Twitter has launched a new map documenting each team's global following - see how your side got on
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Varied: The locations of Premier League supporters from around the world Photo: TWITTER
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By Tom Edwards, Sport Social Media Editor
5:30AM BST 22 Apr 2015
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United are the true top four - at least, they are in terms of Twitter followers.
The social network has launched a 'follower map' detailing the popularity of each Premier League team around the world, and it's dominated by just four teams.
The interactive graphic (below) was produced by checking where the followers from each club's official account come from, then colour-coding each area around the world by majority of supporters that live there.
It shows:
- Arsenal claiming most of northern Europe and the USA
- Chelsea making up for the majority of southern Europe and south America,
- Manchester United winning over India, southern Africa and parts of the USA
- Liverpool in control of much of the UK, Scandinavia and most of the inhabited areas of Australia
Use the drop down boxes to see where your team's supporters live. Zoom in and out to explore countries more closely.
There is a particularly noticeable divide between Arsenal and Chelsea in Europe, with Arsenal being vastly more popular in the north, and Chelsea claiming the majority of territory in the south.
This may be due to Arsene Wenger's and Jose Mourinho's popularity in their home countries of France and Portugal, or it may have more to do with national loyalty to some of the teams' most popular players, past and present, including:
- Freddie Ljungberg (@Freddie) - Sweden and Arsenal
- Thierry Henry (@ThierryHenry) - France and Arsenal
- Mesut Ozil (@MezutOzil1088) - Germany and Arsenal
- Dennis Bergkamp - Holland and Arsenal
- Gianfranco Zola and Roberto Di Matteo - Italy and Chelsea
- Diego Costa (@DiegoCosta) - Spain and Chelsea
- Cesc Fabregas (@cesc4official) - Spain and Chelsea
- César Azpilicueta (@CesarAzpi) - Spain and Chelsea
It's also important to keep in mind that these stats may not tell the full story. In December, I reported that Manchester United led the world in terms of mentions, rather than followers, on Twitter, which is a better indication of what people are actually talking about.
And United got started on Twitter much later than teams like Arsenal and Chelsea - they've been catching-up consistently since they started taking it more seriously.
The Twitter stats alone may also give a somewhat myopic representation of global support, given that many fans won't have access to the internet, and those that do may not have Twitter accounts.
In fact, they are far more likely to be on Facebook than Twitter, as the rival network has a far larger user base - and the battle for fans on that platform is being won hands-down by Manchester United.
It hasn't always been smooth sailing for United, who have had a number of social media controversies, but they are absolutely dominant when Facebook followers are taken into account.
United have over 64 million followers on Facebook, compared to just 4.87 million on Twitter.
Compare that to Chelsea's 41m on Facebook (and 5.49m on Twitter), Arsenal's 32 million on Facbook (and 5.68 on Twitter), and Liverpool's 24m Facebook (and 4.21m on Twitter), and the true global picture becomes more clear.
