Are Chelsea Now a Bigger Club Than Liverpool? (2024)

Liverpool fans have a song they like to sing about Chelsea's history. Among the profanities, the message is that the Blues don't have any.

Regardless of the fact it's a statement that is wildly misinformed, the Chelsea supporters' retort is that they're making history right now, not reliving it. Since Liverpool's last league title in 1990, for instance, when it was still known as the First Division, Chelsea have won the Premier League four times.

It all depends on which side of the fence you sit, but those successes alone are enough for Blues and Reds to claim one club is bigger than the other.

It's an endless debate. Chelsea say that four league titles in 11 years—they have five in total—makes them the bigger force now, while Liverpool's 1990 success marked their 18th top-flight triumph. Only Manchester United have won more (20).

The debate is raging again as the clubs prepare to meet at Stamford Bridge on Friday in a hotly anticipated clash. In the blue corner is Antonio Conte,who is attempting to continue his team's renaissance.Jurgen Kloppis bringing Liverpool back to the stadium where they won 3-1 last season.

As much as the desire for three points is top of the list of priorities, bragging rights aren't too far behind. These clubs may be separated by 220 miles, but this is a rivalry far removed from geography.

Fundamentally, Liverpool fans dislike Chelsea because the Blues represent the new wave that has made their return to the top of English football a more difficult task. For Chelsea, the Reds represent the old school that was so desperate to keep them down.

As the pendulum swings in football, the power moves with it. The injection of vast sums of money has changed the landscape across Europe, with new powers rising and traditional giants clinging onto their sense of prestige.

Where has it left Chelsea and Liverpool? Has the paradigm flipped? Are Liverpool no longer one of England's elite? Have Chelsea usurped them? Bleacher Report takes a closer look.

Commercial Value

"If you're talking shirt deals and their ability to attract partners, it's unfair to compare Liverpool and Chelsea," former Blues midfielder Pat Nevin told Bleacher Report. "Until this season, Chelsea have been a Champions League club for over a decade, and Liverpool haven't always been there. So of course Chelsea will attract more lucrative sponsors."

It's a balanced view from Nevin, and one that has its merits, but the fact Liverpool haven't been among Europe's elite consistently says a lot about their ability to maintain success. Isn't the idea of a big club that they're always in the pot when the big competitions come around?

Take Arsenal. Much derided for celebrating top-four finishes, the Gunners haven't been missing from the Champions League since the last century. They're there every year, always seen on the grandest stage. That they fail to make it into the latter stages is a different debate altogether.

By the same measure, being in the Champions League consistently has allowed Chelsea to steal a march on Liverpool. According to the Football Money League,Deloitte's annual reporton the richest clubs in world football, most recently published in January 2016, the Blues are eighth with a total revenue of €420 million based on their business in the 2014/15 campaign.

That year saw Chelsea win the Premier League and League Cup. They also reached the last 16 of the Champions League, losing to Paris Saint-Germain.

Liverpool are ranked one place below Chelsea in ninth with a revenue of €390 million. In 2014/15, they finished sixth in the Premier League and were knocked out of the Champions League in the group stage. It was also their first season back in Europe's elite club competition since 2009/10.

They've been missing out on the gate receipts and exposure that comes with being in the Champions League. Because of that, Chelsea have usurped them with TV money, prize money and also commercial deals on the back of their success.

Chelsea's latest shirt-sponsorship deal, with Yokohama Tyres, is worth a Guardian-reported £40 million per year and lasts until the end of 2019/20. In contrast, Liverpool earn £10 million less from their shirt sponsor, Standard Chartered.

The Blues' shirts are also the biggest sellers in English football, according to marketing firm Euroamericas (viaSky Sports). Liverpool didn't even make the top 10 of that list, falling behind the likes of AC Milan, Juventus and Atletico Madrid.

It's clear Chelsea have the bigger commercial value of the two clubs, and in the modern game, that counts for so much. It allows for bigger transfer fees and salaries, which invariably attract the biggest names and media coverage. That contributes significantly to what we perceive as the size of a club.

As a business, Chelsea are a bigger entity than Liverpool, but all is not lost. Between 2013/14 and 2014/15, Liverpool's revenue increased by an impressive 17 per cent compared to Chelsea's 2 per cent decrease—helped by the £65 million sale of Luis Suarez to Barcelona in July 2014. If they see similar gains come Deloitte's January 2017 report, they would usurp Chelsea.

Stadium

As most know, Liverpool have had a new stand built at Anfield and opened it this season. It meant Klopp's side played their first four games away from home, and it was officially opened on Saturday.

Liverpool marked the occasion by thrashing reigning champions Leicester City 4-1 in front of 54,000 fans. That's over 8,000 more supporters than we saw at Anfield last season and gives the Reds a significant advantage over Chelsea.

The Blues' Stamford Bridge home is still in need of redeveloping, as the capacity sits at just 41,663. That's over 12,000 fewer seats than there are at Anfield, meaning Liverpool will play in front of over 234,000 more fans in the Premier League this season. Chelsea would have to play an extra five-and-a-half league games to reach that number.

It's a staggering difference and one that Chelsea are looking to put right as they continue with their redevelopment plans. Right now, however, Liverpool's ground dwarfs Chelsea's.

If we're judging the size of a club by match attendances, there is no contest.

History

We've been over this already. We know where both sets of fans stand on the matter, but like it or not, the history of a club adds to the prestige and size of it.

"It's a big asset for Liverpool," Nevin said. "They'll attract new fans and sponsors on the back of it, for sure."

As much as Chelsea's recent success overshadows Liverpool's, it's the other way around for anything pre-2000. Up until 1997, Chelsea had never won a major trophy at Wembley Stadium, but so frequent were Liverpool's visits there in the 1970s and 1980s, the fans nicknamed it Anfield II.

Liverpool won a combined seven FA Cups and League Cups at Wembley during that time, with their total haul for both competitions standing at seven and eight, respectively.

Chelsea have caught up spectacularly, though. Since becoming the first team to win the FA Cup at the redeveloped Wembley, it has become a second home for the Blues—they've featured in six cup finals, winning five of them. Chelsea have now won the FA Cup seven times and the League Cup on five occasions.

It's in the league and Champions League where the big gap remains. To Chelsea's five league titles, Liverpool boast 18; to Chelsea's one Champions League, Liverpool have five.

Where Chelsea have the advantage is that they are the only English club to have won every European club trophy: the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, Europa League/UEFA Cup, Super Cup and Champions League/European Cup.

Despite their pedigree from yesteryear, the Reds can't compete with that. And given the Cup Winners' Cup is defunct, they never will, whereas Chelsea can still chase the dream of usurping Liverpool's record.

Fanbase

"In my view, it's impossible to judge this," said Nevin, who also played for Everton during his career. Having experienced football in west London and on Merseyside, he's witnessed the level of delirium that surrounds both clubs.

"On a matchday on Merseyside, if George Clooney or a Liverpool player is walking down the street, it's the Liverpool player everyone will go for," he explained.

Further afield, it seems that passion isn't diluted. Ina 2014 interviewwiththe Liverpool Echo (h/t MailOnline), Liverpool chief commercial officer Billy Hogan said they have over 580 million fans globally. That same year, former Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlaytold the Evening Standard the Blues could boast 400 million global fans (h/t theDaily Express).

Gourlay suggested Chelsea's fanbase had been as low as 26 million globally, but with community work and winning trophies, the club's appeal had grown significantly.

How are these numbers measured exactly, though? Like Nevin said, it's a difficult number to support completely, as other factors contradict each club's assertions. For instance, Chelsea sell more shirts and this summer played in front of 105,000 fans at Detroit's Michigan Stadium, aptly nicknamed the Big House.

Social Media

One area we can put a number on popularity is social media. The numbers aren't as impressive as Liverpool and Chelsea were suggesting for their global fanbase a couple of years ago, but both clubs still carry a heavy punch.

Liverpool's Twitter following sits at 6.2 million, while the club's official Facebook page has just shy of 29 million likes. On Instagram,they boast 3.3 million followers.

Chelsea are winning the social media war, however. Chelsea have 7.37 million followers onTwitter, 46.5 million likes on Facebookand 7.3 million on Instagram.

Treating their followers as individuals, it gives Chelsea over 22 million more fans.

What the Fans Have to Say

David Johnstone, cf*ck fanzine editor: "Liverpool have won more trophies and have probably got more fans, but as far as I'm concerned, Chelsea have been the biggest club in the world since 1905!"

Peter Phillips from The Kop Table podcast: "Liverpool are the bigger club because of the fact they have a bigger worldwide fanbase, they are the most successful club in England trophy-wise and have the potential to return to the top of European football again with an elite manager in Klopp."

Karl Matchett, Bleacher Report UK columnist and Liverpool fan: "I don't think Chelsea will ever match Liverpool's following or standing in the game in terms of how people perceive clubs. But because 'biggest' only has real relevance in competing at the top end, in the past decade or so, there's no comparison.

"Chelsea have won the title multiple times, won in Europe twice since Liverpool last did and attract ready-made managers and players. They are bigger."

There we have it, then: Chelsea are the bigger club. Or are they?

Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. Follow him on Twitter@garryhayes.