New Sky Bet sponsored study ranks all 92 teams in English football to reveal which fanbase suffers the most
Every fan thinks their club is the most hard done by: shipping 90th‑minute winners, rattling the woodwork, and being stitched up by ex-players.
It’s a debate as old as time, one that never ends, one that’s impossible to prove… until now.
That’s right - SPORTbible has teamed up with Sky Bet to determine, once and for all, which team’s supporters are the most hard done by.
After rigorously analysing Opta data from the last five seasons, across 13 categories - each representing a moment fans dread - SPORTbible can reveal Arsenal fans are officially the least hard done by side in the top flight.
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Despite Mikel Arteta’s perpetually aggravated touchline presence, the Gunners are ranked 90th on our list of English football’s most hard done by fans.
The only teams deemed to have had an easier ride are Chesterfield and Wrexham fans, two sides with only one and two years of data to draw from respectively.
Manchester City and Liverpool supporters, whose sides have shared the last eight top flight titles, are also ranked among the 10 sets of fans to have had it easiest.
Tottenham fans, meanwhile, are 60 places worse off than their north London rivals, ranking 29th after topsy-turvy spells under Italian firebrand Antonio Conte and prophetic Australian Ange Postecoglou.
But the most hard done by fanbase across England’s top four divisions is Southampton.
Saints supporters have had to watch two dismal 20th place top-flight finishes, sandwiched by a Championship promotion via the play-offs in the last three seasons.
Across the past five campaigns, Southampton players have made 42 errors leading to goals, conceded nine 90th minute winners and lost some 55 per cent of their away games.
Southampton’s first Championship home-game of the season will be a ‘hardest done by derby’ of sorts, as the Saints take on Wrexham.
Wrexham fans have officially been the least hard done by of the 92 surveyed, after three successive promotions under Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac.
Elsewhere, Manchester United have appeared to be in a state of perpetual crisis since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement 12 years ago.
Though United rank just 45th on our official ‘hard done by’ table, it will surprise few match‑going United fans that they top one category: most rained‑on supporters. It’s perhaps fitting, given the club’s recent decline has so often been marked by images of Old Trafford’s leaky roof.
Some other fun discoveries from the report include that Manchester City keep the ball in play 15 minutes longer per game than Accrington Stanley - adding up to 2 hours, 26 minutes, and 34 seconds more action over the season, despite City playing eight fewer matches.
We also found that the Premier League dominates the ‘errors leading to goals’ table, with 11 of the 18 worst culprits coming from the top flight - including Chelsea and Liverpool.
Meanwhile, Plymouth fans have it rough. Over the upcoming League One season, they’ll travel 11,748 miles - farther than the distance from London to Sydney (10,556 miles).
Check out our full table of the most hard done by teams below.
Thomas Thorn