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Despite the fact that the top six teams in the Premier League now seem nailed on each season, England’s top flight is actually a more fluid league than fans might think. Since it was inaugurated back in 1992/93, a total of 49 different clubs have played in the Premier League, which obviously means that some who once featured are no longer around.
No offence to fans of these teams, but some sides simply aren’t missed. Does anyone even remember when Swindon Town and Oldham Athletic were Premier League sides? The same can’t be said for a handful of clubs who just seemed to add much more to the top flight when they were there.
Here are five clubs that are no longer in the Premier League – for the time being – but are missed nonetheless.
#1 Aston Villa
Considering the West Midlands is an area which houses England’s ‘Second City’ – Birmingham – the current state of football in the area is pretty sad. Right now the Premier League’s only representatives of the West Midlands are West Bromwich Albion – who look likely to be relegated this season.
Wolves – another West Midlands side – look set to be promoted, but really, the team from the area that everyone misses are Aston Villa. Birmingham’s biggest and most successful club – sorry Birmingham City fans – were a Premier League staple for years until their relegation in 2015/16, and usually, they provided fans with some exciting football and notable players.
Under Martin O’Neill in the late 2000s they even pushed for a Champions League place, although they always seemed to fall short at the last hurdle. And even when relegation began to loom in 2014/15, the club managed to make it to the FA Cup final, going on a memorable run that involved knocking out Liverpool in an entertaining semi-final.
The biggest reason that the Premier League misses the Villa, though? The fact that they’re simply a huge club with a monstrous fanbase and a ton of history. They still hold the 6th highest attendance record in English football history – 76,588 fans packed Villa Park way back in 1946 for an FA Cup tie with Derby County – and they’re one of only 5 English clubs to have won the European Cup – the precursor to the Champions League.
Currently sitting in 4th place in the Championship, if the Villains manage to make it back to the Premier League, the top flight will be much better for their addition.
#2 Blackburn Rovers
It’s never good for a league when a team who once won the highest prize are no longer in the top flight, but for Blackburn Rovers, things are even worse. The team that pipped Manchester United to the 1994/95 league title are not only no longer in the Premier League, but they’re currently in League One following their relegation from the Championship in 2016/17.
So why does the Premier League miss Blackburn? Well, for one, it’s impossible to look back at 1994/95 without using rose-tinted spectacles these days. Long-time fans would recall that some people accused Blackburn of “buying the title” when they purchased Chris Sutton for £5 million in the summer of 1994 – a fee that probably wouldn’t even pay the agent’s fee for a mid-level talent these days.
As it turned out, the buy was the catalyst for Blackburn’s title win, as Sutton formed a potent striking partnership with Alan Shearer and helped them to overhaul United.
Of course, the big difference was that the money to buy Sutton – and other top players like Shearer, Graeme Le Saux and Tim Flowers – came from local businessman Jack Walker rather than an oligarch or an oil-rich investor, which somehow made it feel much better.
Walker passed away in 2000 and the club was eventually sold to Venky’s – an Indian company primarily involved in the chicken industry – but while the sale led Blackburn to slide out of the Premier League, for a time it also made them wildly entertaining – the bizarre stories that leaked out of the club during their latter EPL days under hapless boss Steve Kean were simply hilarious.
Which is why, at the end of the day, Blackburn Rovers are missed in the Premier League. Whether they were succeeding or failing miserably, they were never dull. Hopefully, they’ll make it back at some point.
#3 Leeds United
Fans of certain other Premier League clubs – namely Manchester United – would probably be horrified if ‘Dirty Leeds’ ever made it back into the top flight, but the reality is that they’re a massive club who are sorely missed by neutrals. Hugely successful in the 1970s, Leeds also won the First Division title in the 1991/92 season right before the Premier League began.
That’s not to say they didn’t have EPL success too – while they floated around in the mid-table for the majority of the 199’s, towards the end of the decade a youth movement began to take off at Leeds that could be compared to the happenings at Tottenham today.
Under the guidance of David O’Leary, the likes of Jonathan Woodgate, Rio Ferdinand, Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka rose to fame and took Leeds to the cusp of true greatness – 1999/00 saw them finish 3rd, and in 2000/01 they reached the Champions League semi-finals. But the failure to make the Champions League again put them into financial difficulty and it’s largely been downhill ever since.
They’ve suffered multiple relegations and promotions but have never come close to regaining EPL status, and unfortunately – under Italian owners Massimo Cellino and now Andrea Radrizzani – they’ve become more known for having a crazy amount of managers hired and fired – current boss Paul Heckingbottom is the 9th Leeds boss since Cellino’s takeover in 2014.
Leeds would bring plenty to the Premier League – the re-ignition of their longtime rivalry with Manchester United, huge crowds who have stayed largely loyal despite the issues surrounding the club over the last two decades, and a lot of history too. They’re simply too big a club to not be in the Premier League and thus they’re definitely missed.
#4 Coventry City
Coventry City are hardly English football’s most decorated club – a lone FA Cup triumph in 1987 to their name – and they haven’t been in the Premier League since the 2000/01 season although they were part of the inaugural season. But if any set of fans deserve a return to the Premier League, it’s fans of the Sky Blues, who have suffered like few others over the past few years.
Hedge fund SISU have systematically stripped the club of the majority of its assets – selling any decent players who come through the ranks, losing the rights to the Ricoh Arena to Rugby Union side Wasps thanks to a feud with the local council, and in 2013/14 they even moved the club’s home games to Northampton – miles away from Coventry. Right now the club sit in the bottom tier of English football – League Two.
So why does the Premier League miss them? Well, despite not having much success during their decade in the Premier League, Coventry were always good for an upset – their 1997/98 win over Manchester United and 1999/00 win over Arsenal still appear on highlight reels to this day thanks to the entertaining nature of the games.
In their EPL days they also brought in plenty of fun, exotic players – the likes of Mustapha Hadji and Viorel Moldovan immediately spring to mind for example.
If we’re honest, under the current ownership the main thing Coventry would bring back to the Premier League would be a sense of total chaos – fans simply don’t know what horrors could lie around the corner with SISU at the helm – but if a buyout were to happen, then the club could be considered somewhat of a sleeping giant, with a large, loyal fanbase and one of the better stadiums outside of the Premier League.
In general though, Coventry added an element of fun and a strong identity to the EPL which is why they’re still missed some 17 years on.
#5 Fulham
Despite never having won a major trophy – most recently the closest they came was the UEFA Cup final in 2009/10 that saw them lose to Atletico Madrid – West London side Fulham remain missed by the Premier League as they always added an element of craziness during their 13-season long run in the top flight.
Admittedly, the majority of such craziness was caused by then-owner Mohamed Al-Fayed; some of his most bizarre moments included attempting to sue former manager Jean Tigana for supposedly negotiating transfers in secret and overpaying for players (Al-Fayed lost the case).
He was also involved in erecting a statue of Michael Jackson at home ground Craven Cottage and even bringing the ‘King of Pop’ to a game at one point, and plenty of managerial changes.
Fulham were relegated in 2013/14 following the buyout of the club from Shahid Khan, and haven’t come close to a return since. But if they were to find their way back to the Premier League today they would probably add a lot more than the randomness that they once did a few years ago.
Right now they are playing some of the best football in the Championship under boss Slavisa Jokanovic, and players such as Ryan Sessegnon, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Tom Cairney are amongst the best outside of the Premier League.
Throughout their stay in the Premier League, Fulham almost always provided the fans with entertaining matches and never bored neutrals in the way that sides like Stoke and West Brom have recently. With their current side there’s certainly no reason to suspect that would change if they did return, and so the Cottagers making it back to the Premier League would definitely be welcome.
