Which is the biggest football club in Britain?
- Published
It's the age-old debate - which is the biggest football club in Britain?
Is it the one with the most trophies? The one with the highest revenue, or the greatest social media following? The biggest stadium, or the best average league position? Or perhaps it's a happy medium of all those things.
Most importantly, it's a debate nobody can win, one we all have a different take on and will all be offended by no matter how convincing someone's argument may be.
To bring the most unserious of serious topics to life, BBC Sport recently asked about 250 of its staff across the UK to take on the unanswerable question.
There were a lot of arguments. And a lot of unhappy people.
But at the end we averaged out the lists and came up with a top 10 below.
Agree with it? Of course you don't.
No doubt many of you will feel enraged at where your club has ended up. So please, all we ask is that you remember a) this is an average and there were lots of different versions b) we're not saying we're right c) you can leave your top 10 below and d) it's just a bit of fun.
BBC Sport's top 10 British football clubs
Manchester United
Liverpool
Arsenal
Manchester City
Celtic
Chelsea
Tottenham Hotspur
Rangers
Aston Villa
Newcastle United
In an attempt to be more scientific, we have also taken a look at certain factors in isolation to see which clubs lead the way.
Which club has won most major trophies?
Traditionally, clubs are deemed big if they win things.
When it comes to major trophies, Glasgow giants Celtic and Rangers lead the way with significantly more silverware than any side in the English game.
Liverpool are the most successful club in England, with Manchester United a close second - and the Reds look likely to equal United's record 20 top-flight titles this season.
They also have more European trophies than any other English side while Arsenal have the leading FA Cup tally.
Manchester City's recent dominance has shot them up the rankings, winning six of the past seven Premier League titles and securing a historic Treble in 2022-23.
Of course, trophies are subjective and it might be that you think European titles are bigger than domestic ones or vice versa.
Which club has biggest social media following?
Some of the more traditional among you may disregard social media followings as a bit of a gimmick.
But it does give us a good indication of just how big a reach clubs have not just in this country but globally, as well as their ability to engage fans.
Manchester United have the highest combined social media following across the four major platforms, while some clubs fare better on individual platforms.
Manchester City have a lower combined social following than their city rivals but fare better on Tik Tok while Tottenham are sixth overall but have the best Tik Tok following of any club.
The traditional 'top six' occupy the top spots but Leicester City's title win in 2015-16 boosted their profile globally and puts them seventh in the ranking.
Which club generates most revenue?
Is it really all about the money? If you think it is, Manchester City are the standout candidate.
According to Deloitte's Money League study, City earned the most revenue in 2023-24 of any English club with £708m, second only in the world to Spanish giants Real Madrid.
Nine Premier League clubs featured in the world's top 20 with a further five in the top 30 as Brighton moved up the rankings after competing in the Europa League for the first time.
Which club has biggest stadium?
If big club means big stadium to you then it's Manchester United who sit top of the pile.
Wembley is currently the largest, with a 90,000 capacity but Old Trafford is the biggest club stadium and United have also also announced plans to build an arena bigger than Wembley - a new £2bn 100,000-seater ground close to it.
Everton's new Bramley Moore Dock stadium will be ranked seventh in the top 10 once it is in use from next season with a capacity of 52,888 while Manchester City are undergoing an expansion that will increase Etihad Stadium's capacity to 61,474.
Though Queen's Park play their home matches at Hampden Park, which has a capacity in excess of the Stadium of Light, the ground is not fully open for Scottish Championship matches, with an average crowd this season of less than 2,000.
Which club has highest average Premier League position of past 10 years?
When it comes to football, consistency is key.
And that's exactly what Manchester City have been over the past 10 years. Their six Premier League titles - including a record four in a row - means their average league position sits at an impressive 1.7.
As for the chasing pack, there's barely anything to separate Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea in their respective average finishing positions.
West Ham, Everton and Crystal Palace are in having consistently finished mid-table over the years.
Having spent one year in the Championship, many might be surprised to see Leicester City inside the top 10. They have their incredible 2015-16 title victory partly to thank for that.
Celtic and Rangers have not been included in the above table because they do not play in the Premier League but Celtic have finished top of the Scottish Premiership nine out of the past 10 seasons.
In 2020-21, they finished second to Rangers, who were runners-up on five occasions.
What do you think?
Now it's time to have your say using the ranked list below.
We have included every club that featured in any of the top 10 lists above and it is now up to you to put the clubs in order, starting with who you think is the biggest.
Of course, we know lots of football fans will argue that their club is the biggest so if you think we've left anyone out, leave it in the comments below!