The Second Division (aka the Championship)

There’s an interesting article today on one of the football stats groups I subscribe to listing the ten current Premier League or EFL teams who have spent the longest time away from the English second tier (the EFL clubs who have never played at that level were obviously excluded).

The list is as follows:

1915 - Arsenal
1947 - Newport County
1951 - Chesterfield
1954 - Everton
1961 - Lincoln City
1962 - Liverpool
1967 - Northampton Town
1975 - Manchester United
1978 - Mansfield Town
1978 - Tottenham Hotspur

Arsenal finished fifth in the Second Division in 1914/15, but were controversially promoted to an expanded First Division when the Football League resumed in 1919 following the end of the First World War. They’ve been in the top flight ever since.

Newport County were champions of the Third Division (South) in 1938/39, but got to play just three games in the Second Division before the outbreak of World War II. When football resumed in 1946/47, County finished rock bottom of the Second Division and were relegated in what was their only full season at that level. They were replaced by Cardiff City, who were the new Third Division (South) Champions.

In 1977/78, Mansfield Town drew both of their games against Tottenham Hotspur. The teams drew 3-3 at Field Mill and 1-1 at White Hart Lane. Spurs were promoted at the end of the season and Mansfield were relegated. Neither club has played in the second tier since.

The name on the list that surprised me was Northampton Town. For some reason, I thought they’d played in the Second Division for a couple of seasons during my fifty years as a football fan, but apparently that’s cobblers (boom boom!).

Re. Arsenal, when Sunderland were relegated in 1957 it was the 1st time they had been outside the 1st division.

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Originally Posted by A Quiet Monkfish

Re. Arsenal, when Sunderland were relegated in 1957 it was the 1st time they had been outside the 1st division.

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Almost correct - it was 1958 when Sunderland were first relegated. They finished third from bottom in 1957 and just about stayed up. The team that finished second from bottom and went down was - Cardiff City!

When Sunderland did go down in 1957/58 it was due to their inferior goal average. The teams that finished on the same number of points (32) but had better goal averages were Portsmouth and Newcastle United.

Youd think a place the size of Newport could sustain a higher level than they have managed over the years.

it's about a 160k population, wuth a 325k metro area (usual caveat on town/city sizes methodologies)

that's comparable to plenty of the Lancashire teams who are often in that division at least, might not be amongst the bigger places but not the smallest either.

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Originally Posted by Rjk

Youd think a place the size of Newport could sustain a higher level than they have managed over the years.

it's about a 160k population, wuth a 325k metro area (usual caveat on town/city sizes methodologies)

that's comparable to plenty of the Lancashire teams who are often in that division at least, might not be amongst the bigger places but not the smallest either.

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There are currently just two Lancashire clubs in the Championship. Both of them famous old clubs and among the founders of the Fottball League. Preston and Blackburn. I should imagine that traditionally, many citizens of Newport and its surrounding area would have follwed Cardiff with Newport as a second club. Plenty of City fans had second clubs back in the '80s.

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Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

The name on the list that surprised me was Northampton Town. For some reason, I thought they’d played in the Second Division for a couple of seasons during my fifty years as a football fan, but apparently that’s cobblers (boom boom!).

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Funnily enough that’s exactly what I thought as I read your post.

I had this (clearly mistaken) belief they had one of those epic rise/fall situations which included being in the second division.

How bizarre.

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Originally Posted by NYCBlue

There are currently just two Lancashire clubs in the Championship. Both of them famous old clubs and among the founders of the Fottball League. Preston and Blackburn. I should imagine that traditionally, many citizens of Newport and its surrounding area would have follwed Cardiff with Newport as a second club. Plenty of City fans had second clubs back in the '80s.

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I can see both sides here. Bear in mind the clubs that have had at least one season in the second tier during the last 20 years alone include Burton, Colchester, Crewe, Scunny, Wycombe and Yeovil. They're not big clubs by anyone's standards. But Newport has just never had the feel of a club that should be anything other than a fourth-tier club during my lifetime. Even when they did have a few seasons in the third tier during the Eighties they seemed out of place.

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Originally Posted by Crisp White Lines

Funnily enough that’s exactly what I thought as I read your post.

I had this (clearly mistaken) belief they had one of those epic rise/fall situations which included being in the second division.

How bizarre.

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I thought they'd got to the second level at some point during the Nineties, but it turns out they finished 4th in the third tier in 1997/98 and were beaten by Grimsby in the play-off final. That was as close as they came to getting promoted I think.

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Originally Posted by Crisp White Lines

Funnily enough that’s exactly what I thought as I read your post.

I had this (clearly mistaken) belief they had one of those epic rise/fall situations which included being in the second division.

How bizarre.

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They did have an epic rise/fall situation under Welsh manager Dave Bowen. Their 1967 visit to division two was their second in three seasons with a first division relegation in between.

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Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

I can see both sides here. Bear in mind the clubs that have had at least one season in the second tier during the last 20 years alone include Burton, Colchester, Crewe, Scunny, Wycombe and Yeovil. They're not big clubs by anyone's standards. But Newport has just never had the feel of a club that should be anything other than a fourth-tier club during my lifetime. Even when they did have a few seasons in the third tier during the Eighties they seemed out of place.

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This is a good thread.I always thought that Newport was actually more of a rugby town and this AI chat confirms what I initially suspected , the Rugby has attracted fairly large crowds.

Overview
Newport RFC : 1950/51 Season Summary – NEWPORT RFC
Newport RFC has a rich history of high attendances, with notable matches including a club record 27,000 for a game against Cardiff in 1951 and a capacity crowd of nearly 11,000 for a Heineken Cup match against Bath in 2000. The club was once Wales' best-supported and the British Rugby's fourth-best, with an average of 8,302 supporters in the 2002–03 season, though attendances have declined since the regionalisation of Welsh rugby and the 2017 sale of the club's ground, Rodney Parade, to the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU).

What a bleak existence for Northampton fans. At least Mansfield, Lincoln, Newport and Chesterfield have had the thrill of mini revivals. Particularly the first 3 of those 4.

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Originally Posted by Der Kaiser

What a bleak existence for Northampton fans. At least Mansfield, Lincoln, Newport and Chesterfield have had the thrill of mini revivals. Particularly the first 3 of those 4.

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Spare a thought for Rochdale fans - never been out of 3rd/4th tier.

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Originally Posted by bobh

Spare a thought for Rochdale fans - never been out of 3rd/4th tier.

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That might be news to their fans when they are watching them at Brackley Town tomorrow