You’ll find many Nigerians gathered in viewing centres on weekends and sometimes weekdays. What are they going to do? They are going to support their favorite European football teams. Nigerians are huge football lovers so this is not surprising. In this article, we’ll be looking at the football clubs with the biggest fanbase in Nigeria.
1. Chelsea FC
Based in Fulham, West London, Chelsea F.C is an English club. The club was founded in 1905 and plays in the English Premier League. Chelsea have over thirty competitive trophies, including six league titles and eight European trophies. Stamford Bridge is their home stadium.
Chelsea has won five Premier League titles, two UEFA Champions League titles, and two UEFA Europa League titles in the last two decades. They are among the clubs to have won all three major European club competitions, the first English club to do so, the first London club to do so, and the only club to have done it twice.
2. Manchester United FC
Manchester United Football Club is an English football club based in Manchester. The Red Devils were founded in 1878 as Newton Heath LYR Football Club and renamed Manchester United in 1902. Their home stadium is Old Trafford.
The club has more trophies than any other English club with 20 League titles, 12 FA Cups, five League Cups, and 21 FA Community Shields. On top of that, United has won three European Cups/UEFA Champions Leagues, a UEFA Europa League, UEFA Super Cup, and a FIFA Club World Cup.
3. FC Barcelona
Led by Joan Gamper, FC Barcelona was founded in 1899. It is the world’s fourth most valuable sports franchise and the world’s richest football club. Barcelona has won 75 domestic trophies, including 26 La Liga, 31 Copa del Rey, 13 Supercopa de España, three Copa Eva Duarte, and two Copa de la Liga.
The club has won twenty international club titles: five UEFA Champions Leagues, four UEFA Cup Winners’ Cups, five UEFA Super Cups, three Inter-Cities Fairs Cups, and three FIFA Club World Cups. Barcelona has one of the highest social media followings of any sports team in the world.
4. Real Madrid
Real Madrid was founded in 1902. The club’s home stadium is the 81,044-seat Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. Undoubtedly, Real Madrid is one of the world’s most popular and most successful football clubs. The club has won an unprecedented 34 La Liga titles, 19 Copa del Rey, 11 Supercopa de España, and one Copa Eva Duarte.
Real Madrid has won 26 trophies in European and international competitions, including 13 European Cup/UEFA Champions League wins, two UEFA Cups and four UEFA Super Cups. They have won a record seven club world championships.
5. Arsenal FC
At number 5, we have Arsenal, another English football club based in Islington. Arsenal has won 13 league titles, including one without defeats, 14 FA Cups, two League Cups, and 16 FA Community Shields, to name a few. Arsenal joined the English Football League in 1893 and reached the First Division in 1904. They have only been relegated once since then.
6. Liverpool FC
Liverpool Football Club is a top-flight English football club based in Liverpool. Domestically, the team has won 19 League crowns, 7 FA Cups, 8 League Cups and 15 FA Community Shields. Three UEFA Cups, four UEFA Super Cups, and one FIFA Club World Cup have also been won by the club.
The club was founded in 1892 after a dispute between the founder John Houlding and Everton Football club who had previously occupied Anfield. Liverpool is among the most popular and the most valuable clubs in the world. The club claims over 200 official Supporters Clubs in no less than 50 countries.
7. Manchester City FC
Manchester City Football Team is a top-flight English football club based in Manchester. The club was founded in 1880 but it wasn’t until 1894 that they started bearing the name Manchester City. Manchester City’s home stadium is the Etihad Stadium.
The Abu Dhabi United Group bought Manchester City for £210 million in 2008. They invested heavily in both players and facilities. Before then, the club wasn’t very popular. After then, Manchester City became one of the top competitive teams in England and subsequently won more fans. They’ve recorded the most domestic success in recent years.
8. Juventus
We have Juventus at number 8. Juventus is the biggest team in Italy Serie A. The club was founded in 1897 and has their home stadium at Allianz Stadium in Turin. As the biggest team in Serie A, Juventus has won a record of 36 Italian league titles, two UEFA Champions League/European Cups, and nine SuperCoppa Italiana to name a few. Juventus has more than 12 million official supporters in Italy, 41 million in Europe, and 300 million across the world.
9. PSG
Paris Saint-Germain Football Club is a French professional football team headquartered in Paris, France. Having won more than 40 recognized awards, including nine French league crowns and one major European trophy, Paris Saint-Germain is the most successful club in France. The Parc des Princes serves as their home stadium.
The Parisians were founded in 1970 and won their first major honor, the French Cup, in 1982, as well as their first Ligue 1 championship in 1986. Recently, PSG purchased the best player in the world, Lionel Messi, which increased their fan base internationally.
10. Bayern Munich
FC Bayern is a German professional sports club with its headquarters in the city of Munich. In German football history, Bayern Munich has won a record 31 national titles, including nine in a row since 2013, 20 national cups. They are the most successful in the country. The club also has a slew of European titles to its name. FC Bayern Munich was founded in 1900.
Bottom Line
English clubs have the most fans in Nigeria. This is most likely because many Nigerian and African players have played in the Premier league with some of these teams.