London is home to more than 80 professional and amateur football clubs at the moment. Six of them are featuring the 2021/22 Premier League season, including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, West Ham United, Crystal Palace, and Brentford. They will all secure another top-flight campaign most likely since only Brentford are in slight danger of getting dropped. However, the Bees are in a great position to stay in the elite class and we believe the number of London clubs in the top tier will increase next year given that Fulham are sovereign leaders in the Championship standings and will almost certainly secure the automatic promotion.
Most of you know who the biggest teams in London are, but are you familiar with their historical successes? Are Chelsea a greater football club than Arsenal? Can we put Tottenham Hotspur in the same category? Are there any other London-based teams with major domestic/international trophies?
We got you covered as you are about to find the answers to all of these questions and much more additional and important information regarding the topic.
Which London team have the most Premier League trophies?
This is an easy question for most Premier League admirers. Although they have not done anything significant in any competition since the departure of Arsene Wenger, Arsenal are the dominant side in this segment. The Gunners have won the English top-flight 13 times. They own as many as seven titles more than second-ranked Chelsea.
Arsenal’s maiden domestic league trophy came in the 1930/31 season of The Football League. They went on to win nine more titles before the modern era. Arsenal thus have only three Premier League trophies in the modern era. The first came in the 1997/98 season when the Gunners became only the second team to secure the double crown after winning the FA Cup in the same season. The following two Premier League trophies came in 2001/02 and 2003/04 respectively.
“While speaking of Arsenal, we must mention that they are still the only London-based team to have ever reached the “invincible” status by going through the entire 2003/04 season without a defeat. We will forever remember the likes of Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Robert Pires, Fredrik Ljungberg, Patrick Vieira, and the company who were responsible for such an extraordinary achievement” said John Pentin, football expert for betting tips site bettingtips4you.
How many more London-based teams have won the Premier League?
The answer to this question is only two. Besides Arsenal, only Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur have managed to lift the most prestigious English professional league title. Chelsea have done it six times. Their inaugural trophy came in the 1954/55 season. However, the Blues have more Premier League titles than Arsenal in the modern era. They have won the competition five times since 2004/05. Their latest trophy came in the 2016/17 season.
While no more London-based teams have managed to win the Premier League in the modern era, Tottenham Hotspur have claimed The Football League titles two times, at the start of the 1950s and the 1960s respectively.
Only two more London-situated teams have managed to earn the runners-up spot in the elite class of English football. Neither of them are in the elite tier right now, although Queens Park Rangers might join next season. QPR and Charlton Athletic are these two teams as they have one second-place finish each.
Did more London-situated teams win FA Cup titles?
The range of London teams with the FA Cup trophies is much wider. As many as twelve have managed to clinch the “more important of the two cups” silverware, including two teams that no longer exist (Wanderers and Clapham Rovers).
Arsenal dominate the pack in this category as well since they have managed to win the FA Cup 14 times over the course of history, six more than Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur who sit at 87 trophies apiece in this competition. Interestingly, each of the last three FA Cup finals between London-based clubs saw the clashes between Arsenal and Chelsea. The Gunners came on top on each occasion, including a 2-1 victory in the 2019/20 FA Cup final at Wembley.
Chelsea are the second most successful team with eight titles and seven losses in the FA Cup finals, while Tottenham Hotspur have eight trophies and one runner-up finish. We also have to mention West Ham United with three titles and two runners-up spots, including the one in the 2005/06 season. Crystal Palace made it to the final in the 2015/16 campaign, just like Millwall in the 2003/04 season.
Chelsea and Tottenham are above Arsenal in EFL Cup trophies
While Arsenal have dominated both of the aforementioned categories, they sit only third when it comes to the list of the most successful London teams in the EFL Cup. The Gunners only won it two times, in 1987 and 1993 respectively. Chelsea have five League Cup titles, one more than Tottenham Hotspur who have lost the final to Chelsea in the 2020/21 campaign (2-0 at Wembley Stadium).
Which London club has the most European trophies?
London-based teams did not have so much joy on the international level. Arsenal, who have won as many as 13 Premier League and 14 FA Cup titles, have only managed to win one continental trophy. It came in the 1993/94 season when the Gunners clinched the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup silverware.
Chelsea are the only team from London with the UEFA Champions League title. They have managed to win the most prestigious club competition in the world two times, in 2012 and 2021, beating Bayern Munich and Manchester City in the finals respectively. The Blues also played 2008 final in Moscow where they lost to English rivals Manchester United on penalties. Arsenal made it to the final just once, losing to Barcelona in 2006 in Paris, much like Tottenham Hotspur who fell to Liverpool in 2019 final.
Besides Chelsea and Arsenal, only three more London-based teams have managed to lift international trophies. Tottenham won the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup once (1963) and UEFA Cup twice (1972 and 1984), West Ham United lifted the UEFA Cup Winners’ silverware in 1965 and UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1999, while Fulham clinched their lone continental title by claiming the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2003.
