Have you ever wondered how many followers your team or favourite player has on Twitter? I’ve done a low down of all the top official sporting clubs in Football, Rugby League, Rugby Union, whilst I’ve also done the top 5 ranking male and female players in Golf, Tennis and Formula 1 drivers.

Premier League Football Teams On Twitter

Premier League Football Team	Twitter Username	No. of Followers	Ranking
Arsenal	@Arsenal	1,100,185	1
Aston Villa	@avfcofficial	32,419	7
Blackburn Rovers	@OneRovers	10,702	16
Bolton Wanderers	@OfficialBWFC	12,498	15
Chelsea	@chelseafc	535,376	3
Everton	@YourEverton	30,611	8
Fulham	@FulhamFC	28,131	10
Liverpool	@LFC	615,706	2
Manchester City	@MCFC	178,086	4
Manchester United	N/A	N/A	19
Newcastle United	@NUFCOfficial	38,727	6
Norwich City	@NorwichCityFC	21,966	11
Queens Park Rangers	@OfficialQPR	17,934	13
Stoke City	@OfficialSCFC	17,291	14
Sunderland	@SAFCOfficial	28,758	9
Swansea City	N/A	N/A	20
Tottenham Hotspur	@SpursOfficial	115,928	5
West Bromwich Albion	@WBAFCofficial	6,242	18
Wigan Athletic	@LaticsOfficial	7,614	17
Wolverhampton Wanderers	@OfficialWolves	20,238	12

With football being the most popular sport in England, I was genuinely not surprised with the number of Twitter accounts that have been created from a fans perspective.

However from the results that I gathered, I was shocked to see Manchester United and Swansea City not having an official Twitter account.

Arsenal came out on top, with nearly half a million more followers than second ranked team Liverpool, in which Liverpool had close to 100,000 more followers than Chelsea.

From the results above you can see who are the most fashionable and marketable of teams to follow.

Super League Teams On Twitter

Rugby League Team	Twitter Username	No. of Followers	Ranking
Bradford Bulls	@BradfordBullsRL	3,292	6
Castleford Tigers	@CTRLFC	2,305	9
Catalan Dragons	N/A	N/A	14
Huddersfield Giants	@GiantsRL	1,745	12
Hull FC	@hullfcofficial	2,770	7
Hull Kingston Rovers	@hullkr_online	3,664	4
Leeds Rhinos	@leedsrhinos	9,997	1
London Broncos	@LondonBroncosRL	2,547	8
Salford City Reds	@SalfordCityReds	1,950	11
St Helens	@StHelensRLFC	3,331	5
Wakefield Wildcats	@WTWildcatsRL	2,051	10
Warrington Wolves	@WolvesRL	6,267	3
Widnes Vikings	@widnesrl	1,540	13
Wigan Warriors	@WiganWarriorsRL	9,599	2

Generally classed as a regional sport, the figures above represent a similair pattern to the crowds / attendances that the teams get on a regular basis.

With Leeds Rhinos being the current ‘Super League Champions’ it is fitting to see them ranked no.1 on followers, with Wigan very close behind.

In gloating terms, Hull KR have more followers than there city rivals Hull FC, whilst Castleford Tigers have more than their district rivals Wakefield Wildcats.

A newly re-branded London Broncos has in fact got more than Huddersfield Giants, where the game of Rugby League originated from. A successful London team would help the game turn from a northern, regional sport into a popular national sport.

Aviva Premier League Teams On Twitter

Rugby Union Team	Twitter Username	No. of Followers	Ranking
Bath	@bathrugby	11,172	3
Exeter Chiefs	@ExeterChiefs	6,299	7
Gloucester	@gloucesterrugby	8,329	6
Harlequins	@QuinsRugbyUnion	8,602	5
Leicester Tigers	@LeicesterTigers	14,688	1
London Irish	@LiRFC	5,289	9
London Wasps	@WaspsRugby	6,253	8
Newcastle Falcons	@FalconsRugby	3,086	12
Northampton Saints	@SaintsRugby	11,216	2
Sale Sharks	@salesharksrugby	4,577	10
Saracens	@Saracens	10,652	4
Worcester Warrios	@worcswarriors	3,331	11

One of the most popular sports in England, Rugby Union see’s low number of followers for it’s popularity,however it seems that it is very similar to Rugby League.

The most encouraging point from the results shown above are that all teams have a Twitter account and are mostly using it properly with the latest club news, results, injuries and match reaction.

One account that I’m highly impressed with is the Northampton Saints twitter account, regularly updated and it has a lovely branded background image.

Highest Ranking Male Golf Players On Twitter

Golf Player	Twitter Username	No. of Followers	Ranking
Lee Westwood	@WestwoodLee	323,992	3
Luke Donald	@LukeDonald	180,329	4
Martin Kaymer	N/A	N/A	5
Rory McIlroy	@McIlroyRory	756,412	2
Tiger Woods	@TigerWoods	1,555,724	1

Golf is a very popular sport in England, which can be seen in the figures above.However only 4 out of the top 5 ranked golfers have a twitter account.

Tiger Woods alone has more followers than Premier League teams ranked 3rd to 20th combined (see table above) - Quite an incredible statistic. That is including teams such as Chelsea, Manchester City, Tottenham and Newcastle.

Highest Ranking Female Golf Players On Twitter

Golf Player	Twitter Username	No. of Followers	Ranking
Na Yeon Choi	N/A	N/A	4
Paula Creamer	@ThePCreamer	73,073	1
Sun Ju Ahn	N/A	N/A	5
Suzann Pettersen	@suzannpettersen	33,091	2
Yani Tseng	@YaniTseng	7,803	3

Female Golfers are unfortunately not in the same league in the media, which represents why the number of followers are low in comparison to the male golfers.

Paula Creamer, has such an influential follower because she also uses her looks as a model and creates a lot of her interest from that niche.

Highest Ranking Male Tennis Players On Twitter

Tennis Player	Twitter Username	No. of Followers	Ranking
Andy Murray	@andy_murray	671,184	2
David Ferrer	N/A	N/A	5
Jo Wilfried Tsonga	@tsonga7	17,869	4
Novak Djokovic	@DjokerNole	470,553	3
Rafael Nadal	@RafaelNadal	1,204,021	1
Roger Federer	N/A	N/A	6

Tennis is very similar to Golf in the research that I found, with Rafael Nadal having more followers that a vast majority of Premier League teams.

The most surprising fact was Roger Federer not having an account, Roger is the Manchester United of Tennis. Rather than the individual having a twitter account, I would see his PR team using it to tell followers of his news, match results, atp rankings, sponsorship deals. He could however use it on a personal basis, for example Rio Ferdinand does this with his twitter account @RioFerdy5.

Highest Ranking Female Tennis Players On Twitter

Tennis Player	Twitter Username	No. of Followers	Ranking
Caroline Wozniacki	@CaroWozniacki	249,282	1
Li Na	N/A	N/A	3
Maria Sharapova	N/A	N/A	4
Petra Kvitova	N/A	N/A	5
Victoria Azarenka	@vika7	49,555	2

Famous for it’s ‘Grunts and Moans’ Female Tennis, is not as popular as Tennis is for men. However Caroline Wozniacki has a very influential profile, with just short of 250,000 followers. This is considerably more followers than the other top 5 ATP ranked tennis players.

Maria Sharapova, is one of the most famous female tennis players and is not on twitter yet, maybe she will join in the near future?

Highest Ranking Formula One Drivers On Twitter

Formula One Driver	Twitter Username	No. of Followers	Ranking
Jenson Button	@JensonButton	716,248	1
Lewis Hamilton	@LewisHamilton	590,599	2
Mark Webber	@AussieGrit	222,842	3
Sebastian Vettel	@sebas_vettel	45,015	4

One of the most dangerous sports people can participate in - Formula 1 drivers are hot in the press during race day weekends.

Jenson Button, according to our statistics is the most followed Formula One driver on twitter, with over 715,000 followers. It is an incredible statistic and just shows how popular he is in the UK press. He uses his account from a personal point of view, rather than a PR perspective.

Conclusion

Twitter is a sore subject when mentioned in terms of individuals and celebrities, however if used appropriately it is a great way of sharing your news, results and information with your fans (followers).

What honestly did surprise me was Manchester United, Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova not having Twitter accounts. They would be extremely popular making them some of the most authorative twitter accounts going.

Many teams and Individuals have fan or fake accounts, which can cause confusion to the none technical personal.

Additional Information

The follower number is exact for the date of 28/12/2011 at 11:34am, so the figures will have increased or decreased if you are looking at a later date.

If your team / club are interested in Social Media and want it professionally run, then give Blueclaw a call to arrange a quote.

Next month will see me look into teams and individuals from the following sports: Cricket, Basketball, Ice Hokey, Speedway and Snooker.

You can follow me on twitter @ChrisTaylor88

Posted In:

Fun, Twitter