How have the ton-up club fared in the Premier League?
Posted on May 23rd, 2010 | 177 Comments |
When the curtain drew shut on the season just gone, Newcastle became only the fourth team since the shake up of the football pyramid to amass more than 100 points. But does that accolade stand us in good stead for our return to the Premier League?
Aside from us, the other teams that are part of the ton-up club are the dirty tramps from down the road, Fulham and Reading. I wondered what exactly this meant, so spurred on by an idea from one of our fellow ‘bloggers, Richietoon, I decided to see just how they fared back in in the big time, and the results are rather surprising, certainly more surprising than I thought they would be.
Sunderland – Promoted 1998/1999 with 105 points.
They pretty much romped the division back in 98/99, and had pretty much the same sort of points difference between themselves and 3rd placed Ipswich as we had over 3rd placed Nottingham Forest this time around. They unfortunately took the Premier League by storm and finished up in 7th place, far exceeding the expectations of many. They stayed in the Premier League for four years until they eventually bowed out with a record low 19 points in 2003.
Fulham – Promoted 2000/2001 with 101 points.
Fulham coach at the time, Jean Tigana, managed to build on Kevin Keegan’s ground work and guide the then minnows to the Premier League whilst becoming the second member of the 100+ point club. The fairytale was complete, although it was significantly helped by their owner throwing an absoulute fortune into the club, a fortune that Fulham still owe some of today, on top of interest charges. That money helped them in consolidating in the Premier League and they finished 13th in their first season, the worst of the performers out of the ton-up club, depsite all the money that was spent. They have yet to be relegated again, thats if they ever end up being relegated of course.
Reading – Promoted 2005/2006 with 106 points.
Another rags to riches story in a simlar vein to that of Fulham. John Madejski bought the club and took them up the leagues, and ultimately into the Premier League where they were tipped to go straight back down. They didn’t, and they were the surprise package of the season as they finished 8th in the table. The next season they loooked comfortable in mid-table but hit a patch of real bad form which they couldn’t recover from and ultimately led to their relegation after only two seasons in the Premier League.
Now I know what people are thinking, and that is probably that these teams outlayed a lot of money to ensure survival. Whilst that is true in the case of Fulham, who spent just over £30 million, it isn’t the case with the other two.
Sunderland spent £9.8 million on new players to secure their Premier League status, most of which was offset by £8.2 million of player sales. So in real terms, the only new money buys totalled £1.6 million, which isn’t a massive amount.
It’s the same case with Reading, who relied on loans and free transfers to secure their survival, aswell as players picked up on the cheap previously like Kevin Doyle. Their outlay was around £4 million, which was good enough to secure survival only three years ago.
So what does this tell us? It tells us that no team that has hit the 100 point barrier since the invention of the Premier League has been relegated the season after promotion. The fact is that we have been much better than the rest of the league, as these teams were, so there is no reason why we can’t follow in their footsteps.
Don’t get me wrong, we need to strengthen the squad. But what we do have is a solid base to build on that with a couple of astute signings could ensure survival pretty comfortably in my opinion. Those are the thoughts that are echoed by Chris Hughton and by the bookmakers aswell, and we all have to hope it works out that way in the end.
good read toonsy,but it means nowt