What clubs have won the most Premier League titles?
English football changed forever in 1992 when the top flight was rebranded as the Premier League from its previous moniker, the First Division.
Since then, some new clubs have emerged as dominant forces, while other older established members have only added to their trophy collections. Here are the clubs that have won the most top-flight titles in the Premier League era:
Manchester United (13 Premier League titles)
The Red Devils have been the most successful team in the Premier League’s history, winning the title on 13 occasions.
All of their 13 Premier League titles were won under the management of legendary head coach Sir Alex Ferguson.
United won their first title in the current era in the first season of the Premier League, 1992/93, and their last came in Ferguson’s last season as United boss, 2012/13. That means that all 13 Premier League titles were won within the space of a two-decade spell.
United’s success over the 20-year period saw Sir Alex hailed as one of the best football managers in the game has ever seen. He was an expert man manager who oozed authority, and that was proven by the club’s trophy haul during his time in Manchester.
The fact that no other Manchester United manager has led the Red Devils to an English top-flight title illustrates Ferguson’s management skills.
Manchester City (8 Premier League titles)
The Citizens are the second most successful team when it comes to lifting the Premier League trophy. Incredibly, like their city rivals, all their titles in the current era have been bunched into an 12-year period. See a history of Man City live results.
City won their first Premier League title in 2011/12, with that famous last-gasp Sergio Aguero goal against QPR at the Etihad Stadium, snatching the title out of the hands of the Red Devils. Roberto Mancini was the mastermind behind the win.
The men from Manchester didn’t have to wait long for their next title, as the Citizens were crowned English champions in season 2013/14, with Chilean Manuel Pellegrini in the managerial hot seat.
At the time of writing, City’s last title came in season 2023/24. In truth, City has dominated English football for close to a decade, mainly due to heavy investment, but also, in recent years, the excellent managerial abilities of Catalan head coach Pep Guardiola, who joined the club in the summer of 2016.
The former Barcelona boss has led City to the title on five occasions, breaking all sorts of records along the way.
In season 2017/18, City became the first team to reach the 100-point mark in the English top flight and are still the only team to have done so. In the same season, they also scored a Premier League-record 106 goals.
In addition to winning the 2022/23 title, City also won the Champions League for the first time and lifted the FA Cup, becoming only the second English team after their city rivals to achieve that particular treble. In 2024 they became the first club to win the title four times in succession.
Chelsea (5 Premier League titles)
Like Manchester City, Chelsea’s early success in the Premier League was built on the generosity of its owners, who invested heavily in improving the team’s playing and coaching staff over the years.
The Blues’ first Premier League title came in 2004/05 under a bright, young, up-and-coming head coach named Jose Mourinho. Chelsea won their first title in half a century by losing just one league game all season.
The Blues retained the Premier League crown the following season. Mourinho returned to the club for a second spell and added a third title. In between, another managerial dignitary, Carlo Ancelotti, also led the team to glory in 2010.
Chelsea’s latest Premier League title came in 2017 under Antonio Conte, who also guided the Blues to the 2018 FA Cup.
In their title-winning campaign, Chelsea was unbeaten on home soil all season while also matching a Premier League record by recording 13 straight victories in the top flight.
Arsenal (3 Premier League titles)
Like Manchester United’s success under Ferguson, Arsenal’s Premier League title-winning campaigns were achieved due to the astute management skills of one man.
The arrival of a relatively unknown French head coach called Arsene Wenger in October 1996 raised a few eyebrows.
Wenger set about transforming the team and the club’s thinking. He made significant changes to the playing staff, bringing in the likes of Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira during his early seasons, who both became club legends.
His changes and managerial acumen helped Arsenal win the Premier League for the first time in the 1997/98 season. Dutch duo Dennis Bergkamp and Marc Overmars were two of the stars of the show.
The Gunners also lifted the FA Cup in the same season, with Wenger becoming the first foreign manager to achieve a domestic double in the English game.
Wenger guided the Gunners to a second Premier League title in season 2001/02, as Thierry Henry topped the scoring charts with 24 goals.
A 13-match winning run and a 21-game unbeaten spell in the English top flight played a massive part in the Gunners’ eventual title triumph.
Although the first two Premier League titles may have been memorable, their triumph in season 2003/04 is likely to go down as the most memorable.
The main reason is that Arsenal became the first team to end an English top-flight campaign without suffering a league defeat since Preston North End in season 1888/89.
The victory earned the Gunners the nickname ‘The Invincibles’, which was also first used to describe North End’s unbeaten team.
Arsenal were imperious at both ends of the pitch in the campaign. Goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, alongside Manchester United’s Edwin van der Sar, kept a league-high 15 clean sheets.
In attack, star striker Thierry Henry experienced the most prolific campaign of his career, winning the Golden Boot by scoring 30 goals in the Premier League.
Unsurprisingly, the achievement led to Wenger picking up his third Premier League Manager of the Season award; the other two were won in the previous title-winning campaigns.
Who were your favourite Premier League title-winning teams?