It was the inaugural winner of the Sport’s network’s but again this year Manchester has be usurped for the prize of top U.K. Sports City.
Liverpool, our nearest neighbors and rivals, after respectable sixth and fourth-place finishes in the first two years of the rankings, the city takes over from last year’s winner Leicester.
The win follows a year which has seen the city regain its sporting confidence after Liverpool FC qualified for the Champions League for only the second time since 2009, while Everton were resurgent under Ronald Koeman.
The city scored top marks for Atmosphere, and ranked in the top five for key factors including Community (4th), Social (4th), Choice (2nd), Venues (3rd), and History (3rd).
Manchester remains in second place for the second consecutive year. It ranks as the best city for Local talent, regaining the accolade from Leicester. It also moved up to 2nd in the Success factor, from eighth last year, driven by Manchester United’s League Cup and Europa League wins.
Last year’s winning city, Leicester, fell to 12th this year, mirroring Leicester City FC’s performance in the Premier League, where they also finished in 12th just one season after their shock title win.
With London in third place, completing the top five are a Yorkshire duo, with Leeds in fourth, moving up a place after finishing fifth in the past two years of the study, followed by Sheffield, which has jumped 13 places up the rankings from 18th.
