Smallest town in the first division of your country

[mistral]

BTW: This is one thing that I love about football and international cup competitions: As a football fan, you get to learn things about foreign countries and cities that you probably wouldn't ever get to know in another context.

It's how I learned about basic geography when I was 5 or 6 years old; where clubs, cities and countries were on a map. The history/current affairs bits followed a little bit (7 years old) later, starting with why there were different East and West Germany teams at the 1974 World Cup.

[spoonman]

Yeah, I have similar childhood memories. Although it took me a little longer to figure out why there are separate national teams for England, Scotland, Wales & N.Ireland...

And the names of exotic clubs helped me understand the pronunciation and spelling of foreign languages: I learned that Székesfehérvár was Hungarian, while Dnjepropetrowsk (German transcription) was "Russian", in the sense of "being part of the Soviet Union".

Nowadays, I have more difficulties with these things. For example, I still get confused about Latvia and Lithuania (Estonia is easier because of the language being totally different), and I can't allocate some of the Balkan clubs to their respective countries.

[Mack]

Well, Tromsø already holds a record: the most northern city with a team in a top league in Europe?

At 69° 40'N, I think we can safely that Tromsø is likely to have the world's most northerly football team for quite a while to come. It also helps that it's in one of the most beautiful parts of the world as well. It might be cold up there, but the scenery is magnificent.

Thanks for pointing that out. Your post has just prompted me to look up the English Wikipedia article about Tromsø, and I've learned that electronic music duo Röyksopp hails from Tromsø.

And actually, it doesn't seem to be that cold up there: The lowest temperature ever was -18°C, and the January average is just -4°C. But 2 months in winter without sunlight must be quite depressing...

BTW: This is one thing that I love about football and international cup competitions: As a football fan, you get to learn things about foreign countries and cities that you probably wouldn't ever get to know in another context.

Yes, it is the northernmost top division club in the world. There are not many places at all this far north that has a permanent population. As you are pointing out, the climate is not that cold, thanks to the Gulf stream. But it gets dark in the winters.

[Lyonnais]

This is one thing that I love about football and international cup competitions: As a football fan, you get to learn things about foreign countries and cities that you probably wouldn't ever get to know in another context.

oh yes and it was easy to learn foreign capitales when i was a kid

but it also works in the other way.
Football is an extraordinary marketing tool for cities themselves (or for some very small countries).
How many cities are (internationnally) known only thanks to their football team ? I don't even speak about the very small cities, typically Hoffenheim, but also middle-sized cities. For instance, I would be interested to know how many times a city like Lyon is mentioned in the biggest international media and what's the part of football-related topics (more than 80%?).
And it would be interesting to see the impact of a great football club (typically MU, Barca, Liverpool) not only on the visibility of the city, but also on the image of the city. Is it neutral or does it increase positive image?
All the kind of things should be interesting to study. Unfortunately, professional reports are totally out-priced for somebody simply curious.

[enxogo]

In the same way, I must admit that Silverstone, Hockhenheim, Nürburgrig, Monza, Jarez de la Frontera, Spa-Francorchamps or Brands Hatch would be strange names for me if Formula 1 didn't exist.

[exile]

This is one thing that I love about football and international cup competitions: As a football fan, you get to learn things about foreign countries and cities that you probably wouldn't ever get to know in another context.

oh yes and it was easy to learn foreign capitales when i was a kid

but it also works in the other way.
Football is an extraordinary marketing tool for cities themselves (or for some very small countries).
How many cities are (internationnally) known only thanks to their football team ? I don't even speak about the very small cities, typically Hoffenheim, but also middle-sized cities. For instance, I would be interested to know how many times a city like Lyon is mentioned in the biggest international media and what's the part of football-related topics (more than 80%?).
And it would be interesting to see the impact of a great football club (typically MU, Barca, Liverpool) not only on the visibility of the city, but also on the image of the city. Is it neutral or does it increase positive image?
All the kind of things should be interesting to study. Unfortunately, professional reports are totally out-priced for somebody simply curious.

What I find interesting is that the capital cities of the major countries in general do not have outstanding club sides

Rome - has never won CL or Champions Cup
Berlin - same (in fact no European tournaments at all)
London - same
Moscow - same
Paris - same

(obviously Madrid is the major exception)

the great clubs in general come from large "provincial" cities in the major countries, usually industrial ones (eg Milan, Manchester) or large cities in smaller countries (Lisbon, Porto, Amsterdam, Glasgow, Brussels, Rotterdam)

[vlad-tzepesh]

The clubs playing in the 2009/10 season of the Romanian Liga I hail from the following cities (ordered by population within the city limits, estimated for 1 January 2009):

1. Bucharest - 1.944.367 (Steaua, Dinamo, Rapid)
2. Timisoara - 311.586 (FC Timisoara)
3. Iasi - 308.843 (Politehnica)
4. Cluj-Napoca - 306.474 (CFR)
5. Craiova - 298.928 (Universitatea)
6. Galati - 291.354 (Otelul)
7. Brasov - 278.048 (FC Brasov)
8. Ploiesti - 229.285 (Astra)
9. Piatra Neamt - 107.504 (Ceahlaul)
10. Targu Jiu - 95.669 (Pandurii)
11. Bistrita - 84.155 (Gloria)
12. Vaslui - 70.154 (FC Vaslui)
13. Alba Iulia - 67.970 (Unirea)
14. Medias - 52.913 (Gaz Metan)
15. Curtea de Arges - 32.848 (International)
16. Urziceni - 17.284 (Unirea)

As you can see, the team from the smallest town is none other than our champion

The largest cities without a team in the top league are: Constanta (~ 304.000), Braila (~ 215.000) and Oradea (~ 205.000).

[seso]

Sweden:

1) Kalmar is the smallest with a population of 34 000 and their team Kalmar FF has recently won the first leg in the final round of Intertoto Cup against Twente.

This season, Trelleborg is the smallest with 25 643 inhabitants (year 2005).

In the 2010 season Åtvidaberg is the smallest city with Åtvidabergs FF and 6,947 inhabitants in 2005!! They have even won two swedish titles in the 70s!!
Actually Mjällby is the smallest one with Mjällby AIF and 1,272 inhabitants in 2005!! They have a stadium that holds 7500 people though... They are currently 5th in the division!!

[mistral]

What I find interesting is that the capital cities of the major countries in general do not have outstanding club sides.

Rome - has never won CL or Champions Cup
Berlin - same (in fact no European tournaments at all)
London - same
Moscow - same
Paris - same

(obviously Madrid is the major exception).

It's astonishing that not much has changed in the past few years. The only (new) major capital city to have won the Champions League since 2009 is London (with Chelsea), although Paris have come close as well.

As for the smallest towns in the top football leagues; have any tiny towns managed to get a team into their top divisions in the past few years?

[Lorric]

What I find interesting is that the capital cities of the major countries in general do not have outstanding club sides.

Rome - has never won CL or Champions Cup
Berlin - same (in fact no European tournaments at all)
London - same
Moscow - same
Paris - same

(obviously Madrid is the major exception).

It's astonishing that not much has changed in the past few years. The only (new) major capital city to have won the Champions League since 2009 is London (with Chelsea), although Paris have come close as well.

As for the smallest towns in the top football leagues; have any tiny towns managed to get a team into their top divisions in the past few years?

Burnley and Watford are the smallest current residents I think with 88,920 and 96,800 respectively.

Brentford is just 27,907, but in the London area.

Wigan and Barnsley are small towns that have been in the Premier League.

[Englandmad2007]

What I find interesting is that the capital cities of the major countries in general do not have outstanding club sides.

Rome - has never won CL or Champions Cup
Berlin - same (in fact no European tournaments at all)
London - same
Moscow - same
Paris - same

(obviously Madrid is the major exception).

It's astonishing that not much has changed in the past few years. The only (new) major capital city to have won the Champions League since 2009 is London (with Chelsea), although Paris have come close as well.

As for the smallest towns in the top football leagues; have any tiny towns managed to get a team into their top divisions in the past few years?

Burnley and Watford are the smallest current residents I think with 88,920 and 96,800 respectively.

Brentford is just 27,907, but in the London area.

Wigan and Barnsley are small towns that have been in the Premier League.

And look where they are now...

[bugylibicska]

Gyirmót - 1,252
Puskás Akadémia(Felcsút) - 1,688
Kisvárda - 16,470
Mezőkövesd - 16,905