Leicester City’s owners the Srivaddhanaprabha family have been ranked as the most popular of any club in the Premier League.
The late Vichai Srivaddhanprabha played a crucial role in the Foxes’ run to the Premier League title in 2015/16 and helped consolidate them as a regular within the top half.
Following his tragic and untimely death in 2018, Vichai’s son Aiayawatt has continued the brilliant work at the East Midlands club, with his crowning achievement coming at the end of last season when they lifted the first FA Cup in their history.
Leicester have also built a state of the art training ground for both the first teams and academy sides, while there are also plans to expand the stadium to a capacity of 40,000.
Based on analysis by Freebets.com, which analysed social media activity from fans directed towards owners, the Srivaddhanaprabha family are the most popular, ahead of Brighton chairman Tony Bloom.
The Seagulls are enjoying a brilliant start to the new campaign, having only narrowly missed out on top spot on Monday.
Bloom has transformed Brighton’s fortunes both on and off the field, helping them move into the AMEX Stadium, as well as bringing them back to the top tier for the first time since 1983.
Roman Abramovich was next in the list, despite being one of the figureheads of the doomed European Super League proposals earlier this year.
Chelsea fans carried out passionate protests outside of Stamford Bridge, forcing Abramovich into a drastic U-turn.
But his financial commitment to the club, which included sanctioning the £97.5million arrival of Romelu Lukaku earlier this summer.
Crystal Palace ’s Steve Parish and Tottenham owners ENIC Group round out the top five. That’s despite ongoing criticism of chairman Daniel levy after the decision to sack Mauricio Pochettino during the 2019/20 season.
Man City owner Sheikh Mansour is ranked ninth, surprisingly just one spot above The Glazers at Manchester United.
Many would have anticipated United’s American owners to be towards the bottom of the standings, after years of fan protests and demonstrations.
Such was the vitriol towards the Glazers, United fans forced a Premier League game to be postponed last year, although the return of Cristiano Ronaldo may have dampened some of the animosity.
One place behind United’s owners are the Fenway Sports Group at Liverpool, fronted by John W Henry. Like at other ‘big six’ clubs, FSG enraged the fanbase with their ploy to join the Super League, without prior consultation with supporters.
Henry was forced into a grovelling apology, with many refusing to accept it. A perceived inactivity in the transfer window has also led to frustration, after just one arrival during the most recent transfer window.
Unsurprisingly, Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke is ranked towards the bottom in 16th after years of disagreements between fans and those in the boardroom.
KSE did sanction a transfer spree worth almost £150m in the summer, but it remains to be seen whether that will transform their image.
Mike Ashley is then in 17th, although the Newcastle chief will hope to only be on the list for a short while longer as he continues his attempt to sell the club.
The bottom three is then made up of David Sullivan ( West Ham ), Farhad Moshiri ( Everton ), with Southampton ’s owners Gao Jisheng deemed the most unpopular in the entirety of the Premier League.
Most popular Premier League owners (as per FREEBETS.com)
The Srivaddhanaprabha Family (Leicester)
Tony Bloom (Brighton)
Roman Abramovich (Chelsea)
Steve Parish (Crystal Palace)
ENIC (Tottenham)
Andrea Radrizzani (Leeds)
NSWE (Aston Villa)
Matthew Benham (Brentford)
Sheikh Masnour (Man City)
The Glazers (Man Utd)
FSG (Liverpool)
Pozzo Family (Watford)
Fosun (Wolves)
ALK Capital (Burnley)
Delia Smith (Norwich)
Stan Kroenke (Arsenal)
Mike Ashley (Newcastle)
David Sullivan (West Ham)
Farhad Moshiri (Everton)
Gao Jisheng (Southampton)