Biggest and Best Premier League Fans: New Survey Reveals the Rankings for 2026/27

Which Premier League club really has the biggest fanbase, and whose supporters are the most passionate and most loyal? Bookies.com surveyed 1,000 UK football fans to find out, ranking every Premier League club by fan numbers, passion, and loyalty through the toughest seasons. The results throw up a virtual dead heat at the top of the table, a runaway winner for passion, and one of the closest, most evenly spread rankings you'll find anywhere in football fan research.
Before you check out the best UK betting sites, see where your club ranks below.
Biggest & Best Fans in the Premier League, Ranked
We surveyed 1,000 UK-based football fans on which Premier League club they support, which fanbase they think is the most passionate, and which fanbase sticks with their team through the toughest seasons. Each question is ranked on its own — not combined into a single score.
Biggest Fanbases
"Which Premier League club do you support?"
Most Passionate Fanbase
"Which fanbase do you think is the most passionate?"
Sticks With Their Team Through the Toughest Seasons
"Which fanbase sticks with their team through the toughest seasons?"
Which Premier League Club Has the Biggest Fanbase?
Per Bookies.com's Premier League Fandom Index, Manchester United edge out Liverpool for the title of the Premier League's biggest fanbase, but only just. Of the 1,000 fans surveyed, 188 (18.8%) said they support Manchester United, compared with 181 (18.1%) for Liverpool, a gap of just seven people. Statistically, it is close enough to call a tie, and a reminder that “biggest fanbase” bragging rights between the two sets of supporters come down to a rounding error.
Arsenal complete a clear top three, with 150 fans (15.0%). Between them, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal account for just over half of everyone surveyed (51.9%), meaning more than one in two Premier League fans in the UK support one of those three clubs.
After the top three, support drops away quickly. Manchester City and Chelsea, both multiple-time Premier League champions in recent years, sit at a comparatively modest 6.8% and 6.4% respectively, less than half of Arsenal's share. From there the list thins out fast: by 16th-placed Crystal Palace, a club needs just 12 fans (1.2%) to make the cut.
Sixteen respondents in the survey turned out not to be current Premier League fans at all. Nine said they do not support a specific club, while the rest named sides outside the current top flight, including Leicester City, Queens Park Rangers, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Birmingham City, Middlesbrough and Carlisle United. These are grouped together in the table below as “(Other club)”.
Also: Which Premier League Fans Cause the Most Tube Congestion?
Table A: Biggest Premier League Fanbases, ranked
| Rank | Club | Fans | Share |
| 1 | Manchester United | 188 | 18.8% |
| 2 | Liverpool | 181 | 18.1% |
| 3 | Arsenal | 150 | 15.0% |
| 4 | Manchester City | 68 | 6.8% |
| 5 | Chelsea | 64 | 6.4% |
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur | 51 | 5.1% |
| 7 | Newcastle United | 48 | 4.8% |
| 8 | Aston Villa | 41 | 4.1% |
| 9 | Leeds United | 37 | 3.7% |
| 10 | Nottingham Forest | 28 | 2.8% |
| 11 | Everton | 27 | 2.7% |
| 12 | Sunderland | 17 | 1.7% |
| 13 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 16 | 1.6% |
| 13 | (Other club) | 16 | 1.6% |
| 15 | Coventry City | 14 | 1.4% |
| 16 | Crystal Palace | 12 | 1.2% |
| 17 | Brentford | 11 | 1.1% |
| 18 | Hull City | 10 | 1.0% |
| 19 | Ipswich Town | 9 | 0.9% |
| 20 | Bournemouth | 7 | 0.7% |
| 21 | Fulham | 5 | 0.5% |
Which Premier League Fanbase Is the Most Passionate?
Liverpool's supporters are the clear winners here. Asked which Premier League fanbase is the most passionate, 246 of the 1,000 fans surveyed (24.6%) named Liverpool, comfortably clear of Newcastle United in second on 188 votes (18.8%) and Manchester United in third on 136 (13.6%).
The passion ranking is not simply a popularity contest. Newcastle United, whose own fanbase makes up under 5% of the survey, finish second overall, ahead of far bigger clubs including Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City. Leeds United also crack the top five with 76 votes (7.6%), while two of the Premier League's most decorated champions, Chelsea and Manchester City, rank behind Newcastle and Leeds, with Chelsea only level with Sunderland.
Table B: Most Passionate Premier League Fanbase, ranked
| Rank | Club | Votes | Share |
| 1 | Liverpool | 246 | 24.6% |
| 2 | Newcastle United | 188 | 18.8% |
| 3 | Manchester United | 136 | 13.6% |
| 4 | Arsenal | 108 | 10.8% |
| 5 | Leeds United | 76 | 7.6% |
| 6 | Sunderland | 40 | 4.0% |
| 6 | Chelsea | 40 | 4.0% |
| 8 | Manchester City | 35 | 3.5% |
| 9 | Aston Villa | 24 | 2.4% |
| 10 | Crystal Palace | 22 | 2.2% |
| 11 | Everton | 21 | 2.1% |
| 12 | Tottenham Hotspur | 15 | 1.5% |
| 13 | Nottingham Forest | 13 | 1.3% |
| 14 | Coventry City | 10 | 1.0% |
| 15 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 8 | 0.8% |
| 15 | Hull City | 8 | 0.8% |
| 17 | Brentford | 6 | 0.6% |
| 18 | Ipswich Town | 3 | 0.3% |
| 19 | Bournemouth | 1 | 0.1% |
Which Premier League Fanbase Sticks By Their Club Through the Toughest Seasons?
Loyalty proved to be the hardest thing for fans to agree on. Manchester United edge this ranking too, with 123 votes (12.3%) for sticking by their team through the toughest seasons, just ahead of Arsenal (100 votes, 10.0%), Liverpool (98, 9.8%), Newcastle United (97, 9.7%) and Everton (90, 9.0%).
Unlike the passion ranking, where Liverpool's lead over second place ran to almost six percentage points, the top five clubs here are separated by only 33 votes between them. No single fanbase runs away with this one. Everton, without a major trophy in decades, still finish comfortably ahead of bigger spenders such as Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, suggesting fans associate loyalty more with shared hardship than with recent success.
Table C: Sticks With Their Team Through the Toughest Seasons, ranked
| Rank | Club | Votes | Share |
| 1 | Manchester United | 123 | 12.3% |
| 2 | Arsenal | 100 | 10.0% |
| 3 | Liverpool | 98 | 9.8% |
| 4 | Newcastle United | 97 | 9.7% |
| 5 | Everton | 90 | 9.0% |
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur | 77 | 7.7% |
| 6 | Leeds United | 77 | 7.7% |
| 8 | Sunderland | 57 | 5.7% |
| 9 | Aston Villa | 37 | 3.7% |
| 10 | Chelsea | 34 | 3.4% |
| 11 | Coventry City | 33 | 3.3% |
| 12 | Manchester City | 32 | 3.2% |
| 13 | Nottingham Forest | 28 | 2.8% |
| 14 | Crystal Palace | 24 | 2.4% |
| 15 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 20 | 2.0% |
| 16 | Ipswich Town | 19 | 1.9% |
| 16 | Brentford | 19 | 1.9% |
| 18 | Hull City | 17 | 1.7% |
| 19 | Bournemouth | 13 | 1.3% |
| 20 | Fulham | 5 | 0.5% |
What the Rankings Tell Us
Read together, the three rankings paint a picture of a league where size, passion and loyalty do not always move in the same direction. Manchester United and Liverpool's fanbases remain the two largest in the country, almost indistinguishable in size, but it is Liverpool's supporters that fans across the league see as the most passionate. Loyalty, meanwhile, looks less like the property of any one giant club and more like something fans believe is spread fairly evenly across the division, from Manchester United and Arsenal down to Everton and Sunderland.
Methodology
Bookies.com surveyed 1,000 UK based football fans and asked which Premier League club they support, which fanbase they believe is the most passionate, and which fanbase they believe sticks with their team through the toughest seasons. Free text answers on club support were manually reviewed and grouped to account for spelling variants, abbreviations and nicknames.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Premier League club has the biggest fanbase?
Manchester United have the Premier League's biggest fanbase in Bookies.com's 2026/27 survey, with 18.8% of the 1,000 UK fans surveyed (188 fans) naming them as their club -- narrowly ahead of Liverpool on 18.1% (181 fans) and Arsenal on 15.0% (150 fans).
Which Premier League fanbase is the most passionate?
Liverpool's fanbase was voted the most passionate in the Premier League, picked by 24.6% of fans surveyed (246 votes), well clear of Newcastle United in second (18.8%, 188 votes) and Manchester United in third (13.6%, 136 votes).
Which Premier League fanbase is the most loyal?
Manchester United fans were rated the most loyal, with 12.3% of the vote (123) for sticking with their team through the toughest seasons, just ahead of Arsenal (10.0%, 100 votes), Liverpool (9.8%, 98 votes) and Newcastle United (9.7%, 97 votes).
How close is the race between Manchester United and Liverpool for biggest fanbase?
It's close enough to call a virtual tie: Manchester United's 188 fans out of 1,000 surveyed edge out Liverpool's 181 -- a gap of just seven people (18.8% vs. 18.1%).
What share of Premier League fans support one of the "big three" clubs?
Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal together account for 51.9% of all Premier League fans surveyed, meaning more than half of fans in the UK support one of those three clubs.
How did newly promoted clubs fare in the survey?
Coventry City, Hull City and Ipswich Town — all promoted to the Premier League for 2026/27 -- sit near the bottom of the fanbase-size rankings, as expected for the division's newest arrivals: Coventry drew 1.4% (14 fans), Hull City 1.0% (10 fans) and Ipswich Town 0.9% (9 fans). Coventry punched above its weight on loyalty, though, ranking 11th with 3.3% of that vote.
How was the Bookies.com Premier League fan survey conducted?
Bookies.com surveyed 1,000 UK-based football fans, asking which Premier League club they support, which fanbase they believe is the most passionate, and which fanbase they believe sticks with their team through the toughest seasons. Each question was ranked independently rather than combined into a single score, and free-text answers on club support were manually reviewed and grouped to account for spelling variants, abbreviations and nicknames.
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