Are Tottenham Worthy Of Their Big Six Label

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The Big Six in the Premier League. Both Manchester’s, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham. The opening quintet have all collected titles in the top tier of English football since 1992, the same cannot be said about the final member of the club.

A point of contention for many football fans, to the point where they ask whether Spurs deserve entry to this elite members club. Admittedly their current form is putting their invite in serious jeopardy but is it the weight of history that allows them a seat at this particular table?

Firstly, we have to go back to before football was ‘invented’. In a pre-Premier League era, English football had a members club called the Big Five. Chelsea and Manchester City not considered the best of the best, Everton joining the foursome of Liverpool, Arsenal, Man United and Spurs.

These five clubs had the lion’s share of television coverage in the late 1980s and it was these outfits that drove the change to the Premier League in which they all operate today. Of course, this group and Chelsea also have the distinction of being ever presents in the division since 1992.

So on that criteria alone, Tottenham’s claim to be one of the biggest clubs in the country does have some initial weight attached. Then again, as Everton’s rejection from the Big Six shows you cannot rely on the weight of history forever. While that history also allows us to look at the Big Six from a numerical perspective. If we look at things from a Points Per Game (PPG) angle, we can see who the all-time Premier League powerhouses are:

Each of the Big Six lock out the top six berths in the all-time Premier League table. Tottenham’s PPG coming in at 1.53. However, there is a caveat in that Manchester City have played 190 less games (five less Premier League seasons) than the North London outfit and still have a stronger PPG.

A case of it is not necessarily how long you are in the Premier League, more a case of what you do when you are there. If we ranked the same table by simply all-time scored then it would be no surprise that all the ever presents and the monstrous Manchester City would be in the top seven.

Compare Tottenham and Everton and you can see why one club gets its entry into the Big Six and the other does not. Both clubs have played a total of 1,293 Premier League games at the time of writing, the former 245 points better off and 0.19 better off on PPG.

At the same time, it is not all about the number of points you collect, it is also about where you finish at the end of each season. Therefore, if we look at a table of average Premier League finishes, we can see where Tottenham stack up against their counterparts:

Once again, Tottenham find themselves in the top six by this metric, their case for continual membership within the Big Six getting stronger. They have an all-time overall finish of 7.70, nearest challengers Newcastle at 9.60.

Of course with the current trajectories of both clubs, Newcastle could overtake their North London rivals in a couple of seasons time – a few more European finishes for the Magpies and the balance could be titled in their favour.

There is one issue in all of this, should Igor Tudor’s Tottenham fall to relegation at the end of the season. Their average would only dip to around 8.00 but ultimately be frozen until their return, falsifying this metric slightly.

At the same time, a dividing line between the creation of the Premier League and the creation of the Big Six as an entity probably needs establishing. The Big Six unofficially crafted when both Tottenham and Manchester City reached the Champions League at the start of the 2010s.

Tottenham getting their first, City already with Abu Dhabi money sloshing around their bank account. If we account for that and look at the average finishes since 2010/11, does the picture change over a shorter space of time?

The answer is no.

Tottenham on average have finished in a position of 5.60. That in itself says Big Six worthy. Less than a single position behind Manchester United. Only 1.47 places separating Liverpool. Tottenham and three of the usual suspects in between.

This suggests that the Big Six have made the top six a virtual lockout in the past 15 or years or so. Of course, there have been some exceptions to that rule – the biggest of the lot when Leicester won the Premier League 10 years ago.

Their average position stands at 9.90, frozen due to relegation to the Championship but at one stage they arguably had the most valid claim to disposing Tottenham from the Big Six. Premier League titles, one better off but now one division worse off.

Which also gives further credence to whether Tottenham are a true Big Six entity, they may have not scaled the mountain top of English football since 1961 but they have been the model for consistency in the past two decades– rather than the boom and bust we have seen at the King Power.

Of course, you can look at all the numbers you want in order to support your argument and although the do stack up in Tottenham’s favour, they have a greater concern at present. A concern about whether they stay in the Premier League or not, which could see their Big Six membership revoked.