Who is the bigger club? Arsenal or Chelsea?

[Lanolin]

I’ve told you, Leeds are a bigger club because they have a much bigger fanbase. It’s as simple as that.

Newcastle are a big club, just not as big as the Geordies think, which is why it’s funny to buzz off them when they get relegated.

It’s an arbitrary line because it can never be scientifically defined or proven in any way yes, but like I say a team with a much bigger fanbase than another will be a bigger club. When the fanbases are similar it comes down to trophies, sustained success, current status.

My answer isn’t ‘because people think they are’, I explained why I think that. You brought up ‘because people think they are’ and yes, relevance is part of being a big club.

Fair enough, I was just asking a genuine question like I said but thanks for setting the record extremely straight.

 

[Azzurri]

I actually had a Geordie once tell me they’re a bigger club than Barcelona when the owner of the bar refused to put the Newcastle game on instead of the Barca one.

We were in Spain.

 

[Alan Whittle]

A sort of southern Birkenhead then?

My ignorant south London self feels unable to comment.

 

[witchdoc187]

Haha, think the place would be torn apart lol

Think it will anyway. I know what pieces I want

 

[witchdoc187]

I actually had a Geordie once tell me they’re a bigger club than Barcelona when the owner of the bar refused to put the Newcastle game on instead of the Barca one.

We were in Spain.

Hahahaha. Surprised either you or the batman managed to translate

 

[Azzurri]

Hahahaha. Surprised either you or the batman managed to translate

He was fat with his top off.

 

[witchdoc187]

He was fat with his top off.

Was it a cold night in January?

 

[1874]

Villa have won loads of stuff so they’re bigger than Chelsea who win stuff nowadays right?

No.

We were bigger than Chelsea and city but both have overtaken us now, especially Chelsea .

As for Arsenal or Chelsea I’d still have Arsenal as a bigger club, but Chelsea are catching them up and have a better European football pedigree .

 

[SussexToffee]

Has to be Chelsea, as they are the only ones between the two to have ever won the European Cup.

 

[1874]

Has to be Chelsea, as they are the only ones between the two to have ever won the European Cup.

That’s means nothing . Forest have won 2

 

[ClausThomsen]

Sorry but no. What you say applies to who is bigger currently, but historical achievements should definitely be applied to who is bigger overall.

Let's take an example and scale it up to the extreme just to show, say utd get relegated and haven’t won anything in 10/20 years and Fulham win the PL, Fa cup, champions league. Who is the bigger club? Still United my friend.

Support base, stadium size, historical achievements, amount of time they ply their trade at the top level all goes into the melting pot. Sunderland are still a bigger club than way more than half the teams above them in the pyramid including Leicester despite winning the square root of Jack for donkeys.

My argument isn't about any particular metric.

It's about the pointlessness of it all. It's the last desperate straw clutch of a drowning man's argument.

My club is somehow better than yours because we won the league a few times when the players were wearing long shorts, had brylocreemed centre partings and smoked 3 cigs at halftime. Who's arsed outside that particular club?

Lets take your example to the extreme. Everton win the league, Champions League and FA Cup two years on the bounce while RS flounder in the Championship. How arsed are you exactly about their more trophy laden history and how much would you laugh if one of their cult tried claim superiority on that basis?

 

[Tigger]

I actually had a Geordie once tell me they’re a bigger club than Barcelona when the owner of the bar refused to put the Newcastle game on instead of the Barca one.

We were in Spain.

The scary thing is, he will have been deadly serious.

 

[ClausThomsen]

No. Barcelona have won loads more than we have. Thats a really poor comparison and there's no relevance to bring us into this.

Arsenal dominated the league along with Utd for over a decade before Chelsea had won much at all.

They've won loads of trophies, including some over the last decade.

Chelsea are a big club. They just aren't as big a club as Arsenal and haven't won't anywhere near as much besides the Champions League they have that Arsenal doesn't.

They won the league in 88/89 & 90/91 which was before United started dominating. They then won 2 more titles in the early 2000's - they've not dominated a decade at any point beside the 1930's. To say they dominated along with Utd plays up their part and plays down Utd's true dominance.

Chelsea have 5 league titles in the same period from the eighties onwards.

As far as Europe goes it's one Cup Winners Cup and a Fairs Trophy for Arsenal.
Chelsea have a two Cup Winners Cups, a Champions League, two Europa league and a Super Cup.

There is no set barometer for being "bigger" but at least be accurate if you're painting it as trophies won or decades (partially) dominated.

 

[Methuselah]

When I was growing up 1940's/50's Arsenal were a much bigger club than Chelsea. Chelsea only came through, what, in the 1980's/90's? when the money came in.

 

[Cork Evertonian]

Chelsea were never a "nothing club" as some like to say (They won cups in 50's, 70's and 90's prior to the money coming in) but Arsenal are bigger based on the fact they have more trophies overall

That's the only real metric that means anything

Pre 1997 Chelseas trophy haul was 1 league title in 1955, 1 Fa Cup in 1970, 1 League Cup in 1965, and 1 European Cup Winners Cup in 1971. I think by any standards that record wasn't that great. But from the late 90's onwards they became a big club, no doubt about it there.