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Longest surviving record 2 points for a win points total

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    Longest surviving record 2 points for a win points total

    So sometime back when football was played on mud and everyone watched the FA Cup Final, the football league changed from awarding 2 points for a win to awarding 3 points for a win.

    Some teams would have immediately set a new points record in that season. But some will have had dire seasons, barely mustered 50 points and presumably their old record points total from the 2 points for a win era would have remained.

    Does anyone know how long it took for the last 2 points for a win record to disappear from the record books, or even if there is still a club who have never earned as many points in the 3 point era as they did in the 2 point era?

    #2
    Coventry spring to mind, although they probably broke their record last season getting promoted(!) from the fourth division via the playoffs

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      #3
      Hmmm. It probably come from the largest number of games played, so the bottom two divisions after 1950. Port Vale got 69 points in Div 3 North 53-54. Villa 70 in div 3 in 71-72 (but I imagine they've done better than that since.) There are a bunch more in that period. I'm not sure Lincoln have ever done better than the 69pts they got in Div3 North 51-52, for example.

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        #4
        Lincoln City set the Fourth Division record for points in a season with 74 in 1975-76.

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          #5
          With reference to football being played on mud in the past, were there any grounds back in the past (40 years ago or so) universally accepted to have decent playing surfaces all or most of the season?

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            #6
            Wembley comes immediately to mind, though I presume you are thinking about league grounds. Maybe Highbury?

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              #7
              Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
              Lincoln City set the Fourth Division record for points in a season with 74 in 1975-76.
              That can't still stand can it?

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                #8
                Originally posted by Patrick Thistle View Post
                That can't still stand can it?
                And no its not. Northampton Town got 99 points in 2016.

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
                  Wembley comes immediately to mind,
                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4oQTUv37nU

                  (A bit unfair as horses had been involved.)

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                    #10
                    There was no "Fourth Division" in 2016

                    In any event, if the Wiki is accurate, Lincoln City's record points total in the Football League is 77 in the the 1981-82 Third Division season (the first featuring three points for a win).

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                      #11
                      Coventry's 2 point record of 60 was beaten by 3 with a 10th place finish in their cup-winning year of 1987, and a handful of midtable finishes on their descent through the leagues also bettered it. However, their promotion total of 75 for 6th is a new record, and I would suggest it's the lowest 3 point record going, It's tough to find a club with no promotions since 1983.

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                        #12
                        I remember Portman Road was always praised for the condition of the pitch back in the day.

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                          #13
                          Originally posted by jwdd27 View Post
                          Coventry's 2 point record of 60 was beaten by 3 with a 10th place finish in their cup-winning year of 1987, and a handful of midtable finishes on their descent through the leagues also bettered it. However, their promotion total of 75 for 6th is a new record, and I would suggest it's the lowest 3 point record going, It's tough to find a club with no promotions since 1983.
                          I went with the obvious and Everton but their points totals between 1984 and 1986 of 90, 86, 86 ruined that. They haven't got above 72 since.

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                            #14
                            One interesting question (well, for me at least) is how many important league placings would have been different if the old 2 points system had remained in place? Obviously, you can't really extrapolate much from this, as teams now play with a different attitude than before (though parking the bus is maybe much more entrenched than it used to be), but it would be interesting to see if any league titles or relegations might have turned out differently.

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                              #15
                              Two I have seen are that Man United would have won the title in 1995 rather than Blackburn, and Coventry would have been relegated in 1985 rather than Norwich. I'm sure there are many others.
                              What is also quite interesting is how much of a trailblazer the English league was. Memory tells me that all football went 3 points at the same time, but in fact FIFA, UEFA, Spain Germany and Italy all waited until 1994 and 95 before taking the plunge.

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                                #16
                                Completely opposite to the question asked but Ipswich would've won the league in 1975 (on Goal Average) if it had been 3 rather than 2 points for a win. As it was Derby won it by 3 points and Ipswich finished 3rd, pipped to the runners up spot by Liverpool (on Goal Average).

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                                  #17
                                  Interesting that Norwich 'lost out' in 1985, as they were the first beneficiaries of 3 points for a win, in 1982. If it had still been 2 points for a win they'd have missed out on promotion to division one. The team they pipped that first year thanks to two more wins but five fewer draws were Sheffield Wednesday.

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                                    #18
                                    Fine example of karmic balance that relegation was, then.

                                    And thanks to the 3-point system having been adopted by then, we've got the unusual distinction from 1985 of having been relegated and won the League Cup in the same season. I rather cherish this fact, only slightly lessened by the fact it was Norwich's last major trophy and I came in just over three years too late for it. In 30 years (as of last month, give or take) following them they've never won another, of course.
                                    Last edited by Various Artist; 16-09-2018, 22:14.

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                                      #19
                                      This is a bit of an exercise in arithmetic though as Wednesday beat Norwich 2-1 at Hillsborough on the final day of that season and Norwich only got promoted because Leicester ballsed up their game (against Shrewsbury I think). Wednesday had nothing to play for that day as Bolton had ended our promotion hopes the weekend before. If there had been something riding on it for us and it had been a potential straight shoot out for promotion we'd presumably have approached the game in a different manner.

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