The English football champions are the winners of the highest league in English football, which is currently the Premier League. Teams in bold are those who won the double of League Championship and FA Cup, or the European Double of League Championship and European Cup in that season.
Following the legalisation of professional football by the Football Association in 1885,[1] the English Football League was established in 1888, after a series of 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 first fully-professional football competition in the world, the League's early years were dominated by teams from the North and Midlands, where professionalism was embraced more readily than in the South.[4] 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. Arsenal scored 127 goals in the process, a record for a title-winning side.[6]
Rules stipulating a maximum wage for players were abolished in 1961. This resulted in a shift of power towards bigger clubs,[7] typically from cities. After Ipswich Town's 1962 title win, it was to be another 33 years before a town club became champions. 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 highest level of football in England,[8] and due to a series of progessively larger television contracts put wealth into the hands of top flight clubs in a hitherto unprecedented manner.[9]
Preston North End and Huddersfield Town are the only former top-flight First Division champions that have never played in the Premier League. All the clubs which have ever been crowned champions are still in existence today and all take part in the top three tiers of the football pyramid. 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 two of their four titles.
Liverpool and Manchester United each have 18 titles, sharing the record for most titles won.[10] Liverpool dominated during the 1970s and 1980s, while Manchester United dominated in the 1990s and 2000s under Sir Alex Ferguson. Arsenal are third; their 13 titles all came after 1930. Everton (nine) have enjoyed success throughout their history, and both Aston Villa (seven) and Sunderland (six) secured the majority of their titles before the First World War. Huddersfield Town in 1924–26, Arsenal in 1933–35, Liverpool in 1982–84 and Manchester United in 1999–2001 and 2007–2009 are the only sides to have retained the League title for three consecutive seasons.[11]
Contents |
Football League (1888–1892), Football League First Division (1892–1992)
Premier League (1992–present)
Bold indicates Double winners - i.e. League and FA Cup winners OR League and European Cup winners
Italic indicates Treble Winners - i.e. League, FA Cup and European Cup winners
Total titles won
Twenty-three clubs have been champions.
Club | Winners | Runners-up | Winning Years |
---|---|---|---|
Manchester United |
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1907–08, 1910–11, 1951–52, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09 |
Liverpool |
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|
1900–01, 1905–06, 1921–22, 1922–23, 1946–47, 1963–64, 1965–66, 1972–73, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1989–90 |
Arsenal |
|
|
1930–31, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1937–38, 1947–48, 1952–53, 1970–71, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2003–04 |
Everton |
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1890–91, 1914–15, 1927–28, 1931–32, 1938–39, 1962–63, 1969–70, 1984–85, 1986–87 |
Aston Villa |
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1893–94, 1895–96, 1896–97, 1898–99, 1899–1900, 1909–10, 1980–81 |
Sunderland |
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1891–92, 1892–93, 1894–95, 1901–02, 1912–13, 1935–36 |
Newcastle United |
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1904–05, 1906–07, 1908–09, 1926–27 |
Sheffield Wednesday[8] |
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1902–03, 1903–04, 1928–29, 1929–30 |
Leeds United |
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1968–69, 1973–74, 1991–92 |
Wolverhampton Wanderers |
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1953–54, 1957–58, 1958–59 |
Chelsea |
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1954–55, 2004–05, 2005–06 |
Huddersfield Town |
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1923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26 |
Blackburn Rovers |
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1911–12, 1913–14, 1994–95 |
Preston North End |
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1888–89, 1889–90 |
Tottenham Hotspur |
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1950–51, 1960–61 |
Derby County |
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1971–72, 1974–75 |
Manchester City |
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1936–37, 1967–68 |
Burnley |
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1920–21, 1959–60 |
Portsmouth |
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1948–49, 1949–50 |
Nottingham Forest |
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1977–78 |
Ipswich Town |
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1961–62 |
West Bromwich Albion |
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1919–20 |
Sheffield United |
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1897–98 |
Total titles won by town or city
Twenty three clubs have been champions, from a total of 18 towns and cities. Most have come from the North of England or the Midlands.
Town or city | Number of titles | Clubs |
---|---|---|
Liverpool |
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Liverpool (18), Everton (9) |
Manchester |
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Manchester United (18), Manchester City (2) |
London |
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Arsenal (13), Chelsea (3), Tottenham Hotspur (2) |
Birmingham |
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Aston Villa (7) |
Sunderland |
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Sunderland (6) |
Sheffield |
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Sheffield Wednesday (4), Sheffield United (1) |
Newcastle |
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Newcastle United (4) |
Wolverhampton |
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Wolverhampton Wanderers (3) |
Leeds |
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Leeds United (3) |
Huddersfield |
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Huddersfield Town (3) |
Blackburn |
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Blackburn Rovers (3) |
Preston |
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Preston North End (2) |
Burnley |
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Burnley (2) |
Derby |
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Derby County (2) |
Portsmouth |
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Portsmouth (2) |
Ipswich |
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Ipswich Town (1) |
Nottingham |
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Nottingham Forest (1) |
West Bromwich |
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West Bromwich Albion (1) |
Total titles won by region
Twenty three clubs have been champions, from a total of 8 regions.
Region | Number of titles | Clubs |
---|---|---|
North West |
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Liverpool (18), Manchester United (18), Everton (9), Blackburn Rovers (3), Burnley (2), Manchester City (2), Preston North End (2) |
London |
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Arsenal (13), Chelsea (3), Tottenham Hotspur (2) |
Yorkshire and Humber |
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Sheffield Wednesday (4), Leeds United (3), Huddersfield Town (3), Sheffield United (1) |
West Midlands |
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Aston Villa (7), Wolverhampton Wanderers (3), West Bromwich Albion (1) |
North East |
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Sunderland (6), Newcastle United (4) |
East Midlands |
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Derby County (2), Nottingham Forest (1) |
South East |
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Portsmouth (2) |
East of England |
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Ipswich Town (1) |
South West England |
|
Multiple trophy wins
See The Double and The Treble
See also
- English football league system
- Football in England
- List of football clubs in England by major honours won
- For English women's football champions, see FA Women's Premier League National Division: History
Notes
- a b Completed the season unbeaten.
- a b Also won the UEFA Cup.
- a b Also won the European Cup.
- a b c d e Also won the League Cup.
- a From the 1981–82 season onwards three points were awarded for a win. Prior to this a win gave two points.
- a Also won the Cup Winners Cup.
- a In addition to the double of League and FA Cup, Manchester United also won the European Cup in 1999. This achievement is referred to as The Treble.
- a Sheffield Wednesday were known as The Wednesday until 1929.
References
- General
- "Past winners–The Football League". Football League website. http://www.football-league.co.uk/page/PastWinnersDetail/0,,10794~475363,00.html. Retrieved August 29 2008.
- "FA Premier League - past winners". Sporting Chronicle. http://www.sportingchronicle.com/premierleaguewinners.html. Retrieved February 25 2006.
- "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. http://www.rsssf.com/tablese/engtops.html. Retrieved 11 June 2009.
- Specific
- ^ "The History of the Football League". Football League website. http://www.football-league.premiumtv.co.uk/page/History/0,,10794,00.html. Retrieved February 15 2006.
- ^ Inglis, Simon (1988). League Football and the Men Who Made It. Willow Books. pp. 6–8. ISBN 0-0021-8242-4.
- ^ Titford, Roger (November 2005). "Football League, 1888-89". When Saturday Comes. http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/1498/29/. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
- ^ Goldblatt, David (2007). The Ball is Round: A Global History of Football. London: Penguin. pp. 58. ISBN 0-1410-1582-8.
- ^ Inglis, League Football and the Men Who Made It, p25
- ^ "Free-scoring Gunners clinch first title". Arsenal.com. http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/free-scoring-gunners-clinch-first-title. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
- ^ "Burnley: little town, big traditions". The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/football_league/article6355324.ece. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
- ^ "A History of The Premier League". Premier League. http://www.premierleague.com/page/History/0,,12306,00.html. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
- ^ "£1.78bn: Record Premier League TV deal defies economic slump". Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/163178bn-record-premier-league-tv-deal-defies-economic-slump-1569576.html. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
- ^ "Manchester United Win Premier League Title". Sky News. http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Manchester-United-Win-Premier-League-Trophy-Equalling-Liverpools-Record-18-Titles-In-Top-Division/Article/200905315283098?f=rss. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
- ^ "Sideline". The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article1132538.ece. Retrieved 7 June 2009.