Can we ever be a “Powerhouse” of Football again?

[Cerberus Blade]

It was a description of our club at the turn of the last century.

We were, by anyone’s reckoning, one of the best teams in the country.

Along the way, something went wrong?

We’re still one of the best supported clubs in the country. In fact, considering our underachievement, we are doing very well. But we failed to keep up with the Manchester, Liverpool and some London teams, who were behind us back then.

And even worse, little clubs with no history or tradition are miles ahead of us.

What does it take to be a “Powerhouse” of football again?

It’s not just about what happens on the pitch for sure.

Be great if we could be a Powerhouse again one day?

 

[Smirth]

Without significant investment, no.

 

[wavy-blade]

No

 

[Carlton Blade]

Far Eastern investment can do anything. Without that we are down with the plebs

 

[Rodley]

We’re about the 20th best supported club in the country. We finished 30th last year. Hoping for 25th this time around.

Footballs landscape has radically changed in the last 20 years and the pace of change has increased exponentially in the last 5 to 10 years.

Let’s keep building up Wilder and see where it gets us.

 

[Nicolaus_Copernicus]

No, not without radically changing every fibre of our fabric. I can live without ever being a powerhouse again, but I wouldn’t want to think we couldn’t be a Burnley, Stoke, Swansea, Bournemouth, Cardiff, etc and at least have a few seasons in the sun.

 

[shorehamview]

What does it take to be a “Powerhouse” of football again?

Huge amounts of money from either a billionaire or even better, a country with vast wealth, and a desire to piss some of that money away on a huge vanity project. See Abramovich, R. And nowadays Dhabi, A.

And of course a fan base that doesn’t give two shits about where the money comes from, human rights or any of that palaver.

 

[BladeInIreland]

The potential was always there, but I can't see it ever happening. Had Sheffield been a one team city then maybe.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I'd be happy if we don't ever go back to being a shithouse.

 

[SB_90]

The potential was always there, but I can't see it ever happening. Had Sheffield been a one team city then maybe.

You say that but its hardly benefited leeds or newcastle in last 10-15yrs

 

[Cerberus Blade]

No, not without radically changing every fibre of our fabric. I can live without ever being a powerhouse again, but I wouldn’t want to think we couldn’t be a Burnley, Stoke, Swansea, Bournemouth, Cardiff, etc and at least have a few seasons in the sun.

My thoughts entirely.

 

[Bladesman]

Nope

 

[Guesty]

No, I doubt if we'll ever even be top flight again.

 

[SB_90]

If you get promoted. & keep up for 2 or 3 years. Then we could be as 17th last season got 107m thats 321m enough to transform anyone , if Burnley can anyone can, they have got to have an English record as 1 of smallest places by population to play in european competition

 

[BladeInIreland]

You say that but its hardly benefited leeds or newcastle in last 10-15yrs

True, but I think if we had done it from day one we could of made a good run of it. We attendance wise could beat both of those teams. From a potential rich owner perspective id say it would bs more attractive. And we could of played the world's oldest club tag.

 

[Gin&Juice]

Again? We were powerhouses in an era when the Ottoman Empire were still a nation

 

[TomHeffernan]

If we won the FA Cup in my lifetime I'd die a happy man.

 

[Pierre's PC]

No.

 

[ForgeBlade]

Sadly, without Chelsea or Man City level foreign backing, no. But then neither can anyone currently outside the top 6 or 7 clubs in the country.

We could become another Stoke, with the right sort of investment, spent wisely by the right manager. But that would mean, at best, a few years in the prem and then becoming a yo-yo club.

That said...is yoyo-ing better than being permanently locked out of the "big leagues"??

 

[dc_blade]

We'd need massive and sustained investment to get promoted, stay up, and ultimately break into the top six and challenge for a Champions League spot. Then you need the luck and sound strategy to stay there and build yourself into a global brand with supporters all over the world. If Jeff Bezos bought us tomorrow I think we could do it in 10 years. Maybe 15.

Easy.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

If Jeff Bezos bought us tomorrow I think we could do it in 10 years. Maybe 15.

Easy.

If Bezos bought us tomorrow we would be in the Prem last season.

 

[Carlton Blade]

Give me innovative, attacking football. A decent academy. Well run off the field stuff. If we have all that I'm happy being between 12th and 35th best team in the country. I think it's very unlikely we ever get near the top 6

 

[oldblade]

The potential was always there, but I can't see it ever happening. Had Sheffield been a one team city then maybe.

A few years ago could you have imagined that Bournemouth would get into the Premier League and actually manage to stay there? .

Strange things happen and they happen more frequently than we sometimes realise.

Like you, I can't really imagine us being a footballing powerhouse again. Not in the remainder of my lifetime anyway. But as has been said, in recent times the football landscape has changed. It will change again and who know how much and in which direction.

In 1967 Manchester United won the league. No one thought a quarter of a century would pass before they next won it.

In the 1950s no one thought Liverpool would come to dominate our league like they did in the 1980s and in the 1980s no one thought they would soon become one of the also rans for the best part of 30 years!

 

[Topplayersleave]

Top six never again

An unlikely few seasons where we having got promoted pay sufficient transfer fees and wages to be mid table Premier League with an occasional cup win and European qualification

What am I talking about

NO

 

[wakefieldblade]

No, not without radically changing every fibre of our fabric. I can live without ever being a powerhouse again, but I wouldn’t want to think we couldn’t be a Burnley, Stoke, Swansea, Bournemouth, Cardiff, etc and at least have a few seasons in the sun.

I go with my dad who was born in Darnall, me and my younger who have always lived in Wakefield through all the shit of my Leeds supporting mates since 2000. I really don’t care if we end up in the prem. I just love those Saturdays home and away. Watching the best Sheffield united team I’ve ever seen. We may win we may lose but I know we will compete under Wilder. That’s all that matters. I do think if we keep progressing year on year we will get there. I love this club and we all need to strive for the prem but the last few years under Wilder have been unbelievable. Me and my dad on the pitch at Northampton, Wednesday away, Leeds Away, Malaga pre season trip just keep supporting and we will get where we need to be!

 

[Yellarbellyblade]

Or football finally financially implodes and our sensible slow steady growth leaves us ahead of the game

Yeah I know ...........

 

[Lane Ender]

Middle to top half Championship will do me win a few lose a few

Premiership is toxic

 

[CornwallBlade]

Middle to top half Championship will do me win a few lose a few

Premiership is toxic

Yep, fundamentally we’re still the same club I grew up with in the 60’s. Be careful what you wish for. Look at the top few of the prem, revolving doors of international mercenaries, massive corporate hospitality, £60 a game tickets, history and personality lost to the sponsors - no ta. I don’t expect to win every game, love the fact that we haven’t got any divers or injury feigners, celebrate our brief moments of glory, enjoy the wonder players we create and inevitably sell on and love the topsy turvy nonsense that this club has and continues to be about.
UTB

 

[Stretch]

Hard to see it happening at present. As much as we have come on leaps and bounds under Chris there is only so much anyone can do without a significant financial injection.

That being said, even without new investment we might, I stress might just sneak up via the play offs over the next 2 seasons. Then it is about stabilising in the PL, spending the bounty wisely and diligently and trying to keep the club in a healthy financial state.In doing so, accepting that we won't dine at the 'top' table unless we change our fabric completely. Burnley seem like the most obvious example of how best to do this.

The other option is that someone willing to really have a tilt at it, lets say a Chansiri with brains, recognises what a gem we have in Chris, along the potential of the club and takes a punt on buying us. Then maybe we could see ourselves doing a Bournemouth or Leicester, but right now it seems a very very long way off from ever happening.

It does pose the question about how much any of us would be willing to see our club change in order to compete with the big boys? I guess the answer is mixed. Personally (and I genuinely mean this) I would hate to see us morph into a multi-national type franchise, more interested in attracting TV viewers and selling merchandise in emerging markets than actually entertaining the homegrown supporters.

 

[tomtheblade]

The only way we'll ever even get close to the upper echelons is with massive financial investment, we all know that. It's so much about the money.

However, at some point, anything that makes you exceptional will get bought by a bigger, richer club anyway. Imagine we get to the Prem, build our team over a few seasons and get within touching distance of the top 6 (a la Burnley, say). That 20-goal a season striker who could've helped bridge the gap will get bought by a Man Utd or Chelsea. The superstar manager who performed beyond all expectations and resources will get job offers from someone like Spurs and leave because why wouldn't he? The fitness trainer who used innovative techniques to give our team the edge which gave us an extra 10 points a season will get snapped up by the scouts looking for the best performing staff across the football league. The exact same thing that happens in any industry.

The point is that anything or anyone that could help you break into the top four will almost inevitably get taken away from you by those very same teams who are in the top 4.

For me, the interesting point is that the only thing that can withstand that kind of dynamic is that which cannot get bought by money- passion for the club. A Billy Sharp or Chris Wilder who grew up in say Manchester or, ahem, Warrington, supporting entirely different teams, don't stick around any longer than necessary to help your club prosper - they move on for the money or prospects the first chance they get because that makes sense for them as someone who may like the club, but it's not 'in their blood'. There's a reason why Harry Kane, die hard spurs fan as a kid, is still at Tottenham despite the fact he could move to almost any club in the world, and to one that actually wins trophies.

All that's not to say that Sharp or Wilder or Kane would not move to another club to further their ambitions - they very well might. But that this may be the only thing that resists the dynamic described above. It's not impervious, but it does make a difference, and it's the reason why 'Bladey Bladeness' is absolutely not nonsense at all, it's vitally important when it comes to taking forward steps in the football world.

Essentially.. money makes all the difference in the world, but, at some point, it's the something else that actually makes the difference on top of that. Of course we have to get to that point in the first place though.