Big Clubs

Scroll down for the list.

It is a subject that has fuelled many a pub debate. What exactly is a BIG football club? How do you judge the “bigness” of one club relative to another? Is it the cash they spend, the crowds they attract, the media attention they command, the star players in their squad, the trophies they win? Is it history or current form, or is it all of the above? 

In some cases it’s easy - Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal are undoubtedly big clubs. In the 80’s they were part of the “Big Five”, along with Everton and Spurs. Now we talk about the “Big Four”, with Chelsea ousting the latter two clubs. So are Chelsea bigger than Spurs and Everton? 

Then there are the so-called sleeping giants – clubs with a glorious past, massive support and no trophies since Pele was a boy– the Newcastle Uniteds and Manchester Citys of the world, or the Leeds Uniteds and Nottingham Forests currently languishing in the lower leagues. 

If ever there was a football subject wide open to debate, this is it. 

Here’s what we think. 

The “bigness” of a club is determined, in the main, by the trophies they have won. Trophies attract the crowds, the media attention and the star players – everything follows from there. But when a trophy was won is equally relevant - an FA Cup won in 1900 is far less relevant to a club’s current status than one won in 2005. 

So here is the criteria we follow in order to rank a club on our list;

First a club has to have won a major trophy at some point during their history - either the Premier League (or Football League pre 1992), the FA Cup, League Cup or a European Trophy (Champions League / European Cup, UEFA Cup / Fairs Cup, or Cup Winners Cup). 

We then allocate points for each trophy won, with a weighting applied based on the year the trophy was won. Additional points are awarded for trophies won within the last ten years – recognising clubs who are currently successful, rather than clubs whose success came in a different era.

Lastly, we award points based on average attendances. 


Conclusions

Benjamin Disraeli (or was it Mark Twain) once said that there are “lies, damn lies, and statistics”, and indeed our list does throw up a few surprises – such as Bury ranking above the likes of Middlesbrough and Birmingham City (then again Bury are two time winners of the FA Cup where as City and Boro can only boast two League Cups between them). 

Liverpool fans may also feel a bit peeved about ranking below Man United but the stats don’t lie, or maybe they do – you decide. 

Here then is the-football-club.com’s definitive list of BIG clubs.