Most Successful Club in England: It Depends What You Count
Liverpool lead on major trophies with 47. Counting Community Shields makes it 68 each with Manchester United. Here is every way of counting, and what each one says.
There is no single answer, and anyone who gives you one without saying how they counted is picking a side.
On major trophies, excluding Community Shields, Liverpool lead with 47. Put Community Shields back in and Liverpool and Manchester United are level on 68 each. On league titles they are level too: 20 apiece.
Here is every reasonable way of counting, and what each one actually measures.
The short version
| Measure | Leader |
|---|---|
| Major trophies, no Community Shields | Liverpool, 47 |
| All trophies including Community Shields | Liverpool and Manchester United, 68 each |
| League titles | Liverpool and Manchester United, 20 each |
| FA Cups | Arsenal, 14 |
| League Cups | Liverpool, 10 |
| European trophies | Liverpool, 10 |
League titles: level at 20
The English top flight has been won 20 times each by Liverpool and Manchester United. They arrived there from opposite directions.
United’s twenty are concentrated: thirteen came between 1993 and 2013 under one manager. Liverpool’s are spread across a longer span, with a cluster in the 1970s and 80s, then a 30-year gap, then 2019-20 and 2024-25.
Arsenal are third on 14, the most recent arriving in 2025-26.
That gap — 20 to 14 — is the real shape of English football. Two clubs, then a step down, then everyone else.
Cups: the picture changes
FA Cup. Arsenal lead on 14, comfortably. Manchester City reached eight with the 2026 final, joining Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham on that mark.
League Cup. Liverpool lead on 10, more than any other club.
The FA Cup is where the counting argument gets heated, because it is the competition where a club outside the top two can genuinely top a table. Arsenal are the most successful club in the oldest competition in football, and that is not nothing.
Europe: not close
Liverpool have six European Cups and Champions Leagues, three UEFA Cups and Europa Leagues, and a Cup Winners’ Cup — ten European trophies.
No other English club is near that. This is the measure that puts Liverpool clearly ahead on the “major trophies” count, and it is the reason the two headline numbers disagree: United’s domestic record matches Liverpool’s, and their European record does not.
Why the Community Shield matters to the argument
The Community Shield is a single match between the league champions and the FA Cup holders. It is played in August, it is often shared after a draw, and nobody builds a season around it.
Include it and the two clubs are level on 68. Exclude it and Liverpool lead by a clear margin.
Which is correct? Most serious counts exclude it, on the grounds that a one-off curtain-raiser is not comparable to a 38-game league or a knockout run. But it is a trophy, it is contested, and clubs put it in their own honours lists. Both positions are defensible, and that is precisely why this question never settles.
The same argument applies, smaller, to the UEFA Super Cup and the various Intercontinental and Club World Cup formats.
The recent decade looks different again
Restrict the window to the last ten or fifteen years and the answer changes completely: Manchester City dominate it. Their trophy cabinet before 2011 was thin; since then it has filled faster than anyone’s.
That is an argument about trajectory rather than history, and it is the one City supporters make. It is also the one that will matter in twenty years, when the all-time table has absorbed it.
For what that dominance costs to sustain, see our breakdown of Manchester City’s wage bill and, for the contrast, Arsenal’s.
So who is it?
If you need one name: Liverpool, on the most widely used measure — major trophies excluding the Community Shield, where they lead 47 to United’s total.
If someone says Manchester United, they are counting Community Shields, and they are not wrong under that rule.
If someone says Arsenal, they are talking about the FA Cup, and there they are right.
If someone says Manchester City, they are talking about the last fifteen years, and there they are right too.
The honest answer is that “most successful” is four different questions wearing the same coat.
Frequently asked questions
Which English club has won the most trophies? Liverpool, with 47 major trophies excluding Community Shields. Including them, Liverpool and Manchester United are level on 68.
Who has won the most league titles in England? Liverpool and Manchester United, 20 each. Arsenal are third on 14.
Who has won the most FA Cups? Arsenal, with 14.
Who has won the most League Cups? Liverpool, with 10.
Which English club has won the most European trophies? Liverpool — six European Cups and Champions Leagues, three UEFA Cups and Europa Leagues, and a Cup Winners’ Cup.
Does the Community Shield count as a trophy? Clubs list it; most all-time comparisons exclude it. It is the single biggest reason published totals disagree.
Who is the most successful club right now? Manchester City, on any window covering the last fifteen years.
For the object all of this is about, see our guide to the Premier League trophy — how it was made, what it weighs, and why there are two of them.
