Liverpool is No1 location for homegrown Premier League players - and London only 9th

EXCLUSIVE: Liverpool is the UK's hotbed of homegrown Premier League talent, with the north west city miles clear of London in new data released from sports platform OLBG

Posted Wednesday, November 17, 2021 by Dailystar.co.uk

Liverpool is top of the pile when it comes to homegrown talent in the Premier League, according to new research.

The north west city is best known for giving the world the Beatles, but it turns out they do pretty good line in footballers too.

Sports platform OLBG has worked that from a population of 498,043, Liverpool has produced an impressive 35 top-flight stars.

They include Reds ace Trent Alexander-Arnold, Wolves captain Conor Coady and Chelsea midfielder Ross Barkley among others.

The figure accounts for 3 percent of the total British representation in the league as a whole - more than any other city in the UK.

Liverpool is No1 location for homegrown Premier League players - and London only 9th
Liverpool has a lot to be proud about when it comes to homegrown footballers

That's according to the Football Hotbeds study from OLBG, which has delved into the birthplaces of more than 1,000 British-born players to feature in the Premier League over the last 30 years.

Merseyside as a whole accounts for 50 players, putting it second only to Greater London (103) in the regional table.

As well as current talents like Reece James, Luke Shaw and Emile Smith Rowe, the long line of Premier League stars to have hailed from the capital city include Sol Campbell, Rio Ferdinand and Tony Adams.

Liverpool is No1 location for homegrown Premier League players - and London only 9th
Trent Alexander-Arnold is the poster boy for Liverpudlian talent

Interestingly, the South London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Richmond, Southwark, Sutton, Wandsworth provided 51 of Greater London’s Premier League representatives, making it something of a football hotbed.

The City of London, however, has only produced 11 Premier League players, putting it ninth on the list of towns and cities, excluding regions as a whole.

Delving a little further into the data, Liverpool leads the way in two key positions - defenders and midfielders.

Liverpool is No1 location for homegrown Premier League players - and London only 9th
Greater London has produced its fair share of talent, including Rio Ferdinand (Image: Getty Images)

The likes of Alexander-Arnold, team-mate Curtis Jones and Everton star Anthony Gordon are among those currently plying their trade in the top-flight.

The research also found that Everton have fielded more Liverpool-born players than their cross-city rivals, while Manchester City and Manchester United are neck-and-neck with four stars apiece who were born in Manchester.

Manchester itself is third on the all-time list with 28 Premier League players, putting it above Sheffield (23) and Nottingham (18) but below the 31 from Birmingham.

England's second city has produced nine strikers, more than any other UK rival, with former Aston Villa and England forward Gabby Agbonlahor among them.

Liverpool is No1 location for homegrown Premier League players - and London only 9th
Birmingham has a habit of producing attacking talent like Gabby Agbonlahor (Image: AFP/Getty Images)

Of the current crop of Premier League clubs, four have yet to field a player born born in their respective town or city across the past 30 seasons.

Even after his failed move to Manchester City, Spurs fans may like to claim that Harry Kane is one of their own, but the 28-year-old was actually born in Walthamstow, not Tottenham.

The rest of the clubs in the top division this season account for 4.5 percent of all British players to have played in the Premier League since its formation in 1992.