Thema: Famous football clubs of England

Thema:Famous football clubs of England

The 40 biggest clubs in the English football system have been ranked by their size, revealing a clear No 1 - twice as big as their nearest rivals.

The Athletic undertook this mammoth task, rating teams on eight categories: Crowds, Global Fanbase, Major Trophies, Recent Major Trophies, League Finishes, Player Quality and Commercial Revenue.
Manchester United finished well clear in first place with a points tally of 12 (the lower the better), with Liverpool were a distant second on 24. Chelsea pipped Arsenal - historically London's biggest team - to third spot, while Manchester City came fifth above Tottenham.

Everton, one of England's traditional big five, were only strong enough for joint eighth place alongside Wolves and below Newcastle.

West Brom fans may be as startled as anyone to see their club, very much a yo-yo team in the Premier League era, are apparently the 12th biggest club in England. Obviously there's a lot to unpack here.

First all credit to The Athletic's Jack Pitt-Brooke who captained this study safe in the knowledge the list would later be torn apart and questioned by know-nothings. So here we go!

Tottenham fans will be delighted to know their club ranks first for Player Quality, while Manchester City finished fourth - below rivals Manchester United. Which is an interesting one.
Also West Ham finished above ninth-placed Liverpool in the Crowd category, which, well, we know the London Stadium is big. But that doesn't feel quite right at all.

Still, Man United romped home as they triumphed in Global Fanbase, Crowds, Commercial Revenue and Recent Major Trophies (last 20 years).

Yet Liverpool fans can probably feel content they are England's No 1 side when it comes to Major Trophies and Average League Finish. Which is sort of the point, some might argue.
Chelsea above Arsenal is also a controversial one. No doubt that Chelsea have a big edge in recent success and current financial muscle, but Arsenal are the bigger team in terms of historic honours and UK-based support.

So a lot to argue about - naturally - but The Athletic's full ranking of England's 40 biggest clubs is below.

“But with the caveat that there are still more question marks against Manchester United than any of the other title contenders -- Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City.

“United have not won any major trophies recently and have spent a great deal of money. Liverpool and City have been the real deal for the past few years and Chelsea have won the Champions League.
“If you put it like that, it’s common sense. The other ones have not only won trophies, but the big trophies, the important ones.”
Defending Premier League champions Manchester City dropped points against both Tottenham and Southampton in their opening five league matches.
Liverpool climbed to the top of the Premier League table on Saturday with their 3-0 win over Crystal Palace at Anfield.
Credit: PA
Chelsea are considered a strong contender to dethrone City as English champions after the return of Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan.
Liverpool hero Souness believes Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea side will present a tough challenge for any of the other teams in the Premier League’s top four.
“If you’re playing against Chelsea, it’s hard to see where you’ll get joy,” he added.
“They can take you on in a football match or stand up to you physically. They have strength in the middle and on the flanks and now carry a real goal threat -- which they lacked last season -- after signing Romelu Lukaku.
“Like all the best teams, Chelsea have a plan B. If circumstances conspire against them, they can change their strategy.
“How well did they do that after going down to ten men away to Liverpool? Sometimes, for whatever reason, an obvious one being a red card, you have to adapt and plan B comes out, and they applied it perfectly.”
Featured Image Credit: PA