London’s top 10 football teams
There is a lot to see for those who are interested in football in London. Just to clarify for readers of this article outside of the UK, soccer means the “beautiful game,” which is commonly known as soccer throughout the world.
London has a proud tradition of famous football teams with plenty of competition between them to be the best club. There are usually four or five London teams in the Premier League and there are many commentators who believe this is one of the biggest obstacles to any of them winning the league. A ‘local derby’ between two London football teams could produce an electric atmosphere and change the current state of hotly contested form.
Premier League tickets are sometimes hard to come by, but a little persistence often pays off. There are a number of ticket agencies that can get you tickets for a price.
In the past decade, both Arsenal and Chelsea have twice won the illustrious Premier League title and reached the European Cup final.
Here are some details on the top 10 football clubs in London and to avoid any accusation of being a supporter, they are listed in alphabetical order:
Arsenal
Arsenal’s Gunners have played in the top division of English football in consecutive seasons since the 1919-20 season. They have been champions 13 times and achieved a unique record in modern times in the 2003-04 season when they went the entire season without being defeated.
Arsenal have won the coveted ‘double’ (league and cup in the same season) three times, in 1971, 1998 and 2002.
In recent years they have moved to a new venue, the Emirates Stadium, with a capacity for 60,000 people. The Arsenal Museum is well worth a visit and is open every day.
brentford
The Bees, Brentford Football Club currently play in Football League I. They were founded in 1889 and play their home games at Griffin Park, their home stadium since 1904. Brentford’s most successful run came during the 1930s, when they managed Consecutive top-six finishes in the Primera División.
Since the war, they have spent most of their time in the third and fourth tier of English football. Brentford have been FA Cup quarter-finalists four times and have twice runners-up for the Football League Trophy.
athletic charlton
The Addicks, Charlton Athletic have seen better days. There were happy days in the 1930s and 1940s. In recent years, they have struggled after being relegated from the Premier League in 2005 and then the Championship in 2008.
They play in The Valley, just south of the River Thames in Greenwich. The club was founded in 1905.
Historically, Charlton’s most successful period was the 1930s, when the club’s highest league results were recorded, including runners-up in the league in 1937, and after World War II, when the club reached the final. of the FA Cup twice, winning in 1947.
chelsea
The Pensioners or the Blues, Chelsea Football Club was founded in 1905 and plays in the Premier League. Chelsea have been champions three times (1955, 2005, 2006), and have won the FA Cup five times, the League Cup four times and the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup twice. They reached the UEFA Champions League final in 2008
Chelsea play at Stamford Bridge, in West London, and its capacity is 42,000 spectators. The Chelsea Museum is open on most days and is well worth a visit for those interested in museums and football history.
crystal Palace
The Eagles, Crystal Palace Football Club was formed in 1905. The team plays its home games at Selhurst Park, where it has been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier, The Championship.
Crystal Palace’s most recent successful spell began in 1988–89, when the club finished third in the Second Division and were promoted to the First Division. They reached the 1990 FA Cup Final only to lose the replay against Manchester United and finished third in the First Division in 1990-91.
Since then Palace have been relegated and promoted to the FA Premier League on a number of occasions, their most recent relegation from the top flight being in the 2004–05 season. All this despite the fact that the club was near bankrupt in July 2000.
fulham
The Cottagers, Fulham Football Club was founded in 1879, they celebrated their 125th anniversary in 2004 and are in the highest level of English football, the Premier League. Fulham is the oldest professional football team in London.
In 2009, Fulham achieved their best Premier League result, finishing seventh in qualifying for Europe.
The club has produced many great British footballers including Johnny Haynes, George Cohen, Bobby Robson, Rodney Marsh and Alan Mullery and Jim Langley. They play at historic Craven Cottage, their home since 1896, a riverside plot of land on the banks of the River Thames in Fulham.
Queens Park Rangers
The Hoops or simply QPR, Queens Park Rangers Football Club based in Shepherd’s Bush, West London. They currently play in the Football League Championship, and their honors include winning the League Cup in 1967, and being runners-up in the old First Division in 1975-76 and the FA Cup in 1982.
Queens Park Rangers Football Club was founded in 1882 and its traditional colors are blue and white. Due to its proximity to other West London clubs, QPR maintains long-standing rivalries with several other clubs in the area, most notably Chelsea, Brentford and Fulham with whom they contest what are known as West London derbies.
In 2007, QPR was taken over by Italian tycoon Flavio Briatore and is among the 10 richest sports clubs in the world. Other major shareholders include Lakshmi Mittal and F1 Supreme Chairman Bernie Ecclestone. So watch this space!
Tottenham Hotspurs
The famous ‘Spurs’ team of 1961 is still considered by many soccer enthusiasts to be one of the greatest soccer teams in English soccer history. They achieved the ‘double’ that had not been achieved at that time since Aston Villa achieved it in 1897.
This has given recent Spurs teams a lot to live up to. But Spurs have a long tradition of playing good football, so there are plenty of exciting matches at White Hart Lane, especially with their close north London rivals Arsenal.
In 1963, Spurs became the first British club to win a major European trophy: the European Cup Winners’ Cup. In the 1970s, they won the Football League Cup twice and were the inaugural winners of the UEFA Cup in 1972. In the 1980s, Spurs won several trophies: the FA Cup twice, FA Community Shield and the 1983-84 UEFA Cup. In the 1990s they won the FA Cup and the Football League Cup and in 2008 they beat Chelsea in the Football League Cup final. This victory means that Tottenham have won a trophy in each of the last six decades, an achievement that only Manchester United match.
Spurs have planned a new stadium to be completed in 2012 and is expected to be one of the best stadiums in the UK.
watford
The Hornets, Watford Football Club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. They play in the Championship. The club was founded in 1881 and played on various grounds before moving to a permanent location on Vicarage Road in 1922, where they remain to this day. Since 1997, they have shared the stadium with Saracens Rugby Club. Watford have a long-standing rivalry with Luton Town.
The club is best known for two spells under former England manager Graham Taylor. The first lasted from 1977 to 1987, when the club was promoted to the old First Division from the Fourth Division. Once in the top division of English football, Watford finished second in the league in 1983, reached the FA Cup final in 1984, and competed in the UEFA Cup in the 1984-85 season.
The second spell spanned from 1997 to 2001, as Taylor led the club from the renowned Second Division to the Premier League in successive seasons. Taylor is currently a non-executive director of the club and an Honorary Chairman for Life along with Sir Elton John, who owned the club during both periods and has continued a long association with the club.
West Ham United
The Hammers, West Ham United Football Club, have played at Upton Park (Boleyn Ground) in East London since 1904 and were formed in 1895.
They appeared in the first FA Cup final to be held at Wembley in 1923 against Bolton Wanderers. The club has won the FA Cup three times: in 1964, 1975 and 1980. They have also been runners-up twice, in 1923 and 2006.
In 1965 they won the European Cup Winners’ Cup and in 1999 they won the InterToto Cup.
Its players are considered a major factor behind England’s 1966 World Cup triumph, as England’s captain at the time was West Ham’s Bobby Moore, and both goalscorers Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters were West Ham players. .
West Ham currently compete in the Premier League, their best Premier League finish being fifth in 1998-99.