Well, with the football world having whole-heartedly
embraced social media that might have changed.
Pretty much every club has its own official
Facebook and Twitter account these days and by looking at the amount of likes
and followers these accounts attract, we might just get an idea of who the
biggest, most popular club in the world really is.
The number of likes and follows is taken only from
each club’s official Facebook and Twitter page and is accurate as of the
19/01/2012.
20. Inter Milan – Likes and Followers: 2.1 million
The Nerrazurri are one of the most famous names in
European football, so it’s a surprise to see them only just sneak onto this
list with just over two million fans.
19. Paris Saint Germain – Likes and Followers: 2.2
million
PSG have got lofty ambitions and a bank balance to
match, they’ll expect to shoot up this list if their super-rich owner’s
investment leads to success on the pitch.
18. Marseille – Likes and Followers: 2.8 million
PSG might be France’s richest club, but it looks
like they’re not the most popular, as archrivals Marseille come in one place
ahead of them.
17. Chivas Guadalajara – Likes and Followers: 3.1
million
Football isn’t all about Europe and Chivas, the
most successful club in Mexico, have an impressively large fan base.
16. Boca Juniors – Likes and Followers: 3.8
million
The Buenos Aires club have some of the most
passionate supporters in the world and a dedicated following throughout
Argentina and South America.
15. Flamengo – Likes and Followers: 4 million
The Brazilian side’s impressive social media
following is further proof that there’s more to football than just the European
game.
14. Besiktas – Likes and Followers: 4.1 million
The Turkish side’s fans are reportedly the loudest
on record and there are certainly a lot of them.
13. Corinthians – Likes and Followers: 4.5 million
You only have to look at the 15,000 supporters who
travelled to Japan for the Club World Cup in December to see how well supported
this Brazilian side is.
12. Juventus – Likes and Followers: 5.1 million
The Old Lady is widely regarded as the most
popular club in Italy, but have to settle for a place outside the top ten on
this list.
11. Manchester City – Likes and Followers: 5.1
million
What a difference a bit of money makes. A few
years ago most people outside of the UK would have barely heard of Manchester
City, now they have more than five million fans worldwide.
10. Bayern Munich – Likes and Followers: 5.9
million
As the only German club to make this list, Bayern
are clearly top dogs at home and if soon-to-be manager Pep Guardiola can
inspire the same results he did at Barcelona, world domination could be on the
cards.
9. Fenerbahce – Likes and Followers: 7.8 million
The Turkish giants are a surprise inclusion in the
top ten, with an online fan base that will be the envy of many a club from one
of Europe’s ‘big leagues’.
8. Galatasaray – Likes and Followers: 9.9 million
Another surprise inclusion that goes to show just
how popular Turkish football is. With Wesley Sneijder reportedly on his way,
could Gala be about to gatecrash the European elite?
7. Liverpool – Likes and Followers: 12.5 million
They haven’t exactly excelled on the pitch for
quite a while now, but Liverpool’s illustrious past is clearly still a big draw
to supporters across the world.
6. AC Milan – Likes and Followers: 14.5 million
With nearly three times the amount of likes and
followers, the Rossoneri easily beat Juventus to the title of best-supported
Italian club.
5. Arsenal – Likes and Followers: 14.7 million
They might not have a won a trophy for nearly six
years, but the Gunners must be doing something right to attract such a big
online following.
4. Chelsea – Likes and Followers: 16.9 million
Even though they haven’t got the history to match
some of the teams on this list, the Blues’ huge support is proof that winning
trophies in the here and now is just as important.
3. Manchester United – Likes and Followers: 30.7
million
It’s only third place for the Red Devils, who fail
to live up to their claim of being the biggest club in the world. Still though,
an online following which is roughly the size of Peru is pretty impressive.
2. Real Madrid – Likes and Followers: 41.7 million
Los Blancos come in well ahead of Manchester
United, but they won’t like to hear that they also fall short of being the
world’s biggest club. They’ll probably like it even less when they hear who
beat them to top spot.
1. Barcelona – Likes and Followers: 47.2 million
Can anyone stop Barca? The Catalans have been the
dominant team in Europe over the past five years, they possess the best player
in the world and if Facebook and Twitter are anything to go by, they’ve got the
most fans. Biggest club in the world right now? I’d say so.
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