Spanish champions Barcelona and Italian treble winners Internazionale share top spot in the latest list produced by the by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics, which takes into account matches played between August 1 2009 and July 30 2010 in domestic league, domestic cup and continental cup competitions.Champions League finalists Bayern Munich are in third place, with Premier League champions Chelsea the highest-placed English side in joint fourth alongside Werder Bremen and Roma.
But the biggest surprise is the presence of the Cottagers in the top 10, a result which is mainly down to their surprise run to the final of the Europa League last season.
Fulham come in at number nine in the latest rankings, leaving them ahead of both 10th-placed United and Arsenal in 11th.
The next-highest English club are Liverpool, who are down in 26th place behind the likes of A**x, Anderlecht and Benfica - with the Reds' Merseyside neighbours Everton the following Premier League club in 54th.
But it's not only Fulham who have sprung a surprise: Jose Mourinho's new club Real Madrid are down in a lowly 20th place despite their near-miss in La Liga last season, while Juventus and AC Milan are both outside the top 40. Manchester City are down in 142nd, 14 places behind Dundee United.
IFFHS Club World Rankings
1 --- Barcelona --- Spain
= --- Internazionale --- Italy
3 --- Bayern Munich --- Germany
4 --- Werder Bremen --- Germany
= --- AS Roma --- Italy
= --- Chelsea --- England
7 --- Atletico Madrid --- Spain
8 --- Lyon --- France
9 --- Fulham --- England
10 --- Manchester United --- England
11 --- Arsenal --- England
12 --- Estudiantes --- Argentina
13 --- Valencia --- Spain
14 --- Universidad de Chile --- Chile
15 --- Bordeaux --- France
16 --- Sevilla --- Spain
17 --- Lille --- France
18 --- A**x --- Netherlands
19 --- Club Libertad --- Paraguay
20 --- Anderlecht --- Belgium
= --- Real Madrid --- Spain
Selected others
26 --- Liverpool --- England
38 --- FC Twente --- Netherlands
41 --- Juventus --- Italy
52 --- AC Milan --- Italy
54 --- Everton --- England
66 --- Celtic --- Scotland
75 --- Aston Villa --- England
91 --- Tottenham Hotspur --- England
116 --- Rangers --- Scotland
128 --- Dundee United --- Scotland
142 --- Manchester City --- England
