Stan A. Einstein wrote:
I try to base my reasoning as to why I think it matters on evidence.
Big cities London, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, tend to have clubs in the Premier League. However Birmingham (if you don't count WBA) and Leeds show it's possible to underachieve. Medium sized towns, Preston, Ipswich, Blackpool, Portsmouth etc League clubs. Steeple Bumstead, Hatfield Peveral, Bolnhurst and other small villages you have never heard of tend not to play League football. I say that is an indication that size matters.
By all means disagree but I am really looking forward to hearing your explanation as to why.
And if you look at the 20 towns just below Newport in the population table your indication that size matters in the assessment of achievement is disproved:
Birkenhead, Merseyside – 142,968
St Alban’s, Hertfordshire – 141,899
Hastings, East Sussex – 139,271
Bedford, Bedfordshire – 137,451
Gloucester, Gloucestershire – 136,362
West Bromwich, West Midlands – 135,618
Worcester, Worcestershire – 134,073
Sale, Greater Manchester – 132,022
Nuneaton, Warwickshire – 125,805
Watford, Hertfordshire – 125,707
Exeter, Devon – 124,610
Solihull, West Midlands – 123,187
Chester, Cheshire – 120,622
High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire – 120,256
Gateshead, Tyne and Wear – 120,046
Southport, Merseyside – 118,604
Rotherham, South Yorkshire – 117,618
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire – 116,447
Hove, East Sussex – 114,479
Eastbourne, East Sussex – 112,906
If you include Tranmere as Birkenhead, only seven have football league clubs, only three of which are in higher leagues.
Even the 20 towns directly above Newport in population only have ten clubs in higher leagues:
Norwich, Norfolk – 186,682
Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire – 184,773
Peterborough, Cambridgeshire – 178,869
Southend-on-Sea, Essex – 175,547
Walsall, West Midlands – 174,141
Colchester, Essex – 173,074
Mansfield, Nottinghamshire – 169,987
Telford, Shropshire – 166,641
Ipswich, Suffolk – 164,331
Huddersfield, West Yorkshire – 162,949
Dundee – 160,309
Oxford, Oxfordshire – 159,994
Doncaster, South Yorkshire – 158,141
Chelmsford, Essex – 157,072
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire – 156,252
Maidstone, Kent – 155,608
Slough, Berkshire – 155,298
Poole, Dorset – 154,718
Blackburn, Lancashire – 152,516
Chesterfield, Derbyshire – 150,676
Blackpool, Lancashire – 147,663
If you also take into account the wilderness years, loss of an entire generation of fans, no owned ground and supporter competition from 2 rugby clubs at the same venue then you can't argue anything other than the club is overachieving.