List of English football champions

The English football champions are the winners of the highest league in English football, which since 1992-1993 is the Premier League.

Following the legalisation of professional football by the Football Association in 1885, the English 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.

The first fully professional football competition in the world, the League's early years were 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 (though runners-up Aston Villa ironically scored one goal more, a record for the top division).

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 and to date only 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 18. Liverpool dominated during the 1970s and 1980s, while United dominated in the 1990s and 2000s under Sir Alex Ferguson. Arsenal are third; their 13 titles all came after 1930. Everton (nine) have enjoyed success throughout their history, and both Aston Villa (seven) and Sunderland (six) secured the majority of their titles before World War I. 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

Teams in bold are those who won the double of League Championship and FA Cup, or the European Double of League Championship and European Cup in that season.

Football League (1888–1892)

Year	Champions (number of titles)	Runners-up	Third place	Leading goalscorer	Goals
1888–89	Preston North End	Aston Villa	Wolverhampton Wanderers	John Goodall (Preston North End)	21
1889–90	Preston North End (2)	Everton	Blackburn Rovers	Jimmy Ross (Preston North End)	24
1890–91	Everton	Preston North End	Notts County	Jack Southworth (Blackburn Rovers)	26
1891–92	Sunderland	Preston North End	Bolton Wanderers	John Campbell (Sunderland)	32

Football League First Division (1892–1992)

Year	Champions (number of titles)	Runners-up	Third place	Leading goalscorer	Goals
1892–93	Sunderland (2)	Preston North End	Everton	John Campbell (Sunderland)	31
1893–94	Aston Villa	Sunderland	Derby County	Jack Southworth (Everton)	27
1894–95	Sunderland (3)	Everton	Aston Villa	John Campbell (Sunderland)	22
1895–96	Aston Villa (2)	Derby County	Everton	Johnny Campbell (Aston Villa) Steve Bloomer (Derby County)	20
1896–97	Aston Villa (3)	Sheffield United	Derby County	Steve Bloomer (Derby County)	22
1897–98	Sheffield United	Sunderland	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Fred Wheldon (Aston Villa)	21
1898–99	Aston Villa (4)	Liverpool	Burnley	Steve Bloomer (Derby County)	23
1899–1900	Aston Villa (5)	Sheffield United	Sunderland	Billy Garraty (Aston Villa)	27
1900–01	Liverpool	Sunderland	Notts County	Steve Bloomer (Derby County)	23
1901–02	Sunderland (4)	Everton	Newcastle United	Jimmy Settle (Everton)	18
1902–03	The Wednesday	Aston Villa	Sunderland	Sam Raybould (Liverpool)	31
1903–04	The Wednesday (2)	Manchester City	Everton	Steve Bloomer (Derby County)	20
1904–05	Newcastle United	Everton	Manchester City	Arthur Brown (Sheffield United)	22
1905–06	Liverpool (2)	Preston North End	The Wednesday	Albert Shepherd (Bolton Wanderers)	26
1906–07	Newcastle United (2)	Bristol City	Everton	Alex Young (Everton)	30
1907–08	Manchester United	Aston Villa	Manchester City	Enoch West (Nottingham Forest)	27
1908–09	Newcastle United (3)	Everton	Sunderland	Bert Freeman (Everton)	38
1909–10	Aston Villa (6)	Liverpool	Blackburn Rovers	Jack Parkinson (Liverpool)	30
1910–11	Manchester United (2)	Aston Villa	Sunderland	Albert Shepherd (Newcastle United)	25
1911–12	Blackburn Rovers	Everton	Newcastle United	Harry Hampton (Aston Villa) George Holley (Sunderland) David McLean (The Wednesday)	25
1912–13	Sunderland (5)	Aston Villa	The Wednesday	David McLean (The Wednesday)	30
1913–14	Blackburn Rovers (2)	Aston Villa	Middlesbrough	George Elliot (Middlesbrough)	32
1914–15	Everton (2)	Oldham Athletic	Blackburn Rovers	Bobby Parker (Everton)	35
1915/16–1918/19	League suspended due to the First World War
1919–20	West Bromwich Albion	Burnley	Chelsea	Fred Morris (West Bromwich Albion)	37
1920–21	Burnley	Manchester City	Bolton Wanderers	Joe Smith (Bolton Wanderers)	38
1921–22	Liverpool (3)	Tottenham Hotspur	Burnley	Andy Wilson (Middlesbrough)	31
1922–23	Liverpool (4)	Sunderland	Huddersfield Town	Charlie Buchan (Sunderland)	30
1923–24	Huddersfield Town	Cardiff City	Sunderland	Wilf Chadwick (Everton)	28
1924–25	Huddersfield Town (2)	West Bromwich Albion	Bolton Wanderers	Frank Roberts (Manchester City)	31
1925–26	Huddersfield Town (3)	Arsenal	Sunderland	Ted Harper (Blackburn Rovers)	43
1926–27	Newcastle United (4)	Huddersfield Town	Sunderland	Jimmy Trotter (The Wednesday)	37
1927–28	Everton (3)	Huddersfield Town	Leicester City	Dixie Dean (Everton)	60
1928–29	The Wednesday (3)	Leicester City	Aston Villa	Dave Halliday (Sunderland)	43
1929–30	Sheffield Wednesday (4)	Derby County	Manchester City	Vic Watson (West Ham United)	41
1930–31	Arsenal	Aston Villa	Sheffield Wednesday	Tom Waring (Aston Villa)	49
1931–32	Everton (4)	Arsenal	Sheffield Wednesday	Dixie Dean (Everton)	44
1932–33	Arsenal (2)	Aston Villa	Sheffield Wednesday	Jack Bowers (Derby County)	35
1933–34	Arsenal (3)	Huddersfield Town	Tottenham Hotspur	Jack Bowers (Derby County)	34
1934–35	Arsenal (4)	Sunderland	Sheffield Wednesday	Ted Drake (Arsenal)	42
1935–36	Sunderland (6)	Derby County	Huddersfield Town	W. G. Richardson (West Bromwich Albion)	39
1936–37	Manchester City	Charlton Athletic	Arsenal	Freddie Steele (Stoke City)	33
1937–38	Arsenal (5)	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Preston North End	Tommy Lawton (Everton)	28
1938–39	Everton (5)	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Charlton Athletic	Tommy Lawton (Everton)	35
1939–40	League suspended in September 1939 due to outbreak of the Second World War
1940/41–1945/46
1946–47	Liverpool (5)	Manchester United	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Dennis Westcott (Wolverhampton Wanderers)	37
1947–48	Arsenal (6)	Manchester United	Burnley	Ronnie Rooke (Arsenal)	33
1948–49	Portsmouth	Manchester United	Derby County	Willie Moir (Bolton Wanderers)	25
1949–50	Portsmouth (2)	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Sunderland	Dickie Davis (Sunderland)	25
1950–51	Tottenham Hotspur	Manchester United	Blackpool	Stan Mortensen (Blackpool)	30
1951–52	Manchester United (3)	Tottenham Hotspur	Arsenal	George Robledo (Newcastle United)	33
1952–53	Arsenal (7)	Preston North End	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Charlie Wayman (Preston North End)	24
1953–54	Wolverhampton Wanderers	West Bromwich Albion	Huddersfield Town	Jimmy Glazzard (Huddersfield Town)	29
1954–55	Chelsea	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Portsmouth	Ronnie Allen (West Bromwich Albion)	27
1955–56	Manchester United (4)	Blackpool	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Nat Lofthouse (Bolton Wanderers)	33
1956–57	Manchester United (5)	Tottenham Hotspur	Preston North End	John Charles (Leeds United)	38
1957–58	Wolverhampton Wanderers (2)	Preston North End	Tottenham Hotspur	Bobby Smith (Tottenham Hotspur)	36
1958–59	Wolverhampton Wanderers (3)	Manchester United	Arsenal	Jimmy Greaves (Chelsea)	33
1959–60	Burnley (2)	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Tottenham Hotspur	Dennis Viollet (Manchester United)	32
1960–61	Tottenham Hotspur (2)	Sheffield Wednesday	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Jimmy Greaves (Chelsea)	41
1961–62	Ipswich Town	Burnley	Tottenham Hotspur	Ray Crawford (Ipswich Town) Derek Kevan (West Bromwich Albion)	33
1962–63	Everton (6)	Tottenham Hotspur	Burnley	Jimmy Greaves (Tottenham Hotspur)	37
1963–64	Liverpool (6)	Manchester United	Everton	Jimmy Greaves (Tottenham Hotspur)	35
1964–65	Manchester United (6)	Leeds United	Chelsea	Andy McEvoy (Blackburn Rovers) Jimmy Greaves (Tottenham Hotspur)	29
1965–66	Liverpool (7)	Leeds United	Burnley	Willie Irvine (Burnley)	29
1966–67	Manchester United (7)	Nottingham Forest	Tottenham Hotspur	Ron Davies (Southampton)	37
1967–68	Manchester City (2)	Manchester United	Liverpool	George Best (Manchester United) Ron Davies (Southampton)	28
1968–69	Leeds United	Liverpool	Everton	Jimmy Greaves (Tottenham Hotspur)	27
1969–70	Everton (7)	Leeds United	Chelsea	Jeff Astle (West Bromwich Albion)	25
1970–71	Arsenal (8)	Leeds United	Tottenham Hotspur	Tony Brown (West Bromwich Albion)	28
1971–72	Derby County	Leeds United	Liverpool	Francis Lee (Manchester City)	33
1972–73	Liverpool (8)	Arsenal	Leeds United	Pop Robson (West Ham United)	28
1973–74	Leeds United (2)	Liverpool	Derby County	Mick Channon (Southampton)	21
1974–75	Derby County (2)	Liverpool	Ipswich Town	Malcolm Macdonald (Newcastle United)	21
1975–76	Liverpool (9)	Queens Park Rangers	Manchester United	Ted MacDougall (Norwich City)	23
1976–77	Liverpool (10)	Manchester City	Ipswich Town	Malcolm Macdonald (Arsenal) Andy Gray (Aston Villa)	25
1977–78	Nottingham Forest	Liverpool	Everton	Bob Latchford (Everton)	30
1978–79	Liverpool (11)	Nottingham Forest	West Bromwich Albion	Frank Worthington (Bolton Wanderers)	24
1979–80	Liverpool (12)	Manchester United	Ipswich Town	Phil Boyer (Southampton)	23
1980–81	Aston Villa (7)	Ipswich Town	Arsenal	Peter Withe (Aston Villa) Steve Archibald (Tottenham Hotspur)	20
1981–82	Liverpool(13)	Ipswich Town	Manchester United	Kevin Keegan (Southampton)	26
1982–83	Liverpool (14)	Watford	Manchester United	Luther Blissett (Watford)	27
1983–84	Liverpool (15)	Southampton	Nottingham Forest	Ian Rush (Liverpool)	32
1984–85	Everton (8)	Liverpool	Tottenham Hotspur	Kerry Dixon (Chelsea) Gary Lineker (Leicester City)	24
1985–86	Liverpool (16)	Everton	West Ham United	Gary Lineker (Everton)	30
1986–87	Everton (9)	Liverpool	Tottenham Hotspur	Clive Allen (Tottenham Hotspur)	33
1987–88	Liverpool (17)	Manchester United	Nottingham Forest	John Aldridge (Liverpool)	26
1988–89	Arsenal (9)	Liverpool	Nottingham Forest	Alan Smith (Arsenal)	23
1989–90	Liverpool (18)	Aston Villa	Tottenham Hotspur	Gary Lineker (Tottenham Hotspur)	24
1990–91	Arsenal (10)	Liverpool	Crystal Palace	Alan Smith (Arsenal)	22
1991–92	Leeds United (3)	Manchester United	Sheffield Wednesday	Ian Wright (Crystal Palace/Arsenal)	29

Premier League (1992–present)

Year	Champions (number of titles)	Points	Runners-up	Points	Third place	Points	Top goalscorer	Goals
1992–93	Manchester United (8)	84	Aston Villa	74	Norwich City	72	Teddy Sheringham (Nottingham Forest/Tottenham)	22
1993–94	Manchester United (9)	92	Blackburn Rovers	84	Newcastle United	77	Andrew Cole (Newcastle United)	34
1994–95	Blackburn Rovers (3)	89	Manchester United	88	Nottingham Forest	77	Alan Shearer (Blackburn Rovers)	34
1995–96	Manchester United (10)	82	Newcastle United	78	Liverpool	71	Alan Shearer (Blackburn Rovers)	31
1996–97	Manchester United (11)	75	Newcastle United	68	Arsenal	68	Alan Shearer (Newcastle United)	25
1997–98	Arsenal (11)	78	Manchester United	77	Liverpool	65	Chris Sutton (Blackburn Rovers) Dion Dublin (Coventry City) Michael Owen (Liverpool)	18
1998–99	Manchester United (12)	79	Arsenal	78	Chelsea	75	Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (Leeds United) Michael Owen (Liverpool) Dwight Yorke (Manchester United)	18
1999–2000	Manchester United (13)	91	Arsenal	73	Leeds United	69	Kevin Phillips (Sunderland)	30
2000–01	Manchester United (14)	80	Arsenal	70	Liverpool	69	Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (Chelsea)	23
2001–02	Arsenal (12)	87	Liverpool	80	Manchester United	77	Thierry Henry (Arsenal)	24
2002–03	Manchester United (15)	83	Arsenal	78	Newcastle United	69	Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United)	25
2003–04	Arsenal (13)	90	Chelsea	79	Manchester United	75	Thierry Henry (Arsenal)	30
2004–05	Chelsea (2)	95	Arsenal	83	Manchester United	77	Thierry Henry (Arsenal)	25
2005–06	Chelsea (3)	91	Manchester United	83	Liverpool	82	Thierry Henry (Arsenal)	27
2006–07	Manchester United (16)	89	Chelsea	83	Liverpool	68	Didier Drogba (Chelsea)	20
2007–08	Manchester United (17)	87	Chelsea	85	Arsenal	83	Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)	31
2008–09	Manchester United (18)	90	Liverpool	86	Chelsea	83	Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea)	19
2009–10	Chelsea (4)	86	Manchester United	85	Arsenal	75	Didier Drogba (Chelsea)	29
2010–11	Manchester United (19)	80	Chelsea	71	Manchester City	71	Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United) Carlos Tevez (Manchester City)	20
2011–12	Manchester City (3)	89	Manchester United	89	Arsenal	70	Robin van Persie (Arsenal)	30
2012–13	Manchester United (20)	89	Manchester City	78	Chelsea	75	Robin van Persie (Manchester United)	26
2013–14	Manchester City (4)	86	Liverpool	84	Chelsea	82	Luis Suárez (Liverpool)	31
2014–15	Chelsea (5)	87	Manchester City	79	Arsenal	75	Sergio Agüero (Manchester City)	26
2015–16	Leicester City (1)	81	Arsenal	71	Tottenham Hotspur	70	Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)	25

Bold indicates Double winners – i.e. League and FA Cup winners OR League and European Cup winners

Bold Italic indicates Treble winners – i.e. League, FA Cup and European Cup winners

Total titles won

Teams in bold compete in the Premier League as of the 2016–17 season.

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning seasons	Seasons Runners-up
Manchester United	20	15	1907–08, 1910–11, 1951–52, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2012–13	1946-47, 1947-48, 1948-49, 1950-51, 1958-59, 1963-64, 1967-68, 1979-80, 1987-88, 1991-92, 1994-95, 1997-98, 2005-06, 2009-10, 2011-12
Liverpool	18	13	1900–01, 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	1898-99, 1909-10, 1968-69, 1973-74, 1974-75, 1977-78, 1984-85, 1986-87, 1988-89, 1990-91, 2001-02, 2008-09, 2013-14
Arsenal	13	9	1930–31, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1937–38, 1947–48, 1952–53, 1970–71, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2003–04	1925-26, 1931-32, 1972-73, 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2004-05, 2015-16
Everton	9	7	1890–91, 1914–15, 1927–28, 1931–32, 1938–39, 1962–63, 1969–70, 1984–85, 1986–87	1889-90, 1894-95, 1901-02, 1904-05, 1908-09, 1911-12, 1985-86
Aston Villa	7	10	1893–94, 1895–96, 1896–97, 1898–99, 1899–1900, 1909–10, 1980–81	1888-89, 1902-03, 1907-08, 1910-11, 1912-13, 1913-14, 1930-31, 1932-33, 1989-90, 1992-93
Sunderland	6	5	1891–92, 1892–93, 1894–95, 1901–02, 1912–13, 1935–36	1893-94, 1897-98, 1900-01, 1922-23, 1934-35
Chelsea	5	4	1954–55, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2009–10, 2014–15	2003-04, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2010-11
Manchester City	4	5	1936–37, 1967–68, 2011–12, 2013–14	1903-04, 1920-21, 1976-77, 2012-13, 2014-15
Newcastle United	4	2	1904–05, 1906–07, 1908–09, 1926–27	1995-96, 1996-97
Sheffield Wednesday	4	1	1902–03, 1903–04, 1928–29, 1929–30	1960-61
Leeds United	3	5	1968–69, 1973–74, 1991–92	1964-65, 1965-66, 1969-70, 1970-71, 1971-72
Wolverhampton Wanderers	3	5	1953–54, 1957–58, 1958–59	1937-38, 1938-39, 1949-50, 1954-55, 1959-60
Huddersfield Town	3	3	1923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26	1926-27, 1927-28, 1933-34
Blackburn Rovers	3	1	1911–12, 1913–14, 1994–95	1993-94
Preston North End	2	6	1888–89, 1889–90	1890-91, 1891-92, 1892-93, 1905-06, 1952-53, 1957-58
Tottenham Hotspur	2	4	1950–51, 1960–61	1921-22, 1951-52, 1956-57, 1962-63
Derby County	2	3	1971–72, 1974–75	1895-96, 1929-30, 1935-36
Burnley	2	2	1920–21, 1959–60	1919-20, 1961-62
Portsmouth	2	0	1948–49, 1949–50
Ipswich Town	1	2	1961–62	1980-81, 1981-82
Nottingham Forest	1	2	1977–78	1966-67, 1978-79
Sheffield United	1	2	1897–98	1896-97, 1899-1900
West Bromwich Albion	1	2	1919–20	1924-25, 1953-54
Leicester City	1	1	2015–16	1928-29
Bristol City	0	1		1906-07
Oldham Athletic	0	1		1914-15
Cardiff City	0	1		1923-24
Charlton Athletic	0	1		1936-37
Blackpool	0	1		1955-56
Queen's Park Rangers	0	1		1975-76
Watford	0	1		1982-83
Southampton	0	1		1983-84

Total titles won by region

Region	Number of titles	Clubs
North West	58	Manchester United (20), Liverpool (18), Everton (9), Manchester City (4) Blackburn Rovers (3), Burnley (2), Preston North End (2)
London	20	Arsenal (13), Chelsea (5), Tottenham Hotspur (2)
Yorkshire and the Humber	11	Sheffield Wednesday (4), Huddersfield Town (3), Leeds United (3), Sheffield United (1)
West Midlands	11	Aston Villa (7), Wolverhampton Wanderers (3), West Bromwich Albion (1)
North East	10	Sunderland (6), Newcastle United (4)
East Midlands	4	Derby County (2), Leicester City (1), Nottingham Forest (1)
South East	2	Portsmouth (2)
East of England	1	Ipswich Town (1)
South West	–
Wales	–

By City / Town

City / Town	Championships	Clubs
Liverpool	27	Liverpool (18), Everton (9)
Manchester	24	Manchester United (20), Manchester City (4)
London	20	Arsenal (13), Chelsea (5), Tottenham Hotspur (2)
Birmingham	7	Aston Villa (7)
Sunderland	6	Sunderland (6)
Sheffield	5	Sheffield Wednesday (4), Sheffield United (1)
Newcastle	4	Newcastle United (4)
Blackburn	3	Blackburn Rovers (3)
Huddersfield	3	Huddersfield Town (3)
Leeds	3	Leeds United (3)
Wolverhampton	3	Wolverhampton Wanderers (3)
Burnley	2	Burnley (2)
Derby	2	Derby County (2)
Portsmouth	2	Portsmouth (2)
Preston	2	Preston North End (2)
Ipswich	1	Ipswich Town (1)
Leicester	1	Leicester City (1)
Nottingham	1	Nottingham Forest (1)
West Bromwich	1	West Bromwich Albion (1)