Celtic 6th, Man Utd 4th – The all-time British Europa League ranking

Top 10 ranked 

On Thursday evening, two British clubs will be locking horns with opponents across Europe in the hope of reaching the latter stages of the Europa League. Scottish giants Celtic will be tasked with overcoming a daunting 4-1 deficit following a heavy defeat in Glasgow to Stuttgart, while Nottingham Forest should find things slightly easier against Turkish side Fenerbahce, following a 3-0 win away from home in the first leg. If either team can reach the next round, they’ll be joined by Aston Villa in the knock-out rounds, with high hopes of challenging for this season’s silverware. However, which British team has enjoyed the most success in the Europa League and before it the famed UEFA Cup? Using Transfermarkt’s vast database, we’ve compiled a historic table and ranked every team from the United Kingdom to give a definitive all-time top 10.

Sneaking into the top 10, having played no less than 50 games in the competition and still boasting an impressive win rate of 56% are current Championship side Ipswich Town, who were regular participants in European football throughout the seventies and eighties. They sit just five points behind Villa, who’ve won 99 points from 58 games in either iteration of the continental competition. Above the Birmingham giants are a somewhat unexpected contender in Scottish side Dundee United. The Tannadice club haven’t featured in the tournament since 1994, but did regularly participate in the eventies and eighties and reached the final in 1987, bagging 110 points in 70 games along the way. They sit just 25 points behind Newcastle, who enjoy an impressive win rate of 59% from 68 games and above them in sixth place are the aforementioned Scottish giants Celtic, who have played 124 games in the Europa League over the course of their history, alongside reaching the final in 2003.

When we get into the top five, we can clearly see that a number of England’s biggest clubs have spent more time in Europe’s second-tier competition than many would perhaps expect. For example, North London side Arsenal sit fifth with 162 points from 84 games. Which puts them just eight points behind domestic rivals Manchester United, who have reached three finals in the last 10 seasons and won the tournament in 2017. Glasgow giants Rangers claim third spot with an impressive 203 points from 139 games over the course of their history, before a notable jump to second place, where Liverpool sit proudly on 231 points from 126 games. However, no other British club can come close to Tottenham Hotspur, who not only have 78 more points in the tournament than Liverpool and almost twice as many as rivals Arsenal, but were also the most recent British club to win the famous trophy.