Blackburn Rovers, Blackpool, Bolton Wanderers, Burnley, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Wigan Athletic. These are all the teams from Lancashire and Merseyside, who have played in the Premier League in the last ten years. Hull City, Leeds United and Sheffield United. By contrast, these are the select few teams from Yorkshire and Humber who have played in the Premier League in the last ten years.
This is staggering on two counts. Firstly, it is staggering when you consider that Yorkshire, by area at least, is the biggest county in England. So large in fact, that it has subsequently been broken up into sub-counties as a result. Secondly, it is also incredible because in Leeds and Sheffield, Yorkshire has two of the biggest cities in England by population.
All this has led me to ponder, what has and is going wrong with football in Yorkshire? In deliberating this question I asked a friend. To which he retorted, ‘it’s easy, Yorkshire has more rugby teams like Leeds Rhinos and Bradford Bulls.’ It was then I reeled off Wigan, St Helens, Widnes, Warrington etc.
And just to note this article is not an anti-Lancashire piece by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, it is admirable that within the last ten years, so many Premier League teams have come from the north-west. But, as a Yorkshireman, it seems puzzling to me how in such a big county, especially a county that loves it football, how we have had such feeble representation when it comes to backing a top flight team.
This article seeks to simply consider some of the possibilities. The first one is this. It has been well documented that there are certain players in the Premier League, most notably London-based players, who are reluctant to leave their clubs, even though they are surplus to requirements at that club. For example, do players such as Sebastian Squillaci at Arsenal and Paulo Ferreira at Chelsea remain unwanted at their respective clubs for fear of leaving London? I would argue yes. And this made me wonder, do players simply not want to play in Yorkshire? Do players find the prospect of living in Barnsley, Leeds or Sheffield untenable? By comparison do cities such as Liverpool and Manchester represent a hub of activity for the top flight players?
Or, instead on focusing on what Yorkshire is doing wrong, maybe we can look to the north-west and be in ore of what they are doing right. I think there are two teams to thank in particular for the success of football in the north-west, Liverpool and Manchester United. And it boils down to the notion that success breeds success. It is so true. Both Liverpool and United, have pretty much monopolised the Premier League title honours for the past thirty years now. Within this period, the north-west has produced quality players such as Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard Jamie Carragher, the list goes on, of players who have all turned out to be legends at their respective clubs.
I think most people reading this article will remember the famous scene when adoring Leeds fans swarmed round Alan Smith, praising his loyalty to a failing cause. Smith was a Yorkshireman with great potential. He ultimately found the lure of Manchester United too great. Within this period Leeds produced two other fine young talents in Aaron Lennon and James Milner. They both have sought pastures new in London and Manchester.
One bitter and perhaps misguided argument would be to say that in the top four divisions in England, there are more teams from Lancashire and Merseyside, 17, than there are in Yorkshire and Humber, 10, and therefore the likelihood of having Premier League representation is greater. What a terrible argument people may think. What realistic chance do teams such as, and with all respect, Fleetwood, Morecambe and Rochdale have of playing in the top flight? Well the 1996-1997 campaign is a great example of how teams can make a meteoric rise through the leagues, as Wigan Athletic beat Fulham to the Division Three title that season, whilst Swansea City finished fifth.
A major indicator to success or failure in football is financial backing. The demise of Leeds United, invariably Yorkshire’s biggest club, occurred due to a complete over expenditure which led to the club in financial ruin. With the risk of picking on Wigan Athletic, they have shown over the past seven years that with sound financial backing, small teams can survive in the Premier League. Football Fancast’s Thomas Hallett wrote an article on ‘Do football fans really matter anymore’? For all that Leeds are a hugely supported club, because of their lack of major investment in the past ten years, they still lie a division below the likes of Wigan and Swansea.
Finally, maybe Yorkshire just hasn’t had that bit of luck. Sheffield United fans would argue that if it wasn’t for the Carlos Tevez affair, the following five years may have been so different.
These are just suggestions. Perhaps it is just complete chance that Yorkshire clubs haven’t been successful in recent years. Or maybe it is just sour grapes from a disappointed Yorkshireman?
Regardless, I would love to read about what people think about this so please leave a comment and give me your suggestions.
Matt Read
follow me on twitter @Matt_of_the_day