Burnley has been named Britain’s most football-mad town, narrowly pipping Sunderland to the coveted title.
Research by BetVictor compared 2025/26 Premier League and EFL average home league crowds with official adult populations for the settlements hosting each ground. Places with fewer than 50,000 total residents were excluded.
Burnley, home to the Clarets who are experiencing a rough season back in the Championship, tops the ranking on 332.8 spectators per 1,000 adults.
Turf Moor averaged a crowd of 20,990 in home league games, against the town’s population of 63,077 adult residents.
Sunderland came second on 325.6. The Stadium of Light averaged 46,729 spectators, more than twice Burnley’s typical crowd, against 143,521 adults.
Liverpool rank third in England and Wales at 262.8. Liverpool and Everton’s separate home league averages total 112,500 against 428,033 adults.
Ipswich take fourth spot on 239.5. Portman Road averaged 28,303 spectators, against 118,179 adult residents in the town.
Middlesbrough complete the top five on 220.9, with 27,230 an average Riverside Stadium league crowd against 123,268 local adults.
Preston come sixth on 215.3 spectators per 1,000 adults, followed by Newcastle upon Tyne (211.6), Barnsley (191.1), Watford (176.8) and Wolverhampton (158.5).
Preston also make the England and Wales top ten in sixth on 215.3, with Blackburn 12th on 153.9. Burnley’s score is more than twice that of their fierce rivals, Blackburn Rovers.
The ten most football-mad towns and cities in England and Wales:
Methodology:
1. 2025/26 average home league crowds for Premier League and EFL clubs came from FootballRates. Where multiple qualifying clubs share a settlement, their averages were added.
2. Grounds were assigned to their ONS built-up areas. Settlements with 50,000+ total residents qualified. Adult counts (18+) used Nomis mid-2024 totals less ages 0-15 and 16-17.
3. The score divides combined average home crowds by adults, multiplied by 1,000; it is not a share of local fans. Eligible Scottish towns were separately tested using 2022 localities and conservative crowd limits, supporting the British winner but not a precise British top ten. All-age populations reverse Burnley and Sunderland.
