of a swap deal with Liam Kelly, with us putting 100k or so it.

But - we still made net profit. We sold Baldock for quote Steve Cotterill 'Closer to Two Million than One Million' so either way we made a healthy profit.

 

[Scrumpy]

Thought I read somewhere from the club, that Freeman was like £100/150k?!

Might have been wrong though.

And don't think Stevenage reaped in too much for him as they didn't offer much in the market in terms of additional funds.

 

[TomPNE94]

Thought I read somewhere from the club, that Freeman was like £100/150k?!

I had a quick look before and all I could find quoted was "an undisclosed 6 figure fee"

He was out of contract until Stevenage triggered a 12 month extension, so it's very unlikely they would then sell for 100k

 

[Gerry Gow]

I thought I read somewhere that Freeman was near 500K?

 

[Scrumpy]

Nearer £500k would make more sense though!

 

[JJH]

Either way, he's probably worth 5x more to us now thank what we got him for. SC said more contract extensions to come, I hope to god it's Freeman.

 

[HertsWolf]

I hope you're not saying we 'bought' the title'?! Or tile for that matter

Our signings:
Luke Ayling - OOC, free.
Korey Smith - undisclosed (nominal) fee.
Mark Little - OOC, free.
Luke Freeman - undisclosed (nominal (thought to be £100k)) fee.
Aaron Wilbraham - OOC, free.
Wade Elliott - OOC, free.
Kieran Agard - Undisclosed (thought to be £750k) fee.

Yes, we had more money to spend, but we didn't actually 'push the boat out' and 'go crazy'. Many were frees or nominal transfer fees. The only one we paid some real dosh for was Kieran Agard. Our transfers were pretty much on par, if not under, the amount of dosh we got for selling Sam Baldock. Around £2M I think.

The main reasons for such a successful is by having a well balanced, hard working and tight nit squad of about 19/20 players. Group morale was also a biggie.

As for The Championship, I'd say we are now a bottom/mid size club at most and will have to spend a bit to compete and push on for (in an ideal world) a top half finish.

I'd personally be happy if we managed anywhere above 18th with a nice cushion from the drop. Though I do believe we've got enough momentum and 'feel good' to do well this up-coming season.

Would we have done so well if we didn't get a decent amount for Baldock? Probably not. So thanks Sam.

I think that as a club, you need to invest wisely, more so now with financial fair play. In League One, we also had more of a draw to bring in and interest the quality we obtained, money was something we gained to capitalize on that matter!

I don't disagree with what your **basically** saying, but purchase fee is simply compensation for breach of contract. A lot of money goes on the weekly payments to the player. 'Buying' success is normal and almost inevitable. You pay the best salaries at a level, you are going to get the best players, manager, coaches.....

 

[Muzzle]

Always? Really? I mean I know I'm clutching at straws but we were definitely bigger than both at one point.

Not sure about that....but on another note, looking forward to our visit to Deepdale. Fixtures out tomorrow so will be looking at them with interest

 

[SF_]

Fixtures against Blackburn and Bolton have been few and far between since i've supported North End so i'm looking forward to them this season.

Always look forward to our games against Burnley too.

 

[WhiteRussian]

I don't disagree with what your **basically** saying, but purchase fee is simply compensation for breach of contract. A lot of money goes on the weekly payments to the player. 'Buying' success is normal and almost inevitable. You pay the best salaries at a level, you are going to get the best players, manager, coaches.....

This is what I meant. Nigh on every team buys the title. Look at the forth coming year - favorites are the teams with the biggest budget, best players. It goes hand in hand.

 

[Bobbin']

I think the point is that Blackburn were the first example of a club who were bankrolled to the title who otherwise would be nowhere near challenging for the title.

Propelled from mediocrity to champions purely because of the size of Jack Walker's wallet rather than on field success.

 

[Walkley_Owl]

I think the point is that Blackburn were the first example of a club who were bankrolled to the title who otherwise would be nowhere near challenging for the title.

Propelled from mediocrity to champions purely because of the size of Jack Walker's wallet rather than on field success.

Again, well put.

They were the first in my memory, paving the way for Man Utd to splash £7m on Cole, for the Chelsea and Man City attempts to buy titles.

 

[WhiteRussian]

Again, well put.

They were the first in my memory, paving the way for Man Utd to splash £7m on Cole, for the Chelsea and Man City attempts to buy titles.

But using that criteria, bank rolled by a rich benefactor, you can't include Man Utd.

 

[Walkley_Owl]

But using that criteria, bank rolled by a rich benefactor, you can't include Man Utd.

I never said United were, they did however have to break the transfer record to keep up, hence signing Andy Cole

 

[JJH]

 

[WhiteRussian]

I never said United were, they did however have to break the transfer record to keep up, hence signing Andy Cole

So they bought the title, which is my point that just about every team buys the title, not just the Blackburns of this world.

 

[Walkley_Owl]

So they bought the title, which is my point that just about every team buys the title, not just the Blackburns of this world.

Not in the way Blackburn, Chelsea and City did, they build a squad over a large period of time, it took Fergie 7 years...... the house that Jack built was a much shorter and financially different kettle of fish.