5 clubs we miss in the Premier League

#4 Coventry City

Coventry once had great players like Mustapha Hadji, Robbie Keane and Gary McAllister

Coventry City are hardly English football’s most decorated club – a lone FA Cup triumph in 1987 to their name – and they haven’t been in the Premier League since the 2000/01 season although they were part of the inaugural season. But if any set of fans deserve a return to the Premier League, it’s fans of the Sky Blues, who have suffered like few others over the past few years.

Hedge fund SISU have systematically stripped the club of the majority of its assets – selling any decent players who come through the ranks, losing the rights to the Ricoh Arena to Rugby Union side Wasps thanks to a feud with the local council, and in 2013/14 they even moved the club’s home games to Northampton – miles away from Coventry. Right now the club sit in the bottom tier of English football – League Two.

So why does the Premier League miss them? Well, despite not having much success during their decade in the Premier League, Coventry were always good for an upset – their 1997/98 win over Manchester United and 1999/00 win over Arsenal still appear on highlight reels to this day thanks to the entertaining nature of the games.

In their EPL days they also brought in plenty of fun, exotic players – the likes of Mustapha Hadji and Viorel Moldovan immediately spring to mind for example.

If we’re honest, under the current ownership the main thing Coventry would bring back to the Premier League would be a sense of total chaos – fans simply don’t know what horrors could lie around the corner with SISU at the helm – but if a buyout were to happen, then the club could be considered somewhat of a sleeping giant, with a large, loyal fanbase and one of the better stadiums outside of the Premier League.

In general though, Coventry added an element of fun and a strong identity to the EPL which is why they’re still missed some 17 years on.