There is a particularly interesting race underway at the top of the all-time trophy league for the most major honours won by football clubs in England. There is much debate over which trophies and titles should be included in the list however the general consensus is that the three domestic awards and six major European competitions that have existed over the years are the ones that should be included. These are listed as follows – the Football League up to 1992 then Premier League after, the FA Cup and the League Cup make up the three domestics honours. In terms of Europe there is the Champions League (previously the European Cup), the Cup Winners’ Cup, the UEFA Europa League (previously the UEFA Cup), the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and the Club World Cup (previously the Intercontinental Cup).
The first of these honours was won back in the 1871/72 season when Wanderers beat Royal Engineers 1-0 in the final of the first FA Cup. The Football League was set up in 1888 and Preston North End was the first champions of that competition. It wasn’t until 1960 until the League Cup was formed and Aston Villa were the first winners. Whilst Manchester United has won a record number of league championships (20) and FA Cups (11), Liverpool holds the record number of League Cup titles with eight victories.
Moving on to European competition, a total of 32 English teams have competed over the years with 13 different winners emerging. Liverpool holds the record for the number of European Cups and UEFA Cups with five and three wins respectively.
So who heads the list of all time victories?
Liverpool has 41 honours to their name and this has now been matched this season by Manchester United who recorded their 20th League title. Next on the list is Arsenal with 27 followed by Aston Villa with 20. Chelsea is in 5th spot with 18 football trophies won.
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