15 Most Successful English Clubs in Football History by Major Trophies Won

Football is about winning. Not everyone can win, but that’s always the aim at the beginning of a campaign and some teams have proven to be better at collecting silverware than others when all’s said and done.

English football is full of prestigious and historical teams that have long histories of picking up the biggest honours on offer. To establish what counts as a major trophy, however, there needs to be rules put into place. Squawka have ranked the English clubs with the most major trophies in the history of the sport. However, not every competition counts towards this total.

Within these rankings, seven competitions are recognised as major trophies: First Division/Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup, European Cup/Champions League, UEFA Cup/Europa League, Cup Winners’ Cup and Conference League.

Competitions including the Community Shield, Intercontinental Cup and FIFA Club World Cup are not regarded as major trophies. So, without further ado, view the 15 English clubs with the most major honours in football history below.

1 Liverpool

Trophies: 47

Liverpool are the English club with the most major trophies won in football history, three ahead of their fierce rivals following their Premier League triumph in the 2024/25. Jurgen Klopp is the man to have guided Liverpool to the top of this list as the German has won the Premier League, Champions League and both domestic cup competitions during his glittering tenure at Anfield, and Arne Slot added the cherry on top with the club’s latest league triumph.

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Liverpool were a dominant force in both England and Europe historically, particularly between the 1970s and 1980s. It was during the Premier League era that the trophies began to dry up for the Merseyside outfit, although a treble in 2001 – comprised of the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup – has helped them to solidify their place at the top. Having since won the Premier League twice, the Anfield outfit now have the joint-most (20) English top-flight league trophy wins.

2 Manchester United

Trophies: 44

Manchester United fans will be forever grateful for the vast amount of success brought to the club by Sir Alex Ferguson after the ex-Aberdeen boss dominated the Premier League with the Red Devils. Each of the 13 Premier League titles the club have lifted were under the Scot.

They were already a huge club before their historic manager took over, having won the English top flight seven times before the inception of the Premier League in 1992. United have had less European success than Liverpool, winning three Champions League titles and a Europa League under Jose Mourinho in 2017. The most recent cup success came in an FA Cup final triumph against fierce rivals Manchester City to round of the 2023/24 campaign.

3 Arsenal

Trophies: 30

It’s been two decades since Arsenal last lifted the biggest trophy in English football. That triumph was perhaps the most impressive success the division has ever seen as Arsene Wenger’s side filled with stars – such as Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, and Robert Pires – won the league title without tasting defeat in a single game.

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The Invincibles were the last Gunners side to win the Premier League, but the north London club have boosted their tally to 30 with numerous FA Cup successes since. The last decade has seen Arsenal lift the FA Cup five times, with the most recent being Mikel Arteta’s first piece of silverware under current boss, Mikel Arteta.

4 Manchester City

Trophies: 27

Manchester City were crowned Champions League winners for the first time in their history in June 2023 after they defeated Inter Milan in Istanbul. Rodri scored the only goal of the game as Pep Guardiola’s side won 1-0. City also won the Premier League and FA Cup in the 2022/23 season as they completed a historic treble.

The Citizens have now moved above Chelsea and into fourth when it comes to English clubs with the most major trophies in football history. They are now just four major trophies behind Arsenal in third. But they have a long way to go to catch Manchester United and Liverpool. The reigning champions have lifted the Premier League eight times, and their dominance looks set to continue for the foreseeable future.

5 Chelsea

Trophies: 25

Chelsea had enjoyed moderate success before Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich took over the club in July 2003. A First Division title and a few domestic cup successes were still impressive to have in the trophy cabinet, but Jose Mourinho’s appointment in 2004 was the real turning point in the Blues’ success.

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The Portuguese manager was the first boss given an extremely healthy transfer budget at Stamford Bridge – a theme that would continue until the present day – and he had instant success with back-to-back Premier League titles in his first two seasons in west London. Since then, they have won the trophy a further two times, as well as two Champions League triumphs and a host of cup successes.

6 Aston Villa

Trophies: 20

Aston Villa are comfortably in sixth, ahead of Tottenham and Everton. Not many of these 20 major accolades have come in the club’s recent history, although Unai Emery looks like he could be the man to bring success back to Villa Park in the near future.

Some modern fans may be unaware that the Villans lifted the European Cup back in 1982. This puts them level in continental success with Manchester City and one trophy ahead of Arsenal in this respect. Villa are a giant club with a long history, which includes seven First Division trophies, with the last coming in 1981.

7 Tottenham Hotspur

Trophies: 18

Tottenham often find themselves as the butt of the joke for rival fans due to their lack of recent success. But they were finally able to silence their critics and end their 17-year trophy drought in 2025 when they beat Premier League rivals Man United to win the Europa League. Brennan Johnson’s only goal of the game proved the difference as Spurs clinched their 18th major trophy in their existence.

While their lack of trophies in the last two decades may be a source of frustration for fans, it also shows just how successful the club were prior to 2008, as Spurs are still comfortably in the top 10. The bulk of the 18 trophies won by Tottenham are represented by their eight FA Cup triumphs.

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8 Everton

Trophies 15

Speaking of trophy droughts, Everton haven’t won anything since 1995. The Merseyside club lifted the FA Cup at the end of the 1994/95 campaign, but haven’t really come close to adding to their haul of 15 on too many occasions since. A defeat in the final of the same competition against Chelsea in 2009 is the closest the Toffees have come, and even that was in 2009.

However, Everton were a force to be reckoned with in the first few decades of the 20th century, and then again in the 1980s. The club have nine First Division titles to their name, as well as five FA Cups. They may not have won a European Cup in their best days, but there was a Club World Cup triumph.

9 Newcastle

Trophies: 11

A win over Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final in March 2025 ended a seven-decade-long wait for a major trophy for Newcastle United and saw them climb into ninth place on the all-time list. The victory marked the first time that the Magpies had lifted the League Cup, but they added it alongside the 10 other major trophies that they’ve won over the years.

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With Eddie Howe in charge and a squad with the likes of Alexander Isak and Bruno Guimaraes, there’s a strong chance that Newcastle will add even more trophies to their cabinet in the future and it’s hard to imagine they’ll have to wait another 70 years to lift their 12th piece of silverware.

10 Blackburn

Trophies: 10

Blackburn Rovers fans have had to deal with life in the second tier of English football for over a decade now, but they still remain one of the most successful clubs in the country in terms of major honours.

Rovers were the first team not named Manchester United to win the Premier League trophy, doing so in 1994/95. That was a joyous occasion for the club with Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton scoring goals for fun, but it would also be the beginning of the downward spiral. The only other piece of silverware since was the League Cup in 2002. The other eight major accolades came in the 19th century and the early part of the 20th.