.png "Mohamed Adel"){kind=small}
Manchester City became the first English club to secure major silverware during the 2025-26 season, defeating Arsenal in the League Cup final at Wembley Stadium on 22 March. The victory secured Pep Guardiola’s fifth EFL Cup title and added another chapter to the shifting landscape of England's most successful football clubs. The domestic hierarchy remains fiercely competitive following a 2024-25 campaign that saw historic milestones reached and decades-long trophy droughts broken.
1. Liverpool and Manchester United: The Battle for First
Liverpool currently stand alone as the most successful club in English football history with 47 major honours. The Merseyside club secured the 2024-25 Premier League title following a decisive 5-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in late April 2025. This triumph marked their 20th English top-flight crown, officially pulling them level with traditional rivals Manchester United for the most league championships ever won. Liverpool’s total trophy haul comprises 20 league titles, eight FA Cups, 10 League Cups, six European Cups, and three UEFA Cups.
Manchester United sit second in the all-time historical rankings with 44 major trophies. While the Old Trafford club shares the domestic league record with Liverpool, they trail their North West rivals in continental success. Manchester United have won the European Cup and Champions League on three occasions, compared to Liverpool's six. When analyzing the post-war era specifically—starting from the resumption of league football in 1946-47—Liverpool still maintain a narrow advantage, leading Manchester United 43 to 41 in major silverware.
2. Arsenal, Manchester City, and Chelsea Close the Gap
Arsenal retain their status as the third most successful club in England, supported heavily by their record 14 FA Cup victories. However, the chasing pack is accelerating. Despite historical debates surrounding their pedigree, Manchester City rank as the fourth most successful team in English football history. The Manchester club claimed their first major honour with the 1904 FA Cup, establishing a foundation that has expanded massively during their dominant modern era.
Chelsea occupy fifth place in the historical standings but recently established an unprecedented continental record. Following their triumph in the 2025 Europa Conference League, the West London club became the first team in history to win all four major UEFA club competitions: the European Cup, the UEFA Cup, the Cup Winners’ Cup, and the Conference League. Two months later, Chelsea secured their 27th major overall honour by defeating Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 to win the newly expanded 32-team FIFA Club World Cup.
3. Newcastle United and Crystal Palace Claim Silverware
The 2024-25 season saw significant shifts for clubs outside the traditional top tier. Newcastle United claimed the 2025 EFL Cup with a 2-1 victory over Liverpool, marking a monumental milestone for the Tyneside club. This victory represented Newcastle's first major domestic success since the 1955 FA Cup, and their first major trophy of any kind since lifting the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1969. During the same campaign, Tottenham Hotspur secured the Europa League, while Crystal Palace achieved domestic success by winning the FA Cup.
4. Defining the Criteria for Major Honours
The classification of a major honour relies on recognized, multi-round competitive tournaments. These include the FA Cup, the top-flight league championship, the League Cup, the European Cup and Champions League, the UEFA Cup and Europa League, the Europa Conference League, the Cup Winners’ Cup, and the expanded FIFA Club World Cup.
The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, which ran from 1955 to 1971, is also officially recognized by FIFA. Leeds United won that specific European competition twice, while Newcastle United and Arsenal claimed it once before its eventual rebranding to the UEFA Cup. Single-match events, such as the UEFA Super Cup, the Community Shield, and the old format of the Club World Cup, are excluded from these overall historical calculations.
5. Aston Villa and Pre-War Football History
Examining the era before the Second World War highlights the shifting dominance in early English football. By the dawn of 1900, Aston Villa led the nation with four title wins, while Sunderland held three and Preston North End claimed two. Aston Villa ultimately secured 12 major honours before the war, pacing well ahead of Blackburn Rovers. Sunderland, who won the league in 1936, remain the last champions of England to play in a striped kit.
Other regional clubs have experienced isolated periods of immense success. Nottingham Forest translated their sole league title in 1978 into back-to-back European Cup victories in 1979 and 1980. Similarly, Leicester City spent decades without a top-flight title or FA Cup before securing the Premier League in 2016 and the FA Cup in 2021. Despite these localized eras of dominance, the long-term historical hierarchy remains firmly controlled by the sustained success of Liverpool and Manchester United.