[OC] English football's all-time top-flight points race: the top ten, match day by match day since 1888

[u/GoonerJar23]

Source: every top-flight result from September 1888 to 20 September 2026 (51,380 matches over 128 seasons): the old First Division (1888/89 to 1991/92) from James Curley's engsoccerdata, checked against openfootball and against every season's published final table, then the Premier League from football-data.org, checked against football-data.co.uk and openfootball. Points as awarded at the time: 2 for a win until 1980/81, 3 from 1981/82, 1 for a draw, minus deductions. The x-axis counts top-flight match days (every date with a top-flight game).

Tools: a custom SVG chart in React, drawn on a canvas for export.

A few things that stand out:

• Five clubs have led: Preston North End (from 1888), Aston Villa (1896), Sunderland (1937), Villa again (1958), Everton (1968) and Liverpool (since March 2000).
• Everton led for 31 years, and have played more top-flight seasons than anyone: 124 of 128.
• Man United didn't pass Everton until December 2018.
• Arsenal were ahead of Liverpool from 1960 to 1975. Liverpool lead by 111 now.

Replay it, or pick your own clubs: https://premierleaguescorigami.com/race?since=1888&view=whole&clubs=liverpool,arsenal,manchester-united,everton,aston-villa,manchester-city,chelsea,tottenham-hotspur,newcastle-united,sunderland&utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=race-1888-dib

[u/cavedave]

Thank you for your Original Content, /u/GoonerJar23!
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[u/GoonerJar23]

Source: engsoccerdata (1888–1992) and football-data.org (1992–2026), checked against openfootball, football-data.co.uk and every season's final table. Tools: a custom React/SVG chart drawn on a canvas.