Last month, Deloitte released its annual Football Money League, which revealed the mind-bending revenues of Europe’s richest clubs.
Among the revelations was Manchester United’s return to the top of the list – its £515.3 million income last year made it the first club in history to surpass half a billion pounds in turnover.
Today, thanks to the ubiquity of social media, it’s incredibly important for sports clubs to engage with fans across all the major platforms.
Some teams are better at this than others. Scroll down to see which clubs scored on social media.
20. Zenit St Petersburg — 2.1 million followers
Followers (millions):
Instagram: 0.3
Facebook: 1
Twitter: 0.8
Zenit St Petersberg is the first and only non-European club to make the list. The comparatively low international popularity of the Russian Premier League combined with Russian language social media accounts limits its overall following.
19. West Ham — 3.3 million followers
Followers (millions):
Instagram: 0.3
Facebook: 2
Twitter: 1
West Ham's small Instagram following will suffer from the loss of Dimitri Payet, who has about five times the number of followers as his ex-club. Nevertheless, their acquisition of the Olympic Stadium (now London Stadium) will see numbers of spectators increase, which should bump their social numbers.
18. Schalke — 3.7 million followers
Followers (millions):
Instagram: 0.3
Facebook: 2.9
Twitter: 0.5
The "04" stands for when the Club was founded... in 1904. With that much history you can bet the team has built up a huge fanbase, and much of that has migrated online.
17. Inter Milan — 8.6 million followers
Followers (millions):
Instagram: 1.3
Facebook: 6.1
Twitter: 1.2
More places separate Inter from their Milanese rivals here than in the Money League. 'Internazionale' will be hoping new, Chinese owners, Suning, will help sign big names that will draw a social media influx.
16. Leicester City — 9 million followers
Followers (millions):
Instagram: 1.5
Facebook: 6.6
Twitter: 0.9
Reigning Premier League champions made it into Deloitte's Money League for the first time this year. Its underdog story of Hollywood proportions has undoubtedly sent its social presence into overdrive.
15. AS Roma — 10.7 million followers
Followers (millions):
Instagram: 0.9
Facebook: 8.5
Twitter: 1.3
The Italian capital's side comes in at the same place as it did in the Money League. A good run in the Champions League last season will have boosted social following as will the numbers of creative winger, Mohamed Salah, who has 3.7 million Instagram followers.
14. Tottenham Hotspur — 11.1 million followers
Followers (millions):
Instagram: 1
Facebook: 8.3
Twitter: 1.8
Spurs' third place finish in the Premier League last season was its best ever. This, teamed with a renovated White Hart Lane in 2018 is guaranteed to attract more fans.
13. Atlético de Madrid — 19.1 million followers
Followers (millions):
Instagram: 2.7
Facebook: 13.6
Twitter: 2.8
Atlético Striker, Antoine Griezmann will have boosted his own profile and that of his club's after a prolific performance in the Euro 2016.
12. Borussia Dortmund — 21 million followers
Followers (millions):
Instagram: 3.4
Facebook: 15.1
Twitter: 2.5
Dortmund's average match attendance was over 81,000 last season - the highest in the world, according to worldfootball.net. Unsurprisingly, that resulted in a lot of social media traffic.
11. Manchester City — 30.9 million followers
Followers (millions):
Instagram: 4.2
Facebook: 22.7
Twitter: 4
According to Forbes, only Barcelona posted more on social media than Man City in 2015-16. The Manchester team is six places below its position in the football club rich list.
10. AC Milan — 33.1 million followers
Followers (millions):
Instagram: 2.9
Facebook: 24.8
Twitter: 4.4
Six places above their position in the Deloitte Money League, Milan proved more popular with fans than investors. Its strong Facebook following secured its entry into the top 10.
9. Juventus — 35 million followers
Followers (millions):
Instagram: 5.8
Facebook: 25.3
Twitter: 3.9
Italy's biggest football club edged past Milan rivals thanks to an Instagram following of twice the size. It will have benefitted from four years of Paul Pogba, who has over 12 million Instagram followers.
8. Paris St-Germain — 38.1 million followers
Followers (millions):
Instagram: 7.3
Facebook: 26.6
Twitter: 4.2
Paris Saint-Germain has a remarkably high Twitter following, despite its use of French language. Its Instagram following will have benefited from four years of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the 7th most popular athlete on the platform.
7. Liverpool — 40.2 million followers
Followers (millions):
Instagram: 3.8
Facebook: 29.6
Twitter: 6.8
Liverpool has always enjoyed a hugely loyal fanbase. Animated manager, Jurgen Klopp is frequently the subject of viral videos and memes on social media.
6. Bayern Munich — 52.8 million followers
Followers (millions):
Instagram: 8.9
Facebook: 40.6
Twitter: 3.3
Unlike top rivals in Spain, Bayern Munich runs its Twitter page in its native language - even though its Facebook page posts in English - which may account for its low following on the micro-blogging site.
5. Arsenal — 55.3 million followers.
Followers (millions):
Instagram: 8.7
Facebook: 37.6
Twitter: 9
The first of three English teams in the top five, Arsenal recorded the highest matchday attendance revenue of any side in the 2014/15 season, which clearly translates into a lot of fans online.
4. Chelsea — 63.5 million followers
Followers (millions):
Instagram: 8.3
Facebook: 47.3
Twitter: 7.9
Stanford Bridge continues to attract the biggest celebrity spectators (Will Ferrel popped in to congratulate Eden Hazard last weekend) and where celebrities go, social media follows. It may also surprise you that centre-back, David Luiz is one of the most followed athletes on Instagram - he has nearly 16 million fans.
3. Manchester United — 97.9 million followers.
Followers (millions):
Instagram: 15.6
Facebook: 72.4
Twitter: 9.9
Richest in the world, most popular in the Premier League, Manchester United had a bumper 2016 after it acquired huge names: Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who have a combined 36.8 million Instagram followers alone.
2. Real Madrid — 159.5 million followers
Followers (millions):
Instagram: 43.3
Facebook: 94.3
Twitter: 21.9
Los Blancos just missed out on the top spot this year, despite having the list's most popular Twitter account. Cristiano Ronaldo is not just the most-followed footballer but most-followed athlete on Instagram - currently standing at 89.4 million.
1. Barcelona — 159.9 million followers
Followers (millions):
Instagram: 44.6
Facebook: 95.6
Twitter: 19.7
By the slimmest of margins, Spain's Barcelona FC is currently the most popular football club on social media. The team owes a great deal of this popularity to Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr, who are two of the three most popular athletes on social media.
