As the English football season draws to a close, it's a good time to look at how the season’s top on-field performing clubs are scoring off the field in terms of consumer perceptions.
We looked at perceptions of a handful of this season’s successful teams using our YouGov FootballIndex tool. For those who don’t follow football closely, here’s the background:
- Leicester City triumphed in the FA Cup Final against Chelsea
- Manchester City secured the Premier League title with a few games to spare
- They meet Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League final
- Manchester United have reached the Europa League final and came second in the league
- Liverpool are last year’s title winners and finished in third place this season.
The results
Leicester City witnessed a dramatic surge after lifting the FA Cup with their victory over Chelsea on May 15. The club had a score of 6.4 on May 14 (the only one of our clubs to begin the period with a positive score) and registered daily increments after winning the final, to peak at 28.7 on May 22.
Manchester City, one of the ‘Big 6’ clubs whose Buzz scores plummeted during the European Super League saga, witnessed a resurgence after they secured the Premier League title for the fifth time in nine seasons. They rose from -1.2 on the eve of securing the title on May 12 to 9.7 on May 18. The club’s Buzz score has since gradually tapered off to reach 6.4 on May 23. Pep Guardiola’s team will have a chance to build on the gains in the Champions League final against Chelsea on May 30.
Chelsea will be keen to claim the European title after their loss in the FA Cup final. The club’s Buzz score was on the mend after the ESL episode but has steadily declined to 0.5 after the defeat. A strong performance in the Champions League final could well turn the trend for them.
It seems that winning trophies isn’t the only way to create a Buzz. Liverpool, who won each of their last five Premier League matches to finish third, registered steady upticks to reach a Buzz score of 9.1. On the other hand, Manchester United, who won only one of their last four Premier League matches, languished at -8.9 despite finishing second in the Premier League. The Red Devils will have a chance to recover some glory in the Europa League final on May 27.
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Methodology: Buzz scores are based on the questions: “Over the past two weeks, which of the following teams have you heard something positive about?” and “Which of the following teams have you heard something negative about?” Scores are a 7-day average of daily scores between April 25, 2021 and May 23, 2021. Sample sizes range from 525 to 534 UK adults. Learn more about BrandIndex.
