The Premier League’s most passionate fans

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The Premier League is well known for having some of the best football teams and players in the world. But how well do the Premier League fans match up to the international competition?

All over Europe, there are football clubs who are fiercely supported by their loyal fans despite getting nowhere near the Champions League. While England football teams like Manchester United get all of the glory, there’s a big question about whether their fans are truly diehard supporters.

It’s something of a joke in England that the majority of Manchester United supporters are from anywhere except Manchester. As recently as 2018, the then United manager Jose Mourinho criticised the atmosphere at the club’s home ground of Old Trafford.

It’s a common theme among some of the bigger Premier League clubs. Arsenal has long had a reputation for having a fairly quiet fanbase, and their old stadium was even nicknamed ‘Highbury the library’. Things haven’t even improved since their move to the Emirates Stadium where their former player Andrei Arshavin went on record as saying that there was little advantage in playing at home.

West Ham United are a fiercely supported club, but their move to the London Stadium has severely dampened their match-day atmosphere. The distance between the pitch and the seats makes creating any kind of atmosphere virtually impossible, and the same can be said for the artificial grass that edges the pitch, as well as the sterile environment surrounding the ground.

It’s something that Tottenham Hotspur fans will definitely be aware of as they get settled into their new stadium. The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium cost over £1.2 billion and while it is an impressive sight, the difficulty of filling the arena when playing against smaller clubs won’t help the atmosphere of the game.

Thankfully not all of the big Premier League struggle with a lack of atmosphere. Any visit to Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield is always a spectacle of diehard fans cheering on their team to success.

Liverpool’s epic 4-0 win over Barcelona in the Champions League last year has been put down to the sheer volume of noise coming from the Kop. It’s this enthusiasm that will make Liverpool’s odds at betting resources like Tippinsider so impressive as their fans rouse them into another victory.

But the majority of the time it’s the smaller Premier League clubs who have the most loyal fanbase. Norwich City have been relegated and promoted from top-flight football numerous times over the past decade, but their fans always power them to glory as was seen in their excellent win over Manchester City at Carrow Road last week.

Fellow Premier League newcomers Sheffield United have also caused shockwaves as a result of their diehard fanbase at Bramall Lane. With their manager Chris Wilder and long-standing players like Billy Sharp leading the charge, it’s no surprise that the Blades have already caused upsets for bigger clubs like Chelsea.

While small clubs like Bournemouth have home grounds with a capacity of little more than 11,000, they can still produce the goods when necessary. Plus you can’t forget the way in which Burnley have managed to outwit bigger teams as a result of their grit and very vocal supporters. So while the big clubs get all the glory, it’s often the smaller teams who can produce a better match-day atmosphere.