Biggest club in Europe never to have played in europe

[Filobido]

Seeing as we're in Germany it got me thinking, are we the biggest club in Europe never to have played in European competion. By that I mean cup winners cup, uefa or European cups not Anglo intalian !

 

[Sothall_Blade]

Brentford?

It depends on how you are defining what the “biggest” club is

 

[calcalcal]

Sunderland, have they ever been in europe

 

[jimmymuir]

Brentford?

It depends on how you are defining what the “biggest” club is

I don’t want to sound like a Wednesday fan, but come on… They are a far better side than us, but we’re miles bigger than Brentford.

 

[Lucky1979]

Define “big”

 

[Lucky1979]

I don’t want to sound like a Wednesday fan, but come on… They are a far better side than us, but we’re miles bigger than Brentford.

They have nearly a million more followers across social media platforms, from London and play in the Premier League. We are not “miles bigger” than Brentford

 

[mattbianco1]

Sunderland, have they ever been in europe

They will have in about 6 weeks

 

[Valley Blade]

Sunderland, have they ever been in europe

Played in Cup Winners Cup in 1974 after their 1973 F.A. Cup victory.

 

[Mario1889]

We played in the Anglo Italian Cup in 1994.

 

[The Fox]

As pretty much top half Prem gets a European spot these days then were definitely in the running .

 

[Geordie Blade]

Most European leagues are dominated by a small number of 'big' clubs, with much smaller clubs making up the numbers. So it's very rare for a 'big' club not to qualify for Europe at some point.

In England, the main contenders for biggest club not to have played in Europe are us and Preston North End and Bristol City (maybe Notts County if we're going by historical significance rather than current fan base). It's hard to argue that any of those are bigger than us.

So, yep, we have the honour of being either the best of a bad bunch or the worst of a good bunch.

 

[Silent Blade]

The Football League nominated us, Burnley and Everton to be the English clubs to play in the 1962-63 Fairs Cup competition because Burnley finished 2nd, Everton 4th and us 5th in the 1961-62 1st division table but the Inter City Fairs Cup committee nominated Everton, Wendy (finished 6th) and Birmingham City (20th). Both bodies had a few more meetings before deciding that. Everton would be the only English club in the 1962-63 Fairs Cup

 

[crucialkneeligaman]

Doubt we ever will.

 

[Dkc]

Can't think of any bigger club attendance-wise. Just luck really that we are from the county in Europe that has the most 'big' clubs and the highest attendances.

In fact we are probably the biggest club in the world not to have played a competitive international game. Anglo-Italian Cup was an invitational tournament between two nations and was more like a series of friendlies. We've also played in the Anglo-Scottish cup which was similar.

 

[ChipButtyBlade]

Define “big”

 

[Greystones Blade]

So that’s our new claim to fame ..”the biggest club in the world not to have played in a competitive international game”. Until proven otherwise

 

[Houso]

yeah thanks, this is exactly what I needed.

 

[Revolution]

Most seasons in top flight without playing in Europe:

England: Sheffield United, 64 seasons
Germany: Arminia Bielefeld, 19 seasons
Italy: Bari, 30 seasons
Spain: Elche, 25 seasons
France: Valenciennes, 33 seasons

All of these teams save Bari have reached a cup final more recently than us.

 

[PeterNdlovu081]

Been covered many times before.

The answer is yes.

And the fact we're based in England isn't a good excuse.

Millwall, Bolton and fucking Wigan have all played in Europe.

We're just shit.

 

[GreasyChipBeattie]

Doubt we ever will.

Don't be so negative mate.
One day they might open it up to teams who score in the first round of the Carabao cup.

 

[jimmymuir]

They have nearly a million more followers across social media platforms, from London and play in the Premier League. We are not “miles bigger” than Brentford

Oh yeah, forgot that having followers online is the defining factor.

Seasons spent in the top division of English football…

United: 63
Brentford: 10

Average attendance since our clubs formed…

United: 19,624
Brentford: 9,820

Like I stated previously, we are miles bigger than clubs like Brentford - historically, trophies, fanbase. Yeah, they’re doing far better on the pitch than us and if they were able to spend the next 60 odd years in the top division, they’d be able to say they’re a similar sized club to us. We’ll have a good period again, one day.

 

[Sportbilly /Detroit Blade]

Been covered many times before.

The answer is yes.

And the fact we're based in England isn't a good excuse.

Millwall, Bolton and fucking Wigan have all played in Europe.

We're just shit.

Good to see you've got your positive pants on today!

 

[PeterNdlovu081]

Good to see you've got your positive pants on today!

I'm just a realist mate.

Used to be a bit of an optimist but following these bastards did me in.

 

[Keen Blade]

Most seasons in top flight without playing in Europe:

England: Sheffield United, 64 seasons
Germany: Arminia Bielefeld, 19 seasons
Italy: Bari, 30 seasons
Spain: Elche, 25 seasons
France: Valenciennes, 33 seasons

All of these teams save Bari have reached a cup final more recently than us.

The eternal underachievers but never mind , we're only here for the beer

 

[Keen Blade]

Been covered many times before.

The answer is yes.

And the fact we're based in England isn't a good excuse.

Millwall, Bolton and fucking Wigan have all played in Europe.

We're just shit.

Not reallly.
We're more ... Frustrating
"Went for a shit ,
Sat on the pot
Couldn't get anything out"
Then
Spent the rest of the decade with that uncomfortable feeling ,
knowing we should have done better when we had the chance

 

[PeterNdlovu081]

Not reallly.
We're more ... Frustrating
"Went for a shit ,
Sat on the pot
Couldn't get anything out"
Then
Spent the rest of the decade with that uncomfortable feeling ,
knowing we should have done better when we had the chance

We just can't win big games.

If there's something big at stake, we fail every single time.

I still can't work out why this happens but this is who we are.

Could always be worse though.

Could've been born a Tranmere or Gillingham fan.

 

[Panini]

Most seasons in top flight without playing in Europe:

England: Sheffield United, 64 seasons
Germany: Arminia Bielefeld, 19 seasons
Italy: Bari, 30 seasons
Spain: Elche, 25 seasons
France: Valenciennes, 33 seasons

All of these teams save Bari have reached a cup final more recently than us.

This is the only worthy measure.

The absolute would be the number of top flight seasons after the introduction of qualified European competitions, though I'd assume we're still #1?