There really weren't. Liverpool were winning everything between Forest and Derby having their brief go. Outliers were Southampton picking up a cup and West Ham in 1975 and 1980. Apart from that it was a couple of Manchester United cup wins.
Dont take this the wrong way but thats nonsense and , as I am getting a bit tired of this re-writing of football history I have taken the trouble to prove why.
Here is some criteria and I think we can agree. I have stuck to the time period from when I first started watching football until the end of the nineties so I dont get accused of moving goal posts.
In the last 15 years the aim has been to qualify for the champions league or europe. Top four is the aim and the measure of success for the big six. Top 6 gets you in Europe and occaissonaly that goes to 7th.
From 1974 to 1989 ( the seasons I references earlier)the following teams finished in the top four that were not big Sky six
74-5 Derby Ipswich Everton Stoke
75-6 QPR Derby
76-7 Ipswich Villa
77 -8 Forest Everton
78-9 WBA Everton
80 Ipswich
81-Villa Ipswich WBA
82 Ipswich
83- Watford
84-Southampton Forest
85-Everton
86 West Ham
87 Everton
88 Forest, Everton
89 Forest Norwich.
Thats 12 different clubs in 15 years.
So every year at least one of the teams outside what we now consider the big Sky Six finished top 4 and would have qualified for the champions League and , in spite of Liverpool being the dominant force , Forest , Derby Villa and Everton also won the top Division title.
From 2006 to 2020 the only team outside the big six to finish in the top four was Leciester in 2016 who won the League.
All other times those places were occupied by a big six team. Only five times in those fifteen years has a big six team been ousted from the top 5- 3 x Everton 1x Newcastle 1x Leciester
Basically 14 teams are fighting for 7th now with the current set up and format and its not good for the game. So to level the playing field putting the big six against each other in the FA cup 3rd round and the Carabao cup would widen the chance for the other 14 to win an honour or a trophy and qualify for europe. So much so that , even though it could cost us a european place I would be delighted on one hand If Crystal palace won the cup and qualified as it breaks this absolute money backed stranglehold the big six have on football. Its going to be even worse next year as Newcastle will join that throng and it will then be 13 fighting for scraps of which we will be one.
I accept that the technical quality of the football has improved in the premier league as have the pitches but so much has also been lost. A good hard tackle can ( not always) get you send off. Thats not right. Handball is now a science as is Offside and mm are measured by a VAR who cannot interfere in other circumstances where its obvious there has been an error ( see Raul v Leeds).
We have put eveything in place to encourage the best footballers in the world to come and play here at the best stadiums in what is lauded as the best league in the world and we have done it , not for the benfit of the fans but to appease the sky big six and its worked. And its fucking boring to me. You are welcome to feel differently , but given what many of you pay (£70 a shirt , 700 a season ticket etc) its a bit of a rigged system.
