From Arsenal to Doncaster Rovers, points don’t always bring rewards when it comes to the teams that topped the table in games played in 2024.
The Premier League’s top two teams during the calendar year, Arsenal and Liverpool, both missed out on the title, while only the two teams that finished in the top two on points in the EFL divisions progressed.
At the other end of the table, Everton, Wolves, Luton Town and Plymouth Argyle, who started and ended the year without a manager after Wayne Rooney left the club on New Year’s Eve, are among those averaging less than a point a game.
Wondering how your team did? See the best and worst performing teams in English football in 2024, grouped by their current divisions with total points shown alongside the number of games each team has played in brackets.
Teams that finish strong in 2024 💪 pic.twitter.com/hk6O98wSPI
— Premier League (@premierleague) December 31, 2024
Premier League teams with the most points in 2024
Liverpool finished May nine points behind Manchester City and seven behind Arsenal, but Arne Slott’s lightning start to life with the Premier League leaders at the end of 2024 put them in the top two last season.
The Gunners have lost the fewest games of any team in England’s top four divisions (3) and join the Reds in winning the most Premier League games (26), one ahead of City.
All six of City’s defeats have come in the last two months of the year, but they remain one of four other teams in the entire division to have lost less than 12 times, along with Liverpool (4), Chelsea (7), Fulham (11). ) and Newcastle (11).
More than 20% of Wolves’ points in 2024 have come in the final nine days of the year under new manager Vitor Pereira, while half of Everton’s points have come since September 21 and the other half have come in April and May after they started the year with a run of 10 games without a win.
Arsenal 85 (36)
Liverpool 85 (37)
Man City 82 (38)
Chelsea 70 (37)
Newcastle 63 (38)
Ipswich Town 57 (40)* – including 39 in the Championship
Aston Villa 55 (37)
Nottingham Forest 53 (37)
Bournemouth 53 (38)
Fulham 52 (37)
Manchester United 51 (37)
Tottenham 51 (37)
Leicester City 49 (40)* – 35 in the Championship
Crystal Palace 48 (37)
Brentford 44 (37)
Brighton & Hove Albion 44 (38)
West Ham 42 (38)
Southampton 42 (40)* – 36 in the Championship
Everton 39 (36)
Wolves 34 (37)
* Played in the 2023/24 championship. until May.
We present the Premier League table for the calendar year… pic.twitter.com/tM98PVSuq9
— Premier League (@premierleague) December 31, 2024
Which EFL teams have won the most points in 2024?
After finishing third in the 2023/24 championship. and topped League Two at the end of 2024, Leeds United had the most points of any team in English top-flight football – six more than nearest rivals Wrexham, who were promoted from League Two and finished the year second in League One.
League One high-flyers Wycombe Wanderers are the second team to take more points than Arsenal or Liverpool, with the Whites (7), Chairboys (8) and Red Dragons (9) joining West Bromwich Albion, Doncaster Rovers and Stockport County (all 10) as clubs that lost fewer than 11 games while in the EFL during the year.
Unsurprisingly, Leeds (29), Wrexham (27) and Wycombe (25) have won the most times, with Doncaster and Walsall winning at least twice more than any other team, each triumphing on 24 occasions.
🤯😍 WHAT. A. OBJECTIVE. pic.twitter.com/uGjhwYtlaE
— Leeds United (@LUFC) December 29, 2024
Relegated from the Premier League and 19th in the Championship at the end of the year, Luton earned the fourth fewest points of any club that had a full year’s fixtures.
Burton Albion and Bristol Rovers have each lost 26 games, but Carlisle United – relegated from League One and second bottom of League Two at the end of the year – outscored them both as they were beaten 29 times.
In a respectable start to their first EFL season, Bromley have earned as many points on the year in half as many games as Carlisle, while fellow promotion play-off hopefuls Chesterfield have taken three more points than the Cumbrians in 21 fewer games.
However, Carlisle’s win over Accrington in the final game of the year took them level with Everton and Rotherham United for second-most wins, with eight. Burton conceded an 88th-minute equalizer at Huddersfield Town in the final game of 2024, ensuring they maintained their lowest aggregate of seven wins.
Priority
Leeds 96 (45)
Derby County 73 (47)** – 46 in the First League
Middlesbrough 70 (45)
Norwich City 69 (45)
Barnsley 70 (46)
West Brom 69 (45)
Sheffield Wednesday 67 (45)
Portsmouth 67 (44)** – 47 in the First League
Sunderland 63 (45)
Burnley 61 (42)* – 13 in the Premier League
Swansea City 61 (45)
QPR 61 (45)
Blackburn Rovers 60 (44)
Millwall 59 (44)
Bristol City 59 (45)
Sheffield United 58 (42)* – 14 in the Premier League
Watford 58 (44)
Coventry City 58 (45)
Oxford United 58 (45)** – 34 in the First League
Preston North End 57 (45)
Stoke City 53 (45)
Hull City 53 (45)
Cardiff City 49 (44)
Luton 36 (43)* – 11 in the First League
* Played in the Premier League 2023/24 until May.
** Played in League One 2023/24 until May.
Championship table for the calendar year 2024 based on points per game 🥁
Excellent work, @t_peters32 👏 pic.twitter.com/wECo2A5fnQ
— #EFL Zone (@TheFLZone) December 30, 2024
First league
Wrexham 90 (45)** – 42 in the Second League
Wycombe 87 (45)
Stockport 78 (44)** – 41 in the Second League
Bolton Wanderers 73 (44)
Lincoln City 73 (44)
Reading 72 (44)
Birmingham City 71 (42)* – 22 in the Championship
Mansfield Town 71 (44)** – 40 in the Second League
Exeter City 69 (45)
Leyton Orient 67 (44)
Blackpool 65 (43)
Huddersfield Town 63 (43)* – 20 in the Championship
Wigan Athletic 63 (44)
Peterborough United 62 (44)
Stevenage Borough 57 (43)
Town of Crawley 57 (44)** – 37 in the Second League
Charlton Athletic 57 (45)
Town of Northampton 49 (45)
Bristol Rovers 45 (45)
Plymouth 41 (44)
Cambridge United 38 (45)
Town of Shrewsbury 37 (43)
Rotherham United 34 (42)* – 10 in the Championship
Burton 32 (44)
* Played in League One 2023/24 until May.
** Played in League Two 2023/24 until May.
Still thinking about Fletch’s goal yesterday 😮💨
🔴⚪️ #WxmAFC pic.twitter.com/NFLY0eRmQl
— Wrexham AFC (@Wrexham_AFC) December 30, 2024
Second league
Doncaster 83 (45)
Walsall 81 (44)
MK Dons 70 (44)
Bradford City 69 (44)
Crewe Alexandra 69 (44)
Salford City 64 (44)
Wimbledon 64 (44)
Gillingham 59 (44)
Grimsby Town 59 (44)
Notts County 56 (43)
Cheltenham Town 54 (46)* – 24 in the First League
Fleetwood Town 52 (44)* – 25 in the First League
Harrogate Town 52 (45)
Newport County 51 (43)
Barrow 51 (44)
Tranmere Rovers 49 (42)
Colchester United 49 (43)
Port Vale 49 (46)* – 12 in the First League
46 Morecambe (46)
Swindon Town 42 (44)
Accrington Stanley 41 (42)
Chesterfield 34 (23)**
Bromley 31 (22)**
Carlisle 31 (44)* – 13 in the First League
Forest Green Rovers 26 (23)***
Sutton United 25 (22)***
* Played in League One 2023/24 until May.
** Played in the national league 2023/24 until May.
*** Played until relegation to National League 2024/25 in May.
