Reddit's most popular football club is Arsenal while Spanish clubs continue to struggle with representation
Let’s cut to the chase. Reddit is the new – and amongst the first - shortcuts on most people’s web browsers. It’s an aggregator where people can post external links regarding the topic – or subreddit – they’re currently browsing. And unlike Twitter and Facebook, every subreddit has moderators who ensure the quality of content posted is reliable and isn’t offensive to the people who’ve ‘subscribed’ to it.
Amongst the thousands of subreddits the site boasts of, ‘soccer’ is the one with highest following ones for football fans across the world. Currently, r/soccer has 211,492 users from 213 countries subscribed to it who support some 2047 football clubs all over the world.
And given how certain clubs have taken to social media as one of their preferred ways to reach out to fans, it’s no surprise to see some of the biggest English sides dominate even in Reddit – even though they can’t directly influence the content posted and spoken about on the site.
It comes as no surprise then that English Premier League side Arsenal are the most ‘followed’ side in Reddit. They’re followed by fellow Premier League rivals Manchester United with Liverpool and Chelsea a distant third and fourth on the list.
Given that two of football’s biggest names – in Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo – don the jerseys of Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively, it’s surprising to see that the two Spanish clubs have a very minimal representation on Reddit. But given that a majority of their fans are from a Spanish speaking community, it’s understandable given how particular the site are about all the communication being in English.
This also reflects in the kind of following national teams have on Reddit. England’s national team has an incredible 92,003 followers and is the most followed national team on the site. The second most followed national team is a surprise for football fans – but not so much given it’s on an English-speaking site – with the United States of America which has around 26,998 followers.
Most followed football clubs on Reddit:
Team | Users |
|---|---|
| Arsenal | 16,207 |
| Manchester United | 15,710 |
| Liverpool | 13,603 |
| Chelsea | 10,578 |
| Tottenham Hotspurs | 6,516 |
| Barcelona | 6,153 |
| Bayern Munich | 4,942 |
| Real Madrid | 4,773 |
| Manchester City | 3,845 |
| Borussia Dortmund | 2,741 |
| Everton | 2,417 |
| Newcastle United | 2,406 |
| Juventus | 2,022 |
| AC Milan | 1,768 |
| Seattle Sounders | 1,576 |
| West Ham United | 1,390 |
| Celtic | 1,309 |
| Aston Villa | 1,123 |
| Benfica | 1,115 |
| Ajax | 1,110 |
Most followed national football teams on Reddit:
Team | Users |
|---|---|
| England | 92,003 |
| United States of America | 26,998 |
| Germany | 16,593 |
| Spain | 13,100 |
| Italy | 7,537 |
| Netherlands | 4,936 |
| Portugal | 4,211 |
| Mexico | 3,718 |
| France | 3,378 |
| Scotland | 3,335 |
| Brazil | 2,899 |
| Australia | 2,200 |
| Canada | 1,908 |
| Argentina | 1,897 |
| Sweden | 1,742 |
| Belgium | 1,728 |
| Ireland | 1,629 |
| Wales | 1,479 |
| Turkey | 1,284 |
| Poland | 1,246 |