Ranking all 33 Premier League champions – from least best to very best

And so, Liverpool have won the 33rd Premier League title. It’s their second, as one of seven clubs to have prevailed since the establishment of the division in 1992.

Clearly, there’s no such thing as a bad Premier League champion. To reach the end of 38 (or 42, for the first three seasons) games having bettered the rest is a tremendous feat, regardless of how you do it.

But some champions are more champion than others. So we have ranked those 33 champions, not from best to worst but maybe from the absolutely very best to the not-quite-as-best.

The criteria will sometimes be arbitrary. We’re not just going to rank this by the number of points from lowest to highest. We’re also not necessarily going to rank it by who the best team is, in a ‘if they could all play against each other, who would win?’ sort of way. But rather, try to look at the context, and take in a variety of factors: the quality of the opposition, the players involved, how good the football was, the storylines, and so on. One thing we won’t significantly look at are other competitions: this is the Premier League only.

Perhaps you’ll agree, perhaps you’ll disagree. But let’s not allow that to come between us.

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33. 1996-97: Manchester United

Having said we won’t be ranking these just by points, the lowest points total gets the lowest ranking. Partly because 75 points barely gets you fourth place these days, but also because, beyond David Beckham scoring from the halfway line on the opening day, the two biggest things you remember from this season are United losing 5-0 to Newcastle and 6-3 to Southampton.

32. 2020-21: Manchester City

It wasn’t really Manchester City’s fault that this was such a forgettable Premier League win: this was the Covid-19 season, when for the majority of the campaign, the stadiums were empty and we all watched it bored, isolated, and with piped-in crowd noise. Liverpool fell away after the exertions of the previous two seasons, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United finished a distant second and, well, it was just all a bit weird, wasn’t it?

31. 2013-14: Manchester City

Again, this isn’t their fault: the objective quality of their team was really good and they did score 102 goals, but as a neutral, what do you remember about this season from a Manchester City perspective? Maybe beating United 4-1 in those early months for David Moyes? Hammering Norwich 7-0? With apologies to Manuel Pellegrini, the only non-European manager to win the Premier League, Liverpool’s glorious failure under Brendan Rodgers (finishing second, with 84 points and 101 goals) was the story that season.

30. 1994-95: Blackburn Rovers

It would be quite the stretch to think of this Blackburn Rovers side as a fairytale. Heavy spending from owner Jack Walker enabled them to go from the second tier to champions in three years, spearheaded by Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton. But they did topple a dominant Manchester United, a significant feat at the time, even if they stumbled over the line by winning just two of their last six games. You could also argue that Eric Cantona’s kung-fu kick and subsequent ban were the key factor.

29. 2000-01: Manchester United

This was a pretty easy season for United, cantering to the title by 10 points, despite losing their last three games. But it was quite a weird one, too: a team caught slightly between two eras, the Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole partnership just past their peak and with Ruud van Nistelrooy to sign the following summer, plus Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney a few years away. It might be a season more defined by Roy Keane controversies than anything else: this was when he gave his “prawn sandwiches” interview, criticising the quiet nature of the Old Trafford crowd, and also when he viciously fouled Alf Inge Haaland in revenge for some taunts a few seasons earlier.

28. 2022-23: Manchester City

Of Pep Guardiola’s six league titles, this was probably the least interesting from a neutral’s point of view. Arsenal were ahead for a chunk of the season, but City went on a 12-game winning run starting in February, and it felt inevitable that they would overhaul them. Like United’s treble season, the actual league leg of it in isolation wasn’t the most impressive part, but rather the remarkable feat as a whole.

27. 2010-11: Manchester United

United set a club record for unbeaten games (29) in the first half of this season, they dropped only two points at home and eventually won the title by nine points. But it is a little difficult to conjure up many outstanding memories: they just weren’t really challenged convincingly. Maybe the most memorable thing from this season is Wayne Rooney submitting a transfer request in October, only to withdraw it a few days later.

26. 2016-17: Chelsea

The thing about Chelsea winning the title in 2017 is that it was so unexpected. Under Antonio Conte, they started the season quite rockily, ending September in eighth place. But then Conte improvised a 3-4-3 system and everything seemed to click: a 13-game winning run saw them six points clear at the top at the turn of the year and they lost just once in the league between October and the start of April, wrapping the title up with time to spare, leaving a spirited Tottenham and Pep Guardiola’s first City team in their wake.

25. 2024-25: Liverpool

Hey, any Premier League win is great. For Liverpool to do it having barely spent any money, with Arne Slot in his first season, is an exceptional achievement. They might well do it having lost only two games. But… for the neutral, they’re not the most thrilling side to watch, some of their performances in the season’s latter weeks have been slightly flat, and they’re in the curious position of being champions who might need to revamp their squad next season.

24. 1997-98: Arsenal

How do you classify this Arsenal victory? They had an abysmal slump in the winter, the final points tally of 78 is the second-lowest ever to win the title and they scored only 68 goals. But other things must be taken into account: it was Arsene Wenger’s first full season, Ian Wright broke Arsenal’s scoring record, Nicolas Anelka emerged and Dennis Bergkamp scored one of the great Premier League hat-tricks against Leicester, plus they chased United down having been 12 points back (with games in hand) in February.

23. 1999-00: Manchester United

Maybe this wasn’t the best United title-winning team, but it was the most dominant. They won the title by 18 points, wrapping it up with four games to spare, with Arsenal a speck in their rear-view mirror. It was a slightly strange season, the prevailing narrative dominated by them not playing in the FA Cup in order to compete in the Club World Championship. But after that, domestically at least, they were relentless – winning their last 11 games and scoring 37 goals in the process.

22. 2023-24: Manchester City

This season is interesting to look at in hindsight. At the time, it felt like another dominant Manchester City year, holding off Arsenal and Liverpool, winning their last nine games in familiar fashion and going unbeaten from early December. And yet, those who watched them more closely than most of us will tell you the signs of their 2024-25 collapse were there, like slowly widening cracks in the walls of a house. After all, they were essentially a Stefan Ortega save from Son Heung-min away from potentially losing the title. Had Ortega not stepped up, Arsenal might well have pipped them on goal difference on the final day.

21. 2014-15: Chelsea

Some title wins go back and forth, with ebbs and flows, highs and lows. Not this one: in Jose Mourinho’s second season back at Chelsea, they took the lead early and never relinquished it, like a middle-distance runner who sets the pace and then just gradually extends their lead. The addition of Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa, plus the return of Didier Drogba, meant Chelsea were top more or less from start to finish.

20. 2002-03: Manchester United

Is this the most surprising of United’s 13 titles? Arsenal were so good in the seasons either side, that most would have expected them to win this one too. They were eight points ahead at one stage, but United reeled them in by going unbeaten from a Boxing Day defeat at Middlesbrough. The narrative of the season, the second half at least, was dominated by the growing issues between Sir Alex Ferguson and Beckham. But on the pitch, they were defined by Rio Ferdinand, who had arrived for a record fee the previous summer, and the ruthlessness of Van Nistelrooy, who scored 25 of their 74 league goals.

19. 1993-94: Manchester United

Having removed the monkey from their back by winning their first title in 26 years in the Premier League’s first season, this is when it started to look like United would be a dominant force for years to come. This was Keane’s first season and Cantona’s first full campaign, and they were top of the table from pretty much start to finish, holding off a game Blackburn Rovers and eventually winning the title by eight points. Plus, they had those yellow-and-green-halved shirts for a third strip, among the coolest kits the Premier League era has seen.

18. 2005-06: Chelsea

Jose Mourinho’s second season at Chelsea started at a furious pace: they won their first nine games and didn’t concede a goal until the seventh, dropping just seven points before the end of January. The surprise, from that perspective, was that they didn’t win it by more than the eight points that they eventually beat United by. Was this side better than Mourinho’s first? Maybe, but it wasn’t quite as fresh and exciting.

17. 2006-07: Manchester United

Mourinho’s Chelsea felt like such a juggernaut after winning the title in his first two seasons that you expected them to dominate for years. But Ferguson’s third great team was just coming together. Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra had signed the previous year to complete that brilliant defence, and this was Ronaldo’s breakout season, graduating from flashy stepover merchant to his team’s top goalscorer, already on his way to being a true great.

16. 2009-10: Chelsea

If Mourinho’s Chelsea sides were ones to admire and respect rather than like, it was impossible not to be drawn to Carlo Ancelotti’s version. Chelsea won the title by only a point this season, United taking them to the final day, but they scored 103 goals in all with a goal difference of 71, both records at the time. That total included beating Blackburn and Portsmouth 5-0, Sunderland 7-2, Aston Villa 7-1, Stoke 7-0 and Wigan 8-0. Stat-padding against weak teams? Maybe, but they could be gritty against their challengers too, doing the double over United and Arsenal.

15. 2011-12: Manchester City

Where you rank Manchester City’s first title victory depends on what criteria you find most important: if the dramatic nature of how they clinched it is your thing, then this would be near the top. But you also have to remember that City effectively threw away this title once, and had to rely on Manchester United screwing up themselves — losing to Wigan and drawing 4-4 at home to Everton, before then going down 1-0 to City in April — for the Agueeeerrrrrroooo moment to be possible.

14. 2012-13: Manchester United

From a narrative perspective, this was hard to beat. Ferguson has said he decided he would retire around halfway through that season, but the thought must have been there the previous summer when he made the decisive but short-term signing of Robin van Persie. Ferguson wanted to go out on a high, winning his 13th title, and he did.

13. 1998-99: Manchester United

Yes, this was the treble season, possibly the greatest achievement in English football. But Ferguson’s United won the title in much more impressive fashion in other years. They drew four of their last eight games against teams you’d expect them to beat, and at some points on the final day (when they went a goal down at home to Tottenham) they looked in danger of missing out to Arsenal. That said, they went unbeaten from Christmas, really thrashed a few teams, and the fact that they went all the way in two cup competitions has to be taken into account because of the extra stress it put on the league.

12. 1995-96: Manchester United

We possibly shouldn’t even credit United with this title, because while a few others chipped in — notably the kids that, as Alan Hansen famously said “you win nothing with” — this title was won by Eric Cantona. The lasting narrative is that Newcastle choked, but if it wasn’t for Cantona going through one of the more absurd runs of form the Premier League has ever seen, scoring in six straight games in the spring – four of which were the only goals in 1-0 wins and another a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw – Kevin Keegan’s men would have won it with relative comfort.

11. 2008-09: Manchester United

The third of a trilogy, this season ranks pretty high if only because of how exciting the title race was and how closely they were pushed. Under Rafa Benitez, Liverpool had found a great balance with Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, plus Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano, and lost only twice all season. But United were better: Edwin van der Sar kept 14 clean sheets in a row, the rest of their defence was masterful and their attacking options — Rooney, Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Dimitar Berbatov — were absurd.

10. 2001-02: Arsenal

Plenty of people will tell you that this Arsenal team was actually better than the Invincibles, and they might be right. Robert Pires was peerless until a knee injury in March, David Seaman was a better goalkeeper than Jens Lehmann, Dennis Bergkamp was probably nearer his peak, they scored more goals than 2003-04, and from the middle of December, they dropped only six points.

9. 2021-22: Manchester City

So often champions are defined by who they beat. And, while this wasn’t quite to the level of the ridiculous 2018-19 season, this was a City side pushed to the absolute limit by Liverpool. City were 13 points ahead at one stage in January, but Liverpool (who had games in hand) whittled that down and nearly won it on the final day. This was also the season when Kevin De Bruyne scored a hat-trick with his ‘weaker’ foot in 17 minutes against Wolves, one of the most remarkable individual performances you’ll ever see.

8. 1992-93: Manchester United

This team is probably way higher in the list than its actual quality justifies, particularly given their competition that season was relatively moderate. But you have to allow some extra credit for the circumstances, that they had not won the title in 26 years, having quite flamboyantly choked the previous season, and how this laid the foundations for the dynasty that followed.

7. 2004-05: Chelsea

For those of you under the age of about 25, who have only really known Jose Mourinho as a fading force and occasional wind-up merchant, you’ll just have to trust us old stagers when we tell you how thrilling he was when he first arrived at Chelsea. They were immediately brilliant: not especially likeable, or attractive to watch, but a machine. They conceded just 15 goals in 2004-05, which is utterly ridiculous: for context, Arsenal have the best defence this season, and they conceded their 15th goal in their 15th game.

6. 2018-19: Manchester City

There have been thrilling title races in the past, but none whose quality matched this one. In case you need a reminder, Liverpool racked up 97 points, which would have been enough to be champions — by a street, in most cases — in all but one season before this. But they had the misfortune to be up against City, who won their last 14 games in a row. Liverpool dried their eyes with the Champions League, and continued their form into the following season, but City were just too good.

5. 2015-16: Leicester City

If you could crystallise in time all the teams on this list and put them all in a league, playing each other, the chances are that Leicester would finish somewhere near the bottom. But this list is about wonder, too, and glory, so how can you not put the team who pulled off the 5,000-1 miracle in the top five? Modern football is structured to prevent this sort of thing from happening, to codify the dominance of the rich and powerful. It should not have been possible for Leicester to become champions. That’s why they’re this high up.

4. 2007-08: Manchester United

It’s a tough task picking out Ferguson’s best title-winning side. You could probably throw a dart at their top half-dozen seasons and you wouldn’t go too far wrong. But this team was special, with a watertight defence combined with a ferocious forward line of Ronaldo (his best goalscoring season for United), Rooney and Tevez. They were also pushed all the way by Avram Grant’s Chelsea (not a typo), who finished two points back and didn’t lose a game after the middle of December.

3. 2019-20: Liverpool

Even if this wasn’t breaking a 30-year title drought, soothing a generation at England’s most storied club, this Liverpool team would be near the top. Because they were astonishing, dropping just two points — two points! — from their first 27 games. They were thrilling to watch, Jurgen Klopp’s visceral style of play, that brilliant forward line of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino and their tendency to find late winners making them utterly compelling.

2. 2003-04: Arsenal

Over the years, there have been some dissenting, slightly sniffy voices about the Arsenal team of 2003-04. Sure, they went unbeaten, but what about the 12 draws! What about the defeats in cups! What about the 2002 team, that was better! Sure, point made, but come on: not only did they go through the whole season without losing a single game, they did it playing beautiful football, the apex of Wenger’s ideals that they never reached again.

1. 2017-18: Manchester City

OK, yes, we said we weren’t going to rank these by points, and have put the lowest total bottom and the highest top. But sometimes it’s best not to overthink these things. The weird thing is that while this was Guardiola’s first title with City, even then they felt like an unstoppable juggernaut, with De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, David Silva and Sergio Aguero near their peaks. They won 100 points and scored 106 goals — one hundred and six — which is damn near an average of three per game. There wasn’t a lot of peril in this season, but that’s because City pulverised everyone.

(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Demetrius Robinson)

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