If (and its a big 'if') we win the league, will it be the biggest feat in English Football History?

[weller54]

Stuart Pearce was on TalkSport the other day and said along the lines of 'if Leister win the leauge, it would blow what Forest did out the water...'. I think that says what we need to know.

Leister (Piggott)?

[Chester Dontlie]

I guess it just shows how much this amazing rise of LCFC means for true football fans, when virtually all over the world people are discussing Leicester and "what if" in similar way as you Colchester lads are

[baldeagle]

Nah IF we won it we still wouldn't get recognised and they make a film about the demise of the big clubs and how they threw it away

[Brown Fox]

Not ever. Brian Clough turned an average second division Nottingham Forest team and turned them into the best team in Europe. And then retained the European Cup/Champions League too. That's very hard to beat.

But in terms of the Premier League era, then yes it'd be up there. I think Arsenal going a whole 38 game season unbeaten would be better than our achievement but I think our achievement would be better than Blackburn winning it. I mean, it was a great achievement by Blackburn, but they did spend a lot of money when you think back to the likes of Sutton, Sherwood and Shearer.

Can't agree about the arsenal invincibles being better than us winning the prem. Arsenal had a world class team and spent freely, and of course it was a great achievement but they had a great set of players. We on the other hand were in the championship 2 years ago almost relegated last year before our miraculous escape and have the 4th smallest budget in the league.

Us winning the league would be unthinkable. A team with the players arsenal had back then going unbeaten for the season would not have been unthinkable before it happened, it's no where near the achievement it would be if we won the league in this era.

[Webbo]

It would certainly be the biggest achievement in world football this year and I think it would be the greatest achievement in PL history

[Guest Col city fan]

I guess it just shows how much this amazing rise of LCFC means for true football fans, when virtually all over the world people are discussing Leicester and "what if" in similar way as you Colchester lads are

Christ! Is that your contribution to the discussion and are you 3?

Try harder please!

[Guest ttfn]

Even qualifying for the Champions League would be the greatest achievement in Premier League history.

Winning the league would be the greatest of all time in this country. We were 2,000-5,000/1 in places to win it at the start of the season - no way were the Ipswich team of the 60s or Forest team of the 70s as long a shot as that.

[TeamRocket]

Well my father in law has said if lcfc win or finish top 4 am gonna have to give him a feast better start cooking now

[AYLESBURY FOX 1961]

You cant compare denmark or greece squeezing through their groups - they were defensive with 10 men behind the ball and got 1-0 jammy victories. I can honestly say that the ONLY game this season I have thought we messed up was home to Arsenal and even then when Vardy scored that second i was half dreaming of a miracle.

[Guest ttfn]

Actually come to think of it even a top 6 finish would be comparable with the greatest feats in "Premier League history" for what that's worth.

I'd put it up there with newly promoted Ipswich finishing 5th and Norwich finishing 3rd.

We live in an age where perennial 5th/6th/7th sides like Spurs, Everton and Liverpool all have £20m + players (in Spurs and Liverpool's case several of them and in Liverpool's case several not even in the starting XI).

Breaking the top 6 15 years ago was much easier than it has been of late, exemplified by the fact that nobody outside of Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Everton, Man United and Spurs has done it since O'Neill left Villa 5 years ago. We were dead and buried last year.

[Fox92]

Can't agree about the arsenal invincibles being better than us winning the prem. Arsenal had a world class team and spent freely, and of course it was a great achievement but they had a great set of players. We on the other hand were in the championship 2 years ago almost relegated last year before our miraculous escape and have the 4th smallest budget in the league.

Us winning the league would be unthinkable. A team with the players arsenal had back then going unbeaten for the season would not have been unthinkable before it happened, it's no where near the achievement it would be if we won the league in this era.

 

They went 49 games (was it 49 or 50?) unbeaten. That's phenomenal, especially in the top flight. 

 

They had a great set of players Wenger built, and they didn't exactly cost loads.  .... Veira cost £3.5million, Bergkamp cost £7.5million, Toure cost 150k, Pires cost £6million.... Not like we're talking about a team of 11 £20million players, is it?

[Samilktray]

Has this kind of thing happened elsewhere in the modern era? Montpellier won Ligue 1 a few years back, not sure if that was quite as amazing

[Foxxed]

Premier league history, yes.

English league history, no. Leave that to Forest's European success.

But, jesus, it wasn't too many months ago I was painfully calculating how many points we needed for safety.

[MC Prussian]

Was having a conversation in the pub last night about the amazing, meteoric rise of LCFC.

The 'miracle' of course, started last season, where this time last year, we looked like playing the likes of Preston and Charlton again this season, not Man Utd and Arsenal.

We then got onto the subject of winning the league this term and generally agreed this would be the biggest feat in English Football History. Based upon where we WERE, to do this would be nothing short of miraculous and even better than when Forest, for example, won the European Cup.

We considered this was primarily down to money. Didn't Forest beat Malmo in one of the cups, and of course, Malmo nowadays are nowhere near the final of the Champions League. These days, money talks even more than it did back then, with the likes of Chelsea, Utd, City, Arsenal usually expected to win the Prem and Barce, Bayern, Juve, Real etc usually considered to be the big players in Europe.

 

Anyway, discuss.....

 

Not trying to piss into your cornflakes, Col...

 

... but Malmö FF have featured twice in the Champions League group stage this and last season and have appeared twice in the UEFA Europa League in the past five years - they have generated more money through their European adventures than Forest can ever dream of.

[Guest Bilo]

Has this kind of thing happened elsewhere in the modern era? Montpellier won Ligue 1 a few years back, not sure if that was quite as amazing

 

FC Twente winning the Eredivisie under McClaren was a big achievement as well. I'd say us winning the PL would rank above those though, as the Dutch and French leagues (at least pre PSG dominance) were arguably a lot more open than the PL. Let's not forget that only five teams have won the PL since 1992.

[Bob Weasel Fox]

Yes Col just simply yes

This season has just been amazing and I would still be happy wherever we finish

But . . . If we were to win the whole damn thing (unlikely I know) I would keel over and die of a heart attack

What a ****ing way to go!!!! Yeeeeha

[Guest Bilo]

Imagine the SCENES in the away end at Stamford Bridge as Mahrez slams in a last minute winner at the Shed End to secure the title.

 

It's good to dream!

[st albans fox]

They went 49 games (was it 49 or 50?) unbeaten. That's phenomenal, especially in the top flight.

They had a great set of players Wenger built, and they didn't exactly cost loads. .... Veira cost £3.5million, Bergkamp cost £7.5million, Toure cost 150k, Pires cost £6million.... Not like we're talking about a team of 11 £20million players, is it?

You can't compare prices then and now

7.5 mill for bergkamp is like spending 25 mill now

Was toure around then?

They were a team who had won the double not long before. They were serial league winners at that time.

Us winning the prem would be a bigger achievement but sadly, I dont expect it to become a question needing a reply. Not unless the board have a rabbit to pull out of a hat before the end of jan.

[Rincewind]

Didn't Blackburn  win the title the season after they came up?

[m4DD0gg]

Of course it would we were in championship 2 years ago and in an era of the big spenders win things this would be the absolute pinacle.

 

Arsenal that went un beaten would love to see how much there team cost adjusted for inflation.

Forest winning euro cup at a time when english teams dominated europe due to the shite opposition. 

Didn't Blackburn  win the title the season after they came up?

 

Yeh after spending the equivalent of todays man city.

[Guest Bilo]

Didn't Blackburn  win the title the season after they came up?

 

No, they came up in 1992 after beating us in the play-off final. (Fvcking Speedie diving!)

 

They won the league in their third season, but finished fourth in 1992-1993 and runners up the next season. If we won the division, it'd be unprecedented progress in PL history at least.

[Dan]

I don't have a good enough knowledge of footballing history to say for sure, but it's got to be right up there, I'd say it would surpass Forest's league win but it wouldn't surpass their European triumph - not that we won't win the CL at a canter anyway.

[Strokes]

Well my father in law has said if lcfc win or finish top 4 am gonna have to give him a feast better start cooking now

Sounds a bit gay mate, I'd watch your back.

[Webbo]

In some ways it was easier to win the European cup in those days. Admittedly you had to actually win the league to enter but it was a KO competition. The best team in Spain could knock out the best team in Germany and then be knocked out by the best team in Portugal. With a decent draw you only had to win 5 or 6 ties (possibly on away goals after 2 draws) to make the final.

 

That's not to denigrate Forest's achievement, it was magnificent but the CL is far more weighted in the big teams favour than it use to be.

[Guest Bilo]

In some ways it was easier to win the European cup in those days. Admittedly you had to actually win the league to enter but it was a KO competition. The best team in Spain could knock out the best team in Germany and then be knocked out by the best team in Portugal. With a decent draw you only had to win 5 or 6 ties (possibly on away goals after 2 draws) to make the final.

 

That's not to denigrate Forest's achievement, it was magnificent but the CL is far more weighted in the big teams favour than it use to be.

 

If you look at the record in the 1970s and 1980s, it was dominated by English teams.

 

1977 - Liverpool

1978 - Liverpool

1979 - Forest

1980 - Forest

1981 - Liverpool

1982 - Aston Villa

1983 - Hamburg

1984 - Liverpool

1985 - Juventus

 

In fact, some have argued this was part of the reason why English teams were banned post Heysel - UEFA had been worried about the level of English dominance for years and its impact on the competition. Basically; if you won the league, the European Cup was almost yours to lose regardless of club size. It's a lot, lot more weighted to the big names of Europe now.