The English football champions are the winners of the highest league in English men's football, which since 1992–93 is the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

. Following the codification of professional football by

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...

in 1885, the Football League was established in 1888, after 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. The league's early years were dominated by teams from the North and Midlands, where professionalism had been embraced more readily than in the South of England. Its status as the country's pre-eminent league was strengthened in 1892, when the rival

Football Alliance The Football Alliance was an association football league in England which ran for three seasons, from 1889–90 to 1891–92. History In 1888, the same year the Football League was founded, The Combination was established by clubs who had been ...

was absorbed into the Football League. Former Alliance clubs comprised the bulk of a new

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

, from which

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

to the top level could be gained. It was not until 1931 that a Southern club were crowned champions, when

Herbert Chapman Herbert Chapman (19 January 1878 – 6 January 1934) was an English football player and manager. Though he had an undistinguished playing career, he went on to become one of the most influential and successful managers in the early 20th ...

's Arsenal secured the title. 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 Association football is the most popular sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game. With over 40,000 association f ...

, and due to a series of progressively larger television contracts, put unprecedented wealth into the hands of top flight clubs. 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 Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

were 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 champions are still in existence today and all take part in the top four tiers of the English football league system.

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

are the only club who have ever changed their name after winning a league title having been known as

The Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

for the first three of their four titles. Manchester United have won twenty titles, the most of any club. United's rivals

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

are second with nineteen. Liverpool dominated during the 1970s and 1980s (winning eleven league titles between 1973 and 1990), while Manchester United dominated in the 1990s and 2000s under manager

Sir Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all tim ...

(eleven league titles between 1993 and 2009). Arsenal are third with thirteen titles, having dominated during the 1930s (five league titles between 1931 and 1938). Everton are fourth with nine titles. Manchester City are fifth with eight titles. Aston Villa (seven) and Sunderland (six) secured the majority of their titles before

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

(six) won the majority of their titles in the 21st century (between 2005 and 2017).

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

(1923–24 to 1925–26), Arsenal (1932–33 to 1934–35), Liverpool (1981–82 to 1983–84) and Manchester United (1998–99 to 2000–01 and 2006–07 to 2008–09) are the only sides to have won the league title in three consecutive seasons.

List of champions

Football League (1888–1892)

Football League First Division (1892–1992)

Premier League (1992–present)

Total titles won

There are 24 clubs who have won the English title, including 7 who have won the Premier League (1992–present). The most recent to join the list were Leicester City (2015–2016 champions) and before that, Nottingham Forest (1977–1978) and Derby County (1971–1972). Seven teams have at some point held first or joint first place in the number of titles won: Preston North End (1889–1895), Sunderland (1893–1899 and 1936–1953), Aston Villa (1897–1953), Arsenal (1948–1976), Liverpool (1966–1971 and 1973–2011), Manchester United (1967–1971 and 2009–) and Everton (1970–1971). Eight teams have finished as runners up without ever finishing top: Bristol City (1906–1907), Oldham Athletic (1914–1915), Cardiff City (1923–1924), Charlton Athletic (1936–1937), Blackpool (1955–1956), Queens Park Rangers (1975–1976), Watford (1982–1983) and Southampton (1983–1984). Of these, Cardiff City came closest to winning the league, matching champions Huddersfield Town in points but losing out on goal average (goals scored divided by goals conceded), the precursor to goal difference. Teams in bold compete in the Premier League as of the 2022–23 season.

By region

By city/town

English football champions map

Notes

References

;General * * * ;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of English Football Champions

English football champions 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 Footba ...

English Football League Lists of British award winners

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Champions A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, a ...