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Does anyone remember a bloke called Sir Alex Ferguson?

Angry Scottish pensioner. Red nose. Liked a rant and wasn’t keen on anyone standing up to him. Now retired.

Alan Pardew had a bit of a pop at him a year or so again. Fergie didn’t like that. Not one bit.

“I’m the manager of the most famous club in the world. I’m not at Newcastle, a wee club in the North East. That’s simply the facts of life,” he said in that polite way of his.

A few days later, through a journalist friend, Ferguson attempted to explain what he really meant, which was a watered down, less offensive version.

There was no need. He meant every syllable of his original statement.

This spat – if you could call it that – popped into my head the other day during a radio debate that centered around the world’s hottest topic. Just what makes a football club big?

This is always one that gets people going and I found myself being sucked into the conversation.

Clubs tend to be forced into certain categories.

They can be big, small, provincial, minnows or sleeping giants (a phrase I detest).

But there doesn’t seem the be one that fits those clubs who are Premier League or at least top half of the Championship, with a lovely history, big support, and who don’t win much but could do so if they ever go around to fulfilling their potential.

Money comes into it as well. For example, Chelsea are really rich so therefore are considered bigger than Ajax. Not in my eyes, but there you go.

Benfica are giants of the game and yet Hull City make more cash than they do over a season. A lot more.

So does this mean the club that produced Eusebio now live in the shadow of the one managed by Steve Bruce? If it does, I’m checking out.

And where does it leave Newcastle?

Are they big, sleeping or one of those who are big enough but should do better? It’s a bit of everything.

A few years ago a study that, to be fair, was a bit rough around the edges and at the same time made a sense, set out to discover, using maths and a spreadsheet, what the biggest club in England was.

With the help of the European Football Statistics website (a football anorak’s wet dream) they set out to solve this puzzle.

Points were awarded for league wins, cups success, final appearances, seasons spent in the top flight and average attendances throughout the years.

There were many more aspects. It wasn’t exactly scientific, but there was a lot of detail and at the end of all the sums being added together, Manchester United were top by 2.3 points from Liverpool.

Arsenal were a distant third and Everton, perhaps surprisingly, even further back in fourth.

Sitting in eighth place was Newcastle United, just above Manchester City. As the study is almost two years old, the two clubs may have swapped places by now.

Nottingham Forest were back in 12th. That’s two-time European Cup winners Nottingham Forest. A place below Sunderland.

And this is where I lost faith in the study.

I mean, Tottenham were seventh. They haven’t won the league since 1961. They have never won a European Cup. Their crowds aren’t even that big.

Can a club whose last title was over 50 years ago be considered big?

Were Chelsea or Manchester City big before they were bought over? Maybe not, but they sure are now.

Newcastle, for me, is a big club, but I don’t blame anyone for disagreeing with this opinion.

The club haven’t won anything in so long and that, for me, counts for more than big crowds or how much money is ploughed into the bank account every month.

I have always believed that it’s trophies, rather than profits that make football great.

This is perhaps why last week at the Etihad Stadium, my sense of professionalism was forgotten for a moment when Moussa Sissoko scored Newcastle’s second goal, which took the club into their first domestic cup quarter-final for over eight years.

I hate it when a journalist cheers a goal in the press box. It just feels a bit naff. And yet I was that man in Manchester.

I’m not even a Newcastle fan, but I was off my seat.

If I’m so desperate for this club to prove themselves worth of being known as one of the big boys by actually winning something. God knows what it must be like to someone who has hardly missed a game for the past how many years.

For Newcastle to earn the respect of others - which I think is important even if many fans will not - they need to start winning trophies.

And you might hate me for this, but I genuinely think it’s going to happy this season.

I have a feeling that Newcastle are going to lift the Capital One Cup. Based on... well, based on a hunch.

I didn’t like Ferguson’s jibe. What’s more, I didn’t like the fact many people would have nodded their heads in agreement at his comments.

The eighth biggest club in English football should be at least competing for trophies every other season.

The crowds will always be there. The history will remain wonderful one. It’s time to start writing a few new chapters.