# Big Six (Premier League)

The Big Six (previously the Big Five, Big Two, and Big Four) is an informal term used to describe a group of six clubs in the Premier League—Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur—often recognised for their sustained success and financial strength in the competition. While not an official designation, clubs in this group have typically accounted for at least half of the total annual revenue generated by Premier League clubs since 2004.
The concept first emerged in the 1980s as the Big Five, comprising Arsenal, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a duopoly formed between Manchester United and Arsenal due to their dominance in league titles. The term Big Four gained prominence in the early 2000s when Chelsea and Liverpool consistently finished in the league's top four. By the early 2010s, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur were regularly competing at the top end of the table, leading to the informal expansion into the Big Six.

## History

Finishing places in the Premier League since 1983 :
| Season | ARS | CHE | EVE | LIV | MCI | MUN | TOT |
| Big Five era (1983–1997) ||||||||
| 1983–84 | 6 | – | 7 | 1 | – | 4 | 8 |
| 1984–85 | 7 | – | 1 | 2 | – | 4 | 3 |
| 1985–86 | 7 | – | 2 | 1 | – | 4 | 10 |
| 1986–87 | 4 | – | 1 | 2 | – | 11 | 3 |
| 1987–88 | 6 | – | 4 | 1 | – | 2 | 13 |
| 1988–89 | 1 | – | 8 | 2 | – | 11 | 6 |
| 1989–90 | 4 | – | 6 | 1 | – | 13 | 3 |
| 1990–91 | 1 | – | 9 | 2 | – | 6 | 10 |
| 1991–92 | 4 | – | 12 | 6 | – | 2 | 15 |
| 1992–93 | 10 | – | 13 | 6 | – | 1 | 8 |
| 1993–94 | 4 | – | 17 | 8 | – | 1 | 15 |
| 1994–95 | 12 | – | 15 | 4 | – | 2 | 7 |
| 1995–96 | 5 | – | 6 | 3 | – | 1 | 8 |
| 1996–97 | 3 | – | 15 | 4 | – | 1 | 10 |
| Big Two era (1997–2003) ||||||||
| 1997–98 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 2 | – |
| 1998–99 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| 1999–00 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| 2000–01 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| 2001–02 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 3 | – |
| 2002–03 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| Big Four era (2003–2009) ||||||||
| 2003–04 | 1 | 2 | – | 4 | – | 3 | – |
| 2004–05 | 2 | 1 | – | 5 | – | 3 | – |
| 2005–06 | 4 | 1 | – | 3 | – | 2 | – |
| 2006–07 | 4 | 2 | – | 3 | – | 1 | – |
| 2007–08 | 3 | 2 | – | 4 | – | 1 | – |
| 2008–09 | 4 | 3 | – | 2 | – | 1 | – |
| Big Six era (2009–present) ||||||||
| 2009–10 | 3 | 1 | – | 7 | 5 | 2 | 4 |
| 2010–11 | 4 | 2 | – | 6 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| 2011–12 | 3 | 6 | – | 8 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 2012–13 | 4 | 3 | – | 7 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 2013–14 | 4 | 3 | – | 2 | 1 | 7 | 6 |
| 2014–15 | 3 | 1 | – | 6 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| 2015–16 | 2 | 10 | – | 8 | 4 | 5 | 3 |
| 2016–17 | 5 | 1 | – | 4 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
| 2017–18 | 6 | 5 | – | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 2018–19 | 5 | 3 | – | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 |
| 2019–20 | 8 | 4 | – | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 2020–21 | 8 | 4 | – | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| 2021–22 | 5 | 3 | – | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 |
| 2022–23 | 2 | 12 | – | 5 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| 2023–24 | 2 | 6 | – | 3 | 1 | 8 | 5 |
| League champions Champions League Europa League Conference League ||||||||

### 1990s–2000s

In the early 1990s, a "Big Five" of Manchester United, Liverpool, Everton, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur spearheaded the foundation of the Premier League. Manchester United finished first in five of the first seven seasons, and second in the other two. Following the appointment of Arsène Wenger as its head coach in 1996, Arsenal began to engage in higher levels of competitiveness with Manchester United, with the two clubs dominating the Premier League's top-two positions between 1996 and 2004. As a result, they were recognized as the Big Two of the Premier League by mainstream media.
Liverpool's 2001 "treble" win of the UEFA Cup, Football League Cup and FA Cup, along with its striker Michael Owen winning the Ballon d'Or the same year, in addition to the club finishing in the top six of the Premier League in the 2000s consistently, led to the addition of Liverpool into the Big Two, with Chelsea, whose acquisition by Russian businessman Roman Abramovich in 2003 led to improved performances and higher recognition.

### 2010s–2020s

Following an acquisition by Abu Dhabi United Group and subsequent increase in spending funds, Manchester City started to purchase elite players and qualified for the UEFA Champions League in 2011, for the first time in its history as well as winning the Premier League title in the 2011–12 season. Tottenham Hotspur, under the management of Harry Redknapp from 2009 to 2012, finished in 4th and 5th place consistently, leading to its addition to the Big Four with Manchester City to form the Big Six.
The Big Six dominated the finishing places of the top four in the Premier League between 2010 and 2019, with the 2015–16 season being the only one without a top-four finish by a Big Six club, as it ended with Leicester City becoming the champions for first time. In seasons between 2010 and 2024, there were twelve occurrences of a Big Six club not finishing in the top six, and between 2019 and 2024, there was one season in which the Big Six clubs finished in the top six of the league, shifting from the 2016–17 to 2019–20 seasons, when the Big Six occupied all top-six places.
In 2021, the European Super League (ESL), a competition created with the purpose of replacing the UEFA Champions League, was founded, consisting of the Big Six and six other clubs from Europe's Big Five leagues. After receiving backlash from the UK government, the Football Association and the Premier League, the Big Six clubs withdrew their memberships from the ESL and were fined a total of £22 million by the latter two organizations, in addition to being subjected to potential penalties including a 30-point deduction and a fine of £25 million for future attempts of joining a similar league. An independent fan-led regulatory body was subsequently formed by the government, tasking Premier League clubs with handling a substantial portion of its funding.
In 2022 and 2023, the Big Six clubs each generated an annual revenue between £372 million to £713 million. In 2021, the Big Six clubs' average spending on transfers was £50.9 million, more than twice the amount spent by any other club in the league. The Herald described them as clubs with "the biggest bank balances and the biggest fanbases".

## Rivalries

Multiple rivalries exist among the Big Six clubs. Arsenal's rivalries include Arsenal F.C.–Chelsea F.C. rivalry, Arsenal F.C.–Manchester City F.C. rivalry, Arsenal F.C.–Manchester United F.C. rivalry and Arsenal F.C.–Tottenham Hotspur F.C. rivalry, while Liverpool were described as their "allies", by the Guardian. The rivalries of Chelsea with the others, in addition to that of Arsenal, include Chelsea F.C.–Liverpool F.C. rivalry and Chelsea F.C.–Tottenham Hotspur F.C. rivalry, while Liverpool's rivalries include Liverpool F.C.–Manchester City F.C. rivalry and Liverpool F.C.–Manchester United F.C. rivalry. Manchester City and Manchester United's rivalry, derived from the clubs being based in Manchester, was labelled the Manchester derby. Manchester City and Chelsea's rivalry emerged from the clubs' successes in the UEFA Champions League in the 2020s, while Chelsea also shared a rivalry with Manchester United in the late 2010s.

## Honours

Each club won the Premier League or First Division at least once, with Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United winning it more than ten times. Arsenal and Manchester United won the FA Cup ten or more times, while Liverpool won the UEFA Champions League/European Cup and the UEFA Europa League/European Cup titles the most among the Big Six. The FA Community Shield was won by Manchester United on twenty or more occasions.
Premier League's Big Six :
| Club | Stadium | City | Manager | Honours | Honours | Honours | Honours | Honours | Honours | Honours | Honours | Honours |
| Club | Stadium | City | Manager | L1 | FA | LC | CS | EC | UC | US | WC | Total |
| Arsenal | Emirates Stadium | London | Mikel Arteta | 13 | 14 | 2 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 |
| Chelsea | Stamford Bridge | London | Enzo Maresca | 6 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 30 |
| Liverpool | Anfield | Liverpool | Arne Slot | 19 | 8 | 10 | 16 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 67 |
| Manchester City | Etihad Stadium | Manchester | Pep Guardiola | 10 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 35 |
| Manchester United | Old Trafford | Manchester | Ruben Amorim | 20 | 13 | 6 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 66 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium | London | Ange Postecoglou | 2 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 23 |