A report by London School of Marketing that looked at the active fan bases of clubs across Europe, placed Manchester United at the top, with Liverpool FC in second ahead of the likes of Real Madrid, Chelsea FC and FC Barcelona as the clubs with most fans globally.
Real Madrid, meanwhile emerged as the most valuable club ahead of the likes of Manchester United, Barcelona and Manchester City.
The English duo emerged as the clubs with most ‘active’ fans in world football, as quoted by the Liverpool Echo from the report by London School of Markting. Both the English outfit can count on a lot of fan following in Asia, where fans turn out in huge numbers year after year for their pre-season tours.
Liverpool FC’s poor run of form of late seems not to have affected the club’s appeal by the looks of it. The top five is dominated by England and Spain, with Chelsea FC the other English side in fourth place, sandwiched between the Spanish duo of Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, with both sides enjoying great popularity in the Americas and Middle East.
The Spanish duo do come out on top when it comes to being the most valuable brands, with both sides in top three, with Manchester United in between them.
Manchester City are fourth, with Bayern Munich being the only German representative in the top 10. Chelsea FC, Arsenal FC, Liverpool FC round off the English contingent in the top 10, with 5 of the 10 teams being from the Premier League.
Juventus and struggling AC Milan are the teams rounding off the top 10, being the only two Italian sides. Newcastle United, West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur are the other English side in the top 20.
Value of top 20 European football clubs in A?m
1. Real Madrid a A?2,070
2. Manchester United – A?2,050
3. Barcelona – A?2,007
4. Manchester City – A?2,000
5. Bayern Munich – A?1,492
6. Chelsea – A?870
7. Arsenal – A?832
8. Liverpool – A?624
9. Juventus – A?531
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10. AC Milan – A?492
11. Borussia Dortmund – A?445
12. Paris St Germain – A?403
13. Tottenham Hotspur – A?381
14. FC Schalke – A?363
15. Inter Milan – A?279
16. Atletico de Madrid – A?277
17. Napoli – A?224
18. Newcastle United – A?222
19. West Ham United – A?196
20. Galatasaray – A?187