The top 7 most successful Midlands football clubs based on trophies won | OneFootball

FLW takes a look at the seven most successful clubs across the Midlands.

The Midlands is one of the most successful regions in English football.

When the Football League was founded in 1888, five of the 12 original members were from the Midlands, and Aston Villa director William McGregor proposed and organised the league's inception.

From Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest's success at home and abroad to Wolves' dominance during the 1950s, both the East and West can say that they boast some of the nation's finest football clubs.

For the ranking, only men's first-team honours have been included. Top-flight league titles, the FA Cup, the League Cup, and major UEFA competitions count, while lower league titles, the Community Shield, and competitions such as the UEFA Super Cup do not.

Alongside this, European success has been used as the tiebreaker when clubs are level on major trophies.

With that in mind, Football League World looks at the seven most successful clubs from the East and West Midlands in terms of the number of trophies in their cabinet.

7 ? ? Birmingham City - 2 major trophies

Action Images

Thanks to their two League Cup triumphs, Birmingham City sit in seventh place in the rankings.

The Blues first tasted silverware in 1963, when they beat rivals Aston Villa 3-1 over two legs.

They then had to wait almost half a century for their second success, with the day in 2011 remaining one of the most famous days in the club's history.

Taking on Arsenal at Wembley, the Midlanders were huge underdogs on the day, but did take the lead through towering forward Nikola Zigic.

The Gunners would equalise via Robin van Persie, but Obafemi Martins would provide a moment to remember with an 89th-minute winner following a scramble between Laurent Koscielny and Wojciech Szczesny.

The Blues would drop down from the Premier League just three months later and have spent the years since in the second tier, aside from a one-season spell in League One.

6 ? ? Derby County - 3 major trophies

Action Images

Having been crowned champions of England twice and lifting the FA Cup once, Derby County are next up on the list with three major honours.

In the first FA Cup final held after the Second World War, the Rams won their first piece of major silverware, beating Charlton Athletic 4-1 in the 1946 final.

But Derby's greatest period would not come until several decades later.

After his appointment in 1967, Brian Clough transformed the club, guiding the East Midlanders to their maiden First Division title in 1972.

The Rams finished a point ahead of Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester City that year, with Clough moving on in 1973. The Rams were champions just three years later, though, with Dave Mackay's side winning the 1974/75 title.

Derby have not added another major trophy since then, but the period mentioned remains a defining period in the history of football in the East Midlands, as well as at Pride Park.

5 ? ? Leicester City - 5 major trophies

No club on this list have enjoyed as much major success in the 21st century as Leicester.

Up until 2016, the Foxes had lifted three pieces of major silverware, with three League Cup triumphs to their name.

But their most famous achievement needs no introduction, with Claudio Ranieri's side producing one of the greatest shocks in the history of English football by winning the 2015/16 Premier League title.

Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and N'Golo Kante starred as they finished 10 points ahead of Arsenal. And in the following years, Leicester solidified themselves as a European-level club, with a taste of Champions League, Europa League and Conference League football.

They added their fifth trophy in 2021, when Youri Tielemans' spectacular strike secured the FA Cup against Chelsea, completing England's major domestic trophy set for the East Midlands club.

4 ? ? West Bromwich Albion - 7 major trophies

As with most Midlands clubs, West Bromwich Albion's most successful years belong to a different era.

However, the Baggies are a significant piece of English football history, and their trophy cabinet shows why.

Albion have won five FA Cups, one League Cup and one top-flight title, with that triumph coming in 1920, when West Brom scored 104 goals and finished nine points clear at the top of the First Division.

The FA Cup is where the Baggies have enjoyed the most success, with victories in 1888, 1892, 1931, 1954 and 1968.

Their most recent came courtesy of the iconic Jeff Astle, who scored in extra time to topple Everton at Wembley in 1968.

3 ? ? Wolverhampton Wanderers - 9 major trophies

Action Images

Wolves are one of two Midlands clubs to have won nine major trophies in our ranking, with the haul consisting of three league titles, four FA Cups and two League Cups.

Most of this would come during a golden era under Stan Cullis.

The Old Gold had already won the FA Cup in 1893 and 1908, before Cullis oversaw the greatest era in the club's history.

Wolves lifted the FA Cup in 1949, before they were crowned champions of England in 1953, 1958 and 1959.

At the time, leader Billy Wright became the first player to receive 100 England caps and was part of a side that became one of the dominant forces in English football, with the famous floodlit encounters against leading European opposition helping inspire the European Cup.

Another FA Cup followed in 1960, before Wolves last tasted success in 1974 and 1980, when they won the League Cup.

Nottingham Forest are level with Wolves on nine trophies, but their exploits on the continent set them apart to sit in second place in our ranking.

With one league title, two FA Cups, four League Cups and, famously, two European Cups, the Garibaldi have played a major part in shaping the modern-day football landscape.

The club's transformation came under Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, who won the First Division title in 1978 before defeating Malmo in the 1979 European Cup final.

A year later, they would defend their title when John Robertson scored the winner against German giants Hamburger SV.

Remarkably, Forest have been crowned champions of Europe twice, and England just once. Their other major successes include FA Cup triumphs in 1898 and 1959 and four League cups, the last of which came in 1990.

1 ? ? Aston Villa - 21 major trophies

When it comes to the club occupying the top spot on this list, there can be little argument.

With 21 major trophies in their history, Aston Villa are comfortably the most successful side in the Midlands.

Since the club was founded in 1874, the Villans have won seven league titles, seven FA Cups, five League Cups and two major European honours.

Much of the domestic success came during the Football League's formative years, with five league titles and three FA Cups added to the cabinet before the start of the 20th century.

The Second City club continued adding silverware over the decades that followed, with their greatest night coming in Rotterdam in 1982.

After they were crowned English champions the previous season, Villa beat Bayern Munich 1-0 in the European Cup final, on a night that remains the greatest in the club's history.

For more than four decades, that remained Villa's last European triumph, before this changed in May 2026.

Goals from Youri Tielemans, Emiliano Buendia and Morgan Rogers saw the Villans overcome Freiburg 3-0 in Istanbul, winning the Europa League to take their tally from 20 to 21.

In the modern era, Villa are the best-placed Midlands club, having finished fourth in the Premier League last season, while they carry sky-high ambitions to repeat their previous successes.