‘Big Six’ responsible for majority of Premier League’s carbon emissions
Image by Kelvin Stuttard from Pixabay.
A couple of weeks ago, reporter Warren Menezes revealed on his substack, The Asterisk, that the so-called ‘big six’ Premier League clubs (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur), accounted for the majority of operational carbon emissions generated across the Premier League.
During the 2023/24 season, the six clubs were responsible for almost 63% of all club emissions, which measured elements such as the combustion of gas and fuel for transport. The analysis revealed that the emissions from all Premier League clubs were roughly equivalent to the annual emissions of 43,300 average cars in the UK, with the big six accounting for around 27,000 cars.
Manchester United were the highest emitters; the club attributed this to having the highest attendance in the league, as well as the number of games they played over the season, including in other competitions. These factors are common among the ‘big six’, explaining why these clubs top the charts.
The Premier League has committed to net zero by 2040. Both club CEOs and experts in the field recognise the global platform offered by the league and the cultural powerhouse that football is as a sport. The report also mentions the efforts of other Premier League clubs, and explains how clubs measure emissions. It suggests that these measurements should be aligned between football bodies such as the Premier League and UEFA, allowing more meaningful comparisons between clubs.
This report is particularly interesting considering a couple of the ‘big six’ clubs, Tottenham and Liverpool, have long been touted as the most sustainable clubs in the league. Menezes spoke to several experts in the field, including Dr Mark Doidge, an academic and trustee of sports sustainability charity Pledgeball, who urged elite clubs to take responsibility to reduce their emissions, seeing as they have the money and resources.
It comes as no surprise that the big six are major emitters. What is perhaps more interesting is how far they take responsibility and use their platform to influence others - a key task for the league’s big hitters.