The villains couldn’t miss. Its president McGregor was the great driving force behind the first League in the world in which this club was present. Aston Villa is now going through a very bad time; in the pit of relegation, it is in the Premier League. However, it should be remembered that the Birmingham club won the European Cup in 1982 and is one of the most successful teams in England. Valencia’s Carles Gil, who has been on the winter market since Mestalla, is the fans’ great hope of saving themselves from relegation to second division.
Also in the north of the country, in the city of Blackburn on this occasion (about 100 thousand inhabitants, like Barakaldo, Lugo or Lorca). This club sounds much more like footballers as it has won the English league on three occasions. In the year 1991, Kenny Dalglish arrives as director of the club. A year later, they pay 3.4 million pounds for a young striker named Alan Shearer. The bet is round as in 1995 he was named the best player in the competition and was key in the last league won. Half in sky blue and a half in white on their shirt, and with their trousers on white, Blackburn Rovers are a historic club and founder of both the Football League and the subsequent Premiership.
Founded in 1874 by the Reverend Joseph Farrall Wright, its original name was “Christ Church Bolton.” As a good team in the Lancaster area, it had a very high standard. We say this because six of the 12 teams that founded the English League came from that region. With a white shirt and blue trousers, this historic club is located in the city of Bolton, next to Manchester and which by size would be comparable to Gijon or Granada. Several times champion of the English Cup, Bolton Wanderers is the English team that has been in the English first division for the longest time in all its formats. Players like Gary Cahill, Nicolas Anelka, Ivรกn Campo, Riga or Kakuta have played for this team.
In the north of England and the city of Burnley (something like Benidorm or Ferrol by size), this humble team was founded in 1882. Known as “the Royals” because of their connections to the monarchy, in the 1889/90 season, they achieved the dubious record of 17 games without a victory. They did, however, win the Lancaster Cup. Before blue and white stripes on their shirt, now maroon in the center and blue on the sleeves, this historic club returned to the Premiership in 2009 after 33 years without being among the elite of English football. Since then, it has been there, going up and down. Some players we remember from this team are the Jamaican Sinclair or Ian Wright.
This team from the city of Derby, an important population that we could compare by the number of inhabitants to Cartagena, Elche, or Oviedo, was founded in 1884. Its best time came in the 70s when it won two Football League championships and even reached the semi-finals of the old European Cup. Its shield is a ram, and that is how its fans call themselves, in honor of their relationship with the First Regiment of the Derby Militia, which has this animal as a mascot.
Little needs to be said about this historic club. In the shadow of Liverpool, it has competed in the English top-flight for 118 seasons, the highest number of games played in this division. Everton has won the league nine times. Their most glorious period was in the 1980s when they won two national championships, one FA Cup, four Community Shields and one Super Cup. They also won the 1985 European Cup Winners’ Cup after beating Rapid Vienna. However, UEFA sanctions against English teams after the Heysel tragedy would prevent him from defending the title the following season.
If we say, Nottingham, we usually think of Nottingham Forest, that historic English club with the red shirt and white trousers that won the European Cup in 1979 and 1980. However, the really historic one is Notts County. Notts was one of the founding clubs of the English League, dressed in black and white stripes (like Juventus in Turin because the Italians acquired their colors in 1903 due to the influence of this British team). Notts is considered the oldest professional football club in the world. Its best result was third place in the league in the 1890/91 season and the achievement of the FA Cup in 1984.
The first English League champion and the first to achieve an FA Cup double, he wears a white shirt and blue trousers. Located in the city of Preston, to the north, and comparable to Jaen or Cadiz. Originally conceived as a cricket club, it first played football in 1878 as an alternative to play in winter. The two best-known footballers to come out of Preston are Tom Finney and Bill Shankly.
The Red-White of Stoke was also one of the founders of this championship. The club belongs to the city of Stoke-on-Trent, comparable to Tenerife or Pamplona in size and located in the west of the country. The club is known by the nickname “The Potters” because of the large industry in the city. Their greatest achievement to date was winning the League Cup in 1972 after beating Chelsea 2-1. Historically, Stoke’s biggest rivals are West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton. Players such as Michael Owen, Peter Crouch, Marc Muniesa and Bojan have played for this team Krkiฤ.
The Hawthrones, the stadium of the “Baggies” (the name given to their fans and whose origin is not clear) was one of the first to watch English League matches. George Salter’s factory workers founded West Bromwich Albion FC in 1878. In its more than 100-year history, it has won the 1919/20 season’s League, five FA Cups, and the 1966 League Cup. Its main rivals are Aston Villa as well as Wolverhampton. With the latter, he maintains one of the most passionate, as well as violent, derbies in English football, the so-called “Black Derby”. The club has been coached by Pepe Mel, Roy Hodgson and Roberto Di Matteo.
Another of the founders of English football plays in the central part of the United Kingdom, under the name of its city, Wolverhampton. Founded in 1877, their most successful period was back in the 1950s when they won up to three league titles under Stan Cullis. Their fans are known as the “Wolves”. As an anecdote, Wolverhampton was one of the first English clubs to install floodlights in their stadium, specifically in 1953 when they went to televise some of their games. The player most remembered by his fans is Billy Wright, but perhaps you will hear more from other players like the Swedish defender Bjorklund who went to Valencia, Pennant former Arsenal who went to Zaragoza, or Steven Fletcher.
