The Undisputed United - NOT CURRENTLY MAINTAINED, OUT OF DATE

Are you tired of hearing football pundits and commentators use the word "United" to refer to only one team during Manchester United vs Newcastle United? The Undisputed United fairly and scientifically calculates the one team that is truly allowed to be called United.

Current Undisputed United: Manchester United

The current Undisputed United are Manchester United, and they have held this title since they beat West Ham United 1-0 on Sunday 14 March 2021.

See all_title_changes.csv for all Undisputed United title changes.

The Rules

Sheffield United became the first Undisputed United by beating Newcastle United 1-2 in 1898 (see History). From that point onwards, the winner of any regular season English Football League match between the defending champion and another United gains the title. In the event of a draw, the title remains with the defending champion.

The methodology is similar to that of the Unofficial Football World Championships.

Only regular season Football League matches from the top four tiers are included. Cups, playoffs and test matches are excluded. This page updates hourly.

History

The first Football League match between two Uniteds¹ took place on 26th September 1898 in what was then the 1st Division, as Sheffield United and Newcastle United drew 2-2. The two sides met again only a few weeks later on 15th October 1893, with Sheffield United coming away with all two points² in a 1-2 victory.

There are currently thirteen Uniteds in the Football League:

• Cambridge United³
• Carlisle United
• Colchester United
• Leeds United
• Manchester United
• Newcastle United
• Oxford United³
• Peterborough United
• Rotherham United
• Scunthorpe United³
• Sheffield United
• Southend United
• West Ham United

Notes

1. Manchester United were called Newton Heath until 24th April 1902, and so aren't included until then.
2. A win was only worth two points until 1981.
3. These teams were formed under different names, but the original names all included United.

Data Sources

• Football League matches from the League's formation in 1888 until 10th March 2020: jalapic/engsoccerdata.
• Live data for subsequent seasons: fixturedownload.com.
• Team crests are taken from Wikipedia.

To Do

Technical:

• Use a GitHub action to calculate the champion and update this README every hour.
• Add other stats - number of successful title defenses, number of days as champion.
• Automatic support for future seasons - detect the current champion's league and get the appropriate data.

Sources to include:

• Relegation/promotion playoffs?
• Cup competitions?

_{This page was automatically generated by a GitHub Action at 2023-08-19 09:13:14.}