11.08.2021 Premier League fans have their say before the new season

Hamburg, August 11, 2021 – Statista teamed up with SPORTFIVE to create the European Football Benchmark, surveying more than 18,700 fans across the world, including nearly 2,600 UK Premier League fans. As one of the largest studies of its kind, the EFB provides a close look at football’s most central topics such as COVID-19, VAR, social media and discrimination.

Liverpool most liked, Manchester United the most polarizing club, and Leicester City crash the “Big Six”
Premier League fans in the UK rate Liverpool over their old rivals Manchester United as the most liked and loved club in the Premier League with 55% compared to 53%. However, Manchester United despite limited success over the last few seasons are the most polarizing club for UK fans. Rating them as the most loved (23%) and hated (15%) at the same time. Along with Chelsea, Manchester United are also the most disliked overall, both seeing 30% of fans saying they either disliked or hated each club. Leicester's fairytale league win in 2016 and FA cup in 2021 has seen them crash the big six at Tottenham's expense in terms of likability scoring 38% and 30% respectively.

 
 

UK Fans hopeful VAR rule changes make an impact
The announcement of changes to the VAR system for the Premier League 2021/22 season will have been music to many UK fans’ ears: only 14% of UK premier league fans believe the implementation of VAR has gone to plan. Thus, only 27% of UK fans thought the game to be fairer. Before this announcement was made most fans stated they were either unsure (31%) or against (20%) VAR.

Clubs should stand up for progressive causes, but these must be framed as values not politics
There is a fine balance when trying to do the right thing in football. Clubs must not shy away from standing up for progressive values, a majority (56%) of UK Premier League fans say. They want to see clubs take a stronger stance on issues such as discrimination. However, particularly among the older generation, fans do not want to see clubs conflate these values with political ideologies. To fans responsibility lies with social media companies as well. 44% of UK football fans do not think social media companies are doing enough to tackle discrimination in football.

Methodology: Statista surveyed over 18,700 fans from across Europe, China and the U.S. in May 2021 to examine opinions on the Big Five European leagues and football more generally. The study was conducted as part of the Statista Global Consumer Survey via an online access panel. 2,574 Premier League Fans from the UK where surveyed.

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All teams ranked by like/love:
 
TeamLove themLike themTotal 
 Liverpool22%23%45%
Manchester United23%20%43%
Arsenal17%22%39%
Leicester City7%31%38%
Manchester City12%25%37%
Chelsea13%23%36%
Tottenham Hotspur9%21%30%
Aston Villa5%23%28%
Leeds United6%22%28%
Newcastle United7%18%25%
Everton5%19%24%
West Ham United5%18%23%
Wolverhampton Wanderers5%17%22%
Brighton & Hove Albion4%18%22%
Southampton4%18%22%
Burnley4%17%21%
Crystal Palace4%17%21%
Fulham4%16%20%
Brentford3%16%19%
Norwich City3%16%19%
Sheffield United3%15%18%
West Bromwich Albion4%13%17%
Watford3%13%16%
All teams ranked by dislike/hate:
 
TeamHate themDislike themTotal
Manchester United15%15%30%
Chelsea10%20%30%
Manchester City11%16%27%
Tottenham Hotspur9%15%24%
Liverpool12%11%23%
Arsenal7%15%22%
Leeds United6%14%20%
Everton5%14%19%
West Ham United5%12%17%
Newcastle United4%12%16%
Watford4%11%15%
Burnley3%11%14%
Crystal Palace3%11%14%
Fulham3%11%14%
Sheffield United4%10%14%
West Bromwich Albion4%10%14%
Aston Villa3%10%13%
Norwich City4%9%13%
Wolverhampton Wanderers3%9%12%
Brighton & Hove Albion3%9%12%
Southampton4%8%12%
Leicester City3%8%11%
Brentford3%8%11%
 
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