Brighton and Hove Albion would be the best supported team in England (if everyone supported their local side)

What do Old Trafford and The Queen Vic have in common? Both are full of cockneys - or so the old joke goes. It's not strictly true, but a 2014 YouGov poll did find that only 28 per cent of Man United fans lived in the North West of England.
Football fansFootball fans
Football fans

But what would happen if everyone in the UK supported their local team?

Well, an amateur football statto decided to find out and Brighton would top the table in the list of the country’s best supported clubs.

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By allocating total population data from the 2011 census to the closest football club stadium, Philip Usher established that Brighton and Hove Albion would top the list with one million potential fans.

Second on the list were Birmingham City, with a potential 959,000-strong following and Brentford came in third with 899,000 potential fans.

League 2 Portsmouth figure high up in 13th while Crawley are mid-table.

Full list

Brighton and Hove Albion (Champ) 1,039,634

Birmingham City (Champ) 958,598

Cardiff City (Champ) 930,341

Swansea City (Premier) 906,954

Brentford (Champ) 898,914

Dagenham and Redbridge (L2) 888,176

Gillingham (L1) 876,663

Leicester City (Premier) 872,724

Plymouth Argyle (L2) 870,803

Leeds United (Champ) 868,734

Coventry City (L1) 851,366

Norwich City (Premier) 8483,16

Portsmouth (L2) 814,820

Newcastle United (Premier) 797,628

Tottenham Hotspur (Premier) 775,783

Middlesbrough (Champ) 758,808

Crystal Palace (Premier) 747,394

Arsenal (Premier) 726688

Manchester City (Premier) 721,252

AFC Wimbledon (L2) 718,633

Peterborough United (L1) 702,212

Northampton Town (L2) 687,847

Reading (Champ) 681,331

Tranmere Rovers (Conf) 666,037

Millwall (L1) 663,935

Bristol City (Champ) 647,185

Queens Park Rangers (Champ) 647,138

Bournemouth (Premier) 646,058

Watford (Premier) 614,170

Southend United (L1) 600,776

Cambridge United (L2) 598,837

Bristol Rovers (L2) 596,895

Newport County (L2) 588,736

Dover Athletic (Conf) 581,943

Yeovil Town (L2) 575,015

Liverpool (Premier) 573,995

Crawley Town (L2) 570,574

Wolverhampton Wanderers (Champ) 570,317

Kidderminster Harriers (Conf) 562,413

Hull City (Champ) 543,726

MK Dons (Champ) 540,588

Cheltenham Town (Conf) 523,745

Notts County (L2) 521,271

Wycombe Wanderers (L2) 517,516

Oxford United (L2) 517,471

Woking (Conf) 516,384

Exeter City (L2) 503,637

Chelsea (Premier) 499,485

Walsall (L1) 498,720

West Bromwich Albion (Premier) 496,006

Derby County (Champ) 491,151

Gateshead (Conf) 486,317

Wigan Athletic (L1) 483,953

Aldershot Town (Conf) 483,881

Stevenage Borough (L2) 483,524

Bradford City (L1) 482,799

Altrincham (Conf) 478,994

Ipswich Town (Champ) 477,121

Swindon Town (L1) 471,455

York City (L2) 468,681

Bromley (Conf) 456,155

Eastleigh (Conf) 455,412

Luton Town (L2) 440,052

Sunderland (Premier) 432,519

Manchester United (Premier) 417,641

Leyton Orient (L2) 417,076

West Ham (Premier) 416,756

Lincoln City (Conf) 416,333

Aston Villa (Premier) 406,088

Shrewsbury Town (L1) 400,352

Charlton Athletic (Champ) 390,632

Braintree Town (Conf) 388,688

Southampton (Premier) 384,036

Barnsley (L1) 379,515

Mansfield Town (L2) 376,954

Boreham Wood (Conf) 366,177

Bolton Wanderers (Champ) 365,520

Huddersfield Town (Champ) 364,575

Doncaster Rovers (L1) 359,022

Wrexham (Conf) 351,125

Sheffield United (L1) 348,533

Chester (Conf) 337,957

Oldham Athletic (L1) 336,367

Guiseley (Conf) 333,499

Barnet (L2) 332,929

Stoke City (Premier) 324,267

Colchester United (L1) 318,664

Preston North End (Champ) 314,198

Rotherham United (Champ) 305,576

Carlisle United (L2) 304,143

Bury (L1) 298,813

Everton (Premier) 290,182

Forest Green Rovers (Conf) 281,702

Torquay United (Conf) 280,621

Grimsby Town (Conf) 274,251

Chesterfield (L1) 270,974

Port Vale (L1) 267,338

Burton Albion (L1) 266,122

Crewe Alexandra (L1) 255,460

Nottingham Forest (Champ) 247,754

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