List of Premier League clubs
The following is a list of clubs who have played in the Premier League since its formation in 1992 to the current season.
As of the 2020–21 season, 49 teams have played in the Premier League. Forty-seven are based in England and two (Cardiff City and Swansea City) are located in Wales; they play in the English football league system for practical and historical reasons.
Preston North End are the only former top-flight First Division champions who have never played in the Premier League,[1] and are among 16 clubs who have played in the old First Division but not in the Premier League. By contrast, Barnsley, Bournemouth, Hull City, Reading, Swindon Town, and Wigan Athletic never played in the old First Division before being promoted to the Premier League.
Twelve of the 22 founder members of the Premier League are competing in the 2020–21 season. Six (Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur) have contested every season of the Premier League. The remaining six (Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Leeds United, Manchester City, Sheffield United and Southampton) were also founder members, though each team has been relegated at least once in the past.
One club, Brighton & Hove Albion, is not a founding member of the Premier League, but has not been relegated since its debut in the Premier League.
Table
All statistics here refer to time in the Premier League only, with the exception of 'Most Recent Finish' (which refers to all levels of play) and 'Last Promotion' (which refers to the club's last promotion from the second tier of English football). For the 'Top Scorer' column, those in bold still play in the Premier League for the club shown. Premier League teams playing in the 2020–21 season are indicated in bold, while founding members of the Premier League are shown in italics. A 'spell' refers to a number of consecutive seasons within the league, uninterrupted by relegation. If the longest spell is the current spell, this is shown in bold, and if the highest finish is that of the most recent season, then this is also shown in bold.
As of the 2006–07 season, former Premier League members were in all three divisions of the Football League for the first time following the relegation of Swindon Town to Football League Two. Since then, other former Premier League clubs relegated to League Two have included Bradford City, Portsmouth, Blackpool, Coventry City, Oldham Athletic and Bolton Wanderers. To date no former Premier League club has been relegated to the National League.
Crystal Palace and Norwich City and West Bromwich Albion have had the most separate spells in the Premier League, with five:
- All of Crystal Palace's spells, other than the latest, lasted a single season. The club were relegated at the end of the inaugural 1992–93 season, won the 1993–94 Football League First Division, and were then promoted to the Premier League for 1994–95 season. This was the only season when the Premier League had four relegation places, Palace finished fourth from bottom, and were relegated to First Division. At end of 1996–97 season, Palace promoted to the top flight (through the play-offs), then relegated the following season when they finished at bottom. They won the play–offs in 2003–04, relegated to the Championship the following season. They won the play-offs at the end of the 2012–13 season, and for the first time avoided relegation the following season.
- Norwich City's spells have lasted from one to three seasons in length.
Three clubs—Luton Town, Notts County and West Ham United—were in the top flight in 1991–92, and so took part in the original negotiations in 1991 that led to the formation of the Premier League, resigning their membership of The Football League along with the other 19 clubs in the top flight. However, the clubs were relegated that season and were thereby not founding Premier League members. Luton Town and Notts County have not returned to the top flight since, with both squads even dropping to the National League in 2009 and 2019, respectively. West Ham, in contrast, won promotion to the Premier League the following season.
Chart
Overview of clubs by season
Club | 92–93 | 93–94 | 94–95 | 95–96 | 96–97 | 97–98 | 98–99 | 99-00 | 00-01 | 01-02 | 02-03 | 03-04 | 04-05 | 05-06 | 06-07 | 07-08 | 08-09 | 09-10 | 10–11 | 11–12 | 12–13 | 13–14 | 14–15 | 15–16 | 16–17 | 17–18 | 18–19 | 19–20 | 20–21 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arsenal | 10 | 4 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 8 | |
Aston Villa | 2 | 10 | 18 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 17 | 20 | 17 | ||||
Barnsley | 19 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Birmingham City | 13 | 10 | 12 | 18 | 19 | 9 | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Blackburn Rovers | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 13 | 6 | 19 | 10 | 6 | 15 | 15 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 15 | 10 | 15 | 19 | |||||||||||
Blackpool | 19 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bolton Wanderers | 20 | 18 | 16 | 17 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 16 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 18 | ||||||||||||||||
Bournemouth | 16 | 9 | 12 | 14 | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bradford City | 17 | 20 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brighton & Hove Albion | 15 | 17 | 15 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Burnley | 18 | 19 | 16 | 7 | 15 | 10 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Cardiff City | 20 | 18 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Charlton Athletic | 18 | 9 | 14 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 13 | 19 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Chelsea | 11 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 4 | |
Coventry City | 15 | 11 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 11 | 15 | 14 | 19 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Crystal Palace | 20 | 19 | 20 | 18 | 11 | 10 | 15 | 14 | 11 | 12 | 14 | ||||||||||||||||||
Derby County | 12 | 9 | 8 | 16 | 17 | 19 | 20 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Everton | 13 | 17 | 15 | 6 | 15 | 17 | 14 | 13 | 16 | 15 | 7 | 17 | 4 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 12 | |
Fulham | 13 | 14 | 9 | 13 | 12 | 16 | 17 | 7 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 19 | 19 | |||||||||||||||
Huddersfield Town | 16 | 20 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hull City | 17 | 19 | 16 | 18 | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ipswich Town | 16 | 19 | 22 | 5 | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Leeds United | 17 | 5 | 5 | 13 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 15 | 19 | |||||||||||||||||
Leicester City | 21 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 13 | 20 | 18 | 14 | 1 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 5 | |||||||||||||||
Liverpool | 6 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | |
Manchester City | 9 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 9 | 16 | 8 | 15 | 14 | 9 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||
Manchester United | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 3 | |
Middlesbrough | 21 | 12 | 19 | 9 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 19 | 19 | ||||||||||||||
Newcastle United | 3 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 12 | 18 | 12 | 5 | 16 | 10 | 15 | 18 | 10 | 13 | 13 | ||||
Norwich City | 3 | 12 | 20 | 19 | 12 | 11 | 18 | 19 | 20 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Nottingham Forest | 22 | 3 | 9 | 20 | 20 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Oldham Athletic | 19 | 21 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Portsmouth | 13 | 16 | 17 | 9 | 8 | 14 | 20 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Queens Park Rangers | 5 | 9 | 8 | 19 | 17 | 20 | 20 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Reading | 8 | 18 | 19 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sheffield United | 14 | 20 | 18 | 9 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sheffield Wednesday | 7 | 7 | 13 | 15 | 7 | 16 | 12 | 19 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Southampton | 18 | 18 | 10 | 17 | 16 | 12 | 17 | 15 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 14 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 17 | 16 | 11 | ||||||||
Stoke City | 12 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 13 | 19 | |||||||||||||||||||
Sunderland | 18 | 7 | 7 | 17 | 20 | 20 | 15 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 13 | 17 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 20 | |||||||||||||
Swansea City | 11 | 9 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 15 | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Swindon Town | 22 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tottenham Hotspur | 8 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 14 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | |
Watford | 20 | 20 | 13 | 17 | 14 | 11 | 19 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
West Bromwich Albion | 19 | 17 | 19 | 20 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 17 | 13 | 14 | 10 | 20 | |||||||||||||||||
West Ham United | 13 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 15 | 7 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 10 | 9 | 17 | 20 | 10 | 13 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 16 | |||||
Wigan Athletic | 10 | 17 | 14 | 11 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 18 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Wimbledon | 12 | 6 | 9 | 14 | 8 | 15 | 16 | 18 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Wolverhampton Wanderers | 20 | 15 | 17 | 20 | 7 | 7 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Club | 92–93 | 93–94 | 94–95 | 95–96 | 96–97 | 97–98 | 98–99 | 99-00 | 00-01 | 01-02 | 02-03 | 03-04 | 04-05 | 05-06 | 06-07 | 07-08 | 08-09 | 09-10 | 10–11 | 11–12 | 12–13 | 13–14 | 14–15 | 15–16 | 16–17 | 17–18 | 18–19 | 19–20 | 20–21 |
Legend
Qualified for European Cup/UEFA Champions League
Qualified for UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League
Qualified for UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
Qualified for UEFA Intertoto Cup
Participated in Premier League
Relegated from Premier League
Did not participate in Premier League
|
Location of all clubs who have competed in the Premier League
Where a club has played at multiple locations, the current location is shown (if they are a current Premier League member), or the location they playing at during the last Premier League season they competed in (if they are currently in the lower divisions).
West Midlands (5) |
Clubs who have competed in the top flight First Division, but not the Premier League
Notes
- Arsenal finished 5th in Division Two in the 1914–15 season, but the Football League was then suspended until 1919–20 due to the First World War. After the war, Division One was expanded from 20 to 22 clubs and Arsenal was elected to the First Division for the 1919–20 season.
- Wimbledon relocated from London to Milton Keynes in 2003, and renamed themselves Milton Keynes Dons a year later.
- Throughout their time in the Premier League, Wimbledon played their home games at Selhurst Park, the home of Crystal Palace.
- The Accrington Stanley club competing today in League One, as well as its 1891 predecessor, are unrelated to the original Accrington club.
- The original Bradford Park Avenue went into liquidation in May 1974 and reformed as a Sunday league club. The club was refounded in 1988.
- Bury was expelled from the EFL on 27 August 2019.[2]
- The original Darwen F.C. was wound up in May 2009. A.F.C. Darwen was formed as a phoenix club the same month.
References
- "Football Trivia Question of the Day January 2012 Archive". My Football Facts & Stats. January 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
- "Bury expelled by English Football League after takeover collapses". BBC Sport. 28 August 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.