Aston Villa fight off stiff competition to top the Premier League table for the most annoying fans

Paul Okey
27 May 2022

We all have opposition clubs with fans that annoy us, but what would happen if we actually ranked them?

Every football team has annoying fans. Whether it is those that hark back to the golden days that never were, the ones who leave 15 minutes before the end or the supporters who sing the songs but don't actually know the words.

However, some clubs' fans take it to the next level - Premier League level if you like. Paul Okey, who has had many a day ruined by an incorrectly placed apostrophe, compiles his list of most annoying fans, kicking off with only the mildly annoying.

(Updated on May 25 to allow for Nottingham Forest's inclusion and Burnley's subsequent relegation)

20. Nottingham Forest

Ah, Nottingham Forest, I think I remember you from the olden days. Didn't you win a couple of European Cups and then go out of business when Brian Clough left?

Oh, you didn't go out of business at all but were merely playing in the Championship? Then how come your fans were so quiet?

Never mind, they're making up for it now with more than 100,000 fans (or is it a million?) trying to get a ticket to see them at Wembley.

Congratulations, you're now Premier League-level annoying.

19. Sheffield Wednesday

Still convinced they are a big club despite being in League One, their fans believe that to get into the Premier League you need to have the most fans not the most points (hello Forest again). They can at least take some comfort from sneaking into this Premier League.

17. Crystal Palace and Brighton

What do you do when no one really cares about you? You manufacture a rivalry with another club that no one cares about.

16. Sunderland

You've got to give them credit for still turning out in numbers with their club seemingly marooned in League One for eternity. But what started as loyalty to the club is now more akin to Stockholm Syndrome. See also Newcastle. Must be a north-east thing.

Note: Still annoying since their promotion. Having seemingly forgotten just how long it took them to get out of League One they now believe they can go straight through the Championship. Would be even higher if it wasn't such a pain to reorder this piece in the content management system.

15. Manchester City

You've got money, you've got trophies, you've got Pep but you're still harking back to the days at Maine Road when it was your club. Give your heads a wobble.

14. Tottenham

Almost as if they don't want to be successful. Revel in being Spursy. I did have them higher but they lost out against Norwich. Their fans expected it, of course.

13. Norwich City

We're going down, we hate this, we don't want to go up next season. Ha, Championship, we're top, we're going up, it'll be different next season. We're going down, we hate this, we don't want to go up next season. Ha, Championship, we're top, we're going up, it'll be different next season. We're going down, we hate this, we don't want to go up next season. Repeat ad infinitum.

12. Hull City

I've been informed by fans of other teams that the 'mauled by the Tigers' chant', and most pertinently, the hand movements, are super annoying.

I've always thought of them as ironic but I can see their point.

Hasn't come out much this season.

Hull fans against Leeds...

"You’re getting mauled by the tigers”

hand gestures and all... pic.twitter.com/d5RVaEyuXC
— Football Chants (@FootyFansChants) January 4, 2019

11. MK Dons

They stole a club. And I include their fans in that. I even know someone who supports MK Dons and AFC Wimbledon. They've probably got their names on a half and half scarf. Absolutely no shame.

10. West Ham

If you've met a West Ham fan, or maybe even just stood next to one on the Tube, chances are you know they won the World Cup in 1966. Well done, you couldn't win at Brentford, though could you?

9. Scunthorpe United

A deeply personal one this, and an illustration of just how bad times used to be as a Hull fan.The Iron were better than us and regularly used to beat us. I only knew one Scunthorpe fan. It was one too many.

I'm not taking any pleasure in their relegation from League Two. Oh no.

8. Everton

Should have been delighted to attract a coach the calibre of Rafa Benitez. Instead, they whined and whined about the Liverpool connection until he departed. Called for Frank Lampard's dismissal early on before hailing him after they finished in exactly the same position they were in when he joined.

There wouldn't have been too many fans of other clubs mourning their demise had they dropped out of the real Premier League.

7. Manchester United

A lot of fans would probably have them higher given their non-Manchester-based glory supporters but I can't help having a smidgeon of sympathy for the Red Devils fans. They signed the second-best player in the world in the summer, picked up Raphael Varane, splashed out more than £73million on Jadon Sancho and still managed to get worse. You're seventh United fans, get used to it.

6. Leeds United

The Champions of Europe chant, the hooligan element, the worship of Marcelo Bielsa, there are a lot of reasons to be annoyed by Leeds fans. But at the risk of being run out of Hull by fellow Tigers fans, there are more annoying fans.

5. Chelsea

It's eight years since THAT momentous moment when John Terry appeared in a full Chelsea kit, including boots, shin pads and sock tape, to collect the Champions League trophy in that 2012 final despite being suspended...#bbcfootball #UCL #cfc #BAYCHE pic.twitter.com/w6x9ookMk7
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) August 8, 2020

Keep it light, keep it light. We'll just go with the Abramovich chants then. Yes, it was a minority, but it's always a minority at Chelsea whenever the media spotlight turns on their fans' misdemeanours. The fact the minority felt emboldened to join in the chants reflects badly on the rest of their fanbase. Oh, and the embarrassing John Terry worship which allowed him to repeatedly turn up for matches he was not playing in dressed in full kit. I think he's their mascot now.

4. Newcastle

Massive support, sleeping giant, deserve better…but I remember when Hull played them in 1991 and there were less than 18,000 at St James' Park.

Oh, and there's their fans' complete disregard for the human rights issues surrounding their new owners.

But mainly, it's the myth that they portray themselves as loyal as they come.

3. Arsenal

Spoilt by the Wenger years, they didn't realise just how good they had it.

Piers Morgan's a fan.

2. Liverpool

It says something about how annoying Liverpool fans are that supporters of other clubs revel so much in their repeated failure to win the league. We could even take some solace from the fact that when they did win it, there was no one there to see it, almost as though we could pretend it never happened. Then there's the Klopp chest punching. Their fans love it, we just want to do the punching. Champions League-level annoying.

1. Aston Villa

Mistakenly think they are a big club and still living off a European Cup win which contrary to what their fans seem to think, wasn't last week but 40 years ago.

And there's the Arsenal-level peaks and troughs.

Planning trips to Europe after 'winning the summer transfer window'. Then they're going down. Then Stevie Gerrard comes in and they're going to dominate the league for years to come. Then they lose four games on the bounce and they need to get rid of the majority of their squad. And now they're winning the summer transfer window and are going to finish top six. Exhausting. Deservedly take the crown.