Liverpool have been ranked the biggest football club in England, topping a new Daily Mail Sport analysis of all 92 clubs across the country's top four divisions. Manchester United finished second in the study, which scored every club across 17 categories ranging from league titles won to social media followers.
Manchester United and Liverpool have long been regarded as the Big Two of English football, and the data backed that reputation, with Liverpool coming out on top by some distance. The rankings were also used to settle several long-running local rivalries.
Sheffield Wednesday finished above Sheffield United, Southampton topped the other clubs on the south coast, and Arsenal came out as the top club in London. Newcastle United edged out Sunderland, while Nottingham Forest, the only club in the world to have won more European Cups than domestic league titles, also featured prominently in the debate over how far historic European success can carry a club up the table.
How the ranking was built
Daily Mail Sport used 17 categories to build the rankings: league titles won, all-time average league position, total top-flight points, total top-flight seasons, average attendance over the last 10 seasons, European Cups (including the Champions League), UEFA Cups (including the Europa League), FA Cups, Cup Winners' Cups, League Cups, annual revenue, squad value, social media followers across Facebook, X and Instagram, the date a club was founded, England caps won by players while at the club, the number of England players capped while at the club, and Club World Cups won.
Full historical data was not available for every club, so average attendances were taken from the last 10 seasons rather than as far back as the first Football League season of 1888-89, and the season affected by Covid-19 restrictions was excluded. Annual revenues were taken from the most recent public accounts, for the 2023-24 season, with estimates used for the small number of clubs that do not publish accounts. The data was compiled with research from Transfermarkt, FootballRates, EnglandStats, Companies House and Swiss Ramble, and is accurate up to December 25, 2025.
How the scoring worked
Each club was ranked in each of the 17 categories and given a score out of 92 based on how close it came to the highest total in that category. Arsenal, for example, have won 13 league titles against a maximum of 20, shared by Liverpool and Manchester United; that made Arsenal's total 65 per cent of the maximum, giving them 59.8 points, while Liverpool and Manchester United scored the full 92.
The 17 categories were then ranked from most to least important, in the order listed above, and each club's score in a category was multiplied by that category's importance ranking, worth 17 for league titles down to 1 for Club World Cups. Trophies were given the highest priority, but attendances were also weighted heavily so that clubs not currently competing for major honours, including Leeds United, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United and Bradford City, were not unfairly penalised.
Cardiff City's only major trophy, the 1927 FA Cup, earned them a share of 21st place in that category, while Arsenal's 14 FA Cup wins put them top.
One of Tottenham Hotspur's two league titles came from their Double-winning side of 1960-61, though it is the club's modern-day prominence that lifts them higher up the overall rankings.
Chelsea's win in this summer's Club World Cup made little difference to their score, since the competition was ranked last in importance among the 17 categories. Daily Mail Sport said English clubs have rarely treated the tournament as a major prize, though it noted the competition now carries £100million for the winner and said the rankings could be revisited in 10 years' time.
Liverpool win by a distance
Liverpool topped the overall rankings by a clear margin, holding the top totals in league titles, average league position, top-flight points, European Cups, UEFA Cups and League Cups, along with a string of other high finishes, and finished top in six of the 17 categories altogether.
Tottenham Hotspur's rise into the modern "Big Six" saw them overtake two 20th-century giants in Everton and Aston Villa, despite Everton holding the most top-flight seasons of any club, the third-most top-flight points and the fifth-most league titles. West Ham United, who have never won the English league title, finished 11th, helped largely by their large stadium and the revenue that comes with it.
Elsewhere, Blackburn Rovers and Derby County both finished in the top 20 despite recent struggles, while Bolton Wanderers, Huddersfield Town and Notts County all ranked higher than their current league position would suggest, thanks to historic success.
Harrogate finish bottom
At the bottom of the table, Harrogate Town finished last of all 92 clubs, some distance behind the four clubs above them. Northampton Town, in 75th, were the lowest-ranked club to have played in the top flight, and Swindon Town, in 62nd, the lowest-ranked club to have won a major trophy, having lifted the League Cup in 1969.
Daily Mail Sport noted that the rankings reflect only the current picture and could look very different in years to come. A century ago, at Christmas 1925, Huddersfield Town were on course for a third consecutive league title, Bolton Wanderers had won their second FA Cup in four seasons, Bury were fourth in the top flight, and Watford had just lost 8-1 to Aberdare Athletic in the fourth tier.
