ROCHDALE

Rochdale is one of those football clubs up north you can’t imagine supporting.  You envisage a real life Barnstoneworth United.

AFC WIMBLEDON

For many years Wimbledon were the ultimate football underdogs.  Then the club died and was sold to Milton Keynes.  With this they proceeded to rip it up and start again.

LUTON TOWN

Danny Baker once said “it’s never too late to hate Luton”.  This pretty much sums the club up following their dubious years of plastic pitch playing and banning away supporters.  Eventually they plummeted through the football league and ended up in the non-league.  They came back but nobody wanted them.

NOTTS COUNTY

Notts County come with the claim of being the oldest football club in the world.  They play in black and white stripes and come with the nickname The Magpies.  They are the more likeable club in Nottingham.

DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE FC

Dagenham & Redbridge is relatively young football club on the London/Essex border

AFC BOURNEMOUTH

In many ways AFC Bournemouth is responsible for Harry Redknapp.

STEVENAGE FC

Stevenage is a very new, fresh football club founded in 1976.

SHEFFIELD UNITED

The Blades are the ugly kid brother of Sheffield Wednesday.  They possess a reputation of being scrappers and have from time to time over the years proved quite the obstacle and competition.

DONCASTER ROVERS

Doncaster Rovers is a mysterious football club from up north.

BARNSLEY FC

Barnsley is another Yorkshire club.  They’ve never really amounted to much more than a nuisance in the grand scheme of things.

NOTTINGHAM FOREST

Nottingham Forest is one of those clubs that once had a bit of life, a bit of gusto.  Their most famous moments came at the hands of their most famous personality: Brian Clough.  This is a team that once won the European Cup.  This will never happen again.  Unfortunately once the rot set in with Clough, the club never recovered and eventually slipped down into the lower leagues.  It’s appropriate though, Nottingham is a rotten place.

BLACKPOOL FC

Blackpool is a club that plays in orange.  Fail.

COVENTRY CITY

When I first got into football something weird happened: Coventry City won the FA Cup by beating Tottenham Hotspur.  Now this was not a club that should be achieving such feats and realistically they aren’t likely to ever do it again.  It was a freak moment and an exciting one all the same.  The victory even prompted one of my best friends at school to support them.  It was also around this time that their goalkeeper Steve Ogrizovic became the first keeper I had ever heard of to score.  How awesome was this team?

Away from that, there only other claim to fame is their association with Jimmy Hill.

HULL CITY

Hull City is an odd football club.  Their nickname is The Tigers and for years they bounced about the lower leagues much like a harmless little brother.  Then suddenly they wound up in the top flight and they grew something of a head.

At one point Jan Molby was their manager.

BRISTOL CITY

Bristol City is one of those clubs stuck in the sticks that have a strange rivalry with close neighbours (Bristol Rovers) that no one else in the country gives a flying fuck about.

PORT VALE

Port Vale is a club based in Staffordshire and have a curious rivalry with Stoke City.  When I first got into football they had a Welsh striker called Andy Jones that would seemingly score for fun (like Steve Bull without the longevity).  Strangely no one ever seems to remember him.

Robbie Williams claims to be a supporter.

SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY

Sheffield Wednesday is a club that oozes tradition.  It is based in Yorkshire has a unique rivalry with its neighbours Sheffield United when really you would think they’d be more concerned with topping Leeds United.

For me they are the club that featured in Ripping Yarns.

TRANMERE ROVERS

Tranmere Rovers is the other club (the third club) from Liverpool.  They really are poor cousins of the big two but occasionally they do have spurts and flurries of exciting activity.  At times they can be an exciting proposition.

YEOVIL TOWN

Yeovil Town has only been in the football league since 2003 and prior to that they were best known as being FA Cup giant killers.  Many believed the secret to their success be in the sloping pitch of their Huish Park ground.

SWANSEA CITY

Swansea City is another Welsh football club that plays in the English leagues.  Does nobody see anything wrong with that?