A sleeping giant soccer club has had its periods of glory but is currently underperforming over a more sustained period. Not all sleeping giants are necessarily clubs with huge trophy cabinets, but they have the underlying potential to win silverware more regularly. Manchester City were, of course, once the biggest sleeping giant when it slumbered in the third-tier league of English soccer before awakening. These are the six biggest sleeping giants in English soccer at the moment.
Tottenham Hotspur might be a Premier League big six club in financial terms, but that’s exactly why they’re a sleeping giant. Spurs narrowly averted relegation to the Championship by the skin of their teeth last season with a 17th place finish, and finished in the same lowly position the season before that. Tottenham did win the Europa League, but Spurs have won only three trophies in the Premier League era.
Although Tottenham Hotspur have won plenty of cups, this club has never been a genuine force in English league soccer beyond the 1960s. The club has only ever won two league titles, most recently in 1961 when Spurs did the double. That was the only time when Tottenham was a true giant in English soccer, as the club has struggled to restore the glory of the ‘60s.
There were signs Spurs might be a giant waking up during the Redknapp and Pochettino managerial eras, but neither manager could deliver any silverware, with Tottenham finishing second in the league and the Champions League. Moving to the 62,850-seat Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has further enhanced the Spurs giant illusion. However, the club’s team has been a long way off the pace in the Premier League in recent seasons.
Everton is a club with a rich history that has won nine league titles and five FA Cups historically, along with a European Cup Winners’ Cup. It was a force in English soccer during the 1980s, but Everton has generally struggled as one of the sleeping giants during the Premier League era. Everton has deteriorated into a survival club in recent years, with relegation dogfights becoming increasingly common in the blue half of Merseyside. Although Everton survived their relegation scraps, a club of this stature should be doing better.
Although there aren’t any big current signs of an Everton reawakening on the pitch, the Toffees have moved to a new 52,769-seat stadium. The move to the Hill Dickinson Stadium represents a new era at Everton and does at least shift the Toffees out of the direct geographical shadow of Anfield! The Friedkin Group takeover has also given Everton a much-needed financial boost for funding a potential reawakening.
The glory days of the 1970s, when Nottingham Forest won the old First Division, back-to-back European Cups, and League Cups, showed what the maximum potential of The Tricky Trees club can be. However, Forest have slumbered in the Championship for much of the Premier League era. Nottingham Forest’s return to the Premier League was a big step in the right direction, but its teams have battled against relegation in three of the last four seasons.
Leeds United is a boom-and-bust club that has won all the major trophies in English soccer and a couple of European Inter-Cities Fairs Cups. The club realized its potential during the golden Revie era, but has been one of the biggest sleeping giants in English soccer for decades. Leeds United had a promising period during which it reached a Champions League semi-final, but the club blew up quite spectacularly thereafter, with financial and team mismanagement leading to Premier League and then Championship relegation. Leeds Utd has re-established itself as a Premier League club, but needs to do much more to revive its glory days.
Newcastle Utd is a big club that has won four league titles and six FA Cups, along with the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. There were signs Newcastle United might be a sleeping giant awakening during the 1990s when its teams pushed Man Utd for the title with consecutive second-place finishes, along with the record-breaking Alan Shearer signing, but that was a false dawn. Newcastle deteriorated into a survival club with two Premier League relegations.
Although the Geordies bounced immediately back up, their Premier League struggles continued until Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) acquired Newcastle United. With the increased investment coming from that, there have been signs of Newcastle awakening by qualifying for the Champions League and winning the League Cup. However, a 12th-place finish in 2026 has raised doubts about whether this sleeping giant has truly awakened as Manchester City did.
West Ham has never won England’s top division, but has won FA Cups and European silverware. This is also a club that plays in the London Stadium, one of the biggest English soccer grounds with 62,500 seats. With that stadium, West Ham is ranked 20th in the
Deloitte Football Money League with a turnover amounting to €276 million.
So, West Ham is certainly one of the biggest sleeping giants playing in the Championship after recent Premier League relegation. West Ham can feasibly compete in European soccer with the turnover the club has, but is a long way short of doing so at the moment. It is a bigger club than Leicester City, which won the Premier League and FA Cup more recently.
The sleeping giants above remind us that history, stadium infrastructure, and fanbase only provide a foundation for glory in modern soccer. Of the sleeping giants above, Newcastle United is probably the closest to awakening, but remains somewhat short of a title-winning side. Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United probably have the best chance of truly waking up like Manchester City because they’re the sleeping giants with the most financial clout, but money doesn’t guarantee glory.
If you love sports, download Stadium Rant from the Apple App Store and join one of the fastest-growing social sports communities. Be sure to follow us on socials too — you can find all our profiles on our Linktree.
