How many Premier League teams are from London this season 22/23?
The 2022-23 Premier League gets underway on 5 August with one of the many London derby games as Crystal Palace face Arsenal at Selhurst Park.
The forthcoming Premier League season will be distinctive due to the forced break as the staging of the 2022 Qatar World Cup in November and December will see a halt in the action as the eyes of the footballing world focus on the small Gulf nation.
The World Cup’s place in the calendar means the domestic season is starting earlier (5 August) and finishing later than usual (28 May, 2023).
With pre-season activity ahead of the August start, fans in the English capital this season will be spoilt for choice with seven teams from London participating in the Premier League.
Arsenal
The North London side are one of the best supported sides in the capital with numerous fan bases around the world with Scandinavia in particular boasting a plentiful amount of supporters clubs. The ‘Gunners’ left their iconic Highbury stadium back in 2006 moving to the larger Emirates Stadium and tension mounts on match-day when they face local rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
Brentford
The West London side were traditionally regarded as a second or even third tier outfit before they secured promotion via the playoffs at the end of the 2020–21 Championship season. Nicknamed “the Bees”, the club was founded in 1889 and played home matches at Griffin Park, a stadium unique for boasting a bar in each corner of the ground. They moved to the new all-seater Brentford Community Stadium in 2020 and consider both Fulham and Queens Park Rangers as main West London rivals.
Chelsea
Based just off the wealthy Kings Road, the ‘Blues’ are one of just five European clubs to have won all three of UEFA’s main club competitions and also the only London club to have won the Champions League and the Club World Cup. The club’s fortunes on the pitch changed after Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich took custody of the club in 2003 where his investment led to the club enjoying their successful period with a series of domestic honours and two Champions League wins. Despite Fulham and QPR being geographic local rivals, games involving West Ham and Spurs are high octane affairs.
Crystal Palace
One of the few London based sides to have never claimed any major honours, Crystal Palace can boast one of the most passionate fan bases in English football with the noisy ‘Holmesdale Fanatics’ ensuring Selhurst Park is one of the most atmospheric grounds in the Premier League on match-day. Currently managed by former Arsenal icon Patrice Viera, the ‘Eagles’ are enjoying 12 continuous seasons in the English top flight with their main rivals not hailing from London but further south in the shape of Brighton.
Fulham
With their picturesque Craven Cottage stadium nestled beside the banks of the River Thames in West London, Fulham are London’s oldest football club playing professionally having been founded in 1879. Despite never claiming any major domestic honours, the ‘Whites’ advanced to the final of the UEFA Europa League in 2010 where an extra time winner from Atletico Madrid deprived fans of the club their biggest night. Now under Portuguese manager Marco Silva, the Cottagers secured promotion to the Premier League winning the Championship last season in style.
Tottenham Hotspur
Another London based side to move to a bigger premises to accommodate an ever growing fan base, Spurs are one of the capital city’s bigger clubs and became the first English side ever to secure a 20th century domestic cup and league double in 1961. Two years later, Tottenham became the first British team to win a European trophy by winning the 1962–63 European Cup Winners’ Cup when they beat Atlético Madrid 5–1 in the final.
West Ham United
Based in the East of the city, West Ham United now play home games at the Olympic Stadium, in Stratford, having moved from their former home, the Boleyn Ground, in 2016. Drawing a fan base from that side of the capital, the ‘Hammers’ are the most popular side too in neighbouring Essex. FA Cup winners on three occasions, West Ham are famed with a slick passing style of football and the 1966 England World Cup winning squad featured three ‘Irons’ in Bobby Moore, Martin Peters and Geoff Hurst.
