Sky Sports make key Newcastle United change which infuriates fans of Aston Villa, Brighton, West Ham and more

Sky Sports’ traditional big six of Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur has now been officially rebranded as the big seven to add Newcastle United to the list.

The move comes less than three years on from Newcastle’s takeover by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund in October 2021 and just over a year on from the Magpies’ return to the Champions League group stage for the first time since 2003.

PIF took charge of Newcastle at a time when they were winless in the league and looked destined for relegation, and have successfully finished fourth (2022/23) and seventh (2023/24) in their first two full seasons, thanks to the work of manager Eddie Howe.

Newcastle are the newest name to feature in Sky’s list of elite European clubs. Prior to Manchester City’s takeover in 2009, they referred to the top teams as simply the big four, before Spurs were also added to the list after a fruitful period under both Harry Redknapp and Mauricio Pochettino.

The most notable absentee from Sky Sports’ current list is Unai Emery’s Aston Villa side, who against the odds achieved a fourth place finish against the backdrop of also competing in the Europa Conference League. The West Midland’s side also finished seventh a year earlier during the 2022/23 season. Brighton and West Ham have also finished inside the top six within the last three seasons and have been left disappointed by their omission.

Villa head coach Unai Emery has dismissed the notion of the ‘big six’ with only one of the last five Premier League seasons seeing all six sides make up the top six. He refers to it simply as a top eight or ten given the vast competition that the division presents. He told reporters: “Now it is not a top six but a top seven, top eight or top 10.There are a lot of teams capable of targeting those positions and I want to add Aston Villa into it too.”

Historically speaking, since the start of the Premier League era, Newcastle have finished inside the top seven on 11 occasions, meanwhile Aston Villa have finished inside the top seven on 12 occasions, although this season marks their first in the Champions League group stage since 1983.

West Ham have finished inside the top seven on five occasions while Brighton have only achieved the feat once. Everton, who finished in the bottom half last season, have also finished inside the top seven on 11 occasions. Though they haven’t been in Europe since Ronald Koeman’s tenure in charge back in 2017.

Newcastle will have ambitions of returning to Europe this season after narrowly missing out on Europa Conference League football by the finest of margins after eighth place Manchester United’s FA Cup triumph over Manchester City at Wembley Stadium.