In 1992, the English First Division underwent a major rebrand. Re-christened as the ‘Premier League‘, football in England would never be the same again.
Which clubs have recorded the most top four finishes in the Premier League era thus far? Just in case we needed to re-iterate, we’ll only be looking at top four finishes from the 1992/93 season onwards.
First of all, though, let’s quickly list all the teams who have finished in the top four previously, but not enough times to feature in the top five.
Norwich City – 1
Leicester City – 1
Nottingham Forest – 1
Everton – 1
Blackburn Rovers – 3
Leeds United – 3
Aston Villa – 4
Newcastle United – 6
Tottenham Hotspur – 7
Manchester City – 16
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that most of Manchester City’s top four finishes have come in the last 15 years. It has been a while since they finished outside of it, but they lack the pedigree of the quartet above them.
Nevertheless, you can expect this number to continue rising with each passing year. As thinsgs stand, the Sky Blues have made the top four in every season since 2010.
Even amid a season of transistion, City still look like a formidable outfit. At the time of writing, they are top of the table, though only on goals scored.
Chelsea – 20
Stamford Bridge, Chelsea, UK
Stamford Bridge, Chelsea, UK
Chelsea have had an up-and-down time of it in the last few years, but more often than not, they have enough about them to record a top four finish.
While they had a difficult campaign last year, finishing tenth, the Blues look nailed on for a top four finish this season under the stewardship of Xabi Alonso.
Many may point to Roman Abramovich’s purchase of a stake in the club being the turning point of their fortunes, but they’d already recorded a pair of top four finishes before he arrived at Stamford Bridge. The more you know.
Liverpool – 21
Anfield
Being one of the biggest football clubs in the world – they’re definitely in the top five – Liverpool’s inclusion in this list should come as no surprise.
If anything, one might’ve expected to see them a little higher up, but the Premier League era often hasn’t been kind to the Anfield massive.
They didn’t win a Premier League title until 2020, something that they were often ridiculed over – still, Liverpool remain the club with the third-most amount of top four finishes.
Arsenal – 25
Arsenal have been a consistently strong force throughout the Premier League era, even during their lowest points. Since 1992, the Gunners have only finished outside of the top half twice.
Now, under Mikel Arteta, Arsenal look almost as dominant as ever. You’d have to track back to the 2003/04 season to find a time in which Arsenal looked so good as they do now.
Arsene Wenger must take credit for transforming Arsenal into a top team, but Arteta is now doing a brilliant job of carrying the flame forward.
Manchester United – 27
Old Trafford
Old Trafford
Seeing Manchester United at the top of a list such as this is about as understandable as it gets. Yes, the Red Devils haven’t won a Premier League title for 13 years now, but their era of dominance under Alex Ferguson is peerless over the past 34 years.
Having only failed to make the top four on seven occasions, something that never happened under Fergie’s watch (from 1992 onwards at least), they are the most successful football club in English history.
It might take some time before United lift the Premier League trophy again, but for now, they remain the Premier League clubs with the most league titles – and the most top four finishes.