8. Tottenham
For all of Harry Kane’s goalscoring feats, Dele Alli’s creativity and Christian Eriksen’s midfield majesty, Tottenham's fan base is frustrated. The Lilywhites’ summer transfer business (or lack of it), coupled with their delayed move to a new 62,000-capacity home, has led to increased disgruntlement on the Wembley terraces.
In Mauricio Pochettino Tottenham have an ambitious manager who has elevated the club to the status of Champions League regulars within four years. The Argentine has assembled one of the most talented squads in the English game, and most of the club's stars are tied down to long-term deals.
Yet annoyance prevails. Tottenham are as good as anyone in the country on their day, but they've repeatedly fallen short in their bid for silverware. Fans of the north Londoners are troubled by the realisation that their side is more than capable of ending a decade-long trophy drought, but that their best chances to do so may have already passed. And when will it change?
7. Newcastle
Newcastle were everyone’s second team (unless you happened to be a Sunderland fan) during the swashbuckling days of Kevin Keegan in the 1990s. Not only were the Magpies great entertainers, they were underdogs with enough bite to challenge Manchester United’s domestic domination. For Magpies, that period was a rollercoaster ride of thrilling football and heartbreaking collapses.
The St James' Park faithful were no doubt dejected when their team failed to win the title in 1995/96, but that was nothing compared to their frustration today. Toon followers certainly don't expect Rafa Benitez’s modest crop of players to emulate the feats of the Keegan generation, but they do crave progress and have been left exasperated by a distinct lack of it under current owner Mike Ashley.
The last decade has been a mire of underinvestment, controversial managerial sackings, relegations and protests. Most supporters are united in the belief that the blame lies at Ashley’s door, and the many failed takeover bids in recent years have only furthered their misery.
6. Dundee United
REMEMBERED... When Dundee United beat Barça in 1987… twice
Only one British team have a 100% record against Barcelona in competitive fixtures, and it’s not Manchester United, Liverpool, Celtic or Rangers. That honour goes to Dundee United, who cemented their place in Scottish football folklore by defeating the Catalan behemoths home and away en route to the final of the UEFA Cup just over 30 years ago.
The mid-1980s were heady times for the tangerine army, who - along with Alex Ferguson's Aberdeen - posed a major threat to the Old Firm duopoly. But fast-forward to 2018 and the mood at Tannadice is a far cry from that of the Barça-busting era.
Since dropping out of the Scottish Premiership in 2016, United have found life in the second tier tougher than anticipated. The expectation for the last two seasons has been to challenge for the title, or at least achieve promotion via the play-offs, but both objectives have gone unfulfilled. The Tangerines are now on their fifth manager since relegation, and currently find themselves six points adrift of top spot in the second flight (albeit with a game in hand).
5. Aston Villa
If there’s one game that epitomises Aston Villa’s time in the Championship, it’s the 3-3 home draw with Preston earlier this season. It played out like this: the Villans were 2-0 up at half-time, down to 10 men by the 54th minute, and pegged back to 2-2 by the 79th. Soon after that, Preston were 3-2 ahead. If that wasn't dramatic enough, the hosts then went on to equalise and win a penalty in stoppage time, only for Glenn Whelan to fluff his lines from 12 yards. Oh, and manager Steve Bruce had a cabbage thrown at him pre-match. Yeah, that.
At times during their Championship life, Villa have been their own worst enemy. Despite having one of the most talented squads in the division, the West Midlanders' stay in the second tier has so far been a tale of underachievement and heartache, as exemplified by a gut-wrenching play-off defeat by Fulham last term. Throw some financial turmoil and a change of ownership into the mix, and Villa fans have really been put through the meat grinder since their team bowed out of the top flight in April 2016.
Bruce was relieved of his duties a day after that cabbage pelting, and former Brentford boss Dean Smith is now the man charged with steering the claret and blue ship back to Premier League waters. A club of Villa’s stature belongs in the top flight, but their journey since exiting the division has been far bumpier than the club's fans were anticipating. At least things look to be getting better.
4. Hull City
The term ‘yo-yo club’ is rarely used in a complimentary context, but Hull fans must wish it applied to them. These days the Tigers are more like a broken yo-yo, dangling above the Championship drop zone for the majority of last season and now struggling to find any upward momentum in the opening months of the current campaign.
To compare Hull to the aforementioned stringed toy would imply that they were destined to ping their way back to the top flight at the earliest opportunity following their latest relegation in May 2017. But the promotion campaigns of 2008, 2013 and 2016 almost feel like they happened to a different club.
Hull’s relationship with the top flight has always been an uncomfortable one. They made a decent fist of it under Marco Silva in 2017, but a 4-0 loss to Crystal Palace on the penultimate weekend of the season completed their hat-trick of Premier League relegations. Another demotion could follow in 2018/19 - although this time it's League One that looms.
3. Chesterfield
Back in 2010, Chesterfield were moving into a new 10,000 all-seater stadium and boldly setting their sights on the Championship. Since then, however, it’s been a torrid saga featuring budgetary woes, a boardroom walkout, a spree of unsuccessful managerial appointments and, finally, relegation to non-league football for the first time in their history at the end of last season.
The Spireites have a proud history and were competing in the League One play-offs under Paul Cook only three years ago, losing out to Preston in the semi-finals. In 2014, they were in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy final at Wembley, losing to Peterborough. Their supporters can only dream of the days when play-off defeats were the worst kind of heartache they had to endure.
Before the current campaign began, Chesterfield fans were hoping to see their team launch a bid for the National League title. Instead, they're currently languishing in 19th place in the table, a whopping 24 points behind leaders Wrexham.
2. Hibernian
Hibernian’s cup final hoodoo came to a spectacular end in 2016, when Dave Gray’s stoppage-time header brought a 3-2 win over Rangers in the Scottish Cup showpiece. With it, they sealed the trophy for the first time since 1902. It was a day that will live long in the memory of Hibs fans, but the club still has work to do before it can cast off the ‘big-game bottlers’ tag permanently.
Historically, few teams have managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory quite as often. Prior to their 2016 success under Alan Stubbs, they had accrued the worst cup final record of any Scottish team since the 19th century, winning just five of 23 Scottish Cup and League Cup deciders.
Admittedly, Hibernian have gone from strength to strength since returning to the Scottish Premiership at the third time of asking, and current boss Neil Lennon has built a side with enough quality to challenge the likes of Aberdeen and Rangers for second spot in the division.
In reality, though, successful times are almost as hard to stomach as perpetual failure at Easter Road because the club are still prone to ‘Hibsing it’ every so often. The most recent example was a crushing defeat by local rivals Hearts in the penultimate game of last season, a result which denied them the opportunity to stake a claim for the runners-up spot on the final day.
1. Stockport County
Manchester United fans who think being eclipsed by Manchester City gives them the right to throw their toys out of the pram should try supporting a team based less than 10 miles down the round.
It’s hard to believe that Stockport were playing their football one division above City as recently as 1998/99; since then, their fans have had to endure multiple relegations, administration following a spell of behind-the-scenes chaos, and even the loss of their professional status.
County dropped out of the Football League for the first time in their history in 2010/11, then slumped into the regionalised sixth tier of English football, the National League North. The north-west outfit have subsequently thrown down the gauntlet to the rest of non-league and publicised their ambition to return to League Two by 2020.
Unfortunately, though, it appears that not everyone at the club got the memo: Stockport are currently 10th in the National League North, 10 points behind current leaders Bradford Park Avenue.
So the next time you hear a United fan complaining about the state of their team, tell them to try sitting through 90 minutes at Edgeley Park on a freezing winter night...
