Who in your opinions have some of the biggest catchment area

but are not there in the top flight.
Of course Newcastle.
but i reckon plymouth,cardiff city,bristol city,norwich city and leeds utd.

bolton, wigan, burnley and blackburn are punching well above their weight.

If you look at the crowds that Bolton, Wigan, Burnley and Blackburn are getting, we are comparable to that, certainly we were early season when we were doing well. But those 4 clubs are up against it because there are other clubs in their catchment who are getting twice the crowds they do, not to mention the diehards of clubs like Oldham, Stockport, etc. The diehards of those clubs will never desert them for Premier league clubs, especially ones as dour as the aforementioned.

plymouth have a fairly big city to draw on , but it doesnt have the surrounding area we have

plymouth, swansea, hull, us etc all could survive in the top flight if we were looking to get gates of say 20000 , but if we struggled I dont think after a few seasons and the novelty of the premiership had worn off, we could rely on big gates like leeds, derby, wolves etc would

in terms of potential we are certainly a bigger club than hull, swansea, stoke, bolton, and the rest

Plymouth and Cardiff are the main two. Yeovil technically has a massive potential fan base. People seem more interested in their rugby down that way though with Bristol and Bath nearby. I think Bristol City have Bristol Rovers to contend with. Norwich of course have Ipswich, Colchester and the other Essex teams within an hour's drive or so. Somewhere like Shrewsbury or Hereford should be getting bigger crowds.

Our crowds are similar to Bolton now. This could be the reason, along with a £64m debt and increasing running costs, (the greedy b*stard) Gartside wants a closed shop Premiership. Talk about look after your own and f'ck the rest

The two tier Premiership would ruin the English Leagues. No-one really supports it I don't think. It's just the minority chairmen are making the loudest noise about it. You know that when the big four don't really support something that it's not a good idea at all.

Exactly. I also get the feeling that, because of the wealth generated bythe top PL clubs, they can do without supporters for a game or 2 and that's what breeds the contempt for the fans. The fact that some clubs don't rely on the supporters for all the games

cardiff ,plymouth, carlisle ,swansea and norwich

Leeds ( includes Wakefield - pop 300,000) - total around 1 million

Norwich - small city but isolated.

Plymouth- 267,000 also has cornwall Isolated

Cardiff - 1 million - has rugby though ** Cardiff population is now near the 350,000 mark **

Sheffield - 515,000 ish - no rugby

Brighton & Hove - 249,000 - large male population pink pound

North East - doesnt need explaining

Bristol - large city , though doers have two clubs and Rugby

Bradford - Large city 467,000
http://www.ukcities.co.uk/populations/

Joff there`s f**k all wrong with Brighton dont know the Pink brigade

Jonah, now I know you are very settled in BHA - you watching the starlings this week ?

you could also consider :-

Large Towns Without City Status
There are many examples of large towns within the United Kingdom which are large enough to be considered 'cities', if 'cities' are defined as large and densely populated urban areas. To name but a few: Milton Keynes (approx. population of 210,000), Northampton (approx. population of 190,000), Luton (approx. population of 190,000).

:lol:

I take it you are then !!

Somebody mentioned Wigan. Wigan also have to compete with Wigan Warriors RL who get massive crowds