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List of Premier League clubs
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The following is a list of clubs who have played in the Premier League since its formation in 1992.
Over that span, 51 teams have played in the Premier League, two of which (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] they are among a group of fourteen clubs, twelve of which are active, that 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 in 1993, 1997, 2005, 2006, 2008, and 2015 respectively.
Eleven of the 22 founder members of the Premier League will compete in the 2025–26 season. Six (Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur) have contested every season of the Premier League. The remaining five (Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Leeds United, Manchester City and Nottingham Forest), were also founder members, though each team has been relegated at least once in the past. Two clubs, Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford, are not founding members of the Premier League, but have not been relegated since making their debuts in the Premier League after promotion in 2017 and 2021, respectively.
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Table
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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 current season or confirmed for the next 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.
The 2006–07 season marked the first occasion former Premier League members were in all three divisions of the Football League following the relegation of Swindon Town to 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. Oldham became the first former Premier League club to be relegated to the National League during the 2022–23 season.[2]
Norwich City have had the most separate spells in the Premier League, with six, which 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. West Ham won promotion to the Premier League the following season. Notts County has not returned to the top flight since, even dropping to the National League in 2019. Luton Town also dropped to the National League in 2009, but managed to return to the Football League in 2014 and won promotion to the Premier League in 2023 after play-offs.
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Chart
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 played at during the most recent Premier League season they competed in (if they are currently in the lower divisions).
  North West England (5) West Midlands (5) Yorkshire (6) Location of Premier League clubs since 1992 Current members (2025–26) in bold |
North West England South Yorkshire West Yorkshire |
Clubs who have competed in the top flight First Division, but not the Premier League
 Clubs who have competed in the top flight First Division, but not the Premier League |
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Overall number of seasons in First Division and Premier League
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The number of seasons that each team has played in the top division between 1888–89 and 2024–25. A total of 65 teams have competed in at least one season of the top division. No team has participated in all 126 seasons; Everton have been absent for the fewest seasons, missing just four for a total of 122 seasons in the top flight. Teams in bold participate in the 2024–25 Premier League. Teams in italic have never competed in the Premier League, only the old First Division.
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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.
- For the entirety of 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 Two, 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.
- The original Bury F.C. was expelled from the EFL on 27 August 2019.[3] Bury A.F.C. was formed as a phoenix club in December of the same year. Following FA approval of a June 2023 merger between Bury F.C. and Bury A.F.C., the two teams' histories were combined, retroactively counting Bury A.F.C.'s seasons as seasons for Bury F.C.
- The original Darwen F.C. was wound up in May 2009.[4] A.F.C. Darwen was formed as a phoenix club the same month.
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References
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