First Division Mk II - Are We Returning To The Halycon Days When Almost Anyone Could Win It ???

 Will Leicester City Be The First Of Many

 

 Are We Returning To The Days When Almost Anyone Could Win It ???

Can it really be the dawning of a new age whereby the massive amounts of money each team will receive from SKY truly means the return of an era whereby almost any team can win it ??? . 2 decades of "same old , same old" at the top of the table has been well and truly shook up this 2015-2016 season.

This is no "Jack Walker" sugar daddy success either. Leicester City have bought sensibly and are a proper "team" who work hard for one another no ego's in action. West Ham have vastly improved this season and without breaking the bank could possibly break into the top four. Teams no longer seem to fear visits to the two Manchester clubs , Arsenal , Chelsea or Liverpool.

Both Stoke and Southampton can be excellent on their day. The teams who came up have done far better than expected .. take a bow AFC Bournemouth and Watford.

Just look at this for home form from the supposed "big teams" up to last weekend.

Chelsea @ home
5 wins , 7 draws & 4 defeats ... goals for 29 , goals against 24


Manchester City @ home
10 wins , 1 draw & 5 defeats ... goals for 39 , goals against 18


Manchester United @ home
8 wins , 4 draws & 2 defeats ... goals for 19 , goals against 7


Arsenal @ home
8 wins , 3 draws & 3 defeats ... goals for 19 , goals against 10


Liverpool @ home
5 wins , 5 draws & 3 defeats ... goals for 19 , goals against 17

These grounds are no longer the fortresses they were with an almost guaranteed easy three points every fortnight or so.

I think it maybe the future looks bright and we can look forward to seeing a lot of new names at the top or at least close to it.

Back to the days of the old first division and tables like these

1977/1978 First Division

First Division 1977-78
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Nottingham Forest	42	15	6	0	37	8	10	8	3	32	16	45	64
2	Liverpool	42	15	4	2	37	11	9	5	7	28	23	31	57
3	Everton	42	14	4	3	47	22	8	7	6	29	23	31	55
4	Manchester City	42	14	4	3	46	21	6	8	7	28	30	23	52
5	Arsenal	42	14	5	2	38	12	7	5	9	22	25	23	52
6	West Bromwich Albion	42	13	5	3	35	18	5	9	7	27	35	9	50
7	Coventry City	42	13	5	3	48	23	5	7	9	27	39	13	48
8	Aston Villa	42	11	4	6	33	18	7	6	8	24	24	15	46
9	Leeds United	42	12	4	5	39	21	6	6	9	24	32	10	46
10	Manchester United	42	9	6	6	32	23	7	4	10	35	40	4	42
11	Birmingham City	42	8	5	8	32	30	8	4	9	23	30	-5	41
12	Derby County	42	10	7	4	37	24	4	6	11	17	35	-5	41
13	Norwich City	42	10	8	3	28	20	1	10	10	24	46	-14	40
14	Middlesbrough	42	8	8	5	25	19	4	7	10	17	35	-12	39
15	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	7	8	6	30	27	5	4	12	21	37	-13	36
16	Chelsea	42	7	11	3	28	20	4	3	14	18	49	-23	36
17	Bristol City	42	9	6	6	37	26	2	7	12	12	27	-4	35
18	Ipswich Town	42	10	5	6	32	24	1	8	12	15	37	-14	35
19	Queens Park Rangers	42	8	8	5	27	26	1	7	13	20	38	-17	33
20	West Ham United	42	8	6	7	31	28	4	2	15	21	41	-17	32
21	Newcastle United	42	4	6	11	26	37	2	4	15	16	41	-36	22
22	Leicester City	42	4	7	10	16	32	1	5	15	10	38	-44	22

 

1982/1983 First Division

First Division 1982-83
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	Liverpool	42	16	4	1	55	16	8	6	7	32	21	82
2	Watford	42	16	2	3	49	20	6	3	12	25	37	71
3	Manchester United	42	14	7	0	39	10	5	6	10	17	28	70
4	Tottenham Hotspur	42	15	4	2	50	15	5	5	11	15	35	69
5	Nottingham Forest	42	12	5	4	34	18	8	4	9	28	32	69
6	Aston Villa	42	17	2	2	47	15	4	3	14	15	35	68
7	Everton	42	13	6	2	43	19	5	4	12	23	29	64
8	West Ham United	42	13	3	5	41	23	7	1	13	27	39	64
9	Ipswich Town	42	11	3	7	39	23	4	10	7	25	27	58
10	Arsenal	42	11	6	4	36	19	5	4	12	22	37	58
11	West Bromwich Albion	42	11	5	5	35	20	4	7	10	16	29	57
12	Southampton	42	11	5	5	36	22	4	7	10	19	36	57
13	Stoke City	42	13	4	4	34	21	3	5	13	19	43	57
14	Norwich City	42	10	6	5	30	18	4	6	11	22	40	54
15	Notts County	42	12	4	5	37	25	3	3	15	17	46	52
16	Sunderland	42	7	10	4	30	22	5	4	12	18	39	50
17	Birmingham City	42	9	7	5	29	24	3	7	11	11	31	50
18	Luton Town	42	7	7	7	34	33	5	6	10	31	51	49
19	Coventry City	42	10	5	6	29	17	3	4	14	19	42	48
20	Manchester City	42	9	5	7	26	23	4	3	14	21	47	47
21	Swansea City	42	10	4	7	32	29	0	7	14	19	40	41
22	Brighton	42	8	7	6	25	22	1	6	14	13	46	40

1991/1992 First Division

First Division 1991-92
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	Leeds United	42	13	8	0	38	13	9	8	4	36	24	82
2	Manchester United	42	12	7	2	34	13	9	8	4	29	20	78
3	Sheffield Wednesday	42	13	5	3	39	24	8	7	6	23	25	75
4	Arsenal	42	12	7	2	51	22	7	8	6	30	24	72
5	Manchester City	42	13	4	4	32	14	7	6	8	29	34	70
6	Liverpool	42	13	5	3	34	17	3	11	7	13	23	64
7	Aston Villa	42	13	3	5	31	16	4	6	11	17	28	60
8	Nottingham Forest	42	10	7	4	36	27	6	4	11	24	31	59
9	Sheffield United	42	9	6	6	29	23	7	3	11	36	40	57
10	Crystal Palace	42	7	8	6	24	25	7	7	7	29	36	57
11	Queens Park Rangers	42	6	10	5	25	21	6	8	7	23	26	54
12	Everton	42	8	8	5	28	19	5	6	10	24	32	53
13	Wimbledon	42	10	5	6	32	20	3	9	9	21	33	53
14	Chelsea	42	7	8	6	31	30	6	6	9	19	30	53
15	Tottenham Hotspur	42	7	3	11	33	35	8	4	9	25	28	52
16	Southampton	42	7	5	9	17	28	7	5	9	22	27	52
17	Oldham Athletic	42	11	5	5	46	36	3	4	14	17	31	51
18	Norwich City	42	8	6	7	29	28	3	6	12	18	35	45
19	Coventry City	42	6	7	8	18	15	5	4	12	17	29	44
20	Luton Town	42	10	7	4	25	17	0	5	16	13	54	42
21	Notts County	42	7	5	9	24	29	3	5	13	16	33	40
22	West Ham United	42	6	6	9	22	24	3	5	13	15	35	38