Among some football fans supporting your local team is a mark of credibility. By contrast, following a club from further afield — and particularly a successful one — can lead to accusations of "glory hunting".
So which Premier League clubs have the highest and lowest proportion of supporters living close to home? Using YouGov Profiles, we analysed the fanbases of all 20 top-flight teams for the 2026-27 season. With 56% of fans based in the South East, the data shows that Brighton & Hove Albion is the league’s most local club.
Sunderland (50%) and Nottingham Forest (49%) supporters are the next-most likely to live in the same region as their teams, followed by Villa (46%), Brentford (46%), Ipswich (46%), Leeds (46%), Fulham (45%) and Hull (45%) fans.
At the other end of the table, Liverpool has the lowest proportion of “local” supporters. Just a fifth of Reds fans are based in the North West (21%), with the next highest concentration found in London (15%).
Manchester United has the second-lowest proportion of local supporters. A quarter are based in the North West (23%), with one in six (17%) living in the capital.
Tottenham fans rank third-bottom, with a quarter based in the capital (26%). However, this should perhaps be placed in a wider context. A fifth of Spurs fans are based in the South East (19%) or the East of England (19%), which the London region shares borders with. Similar patterns can be observed with other London-based clubs. Chelsea fans, for example, have a fifth (20%) of fans based in the South East, while Arsenal have 17% and 13% based in the South East and the East of England respectively.
There are similar cases with Premier League clubs outside of London that are located close to another county: Bournemouth, for example, used to be part of the South East county of Hampshire before being absorbed into Dorset (in the South West). Today, 42% of AFC Bournemouth fans are based in the South West, but some 25% live in the South East.
Finally, Manchester City, the most successful team of the modern era, rank fourth-bottom for local fans. A quarter of the club’s supporters are based in the North West, while a fifth are based in London (19%).
YouGov Profiles is based on continuously collected data through rolling surveys, rather than a single limited questionnaire. Figures are drawn from responses collected ausing a 52-week dataset updated weekly. Data is nationally representative of adults (18+) in Great Britain and weighted by age, gender, region, education, and social grade.
