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A debate that will rage forever but one that remains fierce in English football is who is the biggest club in the land - and, between sets of supporters, whose club is bigger than the others.
The birthplace of the sport, football is perhaps the biggest cultural, political and emotional phenomenon in English society and wanting to be a fan of a club towards the top of its notional hierarchy does mean a lot to many.
Be it based on titles won, trophies gained, the amount of match-going supporters or even fans from overseas; the size of a club is not something decided empirically and therefore the debate will always rage on.
Subjective and controversial no matter how it is discussed or deciphered, there is a new form of trying to find a definitive answer in the modern world and that is with the use of AI - and so we have asked ChatGPT to rank the 25 biggest clubs in English football - whatever that really does mean.
Whether it be years spent in the top-flight, the size of a club’s fan base, their trophies won or historical significance; here is the list of the top 25 biggest clubs according on AI.
Squeezed into the 25 biggest clubs in England according to ChatGPT are Portsmouth, with their two league titles and historically excellent support the reasons outlined for being in the top 25.
Pompey, known for a raucous atmosphere at Fratton Park, entered into the Football League in 1920 and won successive titles shortly after the Second World War. The now Championship outfit fell out of the top four in 1959 and only experienced one further season before a seven-year stint on the Premier League during the 2000s - a period that saw them win the FA Cup, as well as reach another final, and play European football, too.
One of the oldest teams in the Football League or the EFL or, simply, English football and football altogether; next on AI’s list of the top 25 biggest clubs is Stoke City.
Established in 1863, Stoke have one major honour to their name with the 1972 League Cup, having been FA Cup runners-up to Manchester City in 2011. The Potters have spent large swathes of their history in the top-flight with their most recent stint lasting ten seasons between 2008 and 2018 before a frustrating malaise back down in the Championship, albeit challenging again this time around.
The first ever Football League champions marks Preston North End out as 23rd on AI’s list with the history and tradition of English football perhaps most well represented by Preston’s early dominance.
North End won the league and FA Cup double in the 1888-89 season as the original ‘invicibles’ without losing across the campaign before backing up their league title a season later. That history has had to count for a lot for PNE, though, having not been a top-flight club since the days of Sir Tom Finney; relegated in 1960-61 and yet to return as they now battle against relegation down to League One this season.
From the city of the oldest football club in the world, Sheffield FC, 22nd on ChatGPT’s list of the biggest club in England are four-time FA Cup winners Sheffield United.
The Blades, who also have a league title to their name winning the league in the 1897-98 campaign, are one of the more storied cup teams and one of the more historic, albeit not a founding member. They achieved promotion to the top-flight in 1894 and have remained there until 1934 before yo-yoing between the top two divisions until the 1980s. That yo-yoing has returned in the last decade or so with their last seven full seasons being split three in the top-flight and four in the second-tier.
Next up on the list chosen or suggested by AI is another Championship outfit and this time it is two-time English champion Burnley, who are struggling down at the bottom end of the second-tier now.
A founding member of the Football League, Burnley have spent much of the last decade and a bit in the Premier League, having not been in the top-flight from 1975-76 until one season in the 2009-10 campaign. The Clarets, who won the league in both 1921 and 1960, as well as an FA Cup in 1913, are one of few teams to have won the English title while also spending a fair bit of time in the fourth-tier.
Having touched upon several clubs with historic significance, next on the list is one of the modern day ‘bigger clubs’ with AI putting Leicester City 20th on the list.
Famously, The Foxes produced a ‘great escape’ before winning the 2015-16 Premier League title - becoming the first outsider of 5000/1 odds to ever win in any sport. The next half a decade saw them begin to cement themselves as top four challengers as well as then win the FA Cup but the last few years has not gone well and they now reside back in League One - and struggling to find the consistency to bounce back after back-to-back relegations.
A local rival of Leicester in the East Midlands and another team struggling this season is next on the list with two-time English champions and Football League founding member Derby County.
Raucous crowds at Pride Park have dampened this season with The Rams struggling down at the bottom end of the Championship table. Two-time league winners in the 1970s, Derby regularly knocked on the door of promotion during the 2010s but they have spent just one season in the Premier League, setting the record for the lowest points tally of 11, since the 2001-02 campaign.
Rated as the bigger of the Sheffield clubs by AI; next on the list at number 18 are United’s arch-rivals Sheffield Wednesday with their four league titles, three FA Cups and one League Cup.
The Owls are again one of the more storied teams in English football with dominance at both the start of the 1900s and in the late-1920s. Wednesday could perhaps be argued to be the biggest sleeping giant in English given football, given that they haven’t been in the top-flight since relegation in the 1999-00 campaign, having previously spent most of their history at that level. They are one of two clubs outside of the top two divisions to be in ChatGPT's list.
Perhaps surprisingly low down on the list considering their well acknowledged European Cup history; Nottingham Forest are rated the 17th biggest club in England according to AI.
ChatGPT suggests Nottingham Forest’s two triumphs in the European Cup are only enough for 17th. During the era of Brian Clough at the City Ground, Forest won a league title, four League Cups, the Community Shield, two European Cups and the Super Cup. Outside of that 18-year reign, though, Forest’s other major honours both came in the FA Cup in 1898 and 1959. Now back in the Premier League; it is where many believe the club should reside.
Next up on ChatGPT’s list of the 25 biggest clubs in England is a storied stalwart of the top two divisions in English football from the midlands, West Bromwich Albion.
Five-time FA Cup winners and founding members of the Football League, West Brom also have a league title under their belt, won in 1920. Albion have had some real highs as a part of English football’s furniture with their late 70s team of Laurie Cunningham, Brendan Baston, Cyrille Regis, Tony Brown, John Wile and Bryan Robson one that is fondly remembered by many a neutral. On only one occasion ever in their 148-year history have The Baggies not been playing in either the top-flight or the second-tier.
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