Depressed supporters
Manchester City fans are revelling in Premier League title glory, Wolves supporters are relishing a return to the top fight and the Accrington Stanley faithful are in raptures after watching their team secure a place in the third tier for the first time.
Following these clubs is an absolute joy at the minute, so perhaps their supporters should spare a thought for the fans whose teams have brought them nothing but misery this season…
10. Everton
Everton fans are well aware that they haven’t snagged silverware in more than two decades. So, when Iranian businessman Farhad Moshiri purchased a majority stake in the club in 2016, nobody could blame them for feeling a collective pang of optimism. Finally, the blue half of Merseyside was equipped with the resources to compete with big-spending neighbours Liverpool.
Fast-forward two years and it’s all gone horribly wrong. Ronald Koeman paid the price for poor recruitment with his sacking in October 2017, a team largely comprised of failed signings is chasing shadows across the Goodison pitch, and a weather-beaten Sam Allardyce sits on the throne of an empire in turmoil.
9. Coventry
The days when Coventry sat proudly at English football’s top table are a distant memory, forever frozen in fading photographs and battered Panini sticker albums. Two decades ago, they were in the Premier League with stars like Gary McAllister and Dion Dublin in their ranks. Rewind 10 years and they were battling against relegation in the second tier, having dropped into it for the first time in 34 years at the end of 2000-01.
These days, Coventry are a shambolically-run club, slugging it out in League Two, playing their football at a stadium that’s brought them nothing but off-field woes while operating under the ownership of Sisu, a company who once moved the team more than 30 miles down the road to Northampton.
8. Arsenal
Success and failure are relative in football, so when supporters who have watched their team lift three FA Cups in the last four years start calling for the manager’s head, followers of more long-suffering lower-league teams can only roll their eyes in irritated bemusement.
The Wenger Out brigade have finally been granted their wish, with the Frenchman set to step aside at the end of the season. His tenure will rightly be celebrated throughout the next month, but that shouldn’t hide the fact the Gunners have declined significantly in recent years.
Life after Wenger won’t necessarily be immediately rosy either, and it’s likely that the fans’ anger will merely be redirected towards unpopular owner Stan Kroenke.
7. Ipswich
The term 'mid-table mediocrity' is bandied about a lot at Portman Road, and it’s easy to see why. This season is Ipswich's 16th successive one in the Championship, and their campaigns have long felt rather tired indeed.
Like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, though, manager Mick McCarthy has finally broken free from the loop having left his post after last month’s 1-0 win over Barnsley. The former Wolves boss was once a popular figure among the Tractor Boys faithful, but he lost large sections of the Ipswich support during his final season.
McCarthy admitted that a part of him “died” when his exit was confirmed, and likened his final days at the club to travelling in a driverless car. No doubt Town's fans feel something similar.
6. Rangers
When administration forced Rangers to hard-reboot as a Scottish League Two club in 2012, it was merely the beginning of their problems. The expectations of the Ibrox faithful remain higher than a third-placed finish during their first season back in the top flight.
The worst part about their predicament is that their supporters have to endure all it while watching Celtic move within touching distance of a historic double Treble. Since February 2015 they've won only one of their 12 meetings with the Bhoys – on penalties – and lost the most recent 5-0 at the weekend as Celtic sealed a seventh successive title. Does rumoured next manager Steven Gerrard know quite what he's getting into?
5. Leeds
Leeds fell from grace thanks to dire mismanagement in the years after reaching the 2000-01 Champions League semi-finals. These days, they’re a perpetual second-tier club, desperately seeking stability in the aftermath of owner Massimo Cellino’s time in the boardroom.
Although those dark days in the League One doldrums are behind them, a typical Leeds season now involves either a flirt with relegation or a play-off challenge which gradually falls apart into the anonymity of lower mid-table: last season – when they collapsed from fourth place with eight games left to finish just outside the play-offs – was the first time in six they hadn't finished between 13th and 15th. At the time of writing, with one game to go this season, they're... 14th.
That would be fine for some of their contemporary peers, but Leeds are a club with an illustrious history and thousands of fans willing to travel the length and breadth of the country to watch their team play – frequently badly.
4. North Ferriby United
North Ferriby were punching well above their weight in non-league football not so long ago, defeating fallen giants Wrexham at Wembley to lift the FA Trophy three years ago and climbing to the relative heights of the National League against the odds. The Villagers’ fairytale, however, is now over.
North Ferriby’s very existence is now under threat, with owner Jamie Waltham describing the club as “unsustainable” and hinting at the possibility of transferring its league standing to another local outfit.
3. Leyton Orient
In 2011, Leyton Orient submitted a formal request for tenancy at the London Stadium and a drawn-out saga began. When West Ham were touted as the stadium’s tenants, the O’s proposed a groundshare deal which fell on deaf ears, and a subsequent legal challenge failed to convince the powers-that-be to reconsider their stance.
They were playing their football in League One back then but were no doubt hoping that a move to the London Stadium would propel them to bigger and better things. As recently as 2014 Orient were in the League One play-off final – and 2-0 up at half-time – but have been relegated twice since then and are now mid-table in the National League.
2. Sunderland
It might be called the Stadium of Light, but Sunderland’s home ground has experienced only darkness of late following a dismal Championship campaign that culminated in back-to-back bottom-placed relegations.
Outgoing manager Chris Coleman attempted to remain upbeat as the Wearside ship sank, the club's fate sealed by home defeat to Burton. Owner Ellis Short has now managed to offload the club to Eastleigh bankroller Stewart Donald, but you'll forgive a lack of street parties from fans setting the sat-nav for Accrington Stanley.
1. Brechin City
Last season was a stark contrast to 2017-18 for Brechin who, under the guidance of manager Darren Dods, booked a return to the second tier of Scottish football for the first time in 11 years via the Championship play-offs. The current campaign, however, yielded just four points and zero wins.
Steven Seagal could have filmed Under Siege 3 in Brechin’s goalmouth at a number of their matches this season, and their goal difference finished at a wretched -70. Brechin were put out of their misery last month when a 2-0 defeat by Greenock Morton confirmed their relegation to Scottish League One.
