ARSENAL AND MAN CITY BIGGER THAN CELTIC? WHO ARE YOU KIDDING BBC?
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- Mar 26
- 4 min read
You know it’s a slow news week when the BBC resort to posting list articles, and highly contentious ones at that. So, in their typically impartial, unbiased style, they surveyed 250 of their own staff and asked them: who are the biggest football club in Britain?
I Know, I Shouldn’t Engage with This Kind of Nonsense...
But I took the bait, so let’s look at this list and take it apart one club at a time.
Here is the BBC’s ranking from Highest to Lowest
10. Newcastle United
9. Aston Villa
8. Rangers
7. Tottenham Hotspur
6. Chelsea
5. Celtic
4. Manchester City
3. Arsenal
2. Liverpool
1. Manchester United
Man United are Definitely Number One
If we are talking about global fanbase, general presence in popular culture and how big a name they are to those who don’t follow football, then Manchester United are the number one in the UK, in my opinion.
Though, if you go back before they started their period of dominance in 1993, then I’d say Liverpool were probably bigger before that.
The rest of the list though, is definitely up for debate.
No Way are Arsenal and Man City Bigger than Celtic
Arsenal and Man City exceed Celtic in one single metric. Money.
We have more have more fans than them, more trophies, a wider global fanbase, and if we had anything like the money they get thrown at them every season, we’d comfortably surpass them within a few years.
Take money out of the equation and, with the greatest of respect, its debatable whether Man City would even be in the top flight.
As for Arsenal, they are probably the biggest club in London, though West Ham actually have London’s biggest stadium aside from Wembley. I’d also argue that they play more entertaining football and have a more passionate fanbase.
Again though, Celtic are comfortably bigger than any of the London clubs.
Celtic or Liverpool, Who is Bigger?
Now this is one where I think there is genuine scope for debate. Liverpool haven’t won as many trophies as Celtic, but they are England’s most successful club. And the reality is, although Celtic Park is bigger than Anfield, if Liverpool upgraded the stadium, they would comfortably fill it.
In terms of global fanbase, again, I think its close. Liverpool certainly attract more international interest, because of the hype of the EPL, but they don’t quite have the same romanticism to their back story that Celtic do. So, Liverpool probably have more fans, but how many of them are genuine fans, rather than just people who like watching the EPL and happen to have chosen to follow them?
But then again, that same argument could be made for any of the English clubs, Manchester United included.
The Rest is Where it Gets Messy
First off, we all know, contrary to what the BBC story says, Rangers don’t have 118 major trophies. Their current incarnation has three. Four if you count the Petrol Drinkers Cup or whatever it was called that they won back in 2016.
In terms of fanbase, notoriety, etcetera they probably warrant a place in the top 10. In Scotland, it always seemed to me to be a kind of 50/50 split between Celtic and Rangers fans. Rangers probably have more fans in England, owing to their connection with British nationalism and so on. But globally, Celtic are on a completely different level. That has always been the case, and always will be.
Still, I concede, even for a club that’s yet to turn 13 years old, the are probably the 10th biggest in Britain. Fair play to them. They’ve come a long way for such a young club.
Aston Villa Should Be Higher
People forget that Aston Villa won the European Cup back in the early 80s, and have always been one of the best supported teams in England.
Birmingham isn’t as big a footballing city as Manchester or Liverpool, and certainly Villa vs West Brom or Birmingham City doesn’t have the same draw as a Merseyside or Manchester Derby.
But that’s not Villa’s fault. I would probably put them 5th or 6th. I don’t honestly think that Chelsea, Tottenham or Man City have any place in that top 10.
They are three mediocre teams, with delusions of grandeur. Only money and hype has temporarily elevated them beyond that. And personally, I’d rather see Celtic stay where we are for good than sell our souls to a Russian gangster or the some other bored billionaires looking for a plaything.
Nottingham Forest Should be in There
Forest won the European Cup, twice. That’s more than enough to justify a place in the UK top ten for me. Plus, who doesn’t love Brian Clough?
To give them their due, Newcastle United are probably just about there too. They haven’t won much, but that actually makes me respect the huge numbers of fans that still follow them home and away all the more.
A big club, just not a particularly successful one.
My Own Personal Top Ten
Ok, an obligatory disclaimer here. This is just one man’s opinion. Feel free to disagree. And let us know who you would have in your top ten.
So anyway, here’s my list:
1 Manchester United
2 Liverpool and Celtic tied
3 Aston Villa
4 West Ham
5 Arsenal
6 Nottingham Forest
7 Newcastle United
8 Rangers
9 Man City
You may like this list or you may think I’m talking complete nonsense. But I think we can all agree that, in Celtic, we support one of the biggest clubs not just in the UK, but in the world. That is something we can all be proud of, no matter what the BBC says.