The English Premier League was born in 1992, replacing the old English First Division as the top tier of English football. Since its introduction, the league has seen many excellent teams who have been worthy champions.
However, only seven teams have won the Premier League title in its current guise. Who are the teams that have won the English title most in the Premier League era, though?
Manchester United (13-time winners)
The Red Devils are regarded by many as one of the biggest football clubs in world football. However, when they won the Premier League title in the competition’s inaugural season in 1993, the men from Manchester had now won the English top-flight title for 26 seasons.
The mastermind behind the first and all of United’s Premier League titles was Scottish managerial legend, Sir Alex Ferguson. The former Aberdeen boss guided United to a further 12 English top-flight titles during his long and illustrious stay at Old Trafford.
No club is yet close to matching the Red Devils’ record, and no other United boss has guided United to the English title since Sir Alex’s retirement after being crowned English champions for the last time in season 2012/13.
Manchester City (7-time winners)
City has some work to do to catch up to its city rivals United in terms of Premier League titles, as they have won the English top-flight in its current guise on seven occasions.
However, the Citizens have become a force of nature in the English Premier League since the arrival of managerial genius Pep Guardiola. In fact, the Catalan head coach has guided City to five top-flight titles since his arrival as head coach in 2016.
Famously Guardiola took his team to the treble of the Premier League title, Champions League and FA Cup in 2023, becoming only the second English team after United to achieve that feat.
Despite Guardiola’s success, it is important to remember that the Citizens were Premier League champions before he arrived at the club. City claimed their first Premier League title in season 2011/12 and their second in 2013/14.
Before their first Premier League title in 2012, City had only ever been English champions twice, in 1937 and 1968, when the English top flight was the English First Division.
Chelsea (5-time winners)
The Blues have been one of the most successful English clubs in recent decades when has come to winning silverware. The team from south west London has won the Premier League on five occasions.
Before the rebranding of the English top-flight, Chelsea had only previously been champions of England once, which came in the season 1954/55. Like United and City, the Blues’ first title in 2004/05 was masterminded by one of the best head coaches of his generation in the shape of Jose Mourinho. It is worth noting that the Portuguese boss won the title in his debut campaign as the Blues boss.
The former-Porto boss also helped the club retain the title the following season. Mourinho guided the Blues to a third Premier League title in season 2009/2010 in his second spell as the club’s boss.
Chelsea’s other titles were won by more luminaries of the managerial game, Carlo Ancelotti and Antonio Conte, with the latter claiming Chelsea’s most recent English title in 2017.
Arsenal (3-time winners)
The Gunners are one of the most successful clubs in the English game when it comes to winning silverware. Only Manchester United and Liverpool have won more English top-flight titles overall than the north London club’s tally of 13.
However, Arsenal have claimed the English title on just three occasions during the Premier League era. The first of their three titles arrived in season in 1998 after the inspirational appointment of a certain Arsene Wenger.
The unknown French head coach transformed the club and turned the Gunners into one of the best teams of the Premier League era. The club from north London went on to win two further top-flight titles in 2002 and 2004.
However, their most memorable title came in their last title-winning season in 2003/04, as they became the first English team to complete an English top-flight season unbeaten since Preston North End in season 1888/89.
The achievement earned the Gunners the nickname ‘The Invincibles’, a moniker previously bestowed on the North Ends team after their achievement.
Blackburn Rovers (1-time winner)
Rovers enjoyed a few seasons in the sun in the early 1990s, as local millionaire owner Jack Walker’s money inspired the team to succeed. Rovers’ only Premier League title triumph was achieved in the 1994/95 season, as the SAS strike force of Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton fired the north west outfit to glory.
It was Blackburn’s first English title in 81 years and only their third in the club’s history.
Liverpool (1-time winner)
The Reds are one of the most successful football clubs in the history of English and European football, having won 19 English top-flight titles overall, a tally which only Manchester United can better in the English game.
However, incredibly Liverpool has won just one English top-flight title in the Premier League era. Their one taste of title success came in season 2019/20. The most impressive feat for Jurgen Klopp’s team was achieving a 27-game unbeaten run in their title-winning campaign.
Unfortunately, for the men from Merseyside, due to COVID-19 restrictions, they had to lift the trophy in an empty Anfield, which was a sad way to celebrate their only Premier League title.
Leicester (1-time winners)
The story of the Foxes’ one and only Premier League title in season 2015/16 was arguably one of the greatest ever in the history of any sport. It was the ultimate underdog tale, which will likely live in the memory of anybody who witnessed the triumph for years to come.
Leicester went into the campaign on the back of narrowly escaping relegation the previous season and were odds of 5000/1 to claim the title. However, the affable Claudio Ranieri led his team, powered by the goals of the prolific Jamie Vardy, to their first-ever English top-flight title.
The story is even more sensational when you consider that in 2023, the Foxes suffered relegation from the Premier League into the Championship.
Which Premier League title winners were the most memorable?