Manchester United are the most popular English football club worldwide and also the wealthiest . They are comfortably ahead of all their rivals in both these categories , with just four contenders in the pack behind them vying to be authentic ‘ global ’ names with financial clout to match . That quartet are Chelsea , Arsenal , Liverpool and Manchester City . Popularity has been measured by combined followings on Facebook and Twitter - the two biggest social media platforms , used by more than a billion people - while wealth has been measured by income in the most recently completed season , namely 2013-14 . Manchester United are closing in on five million followers on social media site Twitter . United have also attracted a staggering 63 million likes on Facebook . At the other end of the scale , Northampton Town have fewer than 30,000 followers on Twitter . The clubs ’ global fanbases and wealth have been considered as part of a Sportsmail study to explore which English clubs are the ‘ biggest ’ ; 58 different teams of the current 92 in the top four divisions have been included in the study , having played in England ’ s top division for at least a season . United were slower than most clubs in embracing social media , not setting up an official Facebook page until 2010 and only starting an official Twitter account in 2012 . But with a following now of more than 70 million people across those two platforms , United are way ahead of Chelsea in second place ( 47m ) , Arsenal ( 38m ) , Liverpool ( 30m ) and City ( 21m ) . There is then a big drop-off before Tottenham in sixth ( 7.5m ) and another drop off before Aston Villa , Everton and Newcastle , each with between two and three million ‘ followers ’ on official social network platforms . No other teams have as many as two million , although every club in the country now has an official Facebook and Twitter presence and all clubs have at least tens of thousands of followers on these sites . Manchester City are the defending Premier League champions but trail their rivals United in the money table . The full details for all the clubs in Sportsmail 's study are in the accompanying tables . ‘ Big ’ clubs almost by definition will have lots of supporters of one kind or another ; increasingly these are spread around the world , fans whose primary engagement with the teams they follow being via television and the internet . It is notable how significant membership or recent membership of the Premier League appears to be in influencing the number of social media followers . Swansea , Hull , Fulham , QPR , Stoke and Norwich all make the top 20 in our list whereas multiple former English title winners including Leeds , Wolves and Blackburn do not . Does that mean Swansea are ‘ bigger ’ than Leeds ? As a straightforward proposition , most neutrals would agree not . But it goes without saying the Swansea , currently , as a stable , well-run Premier League club are currently ‘ bigger ’ , ie : higher up , richer , better marketed to a worldwide audience as part of the global commodity that is the Premier League . Similarly , any club currently in the Premier League or there very recently is likely to be richer than clubs that are not and have not been . United lead the way in income , earning £433m in revenues last season , ahead of City in second place then Chelsea , Arsenal and Liverpool . Southampton , Swansea , Stoke and Crystal Palace all make the top 15 clubs on this measure where again the likes of Wolves , Blackburn and Leeds are in the lower reaches of the top 30 .
Manchester United are clear at the top of social media and money tables . They have almost 25 million more followers than the next club Premier League . Manchester City , the Chelsea champions , lag behind in fifth . United can also boast the highest income , ahead of City and Premier League . Sportsmail 's HOW BIG IS YOUR CLUB ? Study finally settles great debate .