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#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.
