The Premier League’s middle class is booming

A growing number of well-run clubs have shown what can be achieved by recruiting smartly and playing to a system

Mon, 20 Jan, 2025 - 16:56

Jonathan Wilson

This is not 2015-16, when Leicester City won the league, but this season does share certain similarities. After 22 games of that season, Arsenal topped the table on goal difference from Leicester with Manchester City a point back and Tottenham four behind them. It was the following weekend that Leicester began to take control of the league, as they beat Stoke, Manchester City drew at West Ham and Arsenal lost at home to Chelsea. Wins over Manchester City and Liverpool in their following two games consolidated a lead that they never surrendered.

It’s not to diminish Leicester’s achievement to point out that they benefited from a number of elite sides having disappointing seasons: Arsenal came second with only 71 points. The theory then was that the general wealth of the Premier League – the fact that, to use Deloitte’s figures from 2024, Aston Villa, Brighton, Fulham, Leeds, Crystal Palace and Everton are among the 30 wealthiest clubs in the world by revenue – meant that the elite were facing too consistent a challenge for 85-plus points in a season to be a viable target every year. A flourishing middle class, the thought ran, had helped equalise the league, at least at its top end.