Why Aston Villa Are Definitely the Biggest Club to Suffer Premier League Relegation

Premier League Relegation

When it was announced that Aston Villa were officially relegated, one question the pundits posed was were they the biggest club to ever get relegated during the time of the Premier League?

It’s a nonsense question, because the top-tier in English football is just that, whatever it is called now. But anyway, lets humour them…

A cautionary tale for Aston Villa fans is that both Forest and City also dropped to the third-tier of English football following their initial relegation from the Premier League.

Those who took the question seriously, unlike Ian Wright who was making out all kinds of clubs like Leeds were bigger than Villa, threw up the name Nottingham Forest, as they were a double European Cup winner. Forest got relegated in first ever Premier League season in 1992-93 (you know, the one Villa should have won) and have been relegated twice since in 1996/97 and 1998-99, after which they sadly failed to return.

Forest due to their absence from the league’s top-tier and the fact they’ve been relegated three times from it, are no longer a force in the modern age and can’t be considered as ‘big’ as Villa.

In 1995/96, while Villa enjoyed their last really decent season, finishing fourth, winning the League Cup and reaching the Semi-finals of the FA Cup, Manchester City got relegated. They got relegated again in 2000/01. This period though, was before City’s oil money rolled in and changed and warped the perception and scope of the club.

They can no longer be considered the same club. Certainly, if they got relegated while Sheikh Mansour’s Abu Dhabi United Group controlled the club it would be a major shock and the biggest fish to fall through the relegation trap door, but at the time they did get relegated, it was no surprise or big deal.

Cautionary Tale

A cautionary tale for Aston Villa fans is that both Forest and City also dropped to the third-tier of English football following their initial relegation from the Premier League. It would suggest that for an established team to get relegated from the Premier League the rot is potentially so bad that they can drop again. There are no guarantees that the bottom dog in the Premier League suddenly becomes a top dog in the Championship…especially one that has only managed 16 points.

Leicester City winning the league saw a new player in the top 20 most successful teams in English football in terms of trophies, but look at where Aston Villa are in the table:

That certainly answers the question of who is the biggest team to drop from the top-tier in the Premier League era. As well as being ever-present since the Premier League formed, having the fifth amount of trophies in English football cements our status.

It also makes it even more shocking to think what Randy Lerner has ultimately done to this club with his mis-management. Just look at the teams in the Premier League, it’s not awash with quality teams. There’s no way Villa should be getting relegated, if it was run properly.

Wake Up Call

Call this a wake up call. A lot of Villa fans became happy just to stay in the Premier League or finish mid-table. That’s a bad attitude and it’s contributed to where we are now. Many supporters let Lerner get away with murder. Look at Everton and Arsenal fans now, protesting because they’re not showing the right ambition and not winning things. That should be Villa supporters mentality, unhappy when we’re not competing at the highest level.

MOMS readers took out an ad in the Birmingham Mail back in 2012, questioning Lerner and the board’s ‘Bright Future?’

We took some flak from some fans, which we didn’t have a problem with, because everyone is entitled to an opinion. We weren’t wrong in doing so though. The thing is, it was obvious there was danger ahead. The club failed to get 40 points that season and if the club made a decision where they thought Alex McLeish was going to be a good idea as Villa manager, who knew what they were capable of.

Ambition

It’s important not to settle for mere existence as Villa supporters. We were told by Lerner, Paul Faulkner and Tom Fox, that the top four or six had become a pipe dream for a club like Villa. Who are they to tell us that? Just look at what Leicester City have achieved.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

When a new owner arrives, lets hope they have proper ambition and belief, because WHEN we return to the Premier League, we should be about winning trophies, because we’re currently the fifth best team in England at doing that.

UTV

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