60 biggest football clubs in England right now | OneFootball

All 92 clubs in the English Football League have been ranked - and Football League World takes a look at who the 60 biggest sides really are right now

There are not too many footballing topics that can promise to divide fanbases more than the matter of club size, which is a frequent figure of discourse throughout all levels of the professional pyramid and beyond.

The EFL is home to no shortage of sleeping giants, with many clubs in possession of glittering histories, trophies and past glories now cutting their teeth at Championship level or, in some cases, even lower down.

An important distinction is that current position is not always parallel with overall club size, and there are many EFL outfits who are actually larger than certain sides excelling in the dizzying heights of the Premier League.

It's also very subjective, though. Fans will naturally be more biased towards their own team from time to time, which means it can be difficult to put your finger on exactly who meets the qualifying criteria for a 'big club' - there are, as ever, so many factors at play.

However, a study conducted by the Daily Mail has accounted for a wealth of criteria to rank all 92 clubs of the 2025/26 campaign based on club size, spanning from Premier League heavyweights to sides down in the depth of League Two. The study measured each club by league titles, domestic trophies, European trophies, total top-flight points and seasons, all-time average league position, alongside more variable and recent considerations such as annual revenue, squad revenue, social media presence - and even the number of players to have been capped by England while representing the team, and how many caps were received.

There's a lot to take in, and Football League World has decided to dive into the study and look at who the top 60 biggest clubs in English football really are based on the criteria at hand.

60 ? ? Leyton Orient

Getting us underway is League One side Leyton Orient, who fail to rank in the EFL's top 60 for online presence and perhaps lack the history to compensate for a relative lack of social media reach.

The O's have never won a major trophy and only one campaign in the club's 145-year history has been spent in the top-flight. They're one of the smaller professional clubs in the capital and geography counts against the East London outfit, who have the likes of Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United to compete with.

The bulk of Port Vale's history has been spent in the lower leagues, with the Valiants having long trailed local rivals Stoke City.

Vale are well-supported by a loyal fanbase, but with only a limited social media presence and not too much to speak of by way of recent or historical success aside from promotions out of League Two, it's no surprise that the Burslem-based outfit have just about made it into the top 60.

58 ? ? Grimsby Town

Grimsby Town are generally regarded as one of the larger clubs in English football's fourth-tier and have the fanbase, atmosphere and previous success at higher levels to support that claim, even if it's all not quite enough to place the Cod Army any higher.

With close to 200,000 followers across Instagram and X, Grimsby have a decent reach by League Two standards and will be hoping to return to the third-tier in the not-too-distant future after losing out in this season's play-offs.

57 ? ? Bristol Rovers

It's a pretty similar case for Bristol Rovers, who may be some way behind fierce rivals Bristol City by way of recent success but remain a decent-sized League Two club in their own right.

Their social media reach is comparable to Grimsby's and the Gasheads' support both at home and on the road brings impressive noise and numbers in equal measure, but they're limited due to how much of Rovers' history has been spent in the lower leagues and the fact that the Memorial Stadium has never hosted top-flight football.

56 ? ? Rotherham United

Rotherham United will be returning to League Two for the first time in more than a decade, with recent years having seen the Millers compete in both the Championship and League One.

Avoiding relegation during previous second-tier seasons is about as good as it's ever got for Rotherham, who pale in comparison to a number of Yorkshire rivals in terms of standing and levels of support.

55 ? ? Oxford United

Oxford United are now on their way back to League One and only ended a 25-year absence from the second-tier in 2024, meaning that the U's historical success can often go under the radar.

Traditionally, at least, Oxford fall short of much of the qualifying criteria for a big club, although the 1980s offered a brief exception as the side spent three years in the top-flight and even won the 1985/86 League Cup, which represents their only major honour to date and would've opened the door to compete in Europe if English teams were not banned from doing so at that time due to the Heysel disaster.

Oxford's online reach is worth noting, too, with the club's official Instagram page boasting more than 350,000 followers.

54 ? ? Wrexham AFC

Wrexham's trajectory isn't doing much lifting for them here, with various criteria going against the upwardly-mobile Welsh side despite achieving three successive promotions from the National League to the second-tier.

There's not any top-flight success to speak of right now for the 23-time Welsh club winners, but that could be subject to change in the coming seasons if everything goes to plan.

Wrexham have enjoyed a meteoric rise in recent years and have the financial backing to continue that journey, whereas they're only going from strength-to-strength away from the field too - combined followers across all social media platforms exceed the four million figure at an increase of more than 2,000% since the Red Dragons' Hollywood takeover in 2021, and they're becoming a big player commercially under Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac.

53 ? ? Bradford City

Despite the objective criteria, this list was always going to be capable of dividing opinion and you do wonder whether Bradford City supporters may have expected their side to rank even higher.

Bradford are just one example of a sleeping giant in the 92's lower two tiers, having not played Championship football since 2004. They've previously graced the Premier League, though, and attendance figures have been strong at the Bantams' impressive 24,800-capacity Valley parade in recent times.

52 ? ? Wigan Athletic

Wigan Athletic have enjoyed stays in the Premier League following the turn of the millennium and even won the FA Cup back in 2013, claiming one of the competition's greatest scalps over Manchester City at Wembley.

The Latics' historical success across the board is rather modest, and they do lack the attendances and overall fanbase size of other rival clubs in the North West, but that famous triumph is doing some lifting.

Online reach also has to be considered, and Wigan have more than 300,000 followers on X alone.

51 ? ? Plymouth Argyle

Plymouth Argyle's Home Park has never tasted top-flight football and the club's trophy cabinet is without any major honours, but there are other factors to consider and the Pilgrims have one of the EFL's more renowned fanbases.

That's working in their favour here, as too is a strong social media presence which currently has close to 300,000 followers on X and Instagram.