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The north-south divide in football

League football started in the North of England.   But in recent years it has been tilting towards the south according to an analysis by The Athletic and there is no sign of 'levelling up'.

The most northern-based Premier League season was 2008-09, featuring four north-east sides in Newcastle, Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Hull, with Bolton, Blackburn and Wigan also still knocking around in the north west.

Meanwhile, it’s notable that several north-west clubs who competed in the Premier League in recent memory have shown absolutely no sign of bouncing back. Blackburn and Bolton were both relegated in 2012, the former briefly dropped down to League One, the latter as far as League Two — something they share with Blackpool, relegated in 2011. Wigan have been relegated to the third tier three times since they won the FA Cup in 2013.

Going back further, Oldham were a Premier League outfit in the 1990s, but have spent the past two seasons near the bottom of League Two.

J James Reade, head of economics at the University of Reading, not only demonstrated that clubs in the north contributed a particularly large percentage of supporters throughout the 20th century, it also suggested southern crowds were flakier and more likely to stay away if their side wasn’t performing well. 

In recent years, significant stadium builds have all been in the south. The five newest grounds in the Premier League are those at Arsenal (2006), Brighton (2011), West Ham (2016), Tottenham (2019) and Brentford (2020). And although most football supporters would rather attend matches at historic grounds such as Molineux or Goodison Park, the economic benefits of a new ground are considerable.

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