Every major UK city, across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, has been ranked based on how many pubs it has showing live football ahead of the 2026/27 domestic season.

The recent study, carried out on behalf of Select Car Leasing, offers a fascinating glimpse into which cities boast the most football fever. And while the Premier League is the most-watched league in the world, cities in the Scottish Premiership give their neighbours a good run for their money.

Some surprising findings have emerged, including Liverpool ranking ahead of Glasgow and Manchester, while the top four all boast at least 100 pubs showing some sort of football at the weekend.

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With just four pubs showing live football in Belfast, Northern Ireland’s capital city is far better known for its rugby and Gaelic sports, with bars far more likely to serve up live music than it is to show Linfield or the national team’s fixtures. Milton Keynes is next, with the up-and-coming area providing 11 places to watch the ‘footy’, while Bradford have 19 options and Luton have 24.

Fans will probably never find out if Lionel Messi can do it on a cold, wet Tuesday night in Stoke – but if they ever did, then 28 nearby pubs would witness it. A midlands’ trio of Wolverhampton, Derby (31 each), and Leicester (34) follow next, with the latter having enjoyed a period of unexpected success just several years ago, when the Foxes won the Premier League and FA Cup within just a few seasons of each other.

Reading’s tally of 35 is matched by that of newly-promoted Premier League outfit Hull. Unfortunately, the latter is expected to drop straight back into the Championship by a supercomputer, with expert opinions agreeing, but that doesn’t stop the fact their return to the big time will coincide with greater need to show the beautiful game across the Yorkshire city.

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Coventry is another newly promoted Premier League side, with a tally of 35 pubs showing football, but unlike Hull, Jeff Stelling believes Frank Lampard’s side can exceed expectations and stay in the top flight for more than just one season. Birmingham City will be hoping their new owner and NFL legend Tom Brady can help reap similar rewards as the buzz around Birmingham continues to grow, while Northampton’s 40 pubs are concentrated within an area of just 31 miles.

Norwich, Aberdeen and Southampton are each just one pub shy of 50, with all three having enjoyed mixed amounts of success with their respective clubs in recent seasons. That is especially true of the Saints, who’d probably have been able to go toe-to-toe with the very best if they hadn’t sold pretty much all of their best emerging talent over the years.

Plymouth’s 56 live football pubs are something of a monopoly, with Exeter the only city within an hour of them, while Nottingham’s 62 pubs reflects a deep connection between residents and Nottingham Forest, who have won the lot in the past. Cardiff, with 64, is Wales’ go-to destination for watching football with a few drinks, while Sheffield just misses out on a place in the top 10.

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In 10th and ninth, Leeds and Manchester would have been expected to rank a lot higher, given that both feature among the most passionate fanbases in English football. With City and United jostling for dominance in the north-west, it is perhaps surprising to find that Portsmouth, with 71, have more football-loving pubs.

There can be no shock, however, that Glasgow – home to Rangers and Celtic – has 75 pubs showing the beautiful game. In Scotland’s biggest city, football transcends politics and religion, but Brighton pip them to a spot in seventh, while Liverpool’s tally of 89 reflects a city known to have the highest concentration of Irish pubs outside of Ireland.

In fourth, and just missing out on a place on the podium, is Edinburgh. With 108 pubs, they still fall six short of Newcastle, while Bristol is the surprise second-placed city, with 116. Of course, first place was always going to go to the biggest city by a distance – London, which boasts a staggering 374, putting the ‘Big Smoke’ in a league of its own.

Arsenal are now being discussed as a potential destination for Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford, who is on the lookout for a new club this summer. Rashford spent last season with Barcelona, scoring 14 and assisting as many, but he was not able to win a full-time deal, with Barca instead going out and signing Karim Adeyemi.

That meant Rashford returned to United, where he has been welcomed back by Michael Carrick, but still with the understanding that he will be sold if and when the right offer comes in. Rashford is on a huge wage at Old Trafford, and the Red Devils are keen to reduce their overall wage bill.

Arsenal are in need of versatile attackers

REUTERS

Arsenal have not hidden their desire to sign a left-sided attacker this summer, even with Christos Tzolis replacing Leandro Trossard. The Gunners want an elite option to complete their attack, alongside Bukayo Saka and Viktor Gyokeres.

They could also do with a striker to replace Gabriel Jesus, who will almost certainly leave, with more competition potentially needed for Kai Havertz and Gyokeres.

It’s for that reason Arsenal have been keeping an eye out for wingers who can also play up front, with the likes of Julian Alvarez linked, albeit the Atletico Madrid star is more of a striker who can play wide.

Rashford is another player who can fit that mould, able to lead the line as a number nine but more commonly playing out wide, especially in recent times amid the presence of Robert Lewandowski at Barcelona.

Rashford has a £40million release clause, and it’s likely Arsenal will have to meet it if they are going to sign him from a direct Premier League rival like United.

Marcus Rashford’s last five league campaigns:

• 2025/26 LaLiga – 32 appearances / 8 goals / 9 assists
• 2024/25 Premier League – 25 appearances / 6 goals / 4 assists
• 2023/24 Premier League – 33 appearances / 7 goals / 3 assists
• 2022/23 Premier League – 35 appearances / 17 goals / 6 assists
• 2021/22 Premier League – 25 appearances / 4 goals / 2 assists

Where does Rashford fit in at Arsenal?

Marty Jean-Louis/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

The £40million question is where Rashford fits into Mikel Arteta’s plans. Would he be the guy on the left, or would he be an additional signing alongside a truly elite winger? It’s not clear Arsenal can manage both signings after spending £75million on Bruno Guimaraes, at least not while staying compliant with Profit and Sustainability rules. There would likely need to be some significant exits to pull off that kind of business.

If Rashford is to be the starting left-winger, it’s a risk. There is no guarantees he is a major upgrade on Trossard, even if he is a more dangerous player in terms of attacking talent. Rashford can be a major upgrade, but it’s no secret that he has had his problems with inconsistency, and Arteta needs a consistent player on that side of the attack. In short, there is a big upside but also a significant risk.

If Arsenal can sign him as an additional weapon on top of a left-sided elite winger, then it takes away the risk while protecting the upside.

That would make it a tremendous signing that few could complain about. It would be an absolute luxury.

But does Rashford want to be a player who is called upon here and there to make an impact? Only scenario A gives him anything close to guaranteed starting time, and that leaves Arsenal rolling the dice and hoping Rashford can carry his LaLiga form into a Premier League campaign.

Rangers have submitted a loan-to-buy offer to sign Sheffield United striker Ryan One, with talks ongoing, according to GIVEMESPORT sources.

It’s been an incredibly busy summer transfer window for Derek McInnes’ side as they aim to build a squad capable of lifting the Scottish Premiership title.

The Glasgow giants have already confirmed nine new additions so far, with more seemingly on the way.

Rangers missed out on the Scottish Premiership title after a disappointing end to the 25/26 season, seeing their Glasgow rival Celtic emerge as champions.

As a result, the jurors decided they needed to be busy in the market with their confirmed signings as follows:

• Ivor Pandur
• Vanja Dragojevic
• Olwethu Makhanya
• Daisuke Yokota
• Ross McCrorie
• Dan Neil
• Lawrence Shankland
• Cammy Devlin
• Ben Godfrey

Rangers submit loan-to-buy striker offer

According to GIVEMESPORT sources, Rangers have submitted a loan-to-buy offer to sign Sheffield United striker Ryan One in the summer transfer window.

It’s understood that the Championship Club have rejected Rangers’ offer, but talks are ongoing over a possible deal.

One spent the second half of last season on loan at Lincoln City, playing 16 times for the club in League One.

The 20-year-old forward scored five league goals for the club in what was his first loan move since starting his senior career.

One has struggled to break into the Sheffield United squad on a regular basis.

During the 2024/25 season, he did make twelve Championship appearances, but he’s failed to reach that since then.

Youssef Chermiti update

Rangers could be upping their pursuit of a new striker after it was confirmed that Youssef Chermiti has suffered a serious knee injury.

The club confirmed on Tuesday that the former Everton man had suffered an ACL injury which will keep him out for an extended period. The statement read:

Manager McInnes also confirmed that Rangers had rejected an offer for Chermiti, with reports suggesting that it was from Galatasaray.

It’s certainly unfortunate timing that Rangers rejected the bid for him to then suffer a serious injury, but they’ll be thinking about the long term with the striker.