Biggest club in the world

[Rich Suvner]

but i'd say this is a relatively recent phenomenon, the other clubs have been consistently huge.

disagree with this - i lived in singapore in late 80s/early 90s and se asia only really cared about one league - english (pre prem lg). italian got a little look in at the time as well.

also, met plenty of people who supported derby county, notts forest, ipswich etc, showing it went back to the 70s.

remnants of colonialism spread our support base further and wider i think.

 

[Gully]

This is a non question. Go to China, Japan, London, anywhere in the Med other than Spain, Anywhere in Asia, Australia, Ireland, USA and see the proportion of Man U shirts to all the others listed, 10 to 1, if not 100 to 1. Whether you like it or not, Man U are everywhere, and are revered by many more than Real Madrid or Barcelona.

I doubt that any Spaniards go on holiday to Africa, Thailand, China, etc and are met with comments like "Ah Spanish, like Amancio and Ferenc Puskás" yet if you are English it is all "Bobby Chalton, George Best, David Beckham"

I agree with Superphil, have been to South America, various parts of Africa and the far east...the most visible shirt by a country mile was Man Utd. When you met locals and they found out you liked football the standard reply was to ask if you supported Man Utd...most were shocked when you said that you didn't as there was a general belief that they were the only club in England...if not the World!

We may not like it, but if anyone thinks that anyone is bigger in World footballing terms than Man Utd then they are deluding themselves. (Regardless of how many national titles or domestic cup competitions teams have won...in which case why not include the Old Firm who have won loads!)

 

[User removed 4]

disagree with this - i lived in singapore in late 80s/early 90s and se asia only really cared about one league - english (pre prem lg). italian got a little look in at the time as well.

also, met plenty of people who supported derby county, notts forest, ipswich etc, showing it went back to the 70s.

remnants of colonialism spread our support base further and wider i think.

support for man utd is recent

 

[strings]

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned the Hurricanes of the World Soccer League - they never lost a match!

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

i'd say the two spanish clubs are the biggest really


they're HUGE!

plus real madrid have recently signed beckham and ronaldo from united, and think of how many other big names they've taken from other supposed 'big clubs' (zidane from juventus, ronaldo from inter, figo from barcelona etc)........this speaks for itself really

If you base it on which club is the most attractive to players, especially non-English players, then Real Madrid and Barca crap all over Man Utd in terms of stadia, facilities, weather. Burnley, Wigan, Bolton, Blackburn, Stoke, Hull, Birmingham, Wolves, Sunderland etc. etc. away in December is hardly 'the beautiful game.'

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

Good question. As a kid the two biggest clubs in my eyes were Milan and Real. Their history of success both domestically and internationally back this up. 16 European cups (plus seven times beaten finalists) between them is pretty impressive. Thats twice as many as the other three teams have managed combined(Man utd and Barca 3 each, Juve 2). They've all won shed loads of domestic silverware so it's difficult to distinguish them there.

As for attendences, Man utd come out on top(at least for last season), just pipping the two spanish teams. Milan were only the ninth best supported team last year. As for Juve, they were an appalling 93rd only managing to average two thousand more than Reading...and three thousand less than Norwich!

On the global stage though I think there's a clear winner. Man utd. They are MASSIVE in Asia. Barca and Milan are a very distant second, then Madrid. Juve are nowhere to be seen.

So, Juventus are out of the running. Barca are too as they have won less trophies domestically and internationally than Real, have the same attendance figures and now Real have bought Kaka, Ronaldo and chums I think threy'll lose their world appeal advantage to them too. That Leaves Milan, Real and Man utd. I think we can also rule Milan out, however, as domestically they have won less trophies than no hopers Juve, their domestic crowd figures are considerably lower than both Real and Man utd and they don't have the current global appeal of man utd nor the stars to match Real. So it's either Real or Man utd.

I think Real sneak it. They're more succesful sporting wise, they're the worlds richest club and whilst they don't have the same global fan base that Man utd do I think soon they'll be very close to it. So, Real MAdrid for me.

 

[Storer68]

if its just honours then it HAs to be Melchester Rovers by a country mile

First Division and Premier League[1] titles : 13
1932, 1934, 1938, 1958, 1960, 1963, 1968, 1972, 1977, 1980, 1988, 1992, 2000.
Football League Second Division: 1
1982
FA Cups: 11
1907, 1959, 1961, 1966, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1984, 1990, 1995, 1999
League Cups: 3
1974, 1986, 1987
European Cups: 3
1964, 1969, 1973
UEFA Cups: 1
1979
European Cup Winners' Cups: 4
1967, 1971, 1975, 1985

 

[sixnilup]

Man Utd biggest global support. Real, Barca & AC huge clubs but not the biggest. As far as heritage goes Liverpool must be up there as a global brand?

 

[Superphil]

If you;re tlaking the richest clubs in the world, then you need to look at their value first, here is Forbes list. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbes'_list_of_the_most_valuable_football_clubs

which has Man U top, with Real Madrid and Arsenal follwing them.

If you look at revenue, then Real Madrid top the list, followed by Man U, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Deloitte Football Money League - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

However, if you look at the debts of these clubs, then the richest club in the World is Man City, with over £800M in the bank if they want it, and no debt.

None of this has any bearing on the "biggest" club in the world unless you clearly define the parameters which make up the size of a club.

If you do it soley on honours won, then I would expect Rangers or Celtic to come out close to the top, but in fact the Northern Irish side Linfield have more trophies on record than any other team (200) although Rangers have more that are recognised by UEFA/FIFA. So Milan, Mardrid, Barca and Man U can go whistle on that front.

If it is on average attendances, then Man U won that comparison last year in Europe. I can't find any statstics about South American clubs, but I don't believe they would be higher on average..

If it is on global reconition, then again it is Man U, as has been mentioned on this thread time and time again.

If it is on biggest stadium, then it is América of Mexico with a capacity of 105,000, unless you count stadiums in North Korea and India, both of which have larger football stadia than anywhere in Europe or the Americas.

If it is on money spent on players, then that is a pretty sad way to calculate the size of a football club, as many of the clubs spending the money, don't actually have it (Man U, Real Madrid, Barca etc).

So, unless you take into account everything that makes up a club, it isn't really possible to say just who is the biggest.

 

[seagullsoverlincoln]

I agree with Superphil, have been to South America, various parts of Africa and the far east...the most visible shirt by a country mile was Man Utd. When you met locals and they found out you liked football the standard reply was to ask if you supported Man Utd...most were shocked when you said that you didn't as there was a general belief that they were the only club in England...if not the World!

We may not like it, but if anyone thinks that anyone is bigger in World footballing terms than Man Utd then they are deluding themselves. (Regardless of how many national titles or domestic cup competitions teams have won...in which case why not include the Old Firm who have won loads!)

I absolutely agree-I have travelled a lot in the third world-particulary Africa-
and the prem is all they are interested in.

 

[wigman]

Juventus should not even be in the poll.Their support is shite with some Champions League games not even attracting 10k.

 

[crodonilson]

Man Utd, they are the biggest club in the biggest league in the World.

 

[mcshane in the 79th]

Why aren't Chelsea mentioned?

 

[wigman]

Why aren't Chelsea mentioned?

Why should they be mentioned?

 

[Frutos]

Where is the Brighton & Hove Albion option?

 

[Stevie Boy]

Where is the Brighton & Hove Albion option?

that was what i am thinking

 

[Billy the Fish]

It's already been mentioned but Juve have piss poor support, that's despite being able to get a season ticket for about £100 in Italy.

 

[Two Professors]

Privilege San Rafael Ibiza end of