Are we a big club?

For aslong as I can remember new players we have brought in either on loan or permanently have stated that we are a top club and belong in the premiership, we've had more examples of this from our latest recruits and have bought a guy who could have chosen to play in Italy with udinese or the premier league with west ham, yet still he chose to sign for us, here is one of the things he's said about us -

Kamara "every player wants to play for the top clubs in the world and Bolton are a top club."

Another signing Craig dawson had multiple offers from championship clubs above us playing brilliant stuff yet still he says "once I learnt of Bolton interest I knew where I wanted to play my football, it's a massive club and I'm delighted to be here"

And finally today, de ridder has also said that we are a massive club that belong in the prem.

These players had other/better options to choose from but I totally agree with those quotes, obviously we aren't in the same league as Madrid or united but we have earnt the right to be considered a big club IMO.

What do you guys think?

Not really. We are an old club with a long tradition, but our glory days are a long time ago. With the changing of the boundaries in the 70s, the rise of Wigan as another local option and being subsumed into Greater Manchester, our traditional catchment area has been halved so we'll not be seeing the big crowds we used to see in the 50s and before - crowds that could give us the financial potential to compete at the top table again.

Clubs with that potential to grow like Birmingham, Cardiff, Leicester, Leeds, Boro and even Norwich etc. could be viewed as "big clubs" along with the many others that have consistently performed over the last 20 years or so. We are a "medium-sized" club with a proud history, but limited growth potential IMO.

Of course we are a big club, we're Bolton Wanderers!!

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No.

We have a long history and only a few teams have spent more time in the top flight than us. We are one of the most successful teams in England this century. We're not a massive club but we're certainly a big club who lots of players can only dream of playing for.

Hipster_Nebula wrote:No.

Brilliant. I'm glad I got your opinion.

He doesn't know much about Bolton so I'd ignore his opinion if I was you.

I just don't care much about this big club small club pissing contest.

If you read twitter, the 'size' of your club is determined by how many fans you take to away games.

I think we hold the record for the most seasons in the top flight without having ever won the title. It's hard to imagine that in the 1930's we nearly got 70,000 through the turnstiles at Burnden Park.

We're not a big club. I really want to believe Medo chose us for the right reasons but I suspect we just offered the most money. If he sweats some blood on Saturday I'll happily change my mind though*

* I know, I know - Dougie won't pick him

We've won 4 fa cups and had two Europeans tours, history suggests we are a big club.

Are we feck. We were kind of when we were finishing top half of the prem. We've slipped a lot since then. No where near a big club

We were the winning team in the match that had the biggest attendance in the history of British football - but that was 90 years ago.

This question is a difficult one. Everyone has their own opinion of what constitutes a "big club".

For me, we are a big club.

*Founder members of the Football League in 1888.
*Over 70 years of top flight Football (I imagine very few clubs can claim similar!)
*Never left the Football League and only spent ONE season in the bottom division.
*Four FA Cup titles.
*In the modern day, only club (apart from maybe Villa and Everton?) outside the "big 6" (Arse, ManU. ManC, Lpool, Chelski & Spurs) to finish in the top 8 four times in a row.
*Two European tours including a draw against Bayern Munich and wins against Red Star and Atletico Madrid.

Of course, we're having a bad spell right now and clubs like Wigan Athletic will seem like a bigger club. The truth is, they can only dream of a history and tradition like ours.

So basically, my opinion of what makes a big club is history and tradition, not the size of your stadium, fanbase or even your current league position. Another few examples of clubs bigger than Wigan or Reading: Leeds, Forest, Sheff Wed, Sheff Utd... I could easily go on.

Lt. Boon wrote:This question is a difficult one. Everyone has their own opinion of what constitutes a "big club".

For me, we are a big club.

*Founder members of the Football League in 1888.
*Over 70 years of top flight Football (I imagine very few clubs can claim similar!)
*Never left the Football League and only spent ONE season in the bottom division.
*Four FA Cup titles.
*In the modern day, only club (apart from maybe Villa and Everton?) outside the "big 6" (Arse, ManU. ManC, Lpool, Chelski & Spurs) to finish in the top 8 four times in a row.
*Two European tours including a draw against Bayern Munich and wins against Red Star and Atletico Madrid.

Of course, we're having a bad spell right now and clubs like Wigan Athletic will seem like a bigger club. The truth is, they can only dream of a history and tradition like ours.

So basically, my opinion of what makes a big club is history and tradition, not the size of your stadium, fanbase or even your current league position. Another few examples of clubs bigger than Wigan or Reading: Leeds, Forest, Sheff Wed, Sheff Utd... I could easily go on.

^^^ This.

Yes.

We are the one and only Wanderers!!!!

Massive!!!

Bolton is a famous club with lots of history, tradition and has performed overall much better in terms of success [trophies, time in the top league] than other clubs with more money and bigger gates. But big, no.

No

Angry Dad wrote:No

Again, thanks for your opinion.