EPL 2016/17: Premier League clubs ranked by their respective Facebook followers
What's the story?
It has always been an issue of debate over which is the biggest and most followed football club in the Premier League. The English first division, which is followed all over the globe, has seen its fan following rise manifolds since the turn of the century.
With the increasing power of social media, a better idea of the most followed club in England is available, which could not have been estimated before. Recently, a survey conducted by Going Global revealed the Premier League clubs with the most followers on Facebook.
In case you didn't know...
The most popular social networking platform in the world is Facebook. A whopping 1.2 billion people follow Premier League clubs on the platform around the world.
The heart of the matter
Current league champions, Leicester City gained the most "likes" on their official page in recent years. The Foxes now have 6.5 million followers on Facebook. There are no surprises as to who leads the chart as Manchester United are the most followed club with a massive 95 million followers.
Chelsea come second with 75 million while fellow Londoners, Arsenal come a distant third with 42.5 million followers.
Also read: Top 10 clubs that increased the overall value of their squad in the transfer market
Liverpool and Manchester City have 32.5 million followers each on Facebook while Spurs come next with 22 million.
The bottom three clubs on this list are Burnley, Bournemouth and Watford with the Clarets and the Cherries having 750k followers on the social networking site while Watford have 1.3 million followers.
What's next?
With the ever increasing popularity of Facebook and also of the Premier League, these numbers are obviously going to rise with an increase in the fan base of the top clubs. A disappointing season from Leicester City might see them lose some of their newfound supporters.
Sportskeeda's Take
Despite leading the charts in ratings and television revenue, English clubs still fall short on the social media front when compared to the two giants of Spanish football. Real Madrid and FC Barcelona have a superior number of followers compared to Manchester United and Chelsea and the Premier League clubs still need a lot of catching up to do against the Spanish superpowers.
| S.No. | Club Name | Facebook Followers( in Million) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester United | 95 |
| 2 | Chelsea | 75 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 42.5 |
| 4 | Liverpool | 32.5 |
| 5 | Manchester City | 32.5 |
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur | 22.5 |
| 7 | Everton | 8.5 |
| 8 | Southampton | 7.5 |
| 9 | West Bromwich Albion | 7.5 |
| 10 | Leicester City | 6.5 |
| 11 | West Ham United | 6.5 |
| 12 | Crystal Palace | 2.8 |
| 13 | Stoke City | 2.8 |
| 14 | Sunderland | 2.8 |
| 15 | Middlesbrough | 2.3 |
| 16 | Hull City | 1.8 |
| 17 | Swansea City | 1.8 |
| 18 | Watford | 1.3 |
| 19 | Bournemouth | 0.75 |
| 20 | Burnley | 0.75 |