List of English football champions


English League
Football League
Football League First Division
Premier League
Country
England
Founded
1888
Number of teams
20
Current champions
Liverpool
Most successful club
Manchester United

The English football champions are the winners of the highest league in English men's football, which since 1992–93 is the Premier League.
Following the codification of professional football by the Football Association in 1885, the Football League was established in 1888, after a series of meetings initiated by Aston Villa director William McGregor. At the end of the 1888–89 season, Preston North End were the first club to be crowned champions after completing their fixtures unbeaten.
Representing the first fully professional football competition in the world the league saw its early years dominated by teams from the North and Midlands, where professionalism was embraced more readily than in the South. Its status as the country's pre-eminent league was strengthened in 1892, when the rival Football Alliance was absorbed into the Football League. Former Alliance clubs comprised the bulk of a new Second Division, from which promotion to the top level could be gained. It was not until 1931 that a Southern club were crowned champions, when Herbert Chapman's Arsenal secured the title. Arsenal scored 127 goals in the process, a record for a title-winning side.
Rules stipulating a maximum wage for players were abolished in 1961. This resulted in a shift of power towards bigger clubs. Financial considerations became an even bigger influence from 1992, when the teams then in the First Division defected to form the FA Premier League. This supplanted the Football League First Division as the highest level of football in England, and due to a series of progressively larger television contracts, put wealth into the hands of top flight clubs in a hitherto unprecedented manner. The first five champions in the Premier League era – Arsenal, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United – had all won the title at least once prior to 1992. Leicester City were crowned champions for the first time in 2016, becoming the first team to win the Premier League without having previously won the First Division.
All the clubs which have ever been crowned champions are still in existence today and all take part in the top four tiers of the English football league system – the football pyramid. Sheffield Wednesday are the only club who have ever changed their name after winning a league title having been known as The Wednesday for the first three of their four titles.
Manchester United have won 20 titles, the most of any club. United's rivals Liverpool are second with 19. Liverpool dominated during the 1970s and 1980s, while Manchester United dominated in the 1990s and 2000s under manager Sir Alex Ferguson. Arsenal are third and dominated during the 1930s. Everton are fourth with 9 titles. Aston Villa and Sunderland secured the majority of their titles before World War I. Manchester City
and Chelsea secured the majority of their titles in the 21st century. With the arrival of billionaire foreign ownership, Manchester City won league titles in the 2010s, whilst Chelsea won league titles in the 2000s and 2010s.
Huddersfield Town in 1924–26, Arsenal in 1933–35, Liverpool in 1982–84 and Manchester United in 1999–2001 and 2007–09 are the only sides to have won the League title in three consecutive seasons.

List

Football League First Division (1892–1992)

Premier League (1992–present)

Total titles won

There are 24 clubs who have won the English title.
Teams in bold compete in the Premier League as of the 2019–20 season.
RankClubWinnersRunners-upWinning seasons
1Manchester United20161907–08, 1910–11, 1951–52, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2012–13
2Liverpool19141900–01, 1905–06, 1921–22, 1922–23, 1946–47, 1963–64, 1965–66, 1972–73, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1989–90, 2019–20
3Arsenal1391930–31, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1937–38, 1947–48, 1952–53, 1970–71, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2003–04
4Everton971890–91, 1914–15, 1927–28, 1931–32, 1938–39, 1962–63, 1969–70, 1984–85, 1986–87
5Aston Villa7101893–94, 1895–96, 1896–97, 1898–99, 1899–00, 1909–10, 1980–81
6Manchester City661936–37, 1967–68, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2017–18, 2018–19
6Sunderland651891–92, 1892–93, 1894–95, 1901–02, 1912–13, 1935–36
6Chelsea641954–55, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2009–10, 2014–15, 2016–17
9Newcastle United421904–05, 1906–07, 1908–09, 1926–27
9Sheffield Wednesday411902–03, 1903–04, 1928–29, 1929–30
11Wolverhampton Wanderers351953–54, 1957–58, 1958–59
11Leeds United351968–69, 1973–74, 1991–92
11Huddersfield Town331923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26
11Blackburn Rovers311911–12, 1913–14, 1994–95
15Preston North End261888–89, 1889–90
15Tottenham Hotspur251950–51, 1960–61
15Derby County231971–72, 1974–75
15Burnley221920–21, 1959–60
15Portsmouth201948–49, 1949–50
20Sheffield United121897–98
20West Bromwich Albion121919–20
20Ipswich Town121961–62
20Nottingham Forest121977–78
20Leicester City112015–16
rowspan="9" Bristol City01
Oldham Athletic01-
Cardiff City01-
Charlton Athletic01-
Blackpool01-
Queen's Park Rangers01-
Watford01-
Southampton01-

By region

RegionChampionshipsClubs
North West61Manchester United, Liverpool, Everton, Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers, Burnley, Preston North End
London21Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur
Yorkshire11Sheffield Wednesday, Huddersfield Town, Leeds United, Sheffield United
West Midlands11Aston Villa, Wolverhampton Wanderers, West Bromwich Albion
North East10Sunderland, Newcastle United
East Midlands4Derby County, Leicester City, Nottingham Forest
South East2Portsmouth
East of England1Ipswich Town

By city/town