How does Leicester become a 'big club'

[ozleicester]

Success

Big crowds

Internationals who win things

Continued success

Marketing

[4everfox]

As soon as we are not referred to as an underdog we will be a so called big club. If we challenge for the title next season and have a good run in the Champions League then we will overtake Tottenham and turn the big four into the big five.

[Hungry Hungry Fox]

We are a big club now

[Countryfox]

Whatever else we need a bigger stadium right now cus we obviously have more than 32k who want to watch every home match. Strike now while the iron is hot ..... And add prawn sandwiches to the menu in all the concourses.

[Captain...]

Who are the big clubs? There are 3 types of big club those at the top who are challenging for the honours regularly, Arsenal, Man U, Chelsea, City then there are the teams like Liverpool Spurs Everton Villa and Newcastle who have spent the majority of the Premier League era in the top flight challenged for top 4/cups but been unable to sustain, then you have the fallen Giants, Leeds, Sheffield Wednesday with huge grounds and bug fan bases but no success.

This season has flipped things a bit with Newcastle and Villa getting relegated, does that mean there is room for West Ham, Southampton, Stoke, Us to join the big boys? Not, yet we are all seen as overachieving West Ham moving to the Olympic stadium could push them to greater things, Southamptin and Stoke need to build in their relative success or at least sustain it for another 5 years or so and continuing to attract top players without losing any.

For us we aren't a big club, and we haven't won it as a big club, we have won it as a team and by acting like a small club, despite our vast resources we spent modestly in January and nursed our first 11 through every game. If to be a big club you need a squad of superstars and a raft of kids poached at a young age playing in a ginormous soulless stadium then I am happier being who we are and enjoying any success we have.

[FoxinNotts]

Simple. Just look at observe what the supposed big clubs have:

1. Sustained success (or at least always challenging for honours)

2. Large fanbase (this is secondary, and will always follow success. However, there are clubs with large fanbase but have had little sucess, and vice versa Newcastle, Monaco etc).

Number 1 is the key criteria. All other criteria are simply factors in this key element.

[Guest CityFan 06]

Having just completed one of the greatest achievements in English football, I'd say that, has made us a far bigger club due to the scale of the title win. Millions of people around the world now know who Leicester City are.

We're not entirely far off - in terms of some stuff we do, is 'big club' stuff. But, I think a key factor is the size of a city too. For instance Birmingham City are probably classed by some as a bigger club than Leicester because of the size of Birmingham - one of the UK's largest citites. We're in an ideal position to get bigger as a football club though.

I'd say we're level in terms of overall size as Southampton, West Brom and Birmingham (despite their city size)

[what?]

Look at the area in which the club sits. Not only a one club city, but a one club county. You can take that even further - Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire all border Leicestershire and the next biggest club after us in those counties is Peterborough United - and all are within driving distance of Filbert Way.

 

The potential fanbase of Leicester City is therefore pretty huge, around three million people in the catchment area I've mentioned.

 

I'd never considered it like this. That's actually really exciting, even more so with Villa and Norwich going down.

[Countryfox]

Top players quite like playing in BIG stadiums ....

[Voll Blau]

I'd never considered it like this. That's actually really exciting, even more so with Villa and Norwich going down.

 

Not sure myself. First and foremost we should be concerned with making sure every child in Leicestershire grows up supporting City before treading on other clubs' turf.

[deep blue]

Size of the city makes a difference too - historically, bigger clubs are from big cities.

It's why Newcastle are generally regarded as a bigger club than Wolves, and why no one sees Blackburn as a big club despite quite a lot of success in the last 25 years.

In point of fact, Newcastle is an anomaly here. It's population is only 30,000 more than Wolverhampton, and 50,000 less than Leicester. I think what makes it a big(gish) club must be down to the sustained level of it's attendances (which are quite remarkable for it's size), and the closeness of the competition from Sunderland) and it's history (but even that is a long time ago now). Hard to figure out how much media attention it gets.

[Corky]

What's  the obsession with being a big club many on here have little respect for the current big clubs.

 

Fans of big clubs tend to be more arrogant  and quickly forget their history and reside in stadiums with a silent air of expectation,  too much success changes fans

 

 

It's  difficult with the present set up you're either part of a top 4/5 elite, a group hanging on to the shirt tails of the elite desperately trying to make the Europa League and then not really caring about it in case in plunges you down the league to the next group of mid table survivors playing desperate  football in an attempt to avoid the group below. The perennial relegation dodgers.   

 

On the face of it it's  not a very appealing scenario. 

 

I just want to be able to watch entertaining, competitive  football in an awe inspiring atmosphere  for a reasonable price, I'll  take that and where ever it leads us.

 

What makes our title so special for me is that I never expected it. It wasn't even an ambition of mine, it never seemed realistic so I didn't worry about it. Some clubs could win it and it'll be a relief or a "right" because of what they've done before but we had the unexpected joy of winning the league when hardly anybody thought we would.

 

What I hope it doesn't change is the day-to-day following of the club, where you see 3-0 wins as routine and every defeat a crisis. We should still treat every victory as sweet and every big win like 4-0 as a great result no matter who the opposition are. The worst thing we could become is entitled. Let's not think small and conservative but enjoy every moment individually and keep the humour going instead of becoming arrogant. I've loved the Staying Up chants this season.

[Countryfox]

We are a big club now

 

I'd say we are not a big club but a high profile successful one at the moment  ......     the balls in our court as to what happens next but its a great place to be and we are going in the right direction.   Our reputation and infrastructure are superb thanks to the new owners.

[Finnaldo]

Not sure myself. First and foremost we should be concerned with making sure every child in Leicestershire grows up supporting City before treading on other clubs' turf.

This, Leicester and Leicestershire is our 'catchment area'. The very idea of trying to turn young kids in Cambridge, Peterboro and Northampton is disgustingly low in my opinion. Northampton almost went out of business this year, they need the young kids and support to go and watch them to avoid that happening again. Imagine if most the kids supporting Leicester during our relegation/league one seasons had jumped over to Derby because they had been in the Prem and done a big advertising campaign in Leicester? We would have been fuming.

Having a massive support base in England don't matter, hopefully now young kids in the county want to grow up supporting city but we don't need much more than that at home, if success is sustained the international market in China/Thailand/The US will pay off massively. Top and Vichai have always focused their efforts in Leicester and made contributions to the City, the £2 million to Leicester Hospitals the most recent, and that's the way it should be. The club should be looking to build good links with the city and county and should supporters come from outside the County organically that's fine, but I'd rather the club invest in the community than some mammoth advertising crusade in the greater Midlands that'll steal support from smaller clubs that need it.

We should never forget our roots, especially after one massive season. We've shown you don't need to be a big club to succeed. We're Leicester and I wouldn't want it any other way in faux-status-chasing

[leicesterseddon]

In point of fact, Newcastle is an anomaly here. It's population is only 30,000 more than Wolverhampton, and 50,000 less than Leicester. I think what makes it a big(gish) club must be down to the sustained level of it's attendances (which are quite remarkable for it's size), and the closeness of the competition from Sunderland) and it's history (but even that is a long time ago now). Hard to figure out how much media attention it gets.

 

 

Hmm I take your point but I think you're looking just at city/unitary authority population - which only really tells half the story.

 

I agree with you about Newcastle though...would be interesting to see how they do if they stay out of the Premier League for a sustained period of time. They could easily make the transition from 'big club' to 'sleeping giant'.

[Guest Col city fan]

Personally bud I have never got the obsession with this 'big club' bollocks, Leicester City, in some of the darker days, were still mine and our club!

Newcastle, Villa, Leeds, they're big clubs aren't they? Would you swap with them?

I agree mate.

Had an interesting chat with a couple of work mates last week (both big Man City fans) who genuinely claimed they enjoyed following the club more when they weren't 'big'. They ain't daft..they know that success breeds all the razzmatazz etc and that one brings the other but both said when they think back to the old ground and the struggles they had, it feels very different now.

[Webbo]

This, Leicester and Leicestershire is our 'catchment area'. The very idea of trying to turn young kids in Cambridge, Peterboro and Northampton is disgustingly low in my opinion. Northampton almost went out of business this year, they need the young kids and support to go and watch them to avoid that happening again. Imagine if most the kids supporting Leicester during our relegation/league one seasons had jumped over to Derby because they had been in the Prem and done a big advertising campaign in Leicester? We would have been fuming.

Having a massive support base in England don't matter, hopefully now young kids in the county want to grow up supporting city but we don't need much more than that at home, if success is sustained the international market in China/Thailand/The US will pay off massively. Top and Vichai have always focused their efforts in Leicester and made contributions to the City, the £2 million to Leicester Hospitals the most recent, and that's the way it should be. The club should be looking to build good links with the city and county and should supporters come from outside the County organically that's fine, but I'd rather the club invest in the community than some mammoth advertising crusade in the greater Midlands that'll steal support from smaller clubs that need it.

We should never forget our roots, especially after one massive season. We've shown you don't need to be a big club to succeed. We're Leicester and I wouldn't want it any other way in faux-status-chasing

I(f kids in Northampton don't support us it doesn't mean they'll support Northampton, they'll just support Chelsea, Man U or Liverpool instead.

[Guest Bilo]

Not sure myself. First and foremost we should be concerned with making sure every child in Leicestershire grows up supporting City before treading on other clubs' turf.

 

That, of course, needs to be the primary focus. Leicestershire itself is now a pretty fertile ground and we need to prioritise the local area. However, once that field has been sown, there's little wrong in looking further afield. I live in a town where the nearest Football League club, Scunthorpe United, is an hour and a half away. Other than that, it's Boston United half an hour down the road and amateur clubs besides - in terms of turf, almost nobody round here supports a Lincolnshire side. There's no reason at all that we can't build a base in this county.

[Finnaldo]

I(f kids in Northampton don't support us it doesn't mean they'll support Northampton, they'll just support Chelsea, Man U or Liverpool instead.

It doesn't make it any less immoral in my opinion.

[Guest Bilo]

This, Leicester and Leicestershire is our 'catchment area'. The very idea of trying to turn young kids in Cambridge, Peterboro and Northampton is disgustingly low in my opinion. Northampton almost went out of business this year, they need the young kids and support to go and watch them to avoid that happening again. Imagine if most the kids supporting Leicester during our relegation/league one seasons had jumped over to Derby because they had been in the Prem and done a big advertising campaign in Leicester? We would have been fuming.

 

Again, not strictly what I'm advocating.

 

Kids especially want to support successful clubs. Under those circumstances, we wouldn't need an advertising campaign because success advertises itself. The main place we need to be aggressively advertising and building a fan base is, of course, Leicestershire. As a county, it has a population of over half a million people. Half a million people with only one professional, local football club to support - and a successful one at that.

 

Tap into that, and the fan base already makes the club among the biggest in the Midlands and likely puts the club into the top 15-20 clubs in the country. 

[Finnaldo]

Again, not strictly what I'm advocating.

Kids especially want to support successful clubs. Under those circumstances, we wouldn't need an advertising campaign because success advertises itself. The main place we need to be aggressively advertising and building a fan base is, of course, Leicestershire. As a county, it has a population of over half a million people. Half a million people with only one professional, local football club to support - and a successful one at that.

Tap into that, and the fan base already makes the club among the biggest in the Midlands and likely puts the club into the top 15-20 clubs in the country.

Ah ok I understand where you're coming from, fair play in that respect

[Guest Bilo]

Ah ok I understand where you're coming from, fair play in that respect

 

Aye, main thing is to ensure that we are so big in Leicestershire that seeing kids grow up in Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal shirts becomes a thing of the past. Our success this season represents a gigantic opportunity to do that - take the lead and ensure kids in Leicestershire school playgrounds are pretending to be Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy rather than Sergio Aguero and Mesut Ozil. If they support us as kids, they'll grow up supporting us as well and hopefully pass it down to their kids. A few years working on that now could potentially lead to a whole generation of Leicestershire being almost exclusively Leicester City territory - which hasn't been the case before.

[Gerard]

This, Leicester and Leicestershire is our 'catchment area'. The very idea of trying to turn young kids in Cambridge, Peterboro and Northampton is disgustingly low in my opinion. Northampton almost went out of business this year, they need the young kids and support to go and watch them to avoid that happening again. Imagine if most the kids supporting Leicester during our relegation/league one seasons had jumped over to Derby because they had been in the Prem and done a big advertising campaign in Leicester? We would have been fuming.

Having a massive support base in England don't matter, hopefully now young kids in the county want to grow up supporting city but we don't need much more than that at home, if success is sustained the international market in China/Thailand/The US will pay off massively. Top and Vichai have always focused their efforts in Leicester and made contributions to the City, the £2 million to Leicester Hospitals the most recent, and that's the way it should be. The club should be looking to build good links with the city and county and should supporters come from outside the County organically that's fine, but I'd rather the club invest in the community than some mammoth advertising crusade in the greater Midlands that'll steal support from smaller clubs that need it.

We should never forget our roots, especially after one massive season. We've shown you don't need to be a big club to succeed. We're Leicester and I wouldn't want it any other way in faux-status-chasing

 

It's a dog eat dog world my friend.

 

I have no problem infiltrating other club's territory if it's to the prosperity of my own. I'd happily become the club of choice to the East Midlands like Man Utd is to the North West and Villa to the West Midlands.

 

First of all we need sustained success which is why next season is so crucial as not to be a flash in the pan and then we need a much bigger ground. If we can do those two things we're setting a solid foundation to attracting people from outside the Leicestershire borders.

[Vacamion]

When kids in Cornwall, Cumbria and Canada with no connection to Leicester ask their parents for a Leicester City shirt, we will be a big club.

[Fox92]

History, of course, but what's happening currently is important. You can take into consideration which divisions teams have played in too. Teams such as Everton and Villa haven't won much recently but have sustained a top flight status for many many years (of course Villa now have been relegated). I don't get the obsession with Newcastle - yes they've won four top flights and a few domestic trophies but haven't won anything since the 50's or 60's (whenever they last won the FA Cup). 

 

Attendance has to be considered with size of place. I hate people comparing attendances without taking the town's population into consideration. Leeds, yeah ok brilliant support, but it's the fourth or fifth largest City in the Country with only one club. 

 

You're right Wolves have won a lot - and so have so many teams in the football league when you look at Huddersfield, Blackburn, Derby, Forest, Burnley etc - but you've got to look at which tiers they play in most. Wednesday haven't been in the top flight since 2000, and it's even further away for Forest, Huddersfield etc...