List of English football champions | |
---|---|
Football League (1888–1892) | |
Football League First Division (1892–1992) | |
Premier League (1992–present) | |
Country | |
England | |
Founded | |
1888 | |
Number of teams | |
24 | |
Current champions | |
Manchester City (2023–24) | |
Most successful club | |
Manchester United (20 championships) |
The English football champions are the winners of the top level league in English men's football, which since the 1992–93 season has been called the Premier League.
Following the codification of professional football by the Football Association in 1885, [1] the Football League was established in 1888, after meetings initiated by Aston Villa director William McGregor. [2] At the end of the 1888–89 season, Preston North End were the first club to be crowned champions after completing their fixtures unbeaten. [3]
The league's early years were dominated by teams from the North and Midlands, where professionalism had been embraced more readily than in the South of England. [4] It was teams such as Preston North End, Aston Villa and Sunderland that held the league title in monopoly. Its status as the country's pre-eminent league was strengthened in 1892, when the rival Football Alliance was absorbed into the Football League. [5] Former Alliance clubs comprised the bulk of a new Second Division, from which promotion to the top level could be gained. It was not until 1931 that a Southern club were crowned champions, when Herbert Chapman's Arsenal secured the title. [6]
Rules stipulating a maximum wage for players were abolished in 1961. This resulted in a shift of power towards bigger clubs with more financial means. [7] Financial considerations became an even bigger influence from 1992, when the teams then in the First Division defected to form the FA Premier League. This supplanted the Football League First Division as the highest level of football in England, [8] and due to a series of progressively larger television contracts, put unprecedented wealth into the hands of top flight clubs. [9] The first five champions in the Premier League era – Arsenal, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United – had all won the title at least once prior to 1992. Leicester City were champions for the first time in 2016, becoming the first team to win the Premier League without having previously won the First Division. Other than inaugural league champions Preston North End, Ipswich Town remain the only club to win the top flight division at their first attempt in the 1961–62 season. [10]
All the clubs which have ever been champions are still in existence today and all take part in the top four tiers of the English football league system. Sheffield Wednesday are the only club who have ever changed their name after winning a league title, having been known as The Wednesday for the first three of their four titles. The name change took place in 1929.[ citation needed ]
Manchester United have won twenty titles (both English First Division and Premier League titles), [11] the most of any club. [12] United's rivals Liverpool are second with nineteen. Liverpool dominated during the 1970s and 1980s (winning eleven league titles between 1973 and 1990), while Manchester United dominated in the 1990s and 2000s under manager Alex Ferguson (eleven league titles between 1993 and 2009). Arsenal are third with thirteen titles, having dominated during the 1930s (five league titles between 1931 and 1938). Manchester City are fourth with ten titles, of which eight have been won in the 2010s and 2020s. Everton are fifth with nine titles. Aston Villa (seven) and Sunderland (six) secured the majority of their titles before the 1920s. Chelsea (six) won the majority of their titles in the 21st century (between 2005 and 2017).[ citation needed ] Manchester City became the first men's team to win the league title in four consecutive seasons in 2024. [13]
All figures are correct as of the end of the 2023–24 season.
Season | Champions (number of titles) | Runners-up | Third place | Winning manager |
---|---|---|---|---|
1888–89 | Preston North End [lower-alpha 1] [lower-alpha 2] (1) | Aston Villa | Wolverhampton Wanderers | William Sudell (secretary manager) |
1889–90 | Preston North End (2) | Everton | Blackburn Rovers | William Sudell (secretary manager) |
1890–91 | Everton (1) | Preston North End | Notts County | Dick Molyneux (secretary manager) |
1891–92 | Sunderland (1) | Preston North End | Bolton Wanderers | Tom Watson |
There are 24 clubs which have won the English top level title, including 7 which have won the Premier League (1992–present). The most recent to join the list were Leicester City (2015–16 champions) and before that, Nottingham Forest (1977–78) and Derby County (1971–72).[ citation needed ]
Seven teams have at some point held first or joint first place in the number of titles won: Preston North End (1889–1895), Sunderland (1893–1899 and 1936–1953), Aston Villa (1897–1953), Arsenal (1948–1976), Liverpool (1966–1971 and 1973–2011), Manchester United (1967–1971 and 2009–present) and Everton (1970–1971).[ citation needed ]
Eight teams have finished as runners-up without ever finishing top: Bristol City (1906–07), Oldham Athletic (1914–15), Cardiff City (1923–24), Charlton Athletic (1936–37), Blackpool (1955–56), Queens Park Rangers (1975–76), Watford (1982–83) and Southampton (1983–84). Of these, Cardiff City came closest to winning the league, matching champions Huddersfield Town in points but losing out on goal average (goals scored divided by goals conceded), the precursor to goal difference.[ citation needed ]
Teams in bold currently compete in the Premier League as of the 2024–25 season.[ citation needed ]
Region | Championships | Clubs |
---|---|---|
North West | 65 | Manchester United (20), Liverpool (19), Manchester City (10), Everton (9), Blackburn Rovers (3), Preston North End (2), Burnley (2) |
London | 21 | Arsenal (13), Chelsea (6), Tottenham Hotspur (2) |
Yorkshire | 11 | Sheffield Wednesday (4), Huddersfield Town (3), Leeds United (3), Sheffield United (1) |
West Midlands | 11 | Aston Villa (7), Wolverhampton Wanderers (3), West Bromwich Albion (1) |
North East | 10 | Sunderland (6), Newcastle United (4) |
East Midlands | 4 | Derby County (2), Leicester City (1), Nottingham Forest (1) |
South East | 2 | Portsmouth (2) |
East | 1 | Ipswich Town (1) |
South West | 0 | |
Wales | 0 |
City / Town | Championships | Clubs |
---|---|---|
Manchester | 30 | Manchester United (20), Manchester City (10) |
Liverpool | 28 | Liverpool (19), Everton (9) |
London | 21 | Arsenal (13), Chelsea (6), Tottenham Hotspur (2) |
Birmingham | 7 | Aston Villa (7) |
Sunderland [lower-alpha 14] | 6 | Sunderland (6) |
Sheffield | 5 | Sheffield Wednesday (4), Sheffield United (1) |
Newcastle | 4 | Newcastle United (4) |
Blackburn | 3 | Blackburn Rovers (3) |
Huddersfield | 3 | Huddersfield Town (3) |
Leeds | 3 | Leeds United (3) |
Wolverhampton | 3 | Wolverhampton Wanderers (3) |
Burnley | 2 | Burnley (2) |
Derby [lower-alpha 15] | 2 | Derby County (2) |
Portsmouth | 2 | Portsmouth (2) |
Preston [lower-alpha 16] | 2 | Preston North End (2) |
Ipswich | 1 | Ipswich Town (1) |
Leicester | 1 | Leicester City (1) |
Nottingham | 1 | Nottingham Forest (1) |
West Bromwich | 1 | West Bromwich Albion (1) |
The 2002–03 FA Premier League was the 11th season of the Premier League, the top division in English football. The first matches were played on 17 August 2002 and the last were played on 11 May 2003.
Football is the most popular sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game. With over 40,000 association football clubs, England has more clubs involved in the code than any other country. England hosts the world's first club, Sheffield F.C.; the world's oldest professional association football club, Notts County; the oldest national governing body, the Football Association; the joint-oldest national team; the oldest national knockout competition, the FA Cup; and the oldest national league, the English Football League. It also has 31% of the population interested in Football. Today England's top domestic league, the Premier League, is one of the most popular and richest sports leagues in the world, with five of the ten richest football clubs in the world as of 2022.
This article concerns football records in England. Unless otherwise stated, records are taken from the Football League or Premier League. Where a different record exists for the top flight, this is also given. This article includes clubs based in Wales that compete in English leagues.
The 2002–03 season was the 123rd season of competitive football in England.
The 2004–05 season was the 125th season of competitive football in England.
The 1995–96 FA Premier League was the fourth season of the competition, since its formation in 1992. Due to the decision to reduce the number of clubs in the FA Premier League from 22 to 20, only two clubs, Middlesbrough and Bolton Wanderers, were promoted instead of the usual three.
The 1996–97 FA Premier League was the fifth season of the FA Premier League since its formation in 1992. The majority of the season was contested by the reigning champions, Manchester United, along with Newcastle United, Arsenal and Liverpool. The title was eventually won by Manchester United, after Liverpool's and Newcastle's failure to win in their penultimate games of the season; at 75 points it is the lowest points total for a Premier League champion club and lowest since the 3-1-0 points system was introduced in the 1981–82 season.
The 1997–98 FA Premier League was the sixth season of the FA Premier League. It saw Arsenal lift their first league title since 1991 and, in so doing, became only the second team to win The Double for the second time.
The 1998–99 FA Premier League was the seventh season of the Premier League, the top division of English football, since its establishment in 1992. Manchester United won a treble of the league title, the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League. They secured their fifth league title in seven seasons after outlasting Arsenal and Chelsea in a closely fought title race, losing just three league games all season.
The 1999–2000 FA Premier League was the eighth season of the FA Premier League, and Manchester United secured their sixth Premiership title. Like the previous season, they lost only three league games all season. Unlike in 1998–99 season, they won by a comfortable margin – 18 points as opposed to a single point.
The 2000–01 FA Premier League was the ninth FA Premier League season and the third season running which ended with Manchester United as champions and Arsenal as runners-up. Sir Alex Ferguson became the first manager to win three successive English league titles with the same club. Liverpool, meanwhile, managed a unique cup treble – winning the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup. They also finished third in the Premier League and qualified for the Champions League. Nike replaced Mitre as manufacturer of the official Premier League match ball, a contract that has since been extended multiple times, with the most recent renewal made in November 2018 to the end of the 2024–25 season.
The 2005–06 FA Premier League was the 14th season of the Premier League. It began on 13 August 2005, and concluded on 7 May 2006. The season saw Chelsea retain their title after defeating Manchester United 3–0 at Stamford Bridge towards the end of April. On the same day, West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City were relegated, joining Sunderland in the Championship for the following season. Chelsea drew the record they set the previous season, with 29 wins in home and away campaigns.
The 2000–01 season was the 121st season of competitive football in England.
1840s – 1850s – 1860s – 1870s – 1880s – 1890s – 1900s – 1910s – 1920s – 1930s – 1940s – 1950s – 1960s – 1970s – 1980s – 1990s – 2000s – 2010s – 2020s
The 1995–96 season was the 116th season of competitive football in England.
The 1997–98 season was the 118th season of competitive football in England.
The 1998–99 season was the 119th season of competitive football in England.
The 1999–2000 season was the 120th season of competitive football in England.
The 1980–81 season was the 82nd completed season of The Football League. This was the final league season with two points for win.
The 2009–10 Premier League season was Aston Villa's 135th season in English football. It was the club's 99th season in the top-flight and their 22nd consecutive season in the top flight of English football, the Premier League. They were managed by Martin O'Neill – in his fourth season since replacing David O'Leary. The 2009–10 season was Villa's second consecutive spell in European competition for the club, and the first in the newly formatted UEFA Europa League.
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