Writer, analyst, podcaster, Spurs fan. Three out of four is not bad. If there is a data angle, I will find it.
Considering the price of a match ticket across the top two tiers of English football is far from cheap these days, the least a supporter would expect is a clean seat to watch 90 minutes of Premier League or Championship action.
Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Although there are shiny new stadiums across the country, some of the clubs that operate within the top 44 of the professional pyramid have left their stadiums to rack and ruin.
This means that sometimes the product on the pitch is just as bad as the attempt to watch it and the last thing a supporter needs is a miserable visit to a filthy stadium.
Instead, we are going to provide some cheer and to do this we have carried out a survey that looks at a number of key factors and in doing so, it will highlight the cleanest and dirtiest stadiums in both the Premier League and the Championship.
Clean Criteria
To do this, there are first five major criteria that have been ranked out of 10 and each of the 44 clubs’ own stadiums have been assessed and scored:
| Club | Review Keywords - "clean," "tidy," "dirty," | Ratings Breakdown - cleanliness ratings from TripAdvisor | Dedicated Stadium Surveys | Social Media | Cleaning Awards | Cleanliness Total Out Of 50 (75% Of Final Score) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liverpool FC | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 46 |
| Manchester United | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 44 |
| Arsenal FC | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 43 |
| Chelsea FC | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 43 |
| Manchester City | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 43 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 40 |
| Brentford FC | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 39 |
| Leicester City | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 39 |
| Newcastle United | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 39 |
| Leeds United | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 39 |
| Aston Villa | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 38 |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 38 |
| AFC Bournemouth | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 37 |
| Everton FC | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 34 |
| Fulham FC | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 34 |
| Southampton FC | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 34 |
| West Ham United | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 34 |
| Middlesbrough FC | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 34 |
| Portsmouth FC | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 34 |
| Queens Park Rangers | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 34 |
| Sheffield United | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 34 |
| Watford FC | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 34 |
| West Bromwich Albion | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 34 |
| Ipswich Town | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 33 |
| Nottingham Forest | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 33 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 33 |
| Bristol City | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 33 |
| Cardiff City | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 33 |
| Coventry City | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 33 |
| Derby County | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 33 |
| Hull City | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 33 |
| Norwich City | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 33 |
| Oxford United | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 33 |
| Preston North End | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 33 |
| Sheffield Wednesday | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 33 |
| Sunderland AFC | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 33 |
| Swansea City | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 33 |
| Crystal Palace | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 31 |
| Blackburn Rovers | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 29 |
| Luton Town | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 29 |
| Plymouth Argyle | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 29 |
| Burnley FC | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 28 |
| Millwall FC | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 28 |
| Stoke City | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 28 |
With a maximum score of 50 available, we can see that Liverpool tops this enlarged table with a score of 46. This return highlights that the Merseyside men only dropped four points across the five categories.
Anfield is top of the Stadium table
The red half of the city also managed to score a maximum of 10 in the cleaning awards category—perfection that was subsequently backed up by scoring nine points in each of the other four categories.
In doing so, Liverpool was allowed to rank two points clear of local rivals Manchester United, who collected 44 points and were most undone by fan sentiment on social media, with only eight out of 10 being collected in this category.
Rounding out the top five in these five categories was a three-way tie between Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester City. Each of these three sides earned 43 points for their respective Emirates, Stamford Bridge, and Etihad homes.
A lockout of the Premier League in the top five and you have to go down to joint-seventh to find the first Championship club in the rankings. It is here where Leeds find themselves amongst Premier League counterparts Brentford, Leicester and Newcastle with a total score of 39.
11 points more than the three teams that prop up the table of 44, and with Burnley, Millwall, and Stoke all scoring just 28 points out of a possible 50 across these five categories, there is work to be done at Turf Moor, The Den, and the famous betting site Bet365 Stadium.
This is especially true when it comes to dedicated stadium surveys. Here, the three clubs only picked up five points out of the possible 10 on offer. As a consequence, they sit behind the trio of Blackburn, Luton, and Plymouth, who each collected 29 out of 50.
Search for The Dirt
However, it is not just this table that decides where the awards are handed out and where the sweeping brushes need to go; another cleanliness criteria also needs to be considered.
This is because the five categories and the table above only make 75% of the overall score and the other 25% will be generated from the value that comes after multiplying the Google review rating for each stadium by 10.
Two scores out of 50 will create a final weighted average and a final league table and when these calculations are carried out, the final scores are as follows:
| Club | Total (75% Of Final Score) | Google Rating x 10 (25% of Final Score) | Overall Cleanliness Score (Max 50) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liverpool FC | 46 | 47 | 46.25 |
| Manchester United | 44 | 46 | 44.5 |
| Arsenal FC | 43 | 46 | 43.75 |
| Chelsea FC | 43 | 46 | 43.75 |
| Manchester City | 43 | 46 | 43.75 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 40 | 47 | 41.75 |
| Brentford FC | 39 | 46 | 40.75 |
| Leicester City | 39 | 46 | 40.75 |
| Newcastle United | 39 | 46 | 40.75 |
| Leeds United | 39 | 46 | 40.75 |
| Aston Villa | 38 | 45 | 39.75 |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 38 | 45 | 39.75 |
| AFC Bournemouth | 37 | 44 | 38.75 |
| West Bromwich Albion | 34 | 47 | 37.25 |
| Fulham FC | 34 | 45 | 36.75 |
| Middlesbrough FC | 34 | 45 | 36.75 |
| Portsmouth FC | 34 | 45 | 36.75 |
| Sheffield United | 34 | 45 | 36.75 |
| Everton FC | 34 | 44 | 36.5 |
| Nottingham Forest | 33 | 47 | 36.5 |
| Southampton FC | 34 | 44 | 36.5 |
| West Ham United | 34 | 44 | 36.5 |
| Watford FC | 34 | 44 | 36.5 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 33 | 46 | 36.25 |
| Bristol City | 33 | 45 | 36 |
| Norwich City | 33 | 45 | 36 |
| Ipswich Town | 33 | 44 | 35.75 |
| Cardiff City | 33 | 44 | 35.75 |
| Derby County | 33 | 44 | 35.75 |
| Queens Park Rangers | 34 | 41 | 35.75 |
| Sunderland AFC | 33 | 44 | 35.75 |
| Swansea City | 33 | 44 | 35.75 |
| Coventry City | 33 | 43 | 35.5 |
| Hull City | 33 | 43 | 35.5 |
| Sheffield Wednesday | 33 | 43 | 35.5 |
| Preston North End | 33 | 41 | 35 |
| Oxford United | 33 | 40 | 34.75 |
| Crystal Palace | 31 | 43 | 34 |
| Plymouth Argyle | 29 | 45 | 33 |
| Blackburn Rovers | 29 | 42 | 32.25 |
| Burnley FC | 28 | 44 | 32 |
| Millwall FC | 28 | 44 | 32 |
| Luton Town | 29 | 41 | 32 |
| Stoke City | 28 | 43 | 31.75 |
At the very top of the table, Liverpool secured its advantage after also picking up 47 Google points. Merging their two returns together on a 75/25 basis gave Anfield a total score of 46.25 out of 50.
Just 3.75 points clear of a perfect score, but more importantly, the Merseyside club found itself 1.75 points clear of Manchester United in second. Although Old Trafford picked up 46 Google points, it was not enough to overtake Anfield at the top.
Spotless Old Trafford
Interestingly, each of the big six clubs found themselves in the top half dozen of our overall rankings, meaning the quartet of Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Tottenham have stadiums that match their perceived stature in the Premier League.
Once again, Leeds fly the flag for Championship clubs as they also finished joint-seventh overall. Elland Road picked up 46 Google points to go with the 39 category points and this gave the ground an overall score of 40.75 – the same as Brentford, Newcastle and Leicester.
The top 10 are all locked out, which means the pair of Aston Villa and Brighton just miss out after each finishing with a total of 39.75, calculated from 38 category points and 45 Google review points.
Honourable mentions must go to both West Brom and Middlesbrough. The Hawthorns and the Riverside Stadium finished 14th and joint-15th, respectively, thanks to recording total weighted average scores of 37.25 and 36.75.
If they earn honourable mentions from the Championship, the dishonourable one must go to Stoke and its Bet365 Stadium. Although it may have collected 43 Google review points, the damage in this sense was already done by collecting just 28 points beforehand.
Therefore, Stoke props up the 44-team table, having scored just 31.75 out of 50 when calculating the two metrics, but the trio of Burnley, Millwall, and Blackburn will need a dustpan and brush, having scored only 32 points out of 50 by comparison.
Methodology
75% - Five Category Total
Review Keywords
- Methodology: Analysed TripAdvisor for mentions of terms like "clean," "tidy," "dirty," etc., in relation to stadiums. Positive mentions increased scores, while negative keywords reduced them.
Ratings Breakdown
- Methodology: Aggregated cleanliness ratings from TripAdvisor, focusing on hygiene, toilets, and overall facility conditions.
Dedicated Stadium Surveys
- Methodology: Evaluated reports or surveys specifically examining stadium cleanliness, such as fan polls or commissioned studies. High scores were given to stadiums with consistent positive feedback on cleanliness.
Social Media Sentiment
- Methodology: Collected data on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram, analysing the sentiment of posts mentioning cleanliness..
Cleaning Awards
- Methodology: Included recognition like ISO certifications or sustainability awards. A focus was placed on environmental cleanliness initiatives..
25% - Google Review
- Methodology: Took the stadium rating of each of the 44 clubs out of 5 and then multiplied that figure by 10 to get a second score of 50 points.
- Data Source: Google search
Then Used Two Totals To Create Overall Cleanliness Score Out of 50 (Weighted Average 75/25)
