The Built Different Index: Weatherproof

Weatherproof combines two Built Different factors: Average Windspeed and Rainfall vs Win Percentage. It rewards clubs that regularly play in tougher weather and still manage to get results.

The windspeed factor measures how exposed each ground is. The rainfall score then multiplies regional annual rainfall by a club’s five-season average win percentage, effectively measuring the volume of rain conquered.

Put them together and you get a table for teams that do not merely tolerate bad weather. They make it useful.

The ranking covers the 92 clubs competing across the Premier League and EFL in the 2025/26 season. The rainfall calculation uses a five-season average win percentage, while windspeed is based on conditions at each ground.

Plymouth are built for weather warnings

Plymouth Argyle top Weatherproof with a weighted score of 354, climbing five places from their overall Built Different ranking.

Home Park gives them a strong blend of both factors. Plymouth sit high for wind exposure and also rank fourth in the rainfall-versus-winning measure, with roughly 1,000mm of annual rainfall and a 52% five-season win rate.

They are not top because they have the worst weather, nor because they win the most. They win because they combine enough of both.

Plymouth’s football calendar already involves thousands of travel miles. Apparently the home fixtures needed an endurance element too.

Wrexham turn Welsh rain into second place

Wrexham finish second with a weighted score of 348, climbing 19 places.

Their biggest strength is the rainfall calculation. Around 1,000mm of annual rain, combined with a 65% win rate, gave them the second-highest Rainfall Index in the country.

The wind adds enough extra difficulty to keep them near the top here. Wrexham have spent recent seasons making rapid progress. This table suggests they have done plenty of it while damp.

Swansea complete a very Welsh podium

Swansea City rank third with a weighted score of 346, just two points behind Wrexham.

They sit second in the individual windspeed table and also benefit from approximately 1,050mm of annual rainfall. Their five-season win rate of 42% is lower than Wrexham’s, but the sheer amount of rain keeps the score high.

Two Welsh clubs in the top three feels appropriate. One more and the Met Office would have started demanding a trophy presentation.

Blackpool remain exactly where you would expect

Blackpool sit fourth with a score of 342, rising 11 places.

Bloomfield Road is one of the windiest grounds in the country, and the North West rainfall gives them plenty to work with. Their 45% win rate across roughly 980mm of rain also put them ninth in the individual rainfall ranking.

This is perhaps the least surprising result in the whole Index.

Blackpool. Seafront. Wind. Rain arriving horizontally.

Nobody needed a data model to see it coming, but it is nice when the numbers respect tradition.

Newport make a huge jump

Newport County climb 46 places to seventh, with a weighted score of 329.

They receive around 1,100mm of annual rainfall, one of the highest totals in the table, and pair it with a 40% win rate. Their location also gives them enough wind exposure to strengthen the combined score.

Newport’s result shows why Weatherproof is more revealing than either factor alone. They are not the best wind team or the best rain-conquering team, but they are difficult enough across both to reach the top ten.

Oldham are the biggest risers

The largest jump belongs to Oldham Athletic, who rise 70 places from 88th overall to 18th.

Their rainfall score does most of the damage. Around 950mm of annual rain, multiplied by a 45% win rate, moved them to 13th in that factor. Add the conditions at Boundary Park and their Weatherproof profile becomes far stronger than their overall Index position suggests.

This is the beauty of the combined indices. Oldham are not merely wet. They are productively wet.

Manchester City are only 13th

Manchester City topped the Rainfall vs Win Percentage factor thanks to an enormous 78% five-season win rate in a region receiving roughly 867mm of rain.

Yet they sit only 13th in Weatherproof, with a weighted score of 296.

The reason is wind. The Etihad does not rank anywhere near the most exposed grounds, so City’s elite rain-conquering score is held back by relatively ordinary wind conditions.

They are exceptional in the wet. The breeze is doing them no favours.

Tranmere are quietly excellent in bad weather

Tranmere Rovers climb 67 places, one of the largest rises in the table, with a weighted score of 285.

Prenton Park ranked ninth for windspeed, while Tranmere’s rainfall score also benefited from North West conditions.

They do not dominate either factor outright, but the combination works.

The Wirral: not quite coastal glamour, very much coastal inconvenience.

Sunderland fall hardest

The biggest drop belongs to Sunderland, who fall 60 places from 18th overall to 78th. Their rainfall score is the lowest of all 92 clubs. Around 650mm of rain, multiplied by a five-season win rate of 28%, produced an index of just 182.

Their wind result does not recover enough ground, leaving them with a weighted Weatherproof score of 84.

This is the cruel part of the calculation. Difficult conditions only help when you win in them.

Otherwise, it is just weather.

Shrewsbury finish third-bottom

Shrewsbury Town sit 90th with a weighted score of 42.

They do not score strongly enough for wind exposure, and their rainfall calculation is limited by a 35% win rate across roughly 700mm of annual rain.

The weather is neither extreme enough nor sufficiently conquered.

That puts them in the statistical no-man’s-land of being damp, but not Built Different damp.

Cambridge stay dry and stay low

Cambridge United finish 91st with a weighted score of 40.

Their rainfall total is around 580mm, the lowest shown in the individual factor, while their five-season win rate is 38%.

That gives the formula almost nothing to work with. Cambridge are relatively dry and not winning often enough to compensate.

Pleasant conditions, terrible index strategy.

Nottingham Forest finish bottom

At the foot of Weatherproof are Nottingham Forest, with a weighted score of 37. They drop 12 places from their overall position.

Forest’s regional rainfall is around 710mm, but their five-season win rate of 34% leaves them near the bottom of the rainfall table. The City Ground also does not score highly for windspeed, so there is no second factor available to rescue them.

Forest performed brilliantly in The Twelfth Man because the ground is full and the local support is dense.

Weatherproof asks a different question.

Apparently the crowd is more intimidating than the climate.

What Weatherproof tells us

Plymouth win because they combine genuine wind exposure with a strong record in heavy rainfall. Wrexham and Swansea follow through slightly different routes: Wrexham bring the higher win rate, while Swansea bring more weather.

At the bottom, Shrewsbury, Cambridge and Forest do not have enough of either ingredient. The grounds are not among the most wind-exposed, and the rainfall calculations fail to produce much lift.

Weatherproof is not measuring who plays the prettiest football. It is measuring who can still play their football when the corner flag is horizontal, the pitch is shining and everyone in row one regrets not bringing waterproof trousers.

A proper football test.

Completely unreasonable.

Perfect for the Built Different Index.

The Full Table