Preston is the third most obsessed city with Fantasy Premier League in the UK, a new study has revealed.
The research by sports betting site Nostrabet analysed 32 major UK towns and cities based on the number of times each place Googles terms related to the hugely popular official Premier League game. Seven different search terms were used in the study, including “FPL”, “Premier League fantasy football” and “FPL price changes”.
Preston ranks second in the list with a monthly average of 9,860 searches for FPL-related phrases. An estimated 147,900 people live in the city, which means that for every thousand inhabitants, there are 66.7 fantasy football searches.
Liverpool tops the list with an average of 37,180 FPL-related searches each month, which compared against its estimated population of 486,100 equates to 76.5 searches per 1,000 people who live in the city. That is the highest rate of all towns and cities that were measured, crowning the football-mad city as home to the biggest FPL fans too.
Belfast places third thanks to 21,410 fantasy searches each month from the city’s population of 345,418, which means that there are 62 searches for every 1,000 people.
Manchester makes the top four of FPL-obsession with 61.6 searches per 1,000 people. That is based on an average of 33,980 searches each month from the city’s estimated population of 552,000.
In fifth place, Bristol is the first place outside the north of the UK to feature on the list with 56.2 searches per thousand. Sixth place goes to Newcastle with 54.4 searches per thousand, and Reading is in seventh with 53 per 1,000. Completing the top ten Blackpool in eighth, Blackburn in ninth, and Leeds in tenth.
Commenting on the study, a spokesperson for Nostrabet said: “Fans in Preston clearly love FPL almost as much as they love football itself. The city is part of a northern trend, with the data demonstrating how fantasy football is particularly popular in the north of the country, with Reading and Bristol the only southern cities in the top ten. Overall the figures show just how much Brits love FPL, with a combined 676,870 searches each month across the 32 towns and cities that we measured.”
The study was conducted by Nostrabet, a betting community site with sports experts at its core. Its team is compiled of professionals experienced in online sports betting acting as a trusted guide for the world of online bookmakers, odds and bonuses.
| Rank | City/Town | Population | Average monthly total FPL related searches | Searches per 1,000 people |
| 1 | Liverpool | 486,100 | 37,180 | 76.5 |
| 2 | Preston | 147,900 | 9,860 | 66.7 |
| 3 | Belfast | 345,418 | 21,410 | 62.0 |
| 4 | Manchester | 552,000 | 33,980 | 61.6 |
| 5 | Bristol | 472,400 | 26,530 | 56.2 |
| 6 | Newcastle upon Tyne | 300,200 | 16,340 | 54.4 |
| 7 | Reading | 174,200 | 9,230 | 53.0 |
| 8 | Blackpool | 141,100 | 6,140 | 43.5 |
| 9 | Blackburn | 154,800 | 6,550 | 42.3 |
| 10 | Leeds | 812,000 | 33,740 | 41.6 |
| 11 | Leicester | 368,600 | 14,500 | 39.3 |
| 12 | Aberdeen | 227,430 | 8,580 | 37.7 |
| 13 | Birmingham | 1,144,900 | 43,180 | 37.7 |
| 14 | Nottingham | 323,700 | 12,100 | 37.4 |
| 15 | Stoke‐on‐Trent | 258,400 | 9,040 | 35.0 |
| 16 | Caerdydd | 362,400 | 12,240 | 33.8 |
| 17 | Kingston upon Hull | 267,100 | 8,790 | 32.9 |
| 18 | Northampton | 245,899 | 7,950 | 32.3 |
| 19 | Burnley | 94,700 | 3,060 | 32.3 |
| 20 | Glasgow | 635,130 | 20,480 | 32.2 |
| 21 | Sheffield | 556,500 | 17,650 | 31.7 |
| 22 | Coventry | 345,300 | 10,890 | 31.5 |
| 23 | Derby | 261,400 | 7,810 | 29.9 |
| 24 | Edinburgh | 526,470 | 15,260 | 29.0 |
| 25 | London | 8,799,800 | 246,800 | 28.0 |
| 26 | Dundee | 147,720 | 4,060 | 27.5 |
| 27 | Portsmouth | 208,100 | 5,650 | 27.2 |
| 28 | Plymouth | 264,700 | 6,270 | 23.7 |
| 29 | Lancaster | 142,900 | 3,280 | 23.0 |
| 30 | Bradford | 546,400 | 12,180 | 22.3 |
| 31 | Brighton | 277,200 | 5,670 | 20.5 |
| 32 | East Kilbride | 75,310 | 470 | 6.2 |
