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4everfox

England's biggest clubs; the definitive list

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Posted

I've been off work recently recovering from a slipped disc which has obviously been very boring and lonely so today I decided I would pass a bit of time trying to answer the mother of all questions: who is the biggest football club in England and where do Leicester rank? I thought I'd share the results. 

 

Driven by boredom and curiosity I came up with a formula and began to do my research. My formula is as follows:

 

- Eligible clubs must have played at least one season in the English top flight and the club must still exist. 

- One point to be awarded for every season played in the top flight

- One point deducted for every season spent out of the top flight

- Ten points for every top flight title

- Three points for every English second tier title

- One point for a Division Three/League One or Division Four/League Two title

- Ten points for every European Cup/Champions League title

- Five points for every FA Cup or UEFA Cup/Europa League title

- Three points for every League Cup win

- One point for every Community Shield, Super Cup or Football League Trophy win

- Anything won in more recent and relevant history is awarded double points, in this case anything won in the last twenty five years or since 1992

- 1% of a clubs highest average attendance recorded over the course of a season is awarded in points

- One point is awarded for every season where the club has qualified for the European Cup/Champions League

 

Here is the sixty team list I compiled based on who was eligible if you are interested, the results are quite surprising:

 

Pos_________________________Points

1 - Manchester United_______1380

2 - Arsenal__________________983

3 - Liverpool_________________947

4 - Chelsea__________________790

5 - Everton__________________762

6 - Tottenham Hotspur______699

7 - Aston Villa_______________698

8 - Newcastle United________696

9 - Manchester City_________666

10 - Sunderland_____________619

11 - Wolves_________________531

12 - Sheffield Wednesday___488

13 - West Brom_____________472

14 - Leeds United___________454

15 - Blackburn Rovers_______412

16 - Bolton Wanderers______ 410

17 - Derby County___________401

18 - Birmingham City________392

19 - Nottingham Forest______380

20 - West Ham United________378

21 - Sheffield United_________376

22 - Middlesbrough__________372

23 - Charlton Athletic_________365

24 - Portsmouth_____________362

25 - Burnley__________________355

26 - LEICESTER CITY_________350

27 - Preston North End_______338

28 - Stoke City_______________318

29 - Cardiff City______________318

30 - Notts County____________310

31 - Huddersfield Town______309

32 - Coventry City____________296

33 - Hull City_________________281

34 - Southampton____________275

35 - Fulham__________________273

36 - Norwich City_____________251

37 - Crystal Palace___________243

38 - Ipswich Town____________232

39 - Blackpool________________210

40 - Brighton & Hove Albion___183

41 - Bristol City_______________180

42 - Queens Park Rangers____179

43 - Swansea City____________161

44 - Millwall__________________161

45 - Brentford________________158

46 - Wigan Athletic___________154

47 - Bradford City____________154

48 - Reading_________________142

49 - Luton Town_____________136

50 - Bury____________________136

51 - Barnsley________________102

52 - Watford_________________98

53 - Oldham Athletic_________94

54 - Swindon Town__________91

55 - Northampton Town______82

56 - Bournemouth____________72

57 - Grimsby Town___________62

58 - Leyton Orient____________59

59 - Carlisle United___________53

60 - Oxford United____________16

 

(teams tied on points were decided by whoever had been more successful since 1992)

 

The big surprises for me were Arsenal being above Liverpool, largely thanks to there highest average attendance of around 60,000. Take this away from everyone and they slip to third. Also Sunderland, West Brom, Bolton surprised and particularly Charlton Athletic who's highest average attendance was again the main reason, in a table where this highest average attendance statistic isn't included they slip from 23rd to 31st. Burnley and Portsmouth too, what's that about? Why are they above Leicester? The answer is the attendance stat again. Take this away from the equation and we go in front of them both to 19th from 26th. Put the attendance stat back in and give us an average attendance of 40,000 over the course of a season and we would leap past Forest and Derby to 15th on 436 points.

 

Alternative table which leaves out the highest average attendance statistic and bases the table on success alone is available on request. 

 

Posted

I'm  not convinced about lower league titles contributing to a club's bigness and attendance should surely be based on the % of ground capacity.

Posted

It's all subjective, league football has been going too long to have a definitive list and it doesn't really matter anyway.

 

Far too much time is given to an unanswerable debate.

Posted
1 minute ago, buzzer_b said:

Burnley are a bigger club than us!? Bullshit!

 

54719636.jpg

Its just for fun. 

 

Surprisingly Burnley have spent more years in the top flight then Leicester have.

Posted
11 minutes ago, 4everfox said:

I've been off work recently recovering from a slipped disc which has obviously been very boring and lonely so today I decided I would pass a bit of time trying to answer the mother of all questions: who is the biggest football club in England and where do Leicester rank? I thought I'd share the results. 

 

Driven by boredom and curiosity I came up with a formula and began to do my research. My formula is as follows:

 

- Eligible clubs must have played at least one season in the English top flight and the club must still exist. 

- One point to be awarded for every season played in the top flight

- One point deducted for every season spent out of the top flight

- Ten points for every top flight title

- Three points for every English second tier title

- One point for a Division Three/League One or Division Four/League Two title

- Ten points for every European Cup/Champions League title

- Five points for every FA Cup or UEFA Cup/Europa League title

- Three points for every League Cup win

- One point for every Community Shield, Super Cup or Football League Trophy win

- Anything won in more recent and relevant history is awarded double points, in this case anything won in the last twenty five years or since 1992

- 1% of a clubs highest average attendance recorded over the course of a season is awarded in points

- One point is awarded for every season where the club has qualified for the European Cup/Champions League

 

Here is the sixty team list I compiled based on who was eligible if you are interested, the results are quite surprising:

 

Pos_________________________Points

1 - Manchester United_______1380

2 - Arsenal__________________983

3 - Liverpool_________________947

4 - Chelsea__________________790

5 - Everton__________________762

6 - Tottenham Hotspur______699

7 - Aston Villa_______________698

8 - Newcastle United________696

9 - Manchester City_________666

10 - Sunderland_____________619

11 - Wolves_________________531

12 - Sheffield Wednesday___488

13 - West Brom_____________472

14 - Leeds United___________454

15 - Blackburn Rovers_______412

16 - Bolton Wanderers______ 410

17 - Derby County___________401

18 - Birmingham City________392

19 - Nottingham Forest______380

20 - West Ham United________378

21 - Sheffield United_________376

22 - Middlesbrough__________372

23 - Charlton Athletic_________365

24 - Portsmouth_____________362

25 - Burnley__________________355

26 - LEICESTER CITY_________350

27 - Preston North End_______338

28 - Stoke City_______________318

29 - Cardiff City______________318

30 - Notts County____________310

31 - Huddersfield Town______309

32 - Coventry City____________296

33 - Hull City_________________281

34 - Southampton____________275

35 - Fulham__________________273

36 - Norwich City_____________251

37 - Crystal Palace___________243

38 - Ipswich Town____________232

39 - Blackpool________________210

40 - Brighton & Hove Albion___183

41 - Bristol City_______________180

42 - Queens Park Rangers____179

43 - Swansea City____________161

44 - Millwall__________________161

45 - Brentford________________158

46 - Wigan Athletic___________154

47 - Bradford City____________154

48 - Reading_________________142

49 - Luton Town_____________136

50 - Bury____________________136

51 - Barnsley________________102

52 - Watford_________________98

53 - Oldham Athletic_________94

54 - Swindon Town__________91

55 - Northampton Town______82

56 - Bournemouth____________72

57 - Grimsby Town___________62

58 - Leyton Orient____________59

59 - Carlisle United___________53

60 - Oxford United____________16

 

(teams tied on points were decided by whoever had been more successful since 1992)

 

The big surprises for me were Arsenal being above Liverpool, largely thanks to there highest average attendance of around 60,000. Take this away from everyone and they slip to third. Also Sunderland, West Brom, Bolton surprised and particularly Charlton Athletic who's highest average attendance was again the main reason, in a table where this highest average attendance statistic isn't included they slip from 23rd to 31st. Burnley and Portsmouth too, what's that about? Why are they above Leicester? The answer is the attendance stat again. Take this away from the equation and we go in front of them both to 19th from 26th. Put the attendance stat back in and give us an average attendance of 40,000 over the course of a season and we would leap past Forest and Derby to 15th on 436 points.

 

Alternative table which leaves out the highest average attendance statistic and bases the table on success alone is available on request. Although that might be a slipperly slope points wise.

 

I find this fascinating. Provides a good basis for more research. Would like to see it expanded beyond 'winners'. It means the clubs who have been consistent but haven't won anything haven't got so many points. So runners up for example in cups and league get 0 even though it's an achievement in itself. 

 

Would consistency count for anything? It's not something we'd immediately think of when we say big club but clubs who have never been outside the Premier League surely get bonus points? Although that might be a slippery slope for points being handed out.

 

Also attendances are a tricky one. Capacities will obviously have an impact on that. 

Posted
5 minutes ago, davieG said:

I'm  not convinced about lower league titles contributing to a club's bigness and attendance should surely be based on the % of ground capacity.

That's something I might look into actually. 

Posted
Just now, lcfcbaby said:

 

I find this fascinating. Provides a good basis for more research. Would like to see it expanded beyond 'winners'. It means the clubs who have been consistent but haven't won anything haven't got so many points. So runners up for example in cups and league get 0 even though it's an achievement in itself. 

 

Would consistency count for anything? It's not something we'd immediately think of when we say big club but clubs who have never been outside the Premier League surely get bonus points? Although that might be a slippery slope for points being handed out.

 

Also attendances are a tricky one. Capacities will obviously have an impact on that. 

This is just a rough draft that could be expanded on and tweaked. 

Posted

Honestly, it's time for people to have a bit of pride in our club - that's the whole point in supporting one. Saying we're smaller than the likes of Burnley, Charlton and Blackburn is pitiful. That's not the attitude that builds a passionate or fierce atmosphere around the place.

 

All the clubs that are famed for their atmosphere - do you think it's because they tell themselves they're a small club? No, they're arrogant and think they're the dog's bollocks. This is the mentality this club needs to adopt, the apathy of being 'little Leicester that got lucky' is one of the main reasons we've done so shit this season - rather than having self-belief and demanding high performance from ourselves.

Posted

European cups worth the same as a league title lol

points fro the community shield/ football league trophy lol

Charlton and Portsmouth 'bigger' than us lol

Posted

I like this. Some interesting stuff.

 

Many younger people will forget that clubs such as Charlton, Burnley, Huddersfield, to name just a few, were big clubs in the mid-20th century. Wolves were England's top side early 50s arguably and were hammered 'style wise' by Honved of Hungary in a game they still won that made English fans realise that "Johnny Foreigner" could play football. The Valley had the biggest club ground capacity at around 75000 with huge terraces and they filled them. 

 

Liverpool were comparatively small fry till early 60s. Everton was the top Merseyside club. 

 

Good stuff.

Posted

I hate this kind of thing.

 

Being a "big club" is how YOU interpenetrate it. For me, Liverpool and United are miles above the rest. There's plenty of big clubs in the football league but they haven't played top flight football since early 2000s.

Posted
9 hours ago, 4everfox said:

I've been off work recently recovering from a slipped disc which has obviously been very boring and lonely so today I decided I would pass a bit of time trying to answer the mother of all questions: who is the biggest football club in England and where do Leicester rank? I thought I'd share the results. 

 

Driven by boredom and curiosity I came up with a formula and began to do my research. My formula is as follows:

 

- Eligible clubs must have played at least one season in the English top flight and the club must still exist. 

- One point to be awarded for every season played in the top flight

- One point deducted for every season spent out of the top flight

- Ten points for every top flight title

- Three points for every English second tier title

- One point for a Division Three/League One or Division Four/League Two title

- Ten points for every European Cup/Champions League title

- Five points for every FA Cup or UEFA Cup/Europa League title

- Three points for every League Cup win

- One point for every Community Shield, Super Cup or Football League Trophy win

- Anything won in more recent and relevant history is awarded double points, in this case anything won in the last twenty five years or since 1992

- 1% of a clubs highest average attendance recorded over the course of a season is awarded in points

- One point is awarded for every season where the club has qualified for the European Cup/Champions League

 

Here is the sixty team list I compiled based on who was eligible if you are interested, the results are quite surprising:

 

Pos_________________________Points

1 - Manchester United_______1380

2 - Arsenal__________________983

3 - Liverpool_________________947

4 - Chelsea__________________790

5 - Everton__________________762

6 - Tottenham Hotspur______699

7 - Aston Villa_______________698

8 - Newcastle United________696

9 - Manchester City_________666

10 - Sunderland_____________619

11 - Wolves_________________531

12 - Sheffield Wednesday___488

13 - West Brom_____________472

14 - Leeds United___________454

15 - Blackburn Rovers_______412

16 - Bolton Wanderers______ 410

17 - Derby County___________401

18 - Birmingham City________392

19 - Nottingham Forest______380

20 - West Ham United________378

21 - Sheffield United_________376

22 - Middlesbrough__________372

23 - Charlton Athletic_________365

24 - Portsmouth_____________362

25 - Burnley__________________355

26 - LEICESTER CITY_________350

27 - Preston North End_______338

28 - Stoke City_______________318

29 - Cardiff City______________318

30 - Notts County____________310

31 - Huddersfield Town______309

32 - Coventry City____________296

33 - Hull City_________________281

34 - Southampton____________275

35 - Fulham__________________273

36 - Norwich City_____________251

37 - Crystal Palace___________243

38 - Ipswich Town____________232

39 - Blackpool________________210

40 - Brighton & Hove Albion___183

41 - Bristol City_______________180

42 - Queens Park Rangers____179

43 - Swansea City____________161

44 - Millwall__________________161

45 - Brentford________________158

46 - Wigan Athletic___________154

47 - Bradford City____________154

48 - Reading_________________142

49 - Luton Town_____________136

50 - Bury____________________136

51 - Barnsley________________102

52 - Watford_________________98

53 - Oldham Athletic_________94

54 - Swindon Town__________91

55 - Northampton Town______82

56 - Bournemouth____________72

57 - Grimsby Town___________62

58 - Leyton Orient____________59

59 - Carlisle United___________53

60 - Oxford United____________16

 

(teams tied on points were decided by whoever had been more successful since 1992)

 

The big surprises for me were Arsenal being above Liverpool, largely thanks to there highest average attendance of around 60,000. Take this away from everyone and they slip to third. Also Sunderland, West Brom, Bolton surprised and particularly Charlton Athletic who's highest average attendance was again the main reason, in a table where this highest average attendance statistic isn't included they slip from 23rd to 31st. Burnley and Portsmouth too, what's that about? Why are they above Leicester? The answer is the attendance stat again. Take this away from the equation and we go in front of them both to 19th from 26th. Put the attendance stat back in and give us an average attendance of 40,000 over the course of a season and we would leap past Forest and Derby to 15th on 436 points.

 

Alternative table which leaves out the highest average attendance statistic and bases the table on success alone is available on request. 

 

You're deducting a point for every season outside the top flight but awarding points for winning other divisions? That makes no sense whatsoever. You're giving teams a double punishment by not having the extra point for being in the top flight then deducting an extra point and then rewarding teams for winning something you're double punishing them for. You see the problem?

 

How about 0 points for every season out of it and recalculate?

Posted

Nothing for winning  the Cup winners cup? 

 

As an aside in the the early days of football the FL was in effect a Northern completion with southern  teams in the Southern League. Did you calculate from when clubs first joined the FL structure or when the clubs were formed?

For instance  Spurs were founded in 1882, won't the FA cup in 1905 but didn't join the FL till 1908

 

Posted
1 minute ago, Terraloon said:

Nothing for winning  the Cup winners cup? 

 

As an aside in the the early days of football the FL was in effect a Northern completion with southern  teams in the Southern League. Did you calculate from when clubs first joined the FL structure or when the clubs were formed?

For instance  Spurs were founded in 1882, won't the FA cup in 1905 but didn't join the FL till 1908

 

Yes I took into account when a club was founded and so on so its quite accurate and five points were awarded for every Cup Winners Cup/UEFA Cup/Europa League I just forgot to mention that competition. 

Posted
15 minutes ago, Leicester_Numan said:

You're deducting a point for every season outside the top flight but awarding points for winning other divisions? That makes no sense whatsoever. You're giving teams a double punishment by not having the extra point for being in the top flight then deducting an extra point and then rewarding teams for winning something you're double punishing them for. You see the problem?

 

How about 0 points for every season out of it and recalculate?

Good point, I'm going to recalculate based on this and update the table later. 

Posted

Charlton bigger than us lol

 

Interesting system of working it out, but it has some major flaws- in what possible world are Hull bigger than Southampton?

Posted
1 hour ago, Fox92 said:

I hate this kind of thing.

 

Being a "big club" is how YOU interpenetrate it. For me, Liverpool and United are miles above the rest. There's plenty of big clubs in the football league but they haven't played top flight football since early 2000s.

You can keep your interpenetrating to yourself. This is a clean forum. I'm sure there are other forums on the Web for that kind of thing! 

Posted

It's always a bit subjective but I view it like this:

 

If you were tasked with hand picking 20 teams for the Premier League which would maximize revenue for the League, who would you go for?

 

The first few are a shoe in:

 

I'd go with these 11 clubs who all fit the criteria of being a "big club" (despite a lack of success in some cases!)

Manchester United

Manchester City

Liverpool

Everton

Arsenal

Tottenham

Chelsea

Newcastle United

Everton

Aston Villa

Leeds United

 

 Then:

West Ham

Nottingham Forest

Leicester City (Prem win secures their place)

Sheffield Wednesday

Sunderland

 

Possibly then 4 from:

Blackburn

Birmingham City

Wolves

Portsmouth

West Brom

Southampton

 

 

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