Are we the biggest underachievers in world Football.

[rigsby]

With the play-offs now gone (almost) and lots of unrealistic posts on which players or managers we should looking to sign. I was reminded of a conversation I had with a fellow shrimper last week.

I'm not a stats man but roughly we have been around for 110 years and spent all but 7 seasons in the lower 2 divisions and never beaten a top club in the FA cup.

Many of you are old enough to have stood in that 31,000 crowd v Liverpool. So the my question......Is there another team that has ever had that sort of attendance and achieved so little. Can't think of any in Britain, so what about Europe and dare I say the rest of the world.

 

[mrsblue]

With the play-offs now gone (almost) and lots of unrealistic posts on which players or managers we should looking to sign. I was reminded of a conversation I had with a fellow shrimper last week.

I'm not a stats man but roughly we have been around for 110 years and spent all but 7 seasons in the lower 2 divisions and never beaten a top club in the FA cup.

Many of you are old enough to have stood in that 31,000 crowd v Liverpool. So the my question......Is there another team that has ever had that sort of attendance and achieved so little. Can't think of any in Britain, so what about Europe and dare I say the rest of the world.

All I want is the gaffer wearing a sheepskin coat whilst smoking a fag...is that too much to demand.

 

[rigsby]

All I want is the gaffer wearing a sheepskin coat whilst smoking a fag...is that too much to demand.

We once had a chairman with a fur coat, Rolls Royce and a cigar....What more do you want.

 

[dannypav]

[h=2]Are we the biggest underachievers in world Football.[/h]
No way !
My sons school team are useless

 

[Angell Delight]

The last 12 years or so have been filled with achievements to be fair, even if we have a couple of relegations thrown into the mix. And we may have failed to beat a top side in the FA Cup but we DID beat the Premier League Champions and current holders in the Carling Cup - the biggest club in English football.

We must surely also be the most "successful unsuccessful" team in Football League Trophy history reaching 3 finals and losing them all 2-0!

Supporting Southend can be frustrating but it's never boring.....

 

[londonblue]

Who here can honestly say they know enough about every team in the world in order to answer this question with any authority?

 

[rigsby]

The last 12 years or so have been filled with achievements to be fair, even if we have a couple of relegations thrown into the mix. And we may have failed to beat a top side in the FA Cup but we DID beat the Premier League Champions and current holders in the Carling Cup - the biggest club in English football.

We must surely also be the most "successful unsuccessful" team in Football League Trophy history reaching 3 finals and losing them all 2-0!

Supporting Southend can be frustrating but it's never boring.....

Agreed its been more fun in the last 25 years than the 50 before that. Don't forget you have be unsuccessful to enter the FLT in the first place.

 

[Ex-Member1]

Doesn't matter to me, even if we were in the Ryman League, or whatever it is called nowadays, I would still fellow my beloved team. The first 58 years have been a ball, success is very subjective, enjoyment for me has been huge. I can't remember the disappointments. COYBB

 

[eastling]

Really don't think we are, there are several League teams that lose play offs, fall just short of promotion.. tbh we've done quite well in the last thirteen years alone despite off field problems

 

[Rattus Norvegicus]

Who here can honestly say they know enough about every team in the world in order to answer this question with any authority?

I am Spartacus. And I do.

 

[Rattus Norvegicus]

Really don't think we are, there are several League teams that lose play offs, fall just short of promotion.. tbh we've done quite well in the last thirteen years alone despite off field problems

I think any Grimsby fan (ex 2nd Division - now in The Conference) or Torquay fan (close to relegation from The Conference at the moment) would tell us that they would happily trade places with us any day of the week ............:sad:

 

[Kevin Hogg]

Plymouth Argyle?

 

[Kevin Hogg]

Plymouth Argyle have not won a great deal and had 43,596 at Home Park, enjoy the support of large swathes of Devon & Cornwall!

 

[rigsby]

I think any Grimsby fan (ex 2nd Division - now in The Conference) or Torquay fan (close to relegation from The Conference at the moment) would tell us that they would happily trade places with us any day of the week ............:sad:

I'm not talking about right now, I mean overall history. Grimsby have played top flight Football and FA cup semi-finals.

 

[Barling Magna]

Yes, I would go with Plymouth Argyle as major under achievers. With a population of nigh on 300,000 in the city and much of Cornwall and western Devon to itself this club should have achieved some success in its history. While we're in the South West Bristol City deserve a mention too - just a handful of seasons in the First Division long ago despite being in one of England's major cities.

 

[southendkid]

If we're going by highest attendance we aren't even close to being the biggest underachievers, Port Vale have had similar success to us and have a record attendance of 49,768 (1960 vs Aston Villa).

 

[Firestorm]

Two ways of looking at it. Built up areas in the UK
Both Newport and Birkenhead have greater populations and football teams who have an equally poor , if not worse tecord https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_urban_areas_in_the_United_Kingdom

Or highest league position. I don't think Rochdale or Torquay have ever been in Teir 2 and o think they have been around for a similar length of time

 

[Suffolk Shrimper In Dorset]

Yes, I would go with Plymouth Argyle as major under achievers. With a population of nigh on 300,000 in the city and much of Cornwall and western Devon to itself this club should have achieved some success in its history. While we're in the South West Bristol City deserve a mention too - just a handful of seasons in the First Division long ago despite being in one of England's major cities.

Excellent. Over the years I've prob seen Southend around 800 times. Three years in Plymouth saw me take in around 50 visits to Home Park. For the four years after that I was in Bristol and visited Ashton Gate around 40 times. Am I the least successful fan in world football?