Tag Archives: Arsenal

The 1890s: 1898-99 Attendances

The series of features on the 1890s continues today with a simple look at the average attendances of league clubs. I’m publishing the statistics here for season 1898-99 when Manchester City was a Second Division club – but look where they are in the attendance table! These figures are estimated based on newspaper reports of the period but are widely accepted as a good indication of support enjoyed at each club.

Glossop North End 1898

In the following table every team is in Division One unless (2) appears after their name. This indicates they were a Second Division club that season. Where two teams have the same average then these have been listed in alphabetic order.

1897-9 Average Attendances

AverageTeam
20675Aston Villa
18150Newcastle
14525Everton
13975Liverpool
12300Sunderland
10675Notts County
10000Manchester City (2)
9850Sheff Utd
9400Blackburn Rovers
8875Sheff Wed
8850Nottm Forest
8025Stoke
7775Newton Heath (2)
7550Wolves
7450Leicester Fosse (2)
7325Bolton
7225Derby
6125Burnley
6025Preston
5775Small Heath (2)
5200WBA
4600Burslem Port Vale (2)
4525Bury
4475Woolwich Arsenal (2)
3350New Brighton Tower (2)
3325Grimsby (2)
3000Lincoln (2)
2875Walsall (2)
2775Luton (2)
2750Glossop (2)
2400Barnsley (2)
2375Burton Swifts (2)
2275Gainsborough Trinity (2)
1900Loughborough (2)
1500Blackpool (2)
900Darwen (2)

This series of features covers the final years of Ardwick, the birth of Manchester City and the Club’s first national success. Why not subscribe and read every feature? Here’s a link to the story of the 1898-99 season:

The 1890s: 1898-1899 Manchester’s First National Success

Here’s an 1800 article below on Manchester City in the final months of 1899:

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The 1890s: 1897-98 Attendances

The series of features on the 1890s continues today with a simple look at the average attendances of league clubs. I’m publishing the statistics here for season 1897-98 when Manchester City was a Second Division club. These figures are estimated based on newspaper reports of the period but are widely accepted as a good indication of support enjoyed at each club.

From 9 May 1898 the first Manchester football programme was a mock up based on Everton Liverpool programme

In the following table every team is in Division One unless (2) appears after their name. This indicates they were a Second Division club that season. Where two teams have the same average then these have been listed in alphabetic order.

1897-9 Average Attendances

AverageTeam
17550Everton
15325Aston Villa
12125Liverpool
11800Sheff Utd
11600Newcastle (2)
10925Sunderland
9475Sheff Wed
9050Derby
8600Notts County
8300Bolton
8050Blackburn Rovers
8000Manchester City (2)
7875Woolwich Arsenal (2)
7425Nottm Forest
6950WBA
6925Wolves
6825Stoke
6200Preston
6125Newton Heath (2)
5900Leicester Fosse (2)
5400Small Heath (2)
5200Bury
3825Burnley (2)
3525Grimsby (2)
3325Luton (2)
2950Lincoln (2)
2825Walsall (2)
2600Darwen (2)
2300Burton Swifts (2)
2250Gainsborough Trinity (2) (2)
2050Loughborough (2)
1825Blackpool (2)

This series of features covers the final years of Ardwick, the birth of Manchester City and the Club’s first national success. Why not subscribe and read every feature? Here’s a link to the story of the 1897-98 season:

The 1890s: 1897-1898  Buxton and Stockport

Here’s an 1800 article below on Manchester City in the final months of 1899:

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The 1890s: 1896-97 Attendances

The series of features on the 1890s continues today with a simple look at the average attendances of league clubs. I’m publishing the statistics here for season 1896-97 when Manchester City was a Second Division club. These figures are estimated based on newspaper reports of the period but are widely accepted as a good indication of support enjoyed at each club.

In the following table every team is in Division One unless (2) appears after their name. This indicates they were a Second Division club that season. Where two teams have the same average then these have been listed in alphabetic order.

1896-97 Average Attendances

AverageTeam
15525Everton
12925Aston Villa
11675Liverpool
8575Bolton
8300Derby
8200Sheff Utd
8075Newcastle (2)
8000Manchester City (2)
7300Sheff Wed
6775Blackburn
6725Preston
6425Wolves
6275Woolwich Arsenal (2)
6200Newton Heath (2)
6150Bury
6000Leicester Fosse (2)
5825Small Heath
5550WBA
5525Sunderland
5425Stoke
5300Leicester Fosse (2)
5175Burnley
5125Nottm Forest
4850Notts County (2)
4800Grimsby (2)
4500Small Heath (2)
3325Gainsborough Trinity (2)
2950Blackpool (2)
2875Walsall (2)
2650Burton Wanderers (2)
1500Darwen (2)
2325Burton Swifts (2)
2075Loughborough (2)
1675Lincoln (2)

This series of features covers the final years of Ardwick, the birth of Manchester City and the Club’s first national success. Why not subscribe and read every feature? Here’s a link to the story of the 1896-97 season:

The 1890s: 1896-1897 Gillespie Arrives  

Here’s an 1800 article below on Manchester City in the final months of 1899:

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The 1890s: 1895-96 Attendances

The series of features on the 1890s continues today with a simple look at the average attendances of league clubs. I’m publishing the statistics here for season 1895-96 when Manchester City was a Second Division club. These figures are estimated based on newspaper reports of the period but are widely accepted as a good indication of support enjoyed at each club.

In the following table every team is in Division One unless (2) appears after their name. This indicates they were a Second Division club that season. Where two teams have the same average then these have been listed in alphabetic order.

Notice how Second Division Manchester City had a better average attendance than all clubs apart from the First Division’s third placed club Everton and League champions Aston Villa.

1895-96 Average Attendances

AverageTeam
16000Everton
11875Aston Villa
10000Manchester City (2)
9725Bolton
8700Sheff Wednesday
8375Derby
7600Blackburn Rovers
7250Sheff Utd
7200Newcastle (2)
6975Woolwich Arsenal (2)
6825Preston
6600Stoke
6275Wolves
6100Sunderland
6000Bury
6000Leicester Fosse (2)
5825Small Heath
5600WBA
5575Liverpool (2)
5575Nottm Forest
5500Newton Heath (2)
5475Burnley
3500Grimsby (2)
3125Notts County (2)
2775Darwen (2)
2725Crewe (2)
2625Burton Swifts (2)
2475Burton Wanderers (2)
2400Lincoln (2)
2075Loughborough (2)
1775Rotherham Town (2)
1725Burslem Port Vale (2)

This series of features covers the final years of Ardwick, the birth of Manchester City and the Club’s first national success. Why not subscribe and read every feature? Here’s a link to the story of the 1895-96 season:

The 1890s: 1895-1896 Test Match Special

Here’s an 1800 article below on Manchester City in the final months of 1899:

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The 1890s: 1894-95 Attendances

The series of features on the 1890s continues today with a simple look at the average attendances of league clubs. I’m publishing the statistics here for season 1894-95 when Manchester City was established under that name. These figures are estimated based on newspaper reports of the period but are widely accepted as a good indication of support enjoyed at each club.

In the following table every team is in Division One unless (2) appears after their name. This indicates they were a Second Division club that season. Where two teams have the same average then these have been listed in alphabetic order.

1894-95 Average Attendances

AverageTeam
16225Everton
10925Liverpool
8900Aston Villa
8750Sheff Wednesday
8325Sunderland
8150Bolton
7900Blackburn Rovers
7675Sheff Utd
6400Woolwich Arsenal (2)
6200Burnley
6200Small Heath
6175WBA
6150Preston
6000Manchester City (2)
6000Newton Heath (2)
5525Nottm Forest
5500Leicester Fosse (2)
5300Wolves
4350Derby
4250Notts County (2)
3925Darwen (2)
3925Newcastle (2)
3900Bury (2)
3550Stoke
3325Grimsby (2)
2750Burton Swifts (2)
2525Lincoln (2)
2350Burton Wanderers (2)
2100Rotherham Town (2)
2075Walsall Town Swifts (2)
1825Burslem Port Vale (2)
1725Crewe (2)

This series of features covers the final years of Ardwick, the birth of Manchester City and the Club’s first national success. Why not subscribe and read every feature? Here’s a link to the story of the 1894-95 season:

The 1890s: 1894-1895 Parlby’s City

Here’s an 1800 article below on Manchester City in the final months of 1899:

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The 1890s: Where Was Your Club In 1899?

The series of features on the 1890s continues today with a simple look at the last League tables for the 1800s. These were published after the final games of December 1899 and cover the Football League First Division and the Second Division. See if you can spot your club.

Notice the Division One table includes Bury and Manchester City from present day Greater Manchester, with near neighbours Glossop also in there (at the time the smallest town ever to have had a top flight team). Glossop were funded by Samuel Hill-Wood who eventually turned his attentions to Arsenal (they’re in the Second Division in these tables).

The last Division One table for the 1800s. This was published after the final games of December 1899.

The Second Division included Bolton and Newton Heath (MUFC) from present day Greater Manchester. Arsenal appear below New Brighton Tower.

The last Division Two table for the 1800s. This was published after the final games of December 1899.

This series of features covers the final years of Ardwick, the birth of Manchester City and the Club’s first national success. Why not subscribe and read every feature like this 1800 article below on Manchester City in the final months of 1899?

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European Span of Success 2024

Each year, following the end of the UEFA football season I update the UEFA European Span of Success table. What is this? It’s a list of those clubs who have won two or more major UEFA tournaments showing the span between their first UEFA success and their most recent. The list may surprise some who think that football is all about those perceived as European giants with ‘history’.

The table hasn’t really changed much from last year as Real Madrid were Champions League winners. Atalanta, who won the Europa League, and Olympiacos (Conference winners) have only won one major European trophy and so they do not yet make it on to the list of multiple winners:

European Span of success 2024

The ‘history’ ‘no history’ thing really irritates me. All clubs have history and even when that’s recognised some still go on about history as if it started in 1992, 1999 or 2008 etc. depending on whether your club was successful or your rivals were failing. The two highest placed English teams are West Ham and Manchester City, who both found major European success before some of those clubs recognised today as Europe’s elite.

Obviously, this table does not show the number of major trophies won, but it does give an indication of trophy winning longevity for those who obsess on ‘my cup’s bigger than yours’ and similar debates. Personally, I think we should all be proud of our club’s achievements and not worry about what a rival has won.

West Ham have the second longest span of all Europe’s clubs and City have the fourth equal. Nice work Hammers and Blues!

The above table includes the four major UEFA tournaments: European Cup/Champions League; European Cup Winner’s Cup; UEFA Cup/Europa League & the Europa Conference League. It does not include non-UEFA tournaments such as the Mitropa Cup and Fairs Cup. Nor does it include the Intertoto Cup or similar.

I’m sure some will say but why aren’t the Mitropa or Fairs Cups in there? It’s a good point but these were not UEFA tournaments, though I recognise that the Mitropa Cup had some significant clubs competing in it. It was predominantly an East European competition and participants were not spread over the entire continent.

With the Fairs Cup… It is true that this was later transformed into the UEFA Cup and I have included all UEFA Cup finals in my analysis. But the Fairs Cup had an odd series of entry rules at times. Cities, rather than clubs, often entered with Barcelona beating London in one final for example. It was set up as a friendly type of competition with cities that had staged trade fairs playing each other. As time wore on entry came via the League Cup or League position in England, which added significance to it. But two teams from the same city were not allowed to participate, which meant that teams finishing way down the table could be (and were) included if those above them were multiple clubs from the same city.

In 1970 Manchester City’s Mike Doyle joked that by winning the League Cup he was satisfying his aim of ‘keeping United out of Europe’ (he joked about creating car stickers with that slogan!) because it appeared at that time that United’s only chance of Europe had gone with City’s qualification for the Fairs Cup.

1970 ECWC

City went on to win the ECWC that season, meaning that Fairs Cup place was opened up to League position, but United had finished lower down the table anyway and qualified for the Watney Cup instead. Actually, the Watney Cup is one worth talking about, but I’ll save that for another day. In 1970 Fourth placed Derby County qualified for the Watney Cup, while 5th to 7th (Liverpool, Coventry and Newcastle) all got a Fairs Cup place, alongside 12th placed Arsenal (Fairs Cup winners). I’ve not investigated this fully but it does seem odd that the Watney Cup took precedence over the Fairs Cup.

Arsenal’s 1970 Fairs Cup success was their first European trophy but is not included in the span, neither are those Fairs Cup wins of Barcelona. However, as quite a few Arsenal fans seemed to get a bit upset when the table was posted last year I’ve decided to include the Fairs Cup in the following version of the table. So this table is the winners of the main UEFA competitions I mentioned earlier plus the Fairs Cup with its odd rules:

European Span of success 2024 including Fairs Cup

Hopefully, those Arsenal fans who were somewhat upset last year will now be happy. Note that West Ham have now been overtaken by Roma and that Barcelona are now above Manchester City, Bayern & Atletico Madrid. Both ‘Rome’ and ‘Barcelona’ won the Fairs Cup when it was city based and not club based.

Arsenal are now 18th in this combined table, behind their fellow English clubs West Ham, City, Chelsea, United and Liverpool.

As an example of the odd qualification rules in place for the Fairs Cup at times it’s worth looking at the 1969 qualification via the English League system.

In 1969 champions Leeds entered the European Cup. The ECWC place went to FA Cup winners Manchester City and the Fairs Cup places went to: Arsenal (4th), Southampton (7th) and Newcastle (9th). Swindon had won the League Cup, beating Arsenal in the final, but the Fairs Cup organisers wouldn’t allow them to participate as they were not a top flight club! This adds to the reason the competition is usually excluded. It is certainly not a UEFA competition in any case.

Similarly, Everton (3rd), Chelsea (5th), Spurs (6th) and West Ham (8th) who all finished above Newcastle were denied because of the rule that only one club from each city be allowed. So Liverpool and Arsenal’s inclusion meant their rivals stood less chance of winning the trophy than Newcastle simply because there were multiple clubs in their cities.

That rule does make me wonder what would have happened if both Manchester clubs had qualified for the competition as City are within the city of Manchester boundaries and United are not. Would the two clubs have challenged any decision not to include one of them based on the age old argument of Manchester’s boundaries?

Maybe I’ll post more on the odd rules of football competitions and tell the story of some of those long forgotten competitions.

If you’re interested in the wider span of success for English clubs (listing those who have the longest span between their first trophy and most recent, not simply European trophies) then take a look at this (Manchester City are second):

The Span of Success: Updated for 2024

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The Span of Success: Updated for 2024

As usual, once the domestic season ends I update the table showing the English clubs’ span of success – i.e. the number of years between a club’s first major success (FA Cup, League, League Cup, European trophy) and their most recent. There’s actually not much difference between last year’s final table and this:

Okay, the span of success does not show how many trophies each club has won or how frequently that club has experienced great eras of success, but it does demonstrate how wrong those people are who believe certain clubs were unsuccessful until recent years, or those who think certain clubs have always been giants. The column on first major success helps to show when some clubs first became trophy-winning significant (often after transformational investment too!).

There’s not much difference between 2023 and 2024 – numbers have changed but not positions. In 2023 West Ham proved that if you’re a club that hasn’t won a major trophy for a while putting your focus on achieving trophy success ahead of the odd Premier League position can bring significant reward. In future decades no one will remember who finished seventh, tenth or fifteenth but they will remember the trophies. Here’s last year’s table for comparison purposes:

I know clubs focus on their financials but winning a trophy has longevity, gaining the odd Premier League place provides a bit of extra cash now but no long term kudos. Winning a trophy attracts new fans and brings money-spinning opportunities too.

If I was a supporter of any of the major clubs who have not found significant success in recent decades then I would absolutely want my team to go for whichever cup competition seems the most likely to win. That’s what I always wanted from City before they were able to compete for the League again. Winning the FA Cup in 2011 helped everything that followed happen – it gave confidence and a trophy winning mentality.

While you’re here why not take a look at the wide range of articles available on this site? Such as last summer’s 100 day series of features on Maine Road:

Maine Road 100 – Day 10
Maine Road 100 – Day 3
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Four-in-a-Row: An Incredible Achievement

I’ve left it a few days to let it all sink in but ‘wow!’ What an achievement for Manchester City! Never in the near 140 years of League football has any club achieved such a remarkable feat of four successive titles. This record, like the domestic treble, will last for an eternity with future generations aware of how brilliant these players and this manager was.

So for today’s piece I thought I’d look back at the successive titles record and see how that has developed. This demonstrates what a truly remarkable achievement this has been, but it also adds to the debate about whether teams have dominated particular eras or not. We’re often told that City’s era of dominance is new and no team has ever done this before – well no team has ever won 4 consecutive titles that’s for certain – but we’re also told that other clubs, Liverpool, Arsenal and United for example, have had greater periods of dominance (though that’s acceptable and City’s is not – that’s odd in itself!). It seems your view depends on which team you support. For neutrals and those prepared to explore the facts, the following can help with all of this assessment.

Record 2 in a row progression

Preston won the first two League titles in 1888-89 and 1889-90 (and were runners up in the three seasons that followed).

Sunderland equalled the record in 1891-92 and 1892-93 (and were runners up in 1893-94 6 points behind Villa) before winning it again in 1894-95

Aston Villa matched the 2-in-a-row twice in 1895-96 & 1896-97 and 1898-99 & 1899-1900. They actually won 5 out of 7.

Wednesday were next winning 2-in-a-row 1902-03 & 1903-04 (pipping FA Cup winners City to the title).

Liverpool were next with successes in 1921-22 & 1922-23

After Liverpool’s 2-in-a-row came a new record:

Record 3 in a row progression

Huddersfield Town were the first to win three successive title. Their successes came between 1923 and 1926 BUT they also were runners-up in 1926-27 & 1927-28 (missing it by 2 points).

Arsenal achieved the feat of 3-in-a-row between 1932 and 1935. The gunners had won the title in 1931 and were runners up in 1932 (missing it by only 2 points – 1 win), so came close to five.

Liverpool matched the 3-in-row between 1981 and 1984 but they’d come close to 5-in-a-row between 1975 and 1980 when they won the League in 1976, 1977, 1979 and 1980 and were second in 1978. In total Liverpool won 7 out of 9 between 1975 and 1983 (8 out of 11 too).

Manchester United were the next to achieve 3-in-a-row between 1998 and 2001. They had also won 7 out of 9 (1992 to 2001) and 8 out of 11. The years they managed 7 out of 9 saw them finish as runners up in the other two seasons, missing it by only 1 point in both 1994-95 and 1997-98. Rightly, this was heralded as a remarkable achievement.

Manchester United matched their own 3-in-a-row with another between 2006 and 2009. They also finished as either champions or runners up in the following four seasons. This meant that between 1992 and 2009 United had won 11 out of 17 titles and finished second in a further three.

Record 4 in a row setting

Manchester City are the only team to win 4-in-a-row English League titles. This remarkable feat has been achieved with title successes in 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24. City also won consecutive League titles in 2018 and 2019 and were runners up in 2020. This means City have won 6 out of 7 Premier Leagues.

There have been a lot of people out there claiming that this year’s League title was a ‘foregone conclusion’ and that it was ‘boring’. As I pointed out last week that all depends on whether things become boring once your own team are unable to challenge, but for many neutrals it’s about title races going to the final day or ones that are close.

Did you know that only 10 of the Premier League’s 32 seasons have finished with 3 points or less separating the top two teams? In exactly 50% of those seasons Manchester City were the champions – more than any other club! Also, if you’re the kind of person who believes City are the ‘only’ team to challenge and that it’s a foregone conclusion then it may surprise you to learn that 62.5% of ALL City’s Premier League titles have been won by 2 points or less! That’s not even a victory – how close do you want it? How much less of a foregone conclusion works for you?

As a comparison only 15% of Manchester United’s Premier League titles have been won by 3 points or less! I know Liverpool have only won one title since the Premier League was created (yes, and many, many more before that of course!) which means that 100% of LFC’s Premier Leagues have been won by 18 points (that was a foregone conclusion and boring if we believe that the earlier the competition is won the more boring it is!).

If you enjoy all the free material on my website and would like to support my research and keep this website going (but don’t want to subscribe) then why not make a one-time donation (or buy me a coffee). All support for my research is valued and welcome. It allows me to keep some free material available for all. Thanks.

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League Dominance – Gap Between Top and Bottom

Following on from my piece the other day about League domination where I challenged a few myths that have developed about Premier League domination. It continues to be said that the Premier League is not as competitive as in the past and that teams at the bottom have no chance. This is of course concerning and there are definitely issues between the haves and have nots in football but is this a recent phenomenon? Is this caused by one club in particular?

Each season there are often one or two clubs who have an extremely low points total and, to be frank, I’m not certain whether the champions (whoever they are and whenever they succeed) can be blamed for the results of games not involving them.

Surely, even if City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, United etc. win the League every season by a record amount of points the results between all other 19 clubs have zero to do with that club’s dominance?  If you’re a supporter of a relegated club can you honestly say that you’d stand a chance of winning the League if City or another team did not exist?  You’d need possibly the top ten to disappear before it had a major impact on your chance of League success (I’m not saying that’s acceptable – I’m just stating that it can never be the fault of one club).

Those finishing second may blame the dominant club but surely not anyone outside of those challenging. Blame all the elite maybe. These things never happen over night and because one club wins the League.

So, how do we calculate the gap between the champions and those struggling?  Where do we start?

One method is to look at the team that wins the League and see how big a gap is between them and the relegated clubs. There are often one or two teams that gather few points and so I’ve looked at the difference between the champions and the team finishing 17th (safe from relegation). I’ve taken the lowest points accumulated by the 17th placed team and compared that to the Champions.

This makes interesting reading and shows that the lowest points gathered by the 17th placed ‘safe’ team was almost two decades ago! That’s right, it’s not the current era – it’s all those years ago!

Chelsea were the champions when the lowest points total was accrued by the 17th placed club in 2004-05 (in fact the three lowest were all in the 2000s not the last decade). The five lowest points accumulated by a team in 17th place are (note: 5 of these are 2010 or earlier):

1: 2004-05 Champions Chelsea earned 61 points more than 17th placed WBA (34)

2: 2009-10 Chelsea earned 51 points more than 17th placed West Ham (35)

2: 2008-09 United earned 55 points more than 17thplaced Hull (35)

2: 2019-20 Liverpool earned 64 points more than 17th placed Aston Villa (35)

5th: 1999-00 United earned 55 points more than 17th placed Bradford (36)

5th: 2007-08 United earned 51 points more than 17th placed Fulham (36)

5th: 2013-14 City earned 50 points more than 17th placed WBA (36)

5th: 2017-18 City earned 64 points more than 17th placed Southampton (36)

5th: 2018-19 City earned 62 points more than 17th placed Brighton (36)

5th: 2022-23 City earned 53 points more than 17th placed Everton (36)

Ignoring the first few seasons when there were more than 20 clubs in the Premier League, the highest points total ever gathered by the club in 17th place was 44 (Bolton) in 2002-03 – only two seasons before the lowest points total, showing how these things can vary.

Okay but what about teams actually relegated? Here are the five lowest points accumulated by a team finishing 20th and the difference with the champions that season. Again the lowest points gathered was in the 2000s, not 2020s (Only 2 of these are since 2015 and none are from the 2020s!):

1: 2007-08 Champions United gathered 76 points more than 20th Derby (11 points)

2: 2005-06 Chelsea gathered 76 more than Sunderland (15)

3: 2018-19 City gathered 82 more than Huddersfield (16)

4: 2015-16 Leicester gathered 64 more than Aston Villa (17)

5: 2002-03 United gathered 64 more than Sunderland (19)

5: 2009-10 Liverpool gathered 78 more than Portsmouth (19)

Okay, so what about the actual points gap between the champions and the 20th placed club? Again analysis of every Premier League season shows some interesting information.  The five biggest points differences between top and bottom are (again two of these are from the 2000s):

1st: 2018-19 City 82 points over Huddersfield

2nd: 2019-20 Liverpool 78 points over Norwich

3rd: 2005-06 Chelsea 76 points over Sunderland

3rd: 2007-08 United 76 points over Derby

5th: 2021-22 City 71 points over Norwich

For the next analysis I’ve calculated the difference between the champions and the club finishing in 18th place (usually a relegated place, but not in the first couple of years of the Premier League). The idea being that the bottom two could be way off the pace.

This shows that City’s record 100 points season was the biggest gap between them and the 18th place relegated club. That’s significant, however that was an incredible record breaking season of wins for City. Interestingly though, for a team that’s supposed to be creating barriers between the top and the bottom City only hold two of the top five biggest gaps (Chelsea also hold 2) and one of those top 5 champions is actually Chelsea in 2004-05 – 19 years ago!

If we look beyond the top five there are 3 clubs in joint 6th place including Manchester United in 1998-99 – 25 years ago! Yet it’s supposed to be only now that the gap between top and relegation is vast.

For those wondering here are the highest 10 or so gaps between top and relegated clubs (18th place):

1st: 2017-18 City (the record 100 points season) 67 points over Swansea

2nd: 2019-20 Liverpool 65 points over Bournemouth

3rd: 2018-19 City 64 points over Cardiff

4th: 2004-05 Chelsea 62 points over Crystal Palace

5th: 2016-17 Chelsea 59 points over Hull

6th: 1999-00 United 58 points over Wimbledon

6th: 2020-21 City 58 points over Fulham

6th: 2021-22 City 58 points over Burnley

9th: 2003-04 Arsenal 57 points over Leicester

9th: 2005-06 Chelsea 57 points over Birmingham

11th: 2008-09 United 56 points over Newcastle

11th: 2009-10 Chelsea 56 points over Burnley

What does all this statistical information prove? Well there doesn’t appear to be much difference between the 2000s and the last decade. Some seasons in each decade there were huge gaps.

We all know that the elite are some way ahead of those that struggle and there is an imbalance. That’s concerning for football and the introduction of Financial Fair Play and similar has, so far, strengthened the position of the elite and limited the opportunity for investment at lower clubs. 

You can read my previous post here:

League Dominance?
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