Clubs to never grace a certain league

[Vale on Trent]

Chesterfield - started in the Midland league
Plymouth - started in Southern League
Southend - started in the Southern league
Walsall - founder members of Division 2 but relegated to Midland league in 1895
Crewe - founder members Division 2 - relegated 1896 to non-league.

Port Vale however could join the list, Division 2 founder members but resigned in 1907, did they play in non-league, or just not play - because Port Vale took over Leeds City's fixtures in Division 2 in 1919 after they were disbanded.

We have never played in non league

 

[THE TERRACEMAN]

Burton once had 2 football league clubs at the same time in the 1890's !

 

[Football Purist]

We're 81 seasons now without making it to the top division of English football!

Yeh but you only joined the Football League in 1960.

 

[Football Purist]

Burton once had 2 football league clubs at the same time in the 1890's !

And they both quickly went for a Burton.

 

[Football Purist]

We have never played in non league

Yet.

 

[Football Purist]

Mate, it's a wind up

It ain't.

 

[DH84]

Looking at this - Everton are the champions of the top flight, Barnsley rule the Championship, Bournemouth stagnate in League 1 and Rochdale have spent the longest in League 2.

Having another look, some other things also surprise me. Palace have only spent 16 years in the top flight and Bradford have spent 23 years in the bottom tier - 9 more than Oxford, 8 more than Notts County and 7 more than Carlisle.

 

[Football Purist]

Burnley had never been lower than div2 until 1980.
Blacpool never lower than div2 until 1978.
Norwich had never played in the top-flight until '72.
Southampton had never played in the top div until late sixties.

 

[Super_horns]

We didn't play in the top flight till 1982.

 

[Kim Mitten]

We have never played in non league

What was happening at Port Vale FC for 12 years? I take it they were a going concern otherwise they surely wouldn't have taken up Leeds City's fixtures. It's an even odder situation than Rotherham being set up and just offered a league place without even playing a game.

 

[The Paranoid Pineapple]

Wiki suggests they were knocking around some regional leagues - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Port_Vale_F.C._seasons

This article also has some info about the wilderness years - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Port_Vale_F.C.#1907.E2.80.931919:_Years_in_the_wilderness

 

[Reaper]

We weren't just offered a league status out of nothing, we had 2 teams in Rotherham up until the mid 20's, Rotherham Town and Rotherham County, Town was playing in the midland league while County was in the 3rd division north but it came to a point where having 2 professional clubs in the same town was not sustainable so they merged has Rotherham United and started in the division 3 north where Rotherham County was before they merged.

 

[Kim Mitten]

Wiki suggests they were knocking around some regional leagues - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Port_Vale_F.C._seasons

This article also has some info about the wilderness years - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Port_Vale_F.C.#1907.E2.80.931919:_Years_in_the_wilderness

well according to that Port Vale have been a non-league team. The original going bust in 1909 and Cobridge Church changing their name to Port Vale and buying their old ground then playing in the North Staffordshire & District League and the Central League before stepping into Leeds City's shoes.

Thanks for the clarity about Rotherham Reaper, I'm not counting the franchise, so Rotherham United are looking like the only team to have never graced the top league division or been out of the league.

 

[CFC2010]

Nah. Accrington, Crawley and Hartlepool aswell. Walsall were also included but reached the JPT final last year.

We've never been to Wembley, either as City or FC.

 

[THE TERRACEMAN]

We have never been higher than league one !

 

[Jockney]

We haven't been in the fourth tier for fifty years, which you'd otherwise find at least a little bit improbable given the number of clubs within a ten mile radius of us.

 

[Football Purist]

We haven't been in the fourth tier for fifty years, which you'd otherwise find at least a little bit improbable given the number of clubs within a ten mile radius of us.

What the f**k's geography gotta do with it?

 

[Football Purist]

We've never been to Wembley, either as City or FC.

You came close in '75.
When you gonna move back to Chester,or even England,by the way?

 

[Jockney]

What the f**k's geography gotta do with it?

Um, because the foundations for success are generally tied to levels of support? We currently have to compete with five Premier League clubs, two of which finished in the top 4 last season, all within a ten mile radius of us.

 

[Jockney]

But you're not a little town-you're the tenth largest city in England so the proximity of the other clubs shouldn't be a problem for you but maybe a problem for them.

Eh?

 

[Football Purist]

Oh you must be 'wall.
Thing is though you still have a huge part of Sarf Landan to draw from so there's enough people to go round.

 

[Jockney]

Oh you must be 'wall.
Thing is though you still have a huge part of Sarf Landan to draw from so there's enough people to go round.

You could theoretically say the same about Crewe and Cheshire but then these things have always been more about influence than crowdshare. Why support Millwall casually if you can support Chelsea or Arsenal casually? Floating support is a big deal and while ours is actually pretty good for a club of our size and reputation we still suffer from quite a bit from the influence of other clubs. Think realistically we should be like an Orient or a pre-Benham Brentford but somehow have managed to occupy a space between those sort of clubs and your Charltons, Palaces, etc. Only five years in Div 4 ain't bad a for a club that has had average gates as low as 4,000 and only ever as high as 15,000 for the past forty years.

 

[Football Purist]

You could theoretically say the same about Crewe and Cheshire but then these things have always been more about influence than crowdshare. Why support Millwall casually if you can support Chelsea or Arsenal casually? Floating support is a big deal and while ours is actually pretty good for a club of our size and reputation we still suffer from quite a bit from the influence of other clubs. Think realistically we should be like an Orient or a pre-Benham Brentford but somehow have managed to occupy a space between those sort of clubs and your Charltons, Palaces, etc. Only five years in Div 4 ain't bad a for a club that has had average gates as low as 4,000 and only ever as high as 15,000 for the past forty years.

You still have a huge population right on your doorstep.
Your gates aren't bad in this league but they're a bit disappointing in the league above.
Charlton manage to maintain healthy home crowds despite poor form.
Surely someone from Sarf Landan who supports a team over the river is a wanker,yes?

 

[Football Purist]

We've never been to Wembley, either as City or FC.

Why not book a guided tour?
Or ask a Crewe fan?
We've been four times.(Won three).

 

[Fandemonium]

Yeah we did the non-league thing early in our history.

Hey, it comes with being the fourth oldest football league club >brushes nails on shirt<.

And here's a local myth/story: within a win of promotion to the top tier in the post-war years the Tairn squad celebrated too soon, getting bladdered leading up to a game they thought they'd win.

What happened next sees us featuring on threads like this.

 

[bantamigo]

Having another look, some other things also surprise me. Palace have only spent 16 years in the top flight and Bradford have spent 23 years in the bottom tier - 9 more than Oxford, 8 more than Notts County and 7 more than Carlisle.

We probably have one of the most equal spreads of time spent in each division of any side. Looking at that link earlier in the thread only Bury have a noticeably more equal spread.

 

[bantamigo]

What was happening at Port Vale FC for 12 years? I take it they were a going concern otherwise they surely wouldn't have taken up Leeds City's fixtures. It's an even odder situation than Rotherham being set up and just offered a league place without even playing a game.

Also this happened at City. Manningham rugby league club started playing football as Bradford City and were immediately gifted a league place because the Football League wanted to make inroads into what was a rugby dominated area. Thus we have never been a non-league club although it's nearly happened a few times.