How does Leicester become a 'big club'

[Izzy]

14 minutes ago, Webbo said:

Does the internet mean we can afford Aguero?

[Guest Mickyblueeyes]

1 hour ago, Webbo said:

We'll never be a big club, we'll always be 1 season from relegation.

 

Wolves won the league 3 times in the 50s, Ipswich won it in the 60s, Derby twice in the 70s, Forest once as well. None of those clubs are big clubs now. Unless you can pay the top wages and have the glamour to attract top players it's never going to happen.

Ok, but Man City were nothing special not that long ago. They had United to compete with and flirted between the three divisions. Yes, they had a substantial investment but we are not asking the club to kick in and be a top. Four mega club. 

 

With the investment we've had why can't we be a top 6-9 club? We can surely compete with Everton, Southampton etc? 

 

All of of the top four elite started somewhere. 

 

We are currently living a self fulfilling prophecy.

[lcfcben76]

3 hours ago, Spudulike said:

Consistant in which years or era ??

 

What history do Newcastle have, say, in the past half a century ??

In all fairness, yes Newcastle haven't had a great amount of trophies but have always been a good club with huge fan base which makes them a big club imo

 

would class most teams with 40k+ stadium that sells out most weeks a "big club"

[MC Prussian]

I don't see the need of us becoming a "big" club, I'd rather we strived to be known as a "great" club.

 

By that I mean a club that is well-respected within the community, a club that interacts with and rewards its true fans on a regular basis (there were signs of that last season, for instance - and by rewards, I don't necessarily mean trophies, but a social approach).

A club that operates on the basis of a mid- to long-term strategy, a club with a decent youth academy to be proud of, a club who thrives on being the "underdog", where fighting spirit is not just a hollow phrase; a club that manages to buy young talent or talent for relatively little money, being able to sell it for a profit later on; an eco-friendly club, a club that operates organically.

 

After last season's success, we had it all laid out for us. But I do acknowledge that such a wish list is all fine and dandy - you need willpower, patience, consistency, an exceptional and long-lasting team work and work ethic to get there, plus skilled employees on many, if not all levels. For all these pieces to come together, a miracle would be required. But we could at least strive to improve some or the majority of these areas or at least take it step by step.

 

Right now, it's all eroding and that at an alarming pace.

[LJS]

2 hours ago, MC Prussian said:

I don't see the need of us becoming a "big" club, I'd rather we strived to be known as a "great" club.

 

By that I mean a club that is well-respected within the community, a club that interacts with and rewards its true fans on a regular basis (there were signs of that last season, for instance - and by rewards, I don't necessarily mean trophies, but a social approach).

A club that operates on the basis of a mid- to long-term strategy, a club with a decent youth academy to be proud of, a club who thrives on being the "underdog", where fighting spirit is not just a hollow phrase; a club that manages to buy young talent or talent for relatively little money, being able to sell it for a profit later on; an eco-friendly club, a club that operates organically.

 

After last season's success, we had it all laid out for us. But I do acknowledge that such a wish list is all fine and dandy - you need willpower, patience, consistency, an exceptional and long-lasting team work and work ethic to get there, plus skilled employees on many, if not all levels. For all these pieces to come together, a miracle would be required. But we could at least strive to improve some or the majority of these areas or at least take it step by step.

 

Right now, it's all eroding and that at an alarming pace.

Brilliant post. I agree completely. I don't see football clubs as businesses in the conventional sense, but rather an extension of the community with an aim

to serve and represent it. Social enterprises, I guess.

 

I'd much rather is be fan-owned. That's not a criticism of our current owners. They've been great. It just isn't my preferred model.

[Guest Lako42]

On ‎14‎/‎05‎/‎2016 at 21:54, UpTheLeagueFox said:

Does it actually matter though if we're a big club or even perceived as a big club? I quite like being an underdog.

This

 

I don't give a shit about being a big club, hence supporting Leicester, my local team.

[Koke]

13 hours ago, Webbo said:

We'll never be a big club, we'll always be 1 season from relegation.

 

Wolves won the league 3 times in the 50s, Ipswich won it in the 60s, Derby twice in the 70s, Forest once as well. None of those clubs are big clubs now. Unless you can pay the top wages and have the glamour to attract top players it's never going to happen.

 

Very true. 

 

Huddersfield Town won 3 league titles in a row in the 1920s but they've never been a big club. Leicester City are bigger than Huddersfield.

 

We will always be 1 season and 2 bad transfer windows away from relegation. So will Stoke and WBA and Southampton. All clubs below 7th are one or two bad seasons away from going down. 

[Koke]

6 hours ago, MC Prussian said:

I don't see the need of us becoming a "big" club, I'd rather we strived to be known as a "great" club.

 

By that I mean a club that is well-respected within the community, a club that interacts with and rewards its true fans on a regular basis (there were signs of that last season, for instance - and by rewards, I don't necessarily mean trophies, but a social approach).

A club that operates on the basis of a mid- to long-term strategy, a club with a decent youth academy to be proud of, a club who thrives on being the "underdog", where fighting spirit is not just a hollow phrase; a club that manages to buy young talent or talent for relatively little money, being able to sell it for a profit later on; an eco-friendly club, a club that operates organically.

 

After last season's success, we had it all laid out for us. But I do acknowledge that such a wish list is all fine and dandy - you need willpower, patience, consistency, an exceptional and long-lasting team work and work ethic to get there, plus skilled employees on many, if not all levels. For all these pieces to come together, a miracle would be required. But we could at least strive to improve some or the majority of these areas or at least take it step by step.

 

Right now, it's all eroding and that at an alarming pace.

 

Southampton Football Club.

[Livid]

46 minutes ago, Koke said:

 

Southampton Football Club.

Aside from last season, Southampton are what we should aspire to be.

 

The days of the last century when clubs like, Portsmouth, Wolves, Huddersfield, Burnley dominated for a few years are long gone.

 

The creation of the Premier League created a glass ceiling which is effectively reinforced every year, there's five or six clubs with their glorious pre PL histories, massive overseas revenue streams etc looking down at the rest of us. Unless we find someone willing to take a massive financial sledgehammer and smash our way through, like Chelsea and Man City, we're never going to join them.

 

We are about as big as we're going to get.

[Number 6]

Also don't get the desire to be a big club. I don't support Leicester because they're good, it's never been about being good for me. The away days, numerous pints, the odd giant killing, last minute headers against Leeds...that's what's always been fun. Don't let us become a team who is disappointed in finishing 5th, where's the fun in that?

 

Happy to continue on this brilliant roller coaster. 

[Wymsey]

20 hours ago, Webbo said:

We'll never be a big club, we'll always be 1 season from relegation.

 

Wolves won the league 3 times in the 50s, Ipswich won it in the 60s, Derby twice in the 70s, Forest once as well. None of those clubs are big clubs now. Unless you can pay the top wages and have the glamour to attract top players it's never going to happen.

Yes, but if we continue to progress in the CL against more decent teams now, surely our success (yes, if) could make the club more appealing to talented players that want an opportunity in the Premier League?

[UniFox21]

With the amount of money the likes of Man U, City, Chelsea and such are pumping into their teams, we'll never be able to compete with them, but I'm fine with that. As said, i'd rather be a team like Southampton, that have a soul and an actual feasible long term goal, without the need of a foreign investor pumping billions in. The amount of people I know who are United or Chelsea fans and have never even seen their team play, at least with Leicester, we don't have fake fans that appear and just disappear the minute we go through struggles. Too much investment on the pitch and you lose that connection with the team, and thats one thing that makes Leicester fairly special in the Prem. 

As much as i respect the proper Manchester fans, their biggest problem was not winning a title for a few years, can they really relate to being bottom of the league for 3/4 of the season and still managing to stay up?

 

And are you really a football fan unless you've been sat on a coach for hours on end travelling to the likes of Barnsley away to be hammered 3-0 and be up to do it all again the next week??

[ARM1968]

It's rocket science - we'll need W V Braun