Useful Notes / The Football Association

The governing body of football in England, the Football Association (or FA), dates back to 1863; it's the oldest national football association in the world and as such, doesn't need to use the word "English" in its title. Prince William is its President and has been since 2006. England also has the oldest professional football league which was founded in 1888, initially with twelve teams. It's been known by various names over the years due to sponsorship reasons, but since 2016 it's simply been branded as the English Football League (EFL). The Premier League split from the Football League in 1992 in order to take advantage of a lucrative TV deal with Sky, leading to a confusing re-numbering of the three lower divisions; the Second Division became the First Division, etc. Nowadays, the (old) Second Division is called the Championship, the Third is League One and the Fourth is League Two. The creation of the Premier League has led some commentators to disregard any League-related stats from before 1992 when referring to the top division, which generally does not go down well with most fans. Between them, the Premier League and the EFL have 92 teams ^note  (readers from North America should note that there is promotion and relegation between the divisions, and the 'big' teams aren't exempt from this; even Manchester United spent some time in the Second Division in the 1970s). Promotion and relegation are determined by the end-of-season positions, but since the late 1980s one promotion place from each division is decided according to a playoff between the four clubs that finish just below the automatic promotion spots (this was introduced to make it more interesting for more clubs over the course of the season). The play-offs, consisting of two two-leg semi-finals and a final at Wembley, take place at the end of the season. It is therefore possible for a team finishing sixth in the Championship or League One (or seventh in League Two) to be promoted rather than the clubs finishing immediately above them in the standings.

Below League Two is that entity known as "non-league" which encompasses everything from professional clubs that used to be in the League (and would like to be so again) through the semi-professional sides in regional feeder leagues right down to amateur Sunday morning sides. The highest non-league division is called the National League (confusing, right?) which used to be called the Football Conference and may still be referred to as such. Since 1987, whoever finishes bottom of what's now League Two gets relegated to this ^note  prior to that, the team at the bottom of the Football League had to apply for the possible lifeline that was re-election to the League ; since 2003, it's been the bottom two. In return, the top two non-league clubs get promoted to the League.

In addition to the league structure, there are two major knock-out tournaments which offer clubs an additional chance for some silverware - the FA Cup (the oldest national football competition in the world, dating back to 1871) and the EFL Cup (founded in the 1960 and historically the League Cup; it's had many names over the years due to sponsorship - Coca-Cola Cup, Carling Cup, etc; nowadays, it's the Carabao Cup). Both of these tournaments have their finals at Wembley. The FA Cup is by far the more prestigious of the two and is open to non-league clubs which, due to the random nature of the draw, can and sometimes do get the chance to play against the big teams (although actual acts of giant-killing are relatively rare, there's usually at least one solid upset a season). Any club that wins the League (or, since 1992, the Premier League) and the FA Cup in the same season is said to have done the "Double". Manchester United managed a "Treble" in 1999 (Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League), a unique feat until it was repeated by Manchester City in 2023, while the only instance of a domestic "Treble" (Premier League, FA Cup, EFL Cup) was that of Manchester City in 2019.^note  At least in men's football; in the women's game, Arsenal (three times) and Chelsea (once) have both achieved this. There's also the FA Community Shield (formerly known as the Charity Shield ^note  the proceeds from this match have always gone to football charities, but it had to be renamed in 2002 after the Charity Commissioners found that the FA had breached the charity laws by failing to specify how much of the ticket money went to charity, and by delaying payments to some charities ) which acts as the traditional curtain-raiser for a new season and is contested between the previous season's Premier League Champions and FA Cup winners; opinion varies as to whether it's a glorified friendly or a serious contest. Clubs in League One and League Two contest the EFL Trophy (which, like the League Cup, has had various names due to sponsors - Auto Windscreens Shield, Johnstone's Paint Trophy, etc - but is currently the Papa Johns Trophy); like winning one of the lower divisions, this tends not to be regarded as a major trophy.

Historically, which clubs get to be defined as "big" clubs has varied as fortunes have tended to fluctuate - although most lists made over the past half-century or so have invariably included the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United. In the early 2000s, the talk was of the Big Four (those three, plus Chelsea), while more recently the talk has been of the Big Six (those four, plus Manchester City and Spurs). In April 2021, these clubs were given several more derisive nicknames — "Selfish Six", "Dirty Half-Dozen", etc — after they signed up to a proposed new European Super League alongside three Italian clubs (AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus) and three Spanish clubs (Atlético Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid). The ESL was widely regarded as a blatant money grab, as it would have featured only 20 teams, with the founder clubs guaranteed permanent places in the competition. It wasn't unanimously popular among big-name clubs; Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, and Paris Saint-Germain, all rumoured to have places set aside for them, opted out. Widespread outrage and condemnation followed from governing bodies, other clubs, supporters, politicians, pundits, the media and even many players of the clubs involved. Within 48 hours, the ESL had collapsed, with all six of the EPL sides withdrawing. The long-term consequences of this attempted breakaway and the resulting backlash remain to be seen.

Prior to this, in the late 20th century, there was often talk of a Big Five comprising Liverpool, Everton, Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham. These five remain the only clubs to have been in the top flight continuously since at least the 1970s. (In the case of Arsenal, since the 1910s.)

One last thing worth noting is that while the FA is responsible for managing football in England, a number of Welsh teams fall under its jurisdiction and thus play in the English football pyramid and are mentioned here.

Notable Teams in the Football Association:

Current Premier League clubs

Arsenal

North London forever!

Year Established: 1886
Nickname: The Gunners^note Fans refer to themselves as Gooners. Please note that this is unrelated to the NSFW slang term "gooner" which entered the lexicon well after the fans took up the nickname. That being said, this hasn't stopped them from being the first to crack jokes about it.
Kit: Red shirts with white sleeves, white shorts
Current Owner: Stan Kroenke
Current Manager: Mikel Arteta
Current Captain: Martin Ødegaard
Current Stadium: Emirates Stadium^note Capacity: 60,260. Emirates Airlines is the current sponsor; the stadium's sponsor-less name is Ashburton Grove.
2022/23 Position: 2nd in Premier League
Premier League Tenure: 1991-
Highest Finish: 1st (1997/98, 2001/02 and 2003/04^note Only undefeated season in Premier League history)
First Division/Premier League Titles: 13; 1930–31, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1937–38, 1947–48, 1952–53, 1970–71, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2003–04
FA Cups: 14; 1929–30, 1935–36, 1949–50, 1970–71, 1978–79, 1992–93, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2019–20
Other Domestic Trophies: 1986–87 & 1992–93 EFL Cups; 1930, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1938, 1948, 1953, 1991,[note 9] 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2020, & 2023 FA Community Shields; Football League Centenary Trophy^note A one-time tournament in 1988-89 to commemorate the Football League's 100th anniversary
Continental Trophies: 1969–70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup; 1993–94 UEFA Cup Winner's Cup

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Was British-owned until late in 2010 when American billionaire Stan Kroenke (who also owns the LA Rams and an MLS team) launched a takeover of the club, and as of July 2021 is completely owned by Kroenke. Have not won the Premiership since 2004 and since them have come 4th six times, 3rd four, 2nd twice, dropping as far as 8th (twice in a row), and most recently 5th. However, the last time they won it they went unbeaten.

Arsenal has a large and diverse fanbase, including people such as Nick Hornby (whose memoir Fever Pitch, a key element in the early-to-mid 1990s football literature boom, was all about his experiences as an Arsenal fan in the 1970s and 1980s), Lewis Hamilton, Idris Elba, the late unlamented Osama bin Laden, Jeremy Corbyn (the local MP), his replacement as British Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer, broadcaster Robert Peston, celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott, several African heads of state, Anne Hathaway, Nicholas Galitzine, and even (so rumour has it) Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Historically (if you go back to the origins) the Gunners originate from South of the River at the Royal Arsenal (munitions works) in Woolwich, hence both the name and the gun logo. They were the first London club to turn professional (in 1891) and the first southern team to join the Football League (in 1893). They relocated to North London in 1913. They also hold the record for the longest continued streak in the top division, currently at over a hundred years and counting ^note  following a hiatus of professional football during World War I, Arsenal, who'd finished fifth in the Second Division in the last completed season (1914-15), were voted into the newly-expanded First Division for the 1919-20 season, much to the fury of North London rivals Spurs, who'd finished bottom of the First Division in 1914-15 and now found themselves relegated to the Second .

In recent history, Arsenal were once considered a dull defensive side under George Graham in the late 80s and early 90s, to the point where opposing fans would cheer "Boring, Boring Arsenal!". Following Graham's sacking and the hire of then-unknown Frenchman Arsène Wenger, Arsenal completely changed their style into an attacking team full of intricate passing and teamwork, a style nicknamed "Wengerball". For the first ten years of Wenger's tenure, Arsenal were dominant, winning the Premier League title three times (the third being unbeaten), four FA Cups (the first two being won the same year as their first two League titles), and even reached a Champions League final, which they lost to Barcelona. Following this, work was begun on a new stadium, and Arsenal seemed destined to join Europe's elite in terms of team and stadium quality. However, a combination of the stadium's finances, Chelsea's emergence, and sheer bad luck caused Arsenal to slide into perennial 3rd/4th-place finishes. They won three more FA Cups in four years under Wenger in the mid 10s and come oh-so-close to winning another League Title, but would ultimately fall short. In 2017, Arsenal would finish outside the Top 4 for the first time in decades, and Wenger would ultimately step down after the 2017/18 season.

His replacement, Unai Emery, seemed to initially return Arsenal to success, with a 22-match unbeaten run that saw them competing for the title against a dominant Manchester City and a resurgent Liverpool, but then they collapsed again, falling out of the Top 4 and losing in the Europa League final to Chelsea by a score of 4-1. The next season, a string of bad performances would lead to Emery's sacking. Arsenal would then hire former captain Mikel Arteta, who again seemed to get the Gunners moving in the right direction, winning an FA Cup in his first season, but the second season would see a truly woeful campaign for the first half, from which they were ultimately unable to claw back in the 2020/21 campaign. As things stand, Arsenal are in the process of a long rebuild, where long serving favourites like Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were exiled and had their contracts terminated due to poor attitudes, whilst up-and-coming signings such as Aaron Ramsdale, Martin Ødegaard and Thomas Partey joined academy prospects Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe - the signs are promising, having missed out on the Champions League by a mere two points in 2022, but 2022/23 has seen Arsenal return to being a juggernaut of English football, building a sizable lead between themselves and Manchester City in second, and delivering excellent performances even in their single defeat thus far in the season but tossing all opposition by the wayside en route to their current dominance. Ultimately, although they held onto the top spot until April, five defeats in the second half of the season gave Manchester City the opportunity to leapfrog them, with Arsenal finishing the season in second place.

Any questions as to whether this was merely a purple patch seem to have been answered in the negative in 2023/24, where with 9 games to go, Arsenal are in 2nd place, two points behind a Liverpool team powered by their desire to complete one last dance for beloved outgoing manager Jurgen Klopp, and one point ahead of Manchester City, who are doing their usual Terminator impersonation, and competing fiercely with both, convincingly beating Liverpool 3-1 to deal out one of their two league losses so far (the other, a 2-1 defeat courtesy of Tottenham, required an incorrectly disallowed Liverpool goal, two dubious Liverpool red cards, and a very unfortunate Liverpool own goal with the last kick of the game), and preventing City from scoring at home for the first time in 3 years in a determined draw over Easter. They were considered the least-likely of the three teams to end up winning the Prem, and they may not with City holding an extra game to play, but they soldiered on despite a stumble and look set to push City to the final day, as if to declare that they would not be going away any time soon.

Their Arch-Enemy is Tottenham Hotspur, a derby that has led to classic matches in both league and cup competitions. Matches against Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea are also Serious Business to Arsenal's fans.

As noted above, Arsenal were one of the "ESL Six" that attempted a breakaway from the UEFA Champions League, only to back out with their tails between their legs within 48 hours.

Aston Villa

Every week we follow,
The boys in claret and blue!

Year Established: 1874
Nickname: The Villans
Kit: Claret (not purple!) shirts with sky-blue sleeves, white shorts (which West Ham copied)
Current Owners: Nassef Sawiris and Wesley Edens
Current Manager: Unai Emery
Current Captain: John McGinn
Current Stadium: Villa Park^note Capacity: 42,660
2022/23 Position: 7th in Premier League
Premier League Tenure: 1992-2016, 2019-
Highest Premier League Finish: 2nd (1992/93)
First Division Titles: 7; 1893–94, 1895–96, 1896–97, 1898–99, 1899–1900, 1909–10, 1980–81
FA Cups: 1886–87, 1894–95, 1896–97, 1904–05, 1912–13, 1919–20, 1956–57
Other Domestic Trophies: 1937–38 & 1959–60 Second Division Champions; 1971–72 Third Division Champions; 1960–61, 1974–75, 1976–77, 1993–94, & 1995–96 EFL Cups; 1981 FA Charity Shield; 1899 & 1901 Sheriff of London Charity Shields
European Trophies: 1981–82 European Cup; 1982 European Super Cup; 2001 Intertoto Cup

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Birmingham-based Premier League side.

One of the twelve founder members of the Football League, Villa dominated English football in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, winning the League six times and the FA Cup five times (including one Double in 1897, making them the second club to achieve that feat) prior to World War I. Since then, they've had their ups and downs, being the first-ever winners of the League Cup in 1961, getting relegated six years later, spending time in the Third Division in the early 1970s, coming back from that to win the European Cup in 1982 and then getting relgated again five years after that. Since the formation of the Premier League they have rarely looked like title contenders.

After manager Martin O'Neill's departure in 2010, Villa tended to be lower mid-table and battling relegation. As of 2015/16, they lost that battle, spending the entire season rooted to the bottom of the table. They didn't display enough consistency to look like rebounding immediately, stuck in the middle of the Championship table with no real likelihood of placing in the top six. In 2018, they made the playoff final, but had to capitulate against Fulham; however, under the management of lifelong Villa fan Dean Smith, the side finally punched their ticket back to the Premier League by beating Derby County 2-1 in the playoff final in 2019.

Established themselves as a decent side in 2019/2020, before shocking the football world early in 2020/21 by emerging as an early title challenger and destroying the previously imperious reigning champions Liverpool 7-2 at Villa Park, one of only two five-goal league defeats Liverpool have suffered in 60 years. Normality subsequently reasserted itself, though, with a poor run of form dropping Villa into mid table, though still not out of the race for European spots entirely. After a run of losses, Smith was sacked, instantly going to Norwich, and Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard came in and pulled off improved results and coup signings, such as his former teammate Phillipe Coutinho.

Gerrard was sacked in October 2022 with the team in the relegation zone, to be replaced by former Arsenal boss Unai Emery, who proceeded to oversee a remarkable turnaround, with the club on course to finish the season in serious contention for the European qualification places for the first time since O'Neill's departure.

Fierce rivals (in the Second City Derby) with Birmingham City.

There are a lot of fictional Villa fans, including Private Pike from Dad's Army, Godber from Porridge and Nessa from Gavin & Stacey.

Real-life Villa fans include William, the Prince of Wales^note  according to William, among other things, the first match he attended was a Villa one, he loved the atmosphere, and he "desperately didn't want to support Man U or Chelsea like everyone else" and heavy metal legends like Ozzy Osbourne and Barney Greenway.

AFC Bournemouth

The Red Flag a Bournemouth!

Year Established: 1899
Kit: Red and black striped shirts
Nickname: The Cherries
Current Owner: Maxim Demin
Current Manager: Andoni Iraola
Current Captain: Neto
Current Stadium: Dean Court^note Capacity: 11,464
Premier League Tenure: 2015-2020, 2022-
Highest Premier League Finish: 9th (2016/17)
2022/23 Position: 15th in Premier League
Trophies Won: 2014–15 EFL Championship; 1986–87 Third Division Championship; 1983–84 Associate Members' Cup; 1945–46 Third Division South Cup

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An incredible story in its own right, this South Coast team spent most of their history floating around between the third and fourth tiers, the only exception being a brief spell in the second tier under Harry Redknapp in the late Eighties.

By the 2008/09 season they looked doomed to extinction, having started their League Two season on -17 points due to financial problems, but after appointing Eddie Howe as manager not only did they comfortably avoid relegation, they secured promotion the next season, and then promotion to the Championship in 2013.

They continued doing better and better until in the 2014/15 campaign, they sealed Premiership status for the very first time by winning the Championship. Their first few seasons saw them make higher and higher finishes, but come the 2018/19 season, they seemed to slump back into midtable form, before sliding even further in the 2019/20 season and despite a strong final day showing, were ultimately sent down. Earned a playoff spot the next season, but let a 2-0 aggregate lead slip in the away leg, losing out to Brentford. Had a strong 2021/22 campaign as well, gaining automatic promotion in early May. Following a 9-0 shellacking to Liverpool and only one win to open the season, however, Scott Parker was sacked in late August 2022. Following this, Bournemouth grabbed a few needed wins and briefly sat above Liverpool despite the earlier 9-0 thrashing.

However, normal service has since resumed, and the club found themselves battling relegation after the resumption of the Premier League - until an amazing turnaround in March and April, which started with them beating Liverpool and also included a comeback victory over Tottenham to lift themselves clear of the relegation battle and achieve survival. Despite this, manager Gary O'Neil was inexplicably sacked a few weeks after the end of the season, and replaced by Spaniard Andoni Iraola.

Started the 2023/24 season in dismal form, only taking 3 points from the first 9 matches, but results soon picked up, with impressive wins over Newcastle and Manchester United seeing them rise up the table to sit 14th at the end of February.

They regard Southampton as their main rivals, although the rivalry means much less to Southampton fans. Mutual rivalry with Reading. Strongly dislike Leeds United fans, after a Bournemouth v Leeds game on the May Bank Holiday weekend in 1990 was accompanied by Leeds followers going on the rampage and smashing up the town (resulting in the Dorset Police not allowing Bournemouth to play any home games on Bank Holiday weekends for thirteen years after).

Brentford

Buck up, B's!

Year Established: 1889
Nickname: The Bees
Kit: Red and white striped shirts, black shorts
Current Owner: Matthew Benham
Current Manager: Thomas Frank
Current Captain: Christian Nørgaard
Current Stadium: Brentford Community Stadium ^note Capacity: 17,250
2022/23 Position: 9th in Premier League
Premier League Tenure: 2021–
Highest Premier League Finish: 9th (2022/23)
Trophies Won: 1934–35 Second Division Champions; 1932–33 & 1991–92 Third Division Champions; 1962–63, 1998–99, & 2008–09 Fourth Division/League Two Champions; 1900–01 Southern League Second Division Champions; 1896–97 London League Second Division Champions; 1892–93 West London Alliance Champions; 1893–94 Middlesex Junior Cup; 1894–95 West Middlesex Cup; 1897–98 London Senior Cup; 1897–98 Middlesex Senior Cup; 1908–09 Southern Professional Charity Cup; 1910–11 Ealing Hospital Cup; 1934–35, 1964–65, & 1966–67 London Challenge Cup; 1928 Charity Fund Champions; 1918–19 London Combination Champions; 1941–42 London War Cup

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One of the oldest clubs in all of England, being founded in 1889. Brentford started as a local sportsman's attempt at a permanent team for either football or rugby in the town (one of several).

Brentford maintains rivalries with near-neighbours Fulham and QPR. They spent much of their existence in the lower two Football League divisions, although they were in the First Division for several seasons… in the 1930s. For over a century, their home games were at Griffin Park — a ground famous for having a pub on each corner — until their move to the Brentford Community Stadium which was completed in 2020.

Managed a few spells in the First Division, before being sent down permanently following World War II. Faced serious financial troubles between 1950 and 1970, before finally managing to stabilize and make their way into the Championship following the reorganization of the English Football League. They spent most of the subsequent time in League One, chasing a return to the Championship but failing and than being relegated to League Two in 2007, before returning to League One in 2009, but won their way back into the Championship in 2014, where they have remained ever since. Put together a solid campaign in the 2019/20 season despite the COVID-19 disruption, competing with West Brom, Leeds, and Fulham for automatic promotion and assuring themselves of a playoff place, though they ultimately lost to Fulham in the Final. The following year, went one better — beating Swansea City in the play-off final to secure promotion to the Premier League.

Began their PL campaign with a shock home win against Arsenal, and while it started to fizzle out in January, the team made headlines by giving a deal to Christian Eriksen, who had been able to return to football after making a full recovery from his horrible on-pitch cardiac arrest in Euro 2020, with a fitted cardioinverter device (he left his previous club Inter, as these devices are against Serie A rules, but fellow former Ajax player Daley Blind is another footballer that uses these, due to a heart condition).

Unsurprisingly given the footballing fairytale of their ascension to the Premier League, they've turned into something of a neutrals' favourite, and with their collection of results against the big London sides, they have seemingly thrown down the gauntlet for the seasons to come, a challenge which they backed up by demolishing Manchester United 4-0 in only 35 minutes in the second match of the season and taking points off of every Big Six team except Arsenal. This has allowed them to settle into comfortable midtable mediocrity while also jostling with the likes of Brighton, Liverpool, and Chelsea for a Conference or even Europa League spot. Started off well enough in 2023/24, but fell back to the bottom half of the table, just above the relegation scrap, where they sit at the tail end of March.

Rock star Rod Stewart trained with the club as a youth but was not given the chance to play even in a reserve team game so opted to concentrate on his music career.

Brighton & Hove Albion

We all follow Brighton and Hove Albion!

Year Established: 1901
Nickname: The Seagulls
Kit: Blue (sometimes blue and white striped) shirts, white shorts
Current Owner: Tony Bloom
Current Manager: Roberto de Zerbi
Current Captain: Lewis Dunk
Current Stadium: American Express Arena^note Capacity: 30,750. Current Sponsor is American Express; sponsor-less name is Falmer Stadium. Before you ask, no, the stadium is not named after the snow elves.
2022/23 Position: 6th in Premier League
Premier League Tenure: 2017–
Highest PL Finish: 6th (2022/23)
Trophies Won: 1957–58, 2001–02, & 2010–11 third-level champions; 1964–65 & 2000–01 fourth-level champions; 1910 FA Charity Shield; 1942–43, 1987–88, 1991–92, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1999–00, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2016–17, 2017–18, & 2021–22 Sussex Senior Challenge Cups; 1959–60 & 1960–61 The Sussex Royal Ulster Rifles Charity Cups

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Fierce rivals of Crystal Palace, on the grounds that they're the closest half-decent club. Palace fans reciprocate this and tend to regard Brighton as their main rivals, despite having several clubs of similar status much nearer.

Enjoyed prominence in the early 1980s, reaching the 1983 FA Cup final (which went to a replay before they lost to Manchester United). Subsequently slid down to the Fourth Division and narrowly avoided liquidation when their owners sold the ground to property developers, which required the club to play their home matches at Gillingham (some 70 miles from Brighton) for two seasons pending the upgrading of a local athletics stadium which served as their home until the new Falmer Stadium opened in 2011.

Come the 2016/17 campaign, they managed to dominate the Championship alongside Newcastle, where they were able to win the league and achieve promotion. They have established themselves as a lower-midtable side in the three seasons hence, and the AMEX has seemed to become a bogey ground for Manchester United.

In the 2018/19 campaign, the relegation battle stayed on until late in the season, but thanks to hated rivals Crystal Palace, Brighton survived the season and their PL status continued. They comfortably finished in midtable in the 2021/22 season, and opened the 2022–23 campaign with a shock 2–1 win at Old Trafford, putting new United manager Erik ten Hag firmly on the hot seat, before losing their manager Graham Potter to Chelsea, with his replacement being the Italian Roberto de Zerbi, who picked up right where Potter left off (including beating Potter's Chelsea 4-1 in their meeting), and managed to snag a Europa League spot at the end of the season for the first time in their history. The new season began with a blistering start but fell off toward the midway point, leaving them midtable in January, before picking up again, dragging them up to 7th and the outside of the European places. Their European adventures have been more spectacular, with some famous results at giants like Ajax, but the last 16 of the Europa League provided a brutal lesson in the form of a resurgent Roma, who hammered them 4-0.

Des Lynam, who grew up in the area and got his first broadcasting job with BBC Radio Brighton, is a fan. So is Fatboy Slim; his label, Skint Records, even sponsored the club during the Noughties.

Chelsea

Keep the blue flag flying high!

Year Established: 1905
Nickname: The Blues^note Sometimes additionally as the Lions, or formerly the Pensioners
Kit: Blue shirts and shorts, white socks
Current Owner: Todd Boehly
Current Manager: Mauricio Pochettino
Current Captain: Reece James
Current Stadium: Stamford Bridge^note Capacity: 41,798
2022/23 Position: 12th in Premier League
Premier League Tenure: 1992–
Hightest Premier League Finish: 1st (2004/05, 2005/06, 2009/10, 2014/15 and 2016/17)
First Division/Premier League Titles: 6; 1954–55, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2009–10, 2014–15, 2016–17
FA Cups: 8; 1969–70, 1996–97, 1999–2000, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2017–18
Other Domestic Trophies: 1983–84 & 1988–89 Second Division Championships; 1964–65, 1997–98, 2004–05, 2006–07, & 2014–15 EFL Cups; 1955, 2000, 2005, & 2009 FA Community Shields; 1985–86 & 1989–90 Full Members' Cups
Continental Trophies: 2011–12 & 2020–21 UEFA Champions League; 2012–13 & 2018–19 UEFA Europa League; 1970–71, 1997–98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cups; 1998 & 2021 UEFA Super Cups
Worldwide Trophies: 2021 FIFA Club World Cup

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A West London club nicknamed "The Blues" or rarely "The Pensioners" ^note (the Royal Hospital in Chelsea is a famous retirement home for veteran soldiers, who are known as 'Chelsea Pensioners'). The club was formed in 1904 by businessman Gus Mears after he'd bought Stamford Bridge (then an athletics stadium) with a view to turning it into a football ground; he originally offered the lease to Fulham, but when they turned him down he decided to form his own football club to play there ^note  he actually considered calling the club "London FC" before going with Chelsea . Despite having been owned by moneyed backers for most of the 21st century - Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich owned the club from 2003 until being forced to sell in 2022 thanks to Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, with the club being bought by US billionaire Todd Boehly^note who also owns the LA Dodgers - Chelsea had a reputation of being somewhat underachieving, though not to the degree of Arsenal. This finally broke for them when they won the Champions League in 2012.

Although their traditional rivals are Fulham, Chelsea fans tend to look down on their central London neighbors, instead regarding Arsenal or Spurs as their main rivals. Like Manchester City, fans of other sides find them controversial, due to Abramovich splashing money on the team, their (ab)use of the loaning system, and their penchant for "bus-parking" (playing heavily-defensive ball relying on the counter-attack), though Maurizio Sarri brought about a more attacking philosophy during his turn.

Had some bad luck in Europe in recent years, being knocked out of the UEFA Champions League semi-final stage more than once thanks to contentious decisions and match-ups with bogey team Liverpool, who tend to bring their A-Game for European matches. In the 2009 home leg against Barcelona, the referee missed several clear penalties and had to flee the UK after receiving death threats.

The term "Chelsea Smile" is sometimes used as a synonym for Glasgow Grin, from the days of rife hooliganism (the main characters in The Football Factory were Chelsea 'fans'), but this use has diminished significantly. Sadly, as one incident in early 2015 showed, some remnants of the hooliganism remain, as demonstrated after a tie against PSG.

They were the first London side to win the UEFA Champions League (2012), beating Barcelona in the semi-finals and winning a penalty shoot-out against Bayern Munich in their home ground, bucking the "trend" of the English succumbing to the Germans on penalties.

During the Abramovich years, in which he drowned the club with investment, Chelsea gained a reputation for paying absurdly high sums of money for players who turned out not to be worth that much for them.

• Take striker Andriy Shevchenko, whom Chelsea purchased for £30 million. His Chelsea career amounted to 77 games and 22 goals. The mathematically astute among you may have already calculated that this comes out to more than a million per goal.
• Similarly, striker Fernando Torres cost Chelsea a whopping £50 million, and did not, for the most part, live up to expectations, with 45 goals in 172 games, though one of these goals was in the 2013 Europa League Final, in which Chelsea defeated Benfica 2-1. ^note  And Torres and Shevchenko are quite good friends in retirement
  • In all fairness, it should be noted that both Shevchenko and Torres were seen as among the best strikers in the world when they were bought - both Shevchenko and Torres regularly scored over 25 goals per season for their previous teams (Shevchenko for Dynamo Kyiv and AC Milan, Torres for Atletico Madrid and Liverpool). In the years prior to their signings, Shevchenko had won several trophies in Italy and the 2004 Ballon d'Or, while Torres had powered his country to the 2008 European Championship title, scoring the winning goal in the final, before helping them win the 2010 World Cup.

During Abramovich's tenure, the Chelsea manager's job also became notorious for its short tenure, with fifteen managers in his nineteen seasons in charge, with Abramovich gaining a reputation for demanding success and quickly firing managers who can't provide it constantly. To put that into perspective, Chelsea have spent more money on compensating their sacked managers than Everton have spent since the Premier League began. Bucking the trend, he was actually remarkably patient with José Mourinho, despite the fact that Chelsea went into a tailspin and the manager seemed to lose the dressing room after verbally abusing and firing the popular (and attractive) team doctor, despite the fact that their title defence morphed into only half-joking cracks about them fighting relegation, before firing him in late December and replacing him with safe pair of hands Guus Hiddink.

These days, with €1 billion spent in three windows, it is clear that it is Champions League or bust for Chelsea, and their first few matches saw them faceplant out the gate in 2023/24. While a draw against Liverpool gave them hope, their form has still been extremely shaky with many a dropped point in matches in which they looked the better team, though they managed a big win against Spurs and a heroic 4-4 draw against Manchester City, and a few close victories against Luton, Fulham, and Crystal Palace to see them in 9th, near the end of January. While they have slipped back to 11th, they're still only 4 points behind 7th-placed Brighton and their overall form has improved, including another heroic draw (this time, 1-1) with City, and they even managed a League Cup Final appearance, only to lose out to a Liverpool team that finished the match with 12 senior players in the treatment room and 5 U-20s on the pitch and still dominated the match. This led to them being witheringly dubbed "the Blue Billion Pound Bottle-Jobs." Things went from bad to worse, despite a seven-game unbeaten run, as their burgeoning star Cole Palmer began to emerge as nothing short of their crutch^note The numbers were run on if Palmer hadn't made any contributions all season, and the end result had Chelsea fighting relegation, leading to the team to also be derisively dubbed "Cole Palmer FC", a sentiment only further exacerbated by Palmer missing a crucial derby against Arsenal and the team being humiliated 5-0. Despite this, they were able to hold Aston Villa to a draw, before dashing Spurs' Top 4 hopes with a 2-0 victory. Further capitulation by Manchester United has allowed them to climb into the Top 7 with a fragile hope of European football in 2024, giving them at least that small consolation on the season.

Chelsea, as noted above, were another of the "ESL Six"… although by almost all reports, Abramovich and the directors weren't totally on board with this, and only joined because they didn't want to be left behind by their rivals. Notably, they were the first of the founding ESL clubs to jump ship,^note While Chelsea was the last of the ESL Six to formally withdraw, doing so the day after the other five, it was the first to announce its intent to leave. doing so minutes after former Chelsea star goalkeeper and current technical director Petr Čech addressed an angry crowd of supporters that were blocking a main road to their ground. Needless to say, when Chelsea pulled out, much rejoicing followed.

Famous fans include David Baddiel, Damon Albarn, Andrew Fletcher, Suggs, Gordon Ramsay, the late Dickie Attenborough, ex-Prime Minister John Major and (apparently) Will Ferrell.

Crystal Palace

We'll fight for you,
Famous red and blue,
Palace Boys are with you,
When you play!

Year Established: 1861
Nickname: The Eagles
Kit: Red and blue striped shirts
Current Owners: Steve Parish (Majority Shareholder), Joshua Harris and David S. Blitzer
Current Manager: Oliver Glasner
Current Captain: Joel Ward
Current Stadium: Selhurst Park^note Capacity: 25,073
2022/23 Position: 11th in Premier League
Premier League Tenures: 1992-93, 1994-95, 1997-98, 2004-05, 2013-
Highest Premier League Finish: 10th (2014/15)
Trophies Won: 1978–79 & 1993–94 Second Division/EFL Championships; 1920–21 Third Division Champions; 1990–91 Full Members' Cup; 1940–41 Football League South Champions; 1939–40 Wartime South D League Champions

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A South London club with a loyal cult following that's historically yo-yo'd between the top two divisions. They finally averted relegation in the 2013/14 season thanks to manager Tony Pulis, the ex-Stoke coach who has never suffered relegation with any of his teams. Pulis moved on to West Brom afterwards and Palace have further established themselves in the Premier League mix under former Newcastle manager (and ex-Palace player) Alan Pardew, who succeeded in making them a credible threat to the very top teams, particularly the long suffering Liverpool, until Jürgen Klopp took charge - now it's the long suffering Manchester United, who Palace most recently humiliated 3-1 at Old Trafford.

Won the Full Members Cup ^note  (a short-lived and often-overlooked extra knockout tournament created as an additional competition for First and Second Division clubs in the 1980s after English clubs were banned from European competition post-Heysel, and cancelled with the creation of the Premier League in 1992) in 1991 and have twice been FA Cup finalists, losing to Manchester United both times (1990 and 2016).

They really, REALLY don't like Brighton and Hove Albion.

Have established themselves as a midtable side who are quite capable of beating the Big Six in their home of Selhurst Park with semi-regularity - except for Liverpool, who after dropping a 3 goal lead in the disaster that arguably cost them the title in 2013/14, have since returned every time with malice aforethought.

They currently appear to be safe from relegation, and for a time they had few aspirations beyond that, but the appointment of former Arsenal stalwart Patrick Vieira has brought with them renewed ambition, and they notched shock wins against several members of the Big Six. Unfortunately, a run of bad form resulted in Vieira's sacking, and the Eagles currently find themselves dragged back into the relegation battle, their future uncertain. Vieira was succeeded by the man he'd replaced, veteran journeyman Roy Hodgson, who stabilized the club and restored their midtable status, allowing them to comfortably avoid the relegation they were in danger of falling into. Started off 2023/24 fairly well, hovering lower midtable after the January break, before Hodgson resigned in mid-February after being taken ill; he was quickly succeeded by Oliver Glasner, formerly of Eintracht Franckfurt, who took a little bit of time to get going, but has endeared himself to the Eagles supporters quickly enough with big wins over Liverpool and Manchester United to close out the season.

Everton

Everton, we've never shone so brightly!
Everton, the spirit of the blues!

Year Established: 1878
Nickname: The Toffees
Kit: Blue shirts, white shorts and blue socks
Current Owners: Farhad Moshiri (Majority Shareholder), Bill Kenwright and Jon Woods
Current Manager: Sean Dyche
Current Captain: Séamus Coleman
Current Stadium: Goodison Park^note Capacity: 39,571
2022/23 Position: 17th in Premier League
Premier League Tenure: 1992-
Highest Premier League Finish: 4th (2004/05)
First Division Titles: 9; 1890–91, 1914–15, 1927–28, 1931–32, 1938–39, 1962–63, 1969–70, 1984–85, 1986–87
FA Cups: 5; 1905–06, 1932–33, 1965–66, 1983–84, 1994–95
Other Domestic Trophies: 1930–31 Second Division Championship; 1928, 1932, 1963, 1970, 1984, 1985, 1986 (shared), 1987, & 1995 FA Community Shields; 1985–86 & 1989–90 Full Members' Cups
Continental Trophies: 1984–85 European Cup Winners' Cup

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One of the twelve founder members of the Football League, they've spent a total of 105 seasons in the top-flight.

Part of one of (arguably) the most famous rivalries in Football, with neighbours Liverpool. This has ranged everywhere from friendly competition to seemingly utter hatred over the hundred-plus years of the clubs existence. Currently seems to be the latter as of 2024, thanks to an utterly brutal tackle by keeper Jordan Pickford on star Liverpool centre-back Virgil Van Dijk in the 2020 Goodison derby putting the latter out for the season and impacting his performance for several years after, for which Pickford - bafflingly - escaped punishment, despite VAR, on the grounds that Van Dijk was offside (ex-refs expressed bemusement, as the rules offer plenty of scope for punishing misdemeanours when the ball is out of play). Silky midfielder Thiago Alcantara was also badly injured (though the perpetrator, Richarlison, was justly sent off). Given that each derby tends to be played in the context of the last at each respective ground, the 2021 Goodison derby was both significantly more vicious than usual and humiliating for Everton, the general sense being that Liverpool were making a point. None of this is entirely surprising: the fixture has a reputation for brutality, officially having the most red cards in Premier League history. However relations between fans remain cordial — a factor heavily influenced by the fact that many Liverpudlian families contain supporters of both clubs, with the rivalry being characterised as a family feud (in other words, it's vicious, it's personal, and woe betide anyone else who gets involved).

Indeed, in one unusual case, the Gerrard family actually produced players for both clubs, with defender Anthony Gerrard coming through the Everton youth system and being overshadowed by his vastly more famous cousin Steven Gerrard, captain of Liverpool FC and widely regarded as perhaps the greatest midfielder of his age. While the two did eventually play each other, Anthony had by that point moved to Cardiff City. In 2021, when Liverpool legend Rafael Benitez became the first man since the 19th century to manage both teams, neither fanbase was entirely sure how to react when the two teams faced each other... until Liverpool started thumping Everton, when the Liverpool fans started cheerfully singing Benitez' name.

Spent the first decade of the Premier League constantly fighting relegation, but after David Moyes's appointment as manager in 2002 they often challenged for European places, and managed to break into the Champions League spots (at that time occupied consistently by the "Big Four") in the 2004/05 season.

Previously thought of as the team that would break the "Big Four" ^note defined at the time as Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United thanks to strong league and cup runs in the middle 00s (culminating in Champions League qualification in 2005), but have since dropped to mid-table, with financial hardship preventing major squad investment.

In 2019/20 they found themselves jostling with other Big 6 sides for the titular spots, though their hated neighbours ended up pulling ahead of them by a wide margin as their form picked up and Everton's dropped off. Everton ultimately finished the season being thrashed by Manchester City, and dropping out of European contention entirely. Ancelotti subsequently left to return to Real Madrid, and was succeeded by Rafa Benitez, formerly of Liverpool, who thus became the first man in over a century to have managed both Liverpool clubs. An OK start under Benitez soon gave way to an abysmal run of form and he was given the boot in January 2022 following a defeat to bottom-of-the-table Norwich. Under Frank Lampard, they were dragged into a relegation battle, much to the glee of their cross-town rivals, but with a game to play, they sealed their survival with a monumental second-half comeback against Crystal Palace, and their dream end to the season continued when Ancelotti's Madrid denied Liverpool a Champions League title, fully turning the table on their rivals.

In 2022/23, they find themselves battling relegation again, but have managed to snatch desperately needed points at irregular intervals, leaving them stranded in the drop zone and finally causing Frank Lampard to be sacked in late January 2023; Sean Dyche, formerly of Burnley, replaced him a week later and in his first match, Everton turned in a resolute performance, managing to shock the league by defeating Arsenal 1-0 and climbing out of the drop zone... for all of about two hours before Wolves put them right back in. However, a few more good results saw them climb out of the drop zone, and a 1-0 win over Bournemouth on the final day was enough to keep them in the top flight for a 70th successive season.

The 2023/24 campaign, however, has seen some improvement, as they managed a few desperately-needed wins to hover safely above the drop zone in midtable going into the third break, but then down came the hammer of the FA, handing Everton a 10-point deduction due to breaches in Financial Fair Play. Despite this, Everton seemed to rally at the ruling and fought to claw their way back out of the drop zone immediately. In January they were charged again with another points deduction looming, but a successful appeal on the first deduction reduced the 10-point penalty to 6, seeing them climb up to 15th on 25 points, only to be handed another points deduction (only 2 this time) in early April, leaving them only a slim 2 points above the drop zone. Despite this, Everton soldiered on and continued to fight, earning key victories and widening the gap, before finally taking the crown jewel of their season, a 2-0 victory against hated neighbors Liverpool to seemingly secure survival and shatter Liverpool's title hopes once and for all.

Famous fans include Paul McCartney (apparently) ^note none of The Beatles were really into football, though early drummer Pete Best is a die-hard Evertonian; the appearance of Albert Stubbins (who played for Liverpool in the 1940s) on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is somewhat random, the most likely explanation for this being that John Lennon thought his name was funny , Ian Astbury, former Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson, Claire Sweeney and Gareth Evans.

Fulham

Craven Cottage, it is our home,
We are Fulham, we fight on our own!

Year Established: 1879
Nickname: The Cottagers
Kit: White shirts, black shorts
Current Owner: Shahid Khan
Current Manager: Marco Silva
Current Captain: Tom Cairney
Current Stadium: Craven Cottage^note Capacity: 25,700
2022/23 Position: 10th in Premier League
Premier League Tenures: 2001-2014, 2018-2019, 2020-21, 2022-
Highest Premier League Finish: 7th (2008/09)
Domestic Trophies: 1948–49, 2000–01, & 2021–22 Second Division/Championship; 1931–32 & 1998–99 Third Division champions
European Trophies: 2002 Interto Cup

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Historically a club of mixed fortunes, with periods of time in the top flight alternating between time spent in the lower divisions. No major honours, having been beaten finalists in the FA Cup (1975) and the Europa League (2010). Currently yo-yoing between the top two levels, having been promoted to the Premier League in 2020 but dropping right back to the Championship in 2021, only to be promoted back up to the Premier League for the 2022/23 season, where they will remain for 2023/24.

Probably most famously had a great escape from relegation in 2007/08 under Roy Hodgson, then the following season got into Europe, before becoming runners-up in the 2009/10 Europa League - beating many of the game's most famous names to do so, including a famous 4-1 win against Juventus.

Formerly owned by Egyptian businessman Mohamed Fayed, who commissioned a 7.5-ft statue of Michael Jackson which stood at Craven Cottage until 2013, when Fayed sold the club and the new owners had it removed ^note Jackson, a friend of Fayed, did in fact attend one Fulham match, in 1999 (he also had links with Exeter City through another friend, Uri Geller).

Speaking of those new owners, they're Pakistan-born American auto parts billionaire Shahid Khan and his son Tony. The Khans also own the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars, as well as All Elite Wrestling (the latter run day-to-day by Tony).

Since 2016, Craven Cottage has been graced by a statue of George Cohen, the only Fulham player in England's 1966 World Cup winning team. Fulham have also named their hospitality section after him and his winner's medal is on display (the club having bought it from him in 1998).

2022-23 saw them catapult themselves into the European spot competition, jostling with the likes of Liverpool and Newcastle. They even made a deep FA Cup run, only to fall against Manchester United after a spectacular implosion which saw two of their players (one for pushing the referee) and their manager dismissed after the Video Assistant Referee spotted a deliberate handball than the on-field referee missed. Their promising season didn't quite pan out in the form of European football, but they finished in a respectable 10th place, falling behind a resurgent Aston Villa and Liverpool and unable to close the gap on Spurs to finish in a Conference League spot.

Have since started the new campaign in lackluster form, snatching a late draw against Arsenal and beating Everton, as well as knocking Spurs out of the League Cup, but those are their only accomplishments thus far, and despite a little skid in November, they managed to hang out in the middle of the pack, before managing to stun Arsenal and Manchester United. They presently sit lower midtable.

Liverpool

You'll never walk alone!

Year Established: 1892
Nickname: The Reds
Kit: All-red
Current Owners: Fenway Sports Group (majority), Dynasty Equity (minority)
Current Manager: Jürgen Klopp^note Has announced he will step down at the end of the season.
Current Captain: Virgil van Dijk
Current Stadium: Anfield^note Capacity: 54,074... with plans of expansion
2023/24 Position: 3rd in Premier League
Premier League Tenure: 1992-
Highest Premier League Finish: 1st (2019/20) - Earliest title win in EPL history (7 games remaining)^note Also the latest title win in EPL history (by calendar date) after the COVID-19 Pandemic delayed the final ten games of the season for every team by three months.
First Division/Premier League Titles: 19; 1900–01, 1905–06, 1921–22, 1922–23, 1946–47, 1963–64, 1965–66, 1972–73, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1989–90, 2019–20
FA Cups: 8; 1964–65, 1973–74, 1985–86, 1988–89, 1991–92, 2000–01, 2005–06, 2021–22
Other Domestic Trophies; 1893–94, 1895–96, 1904–05, & 1961–62 Second Division Champions; 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1994–95, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2011–12, 2021–22, & 2023–24 EFL Cups; 1964*, 1965*, 1966, 1974, 1976, 1977*, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1986*, 1988, 1989, 1990*, 2001, 2006, & 2022 (* shared) FA Community Shields; 1985–86 Football League Super Cup
Continental Trophies: 1976–77, 1977–78, 1980–81, 1983–84, 2004–05, & 2018–19 European Cups/UEFA Champions League; 1972–73, 1975–76, & 2000–01 UEFA Europa League; 1977, 2001, 2005, & 2019 UEFA Super Cups
Worldwide Trophies: 2019 FIFA Club World Cup

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The most successful club in English football, having won the League 18 times and the European Cup 6 times, but took until 2020 to win the league in its present form, being runners-up in 2002, 2009, 2014, and 2019, as well as another runner-up in 2022. Formerly known as the club most likely to come third in any competition you care to name, and the league's European specialists, with as many European Cup/Champions League wins as the rest put together, with titles in 2005 and 2019, and finals in 2007, 2018 and 2022.

Having won six Champions League trophies (in '77, '78, '81, '84, '05, and '19), 5 of them before a rule change in 2009, they are the first and only (thanks to said rule change) English team to be allowed to keep the trophy, a new one being made for the following season. Liverpool fans frequently gloat about this.

The club is well known outside of football for the 1989 Hillsborough Disaster, where 97 fans were crushed to death prior to an FA Cup semi-final.^note 94 died on the day. Three others died from their injuries—one a few days later, one in 1993, and one in 2021. Coming only a few years after the Bradford City Stadium Fire, the resultant inquiry led to the Taylor Report, which instituted all-seater stadia and other policies that led to a near total neutralisation of England's notorious hooliganism problem, reforms which, along with the creation of the Premier League, kickstarted the revival of English football.

• At the same time, The Sun, with its infamous headline 'The Truth', smeared Liverpool fans by claiming that they attacked police officers, as well as that they urinated on and stole from the dead, all in order to deflect blame from the South Yorkshire Police, in collusion with the Government as part of a cover-up (slurs, incidentally, which were disproved and dismissed by the Taylor Report and over 150 witness statements were later proved to have been altered to show the police in a better light). To this day, you quite literally cannot give away a copy of The Sun in the city of Liverpool, despite numerous grovelling apologies of dubious sincerity. As of February 2017, the club has outright banned The Sun and its reporters from Anfield, the Melwood training ground and club press conferences, and fellow Merseyside clubs Everton and Tranmere Rovers have since followed suit. When they were told in late 2019 that this would prevent them from potentially hosting any England warm-up matches for Euro 2020, the response was more or less summed up as, "so what?" (and that was the polite version).
• After decades of campaigning by groups such as 'Justice for the 96'^*as noted above, the death toll didn't reach 97 until 2021 and latterly by local Labour MP and then Culture Secretary Andy Burnham, raising the matter in Parliament after being heckled with cries of 'Justice for the 96' when giving a speech at the 20th Anniversary of the Disaster, triggering the Second Hillsborough Inquiry. This exonerated the fans in 2012 and changed their official cause of death to 'unlawfully killed' after concluding that 'up to 41' might have survived had the emergency services coordinated better. Afterwards, campaigning groups and Burnham pushed for further inquests into just who was responsible, forcing the resignation of a number of senior police figures. This earned him cheers at the 25th Anniversary of the Disaster, and a speech in Parliament in April 2016, which included a vicious excoriation of those responsible, drew thunderous applause.
• As a side note, the youngest victim of the Hillsborough Disaster, 10-year-old Jon-Paul Gilhooley, was the cousin of a then 9-year-old little boy named Steven. Said little boy grew up to become Steven Gerrard, a club legend, talismanic captain of club and country and to be widely considered by his peers as one of the best players of his generation, with luminaries such as Zinedine Zidane calling him the best midfielder in the world, and later a highly successful manager at Rangers FC in Scotland. What could motivate such a man? Well, in his autobiography in 2006, he revealed that he played for Jon-Paul.

Known for their lethal front three including any combination of Mo Salah, Sadio Mane (until his 2022 departure to Bayern Munich), Roberto Firmino (until his 2023 departure to Saudi Arabia), Diogo Jota, and most recently, Luis Diaz and Darwin 'Captain Chaos' Nunez a.k.a. 'the Red Arrows', and ruthless consistency, thanks to investing in centre-back Virgil Van Dijk, goalkeeper Alisson Becker and defensive midfielder/defender Fabinho (also departed to Saudi Arabia in 2023), and their lightning fast creative full-backs Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Their home stadium of Anfield was medium-sized by footballing standards prior to its expansion, but renowned for its raucous atmosphere, and is frequently cited as the most intimidating place to play in world football by ex-pros. They hadn't lost a league match there in nearly four years until Burnley found a way in January 2021.

Owned by Fenway Sports Group, owners of the Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Penguins, succeeding the widely despised Hicks and Gillette, who drove the club into bankruptcy. Fenway's ownership is, ticket price incident aside, actually very popular thanks to the stadium expansion, investment in the transfer market, visible involvement with the club and securing the services of Jürgen Klopp, with whom the fanbase has an ongoing passionate love affair. Securing the Champions League, then a first top division title in 30 years was just the icing on the cake…

…Until Liverpool were announced as one of the ESL Six, which at least put a dent in the love affair between the supporters and Fenway Sports, with many fans calling for the club's sale (matters have since calmed down following a rapid retreat). Klopp, who didn't know about the plans until after they were publicly reported, strongly opposed them, likely securing his place in the fans' hearts all the more. Liverpool's entire playing squad, led by widely respected captain Jordan Henderson, issued a statement on social media condemning the ESL plans, very bluntly saying, "we don't want this".

Liverpool's fans^note including John Oliver, whom American media described as a “superfan”, colloquially known as 'the Kop' or 'Kopites', after the Kop End, which itself is named after the hill on which the Battle of Spion Kop was fought in 1900, are some of the most famous in the footballing world and certainly among the most vocal, giving Anfield a reputation as one of the most atmospheric stadiums on the planet, famed for 'the Anfield Roar' - which, following the expansion of the Main Stand, taking the capacity to 54,000, and on completion will be 61,000, has only got that much louder, being voted the joint loudest stadium in Europe along with Barcelona's Camp Nou (which is almost twice as large, holding 99,354). No matter how well or badly the club is doing, the sight and sound of the Kop in full voice is truly breathtaking, and it is routinely cited by ex-pros as the most intimidating place to play in world football. This makes Anfield an intimidating place to go, and when on a particularly strong streak (such as when they went undefeated in the Premier League between April 2017 and January 2021), it's referred to as 'Fortress Anfield'. The current record is one defeat in the last 48 matches. Fans are also a fairly cosmopolitan bunch, with a fanbase estimated to be in the hundreds of millions. The club takes advantage of this with its summer tours to the US, Australia and South East Asia. More local support is drawn from North Wales, Ireland and Scotland, with a long tradition of club legends from those countries, such as all time top scorer Ian Rush (Welsh) and defenders Mark Lawrenson (Irish) and Alan Hansen (Scottish) and, more recently, Andrew Robertson (Scotland Captain). There's also a certain fondness in Germany, partly because Liverpool's manager Jürgen Klopp is still beloved by fans of his former team, Borussia Dortmund, and also because of the Kopites' historic twinning with Borussia Mönchengladbach. Matchgoers in particular are pathologically loyal to the club; it takes a lot to make them stop singing for any length of time and if they have done so, it's a very bad sign. If they have started booing and you are the manager, you are likely to be fired soon afterwards.

More puzzlingly, there's a massive fan base in Norway. No one is quite sure why, though cheap plane/ferry tickets to Liverpool may have something to do with it. There's also the relative prominence of Norwegians in Liverpool sides down the years, such as fan favourite John Arne Riise, Champions League winner with Liverpool, famous for having a left foot that passably impersonated Mjolnir. ^note  Once, he took a free kick against Manchester United in an FA Cup tie in 2006. Alan 'Smudge' Smith was the unfortunate player standing in the way. He ended up out for eight months with a broken leg and dislocated ankle. Unsurprisingly, poor old Smudge was never quite the same again - while he played through the pain barrier until he retired in 2018, he revealed in 2022 that a) he had about ten pins in his ankle, b) he hobbles out of bed every morning, c) his doctor had flat out told him not to go straight-line running for the sake of his health. Additionally, current Arsenal and Norway captain Martin Odegaard grew up as a Liverpool fan.

Merseyside derbies are sell-outs and pretty scrappy matches - they have more red cards than any other fixture in the league - and, often, surprisingly high scoring, since both teams desperately want to win. The balance of power is currently weighted towards the red half of Merseyside, with Everton having failed to register a win at Anfield in the 21st century and consistently getting turned over by Liverpool, sometimes in very embarrassing fashion. When they do, the result is usually Unsportsmanlike Gloating.

However, in times of need both sets of fans can and do become very close, with supporters of both teams often being found in the same family, after Hillsborough there was a chain of scarves connecting Anfield and Goodison Park. In essence, the rivalry's more like a family feud - and accordingly, can vary between its current status of mutual hatred and, as in the 80's, being known as 'the Friendly Derby', with one notable FA Cup final featuring both sets of fans mixing freely and singing, 'Merseyside, Merseyside' and, predictably, 'Are You Watching Manchester?' While relations have not so much cooled but frozen, it is notable that to this day, it is the only major derby that does not enforce fan segregation. Oh, and following a particularly nasty newspaper column in The Sun by Kelvin MacKenzie (yes, the man who was behind that headline) aimed at Everton midfielder Ross Barkley, Everton followed Liverpool in banning the paper and its journalists from their grounds.

Liverpool-United derbies, however, are much more combustible affairs, with vile chants about the Hillsborough Disaster aimed at Liverpool fans, some of whom have been known to reply with chants about the Munich Air Disaster, despite routine pleas in the pre-match programs not to bring the subjects up. On a lighter note, this also means that Unsportsmanlike Gloating is par for the course if one team if doing particularly badly - as demonstrated when Liverpool beat Manchester United 5-0 at Old Trafford in 2021, having led 4-0 at half time and, after Salah inevitably completed his hattrick, spent the last 40 minutes of the match playing keep-ball while the Liverpool fans cheerfully and ironically serenaded beleaguered United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær with "Ole's at the wheel!" The return fixture wasn't much more fun either, as Liverpool won 4-0 despite playing much of the match in 3rd gear - though the match was more notable for the solemn round of applause in the 7th minute in tribute to United forward Cristiano Ronaldo (who wore the number 7) whose newborn son had just died, something accompanied by a rendition of club anthem 'You'll Never Walk Alone' and the usually unheard of sight of United shirts being waved in the Kop end. United then won the next match with Liverpool under new manager Erik Ten-Hag... before promptly getting spanked 7-0 in their return to Anfield.

Since 1990, their fortunes have been decidedly mixed, becoming known as the team most likely to come third in any competition you care to name. High points including a Treble in 2001, and an epic underdog comeback Champions League win in 2005 against AC Milan, then one of the best teams on the planet, who raced into a 3-0 halftime lead. Six second-half minutes later, it was 3-3 and Liverpool won on penalties. To this day, no one (including the participants) is entirely sure what happened. For this reason it is generally referred to as 'the Miracle of Istanbul'.

Periodically threatened a return to the glory days prior to the arrival of Jürgen Klopp, who turned them into 'Europe's Entertainers'. This was cemented by a Champions League victory in 18/19 (while missing out on the league by 1 point), before rampaging through the league in 2019/20, tying the record for most consecutive wins twice, and scooping the European Super-Cup and Club World Cup on the way to the title - even the COVID-19 caused 3 month break didn't stop them winning in cruise control, racking up 99 points (one shy of the record).

The 2022/23 season was a tale of two halves of the season, with their performance being tepid at best in the first half and languishing in the lower part of the top half of the table, only to come roaring back in the second half, only just missing out on Top 4 at the end. However, after suddenly losing the aging midfield core of captain Jordan Henderson and Fabinho (also to Saudi Arabia in Henderson's case, somewhat controversially given his famous support of LGBT rights and Saudia Arabia being... Saudia Arabia, before moving to Ajax 6 months later), and vice-captain James Milner (to Brighton), Liverpool struggled to replace key players in the summer, though they eventually got their men in the end with Hungary captain Dominik Szoboszlai, Japan captain Wataru Endo, and World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister, and have returned with a vengeance.

In late January, Klopp announced he will stand down as manager at the end of the season, and the club announced an hour later that sporting director Jorg Schmadtke would leave at the end of the month (significant because the holder of said position typically leads a managerial search). Despite this, they did win at least one trophy to commemorate his exit, a 1-0 League Cup win over Chelsea, finishing the match with 12 senior players in the treatment room and 5 U-20s on the pitch. In the FA Cup, however, they were unsuccessful as Manchester United dumped them out during extra time in the quarterfinals. In Europe, they have Atalanta coming up in the Europa League after using a very unfortunate Sparta Prague side as target practice (final aggregate score: 11-2), and are favorites to go through and continue their push to end Klopp's tenure on a high note.

With Klopp's exit looming, the Reds have put together an impressive run despite an extremely controversial defeat to Spurs and a string of niggling injuries, as well as the month and half long absence of the peerless Salah to the Africa Cup of Nations (where he promptly got injured). However, following a complete defeat to Arsenal^note They tallied their lowest xG ever under Klopp and their only goal was an own goal deflection and a draw against City in Klopp and Pep's final league clash against each other, their grip on the top spot faltered, replaced by Arsenal who hold a tenuous grip on goal difference alone, with their own clash against Pep's machine looming. However, a goalless draw between their rivals and a solid win against Brighton has allowed them to wheel back two points clear of Arsenal and three of City, retaking the lead in Klopp's last dance, only for their eternal enemy Manchester United to steal a draw at Old Trafford to put Arsenal back ahead on goal difference, a 0-3 chastening from Atalanta, and a 0-1 defeat to Crystal Palace yet again seeing them slide back into 3rd in the title race. Atalanta would eliminate them from Europe, and shortly thereafter, their hated rivals Everton would deliver a devastating blow to their title chase with a 2-0 defeat at Goodison Park, leaving the Klopp Farewell Tour in relative shambles, with only the least-respected of the four potential trophies to his name. Following wins by Arsenal and Manchester City in mid May, their fortunes were sealed, locking them into 3rd place to finish the season.

Luton Town

Everywhere we go,
Everywhere we go,
It's the Luton boys making all the noise,
Everywhere we go!

Year Established: 1885
Nickname: The Hatters
Kit: Orange shirts, navy shorts (although they have sometimes worn white shirts as their home kit)
Current Owner: Luton Town Football Club 2020 Ltd.^note Chairman is David Wilkinson
Current Manager: Rob Edwards
Current Captain: Tom Lockyer
Current Stadium: Kenilworth Road ^note Capacity: 10,356
2022/23 Position: 3rd in Championship (won Playoff, promoted)
Premier League Tenure: 2023–
Highest Premier League Finish: n/a
Trophies Won: 1981–82 Second Division champions; 1936–37, 2004–05, & 2018–19 Third Division/League One Champions; 1967–68 Fourth Division champions; 2013–14 Conference Premier champions; 1987–88 Football League Cup; 2008–09 Football League Trophy

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The oldest professional club in South England, Luton Town's history has been full of ups and downs, financial crises, promotions and relegations, and exactly one major trophy win, a League Cup in 1988. Luton's ground of Kenilworth Road is the smallest ever to host Premier League football. Luton midfielder Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu became the first player ever to rise from non-league to the Prem without changing clubs.

They really, REALLY don't like Watford and they have major beef with the Football Association, having a banner permanently affixed to their stadium blaming them for their 2008 woes.

Had its most successful period in the 1980s when they got promoted to the First Division in 1982 and won the League Cup in 1988. At that time, though, Luton became infamous for banning away fans from Kenilworth Road following a riot that broke out at an FA Cup tie against Millwall; for the home fans, chairman David Evans brought in a membership scheme under which they would only be allowed into the ground if they were carrying a membership card (something which the Thatcher government attempted to impose nationwide as a way of combatting football hooliganism). Although the away fan ban was successful from a policing point of view, it was dropped in 1990. They had the misfortune to be relegated only the season before the First Division broke away to form the Prem.

From 2006 onwards, financial difficulties caused the Hatters to fall from the Championship to the Conference, non-league status being assured after they were docked 30 points for financial irregularities in 2008-09, guaranteeing that they finished the season at the bottom of League Two. Luton thereafter spent five seasons in non-league football, during which they performed a bona fide act of giant-killing in the FA Cup by knocking out Premier League Norwich City in in 2013. Luton won the Conference in 2013–14, securing promotion back into the Football League. More success followed, with Luton winning successive promotions in 2017–18 and 2018–19, sending them back to the Championship. This was capped off by Luton winning the 2023 Championship playoff final over Coventry on penalties, completing a move from non-league to the Premier League in nine years.

Their first season back hasn't gone well, but their expansive playing style and courage has earned them respect from other teams and made them a neutral's favourite, having given juggernauts Liverpool and Manchester City real scares at home. They currently sit just inside the drop zone after February, only one point behind Everton in 17th, but with an Everton FA charge looming, giving them hope that they may yet stay up.

Eric Morecambe was a fan, at one point serving as a club director ^note  although he was from the North of England, he lived in Harpenden, which isn't far from Luton, for many years .

Manchester City

The City is ours!

Year Established: 1880
Nickname: The Citizens
Kit: Sky blue shirts, white shorts
Current Owner: Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Current Manager: Josep "Pep" Guardiola
Current Captain: Kevin de Bruyne
Current Stadium: Etihad Stadium^note Capacity: 55,097. Sponsor is Etihad Airways; sponsor-less name is City of Manchester Stadium.
2022/23 Position: 1st in Premier League
Premier League Tenures: 1992-96, 2000-01, 2002-
Highest Premier League Finish: 1st (2011/12, 2013/14, 2017/18, 2018/19, 2020/21, 2021/22, and 2022/23)
First Division/Premier League Titles: 9; 1936–37, 1967–68, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23
FA Cups: 7; 1903–04, 1933–34, 1955–56, 1968–69, 2010–11, 2018–19, 2022–23
Other Domestic Trophies; 1898–99, 1902–03, 1909–10, 1927–28, 1946–47, 1965–66, & 2001–02 second-flight champions; 1969–70, 1975–76, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, & 2020–21 EFL Cups; 1937, 1968, 1972, 2012, 2018, & 2019 FA Community Shields
Continental Trophies: 2022–23 UEFA Champions League; 1969–70 European Cup Winners' Cup; 2023 UEFA Super Cup
Worldwide Trophies: 2023 FIFA Club World Cup

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The other major club from Manchester, perhaps unfairly defined by long-standing crosstown rivalry with Manchester United (For the non-Brit footy fans out there, they were basically the Mets to United's Yankees or the Clippers to United's Lakers.^note Peculiarly, though, City has gone in with the Yankees to establish a new MLS football club in New York, which is called New York City FC (get it?) and play in City's light-blue strip - but with dark blue and orange accents. That's how they compare Man City to United). In their 117-year history they have won fewer trophies than their rivals (prior to 2012, they hadn't won anything since the 1970s), and until recently were the butt of many a football-based joke thanks to their late-1990s slip down to what's now League One.

However, in 2008 an Abu Dhabi-based investment group took over the club, bringing in massive amounts of finance. In turn this brought several experienced international stars to the club, making City serious trophy contenders. Following their 2011 FA Cup victory they beat Manchester United to the 2011-12 Premier League, and won the Prem again in 2013–14. Thus, they are now considered part of the "Big 4", usually at Liverpool's expense - and won the 2013-14 title at Liverpool's expense too. The 2012 Premiership title was won with a 94th minute 3-2 win over QPR in the last game of the season. Had the match ended at full time^note 90 minutes, City would have lost 2-1 and conceded the Premier League to Manchester United by two points. The victory put them level on points, but with a greater goal difference.

Now, Man City enjoy the records for most wins (32), most goals (106), and most points (100) in a single season in Premier League history.

Fans of other teams find City as controversial because of the team's overwhelming wealth and despite their secure position at the top end of the Premier League, they have yet to translate it to European success, the standard by which every top club is ultimately judged. This is finally showing signs of changing as of 2023, with the club winning their first ever Champions League, completing a highly successful season that also saw them win the Premier League Title and the FA Cup, becoming the second ever English team to win this Treble (after Manchester United).

In addition to the crosstown rivalry with Man United, they have a persistent problem playing against Liverpool, especially at Anfield - until 2020, it was the only stadium that they'd failed to win at since the Mansour takeover, and in general since 2003. It was devoid of fans and thus its usual raucous atmosphere at the time, due to the Pandemic, and it is worth noting that they haven't won there since.

Became the first team to break 100 points in the Premier League era in 2017/18, despite stumbling at the end. Came from as many as 10 points behind Liverpool to secure the 2018/19 campaign, only making it certain on the final day in a title race decided by a single point. The next season, however, saw City slide back into a battle against Leicester City for 3rd place as Liverpool surged forward and never let the lead slip.

In February they also received a sentence from UEFA over their Financial Fair Play transgressions that led to a ban from European competitions for the next two seasons; the ban was subsequently overturned on appeal by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, prompting righteous delight/relief from City fans and disgust from almost everyone else.

They started slowly in 2020/21, but came back with a vengeance to clinch the title ten points ahead of their Manchester rivals. Also managed a Champions League Final appearance, but they were defeated by Chelsea. Have followed this up with a brutally-efficient 2021/22, with the team being close to pace for another 100-point season - however, a couple of stumbles combined with an even more brutally-efficient Liverpool breathing down their necks again, they remain ahead of Liverpool by the thinnest of margins after a grudge match at the Etihad ended 2-2 in an extremely entertaining contest. Things came down to the final day, but despite allowing Aston Villa to jump ahead to a 0-2 lead early, City rallied and produced three goals in five minutes to complete the comeback and seal the title. Interestingly, they hold the league record for the largest winning points margin (19pts, 2017/18) and the narrowest winning points margin (0pts (winning on goal difference), 2011/12).

Started the 2022/23 season brightly enough, with a few early draws, a shock loss to Brentford, a New Years Eve stumble against Everton, a derby defeat to Manchester United dampening form, and their goalless run at Tottenham coming back to bite them, but they fought back, only to follow it up by slipping against Nottingham Forest the very next game. They then went on a(nother) late season surge to snatch 12 games on the bounce and bring Arsenal's title challenge to an end, taking the league in with one week left to play, plus an FA Cup Final appearance and a Champions League Final appearance, culminating in their historic treble with their victory in both the FA Cup and the Champions League.

However, in early February 2023, news broke that the Premier League were charging City with numerous breaches of Financial Fair Play, with potential penalties being points deductions or even relegation, leaving City's future and the status of previously won titles uncertain.

2023/24 saw them pick right back up where they left off with a quick jump out front, and despite a slide due to injuries in the early part of 2024 to key players, some stumbles by their rivals Arsenal and Liverpool have allowed City to climb ahead for the time being, but with seemingly their toughest fixtures behind them. Despite a defeat on penalties to Real Madrid in the Champions League, they still have the last few weeks of the League and an FA Cup Final match against Manchester United to at least claim a domestic Double.

Liam and Noel Gallagher are famous City fans: the band famously played a sold-out gig at Maine Road, City's former stadium, in 1996. Liam's second band, Beady Eye, also performed a cover of "Blue Moon", the club anthem, in a video for the club revealing the jersey for the 2011-12 season.

City were another one of the ESL Six, though much like Chelsea, their owners and board were not totally on board with the concept. Manager Pep Guardiola, much like Klopp, strongly opposed the ESL.

Manchester United

Glory, glory Man United!

Year Established: 1878
Nickname: The Red Devils
Kit: Red shirts, white shorts, black socks
Current Owners: The Glazer Family^note The Glazer family have announced their intentions to sell.
Current Manager: Erik ten Hag
Current Captain: Bruno Fernandes
Current Stadium: Old Trafford^note Capacity: 75,653
2022/23 Position: 3rd in Premier League
Premier League Tenure: 1992–
First Division/Premier League titles: 20; 1907–08, 1910–11, 1951–52, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2012–13
FA Cups: 12; 1908–09, 1947–48, 1962–63, 1976–77, 1982–83, 1984–85, 1989–90, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2003–04, 2015–16
Other Domestic Trophies: 1935–36 & 1974–75 Second Division Champions; 1991–92, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2016–17, & 2022–23 EFL Cups; 1908, 1911, 1952, 1956, 1957, 1965*, 1967*, 1977*, 1983, 1990*, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, & 2016 (* shared) FA Community Shields
Continental Trophies: 1967–68, 1998–99, & 2007–08 European Cup/UEFA Champions Leagues; 1990–91 European Cup Winners' Cup; 2016–17 UEFA Europa League; 1991 UEFA Super Cup
Worldwide Trophies: 2008 FIFA Club World Cup; 1999 Intercontinental Cup

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England's most successful club; to give you an idea of their success, they have only 4 fewer Premier League titles than all of the other winners put together. A lot of this is down to their most famous manager, who spent over a quarter of a century in the job (1986-2013). The fact that he's called Sir Alex Ferguson indicates something.

Probably the most famous football club in England, and for that matter the world, with an official fan club that comprises 5% of the planet's population, with arch-rivals Liverpool close behind in both respects. They are also arguably the world's largest sports club, and are regularly at or near the top in overall team value. In 2018, they were valued at £3.2 billion ($4.1 billion), neck-and-neck with Real Madrid and FC Barcelona as the most valuable football club, and trailing only the Dallas Cowboys in all of world sport. Because Manchester United fans can be found around the world (witness the incredibly lucrative promotional tours in the far east) it is often said - by City fans and just about everyone else - that real Mancunians support City and/or most Manchester United fans have never been to Manchester. Which is of course, nonsense, as Manchester is very divided between City and United and United had a solid large fanbase before the worldwide success of the Nineties and Noughties.

Thanks to their almost total domination of the domestic game from the early-mid 1990s onwards, it seems impossible to be neutral about Man Utd - you're either a fan, or you hate them - though this slackened after Ferguson retired in 2013, following which United haven't won the title. Currently American-owned, which doesn't help; the Glazer family (who also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) bought the club in 2005, several years after an abortive takeover attempt by Rupert Murdoch. In recent years, fans have adopted historic green and gold colours ^note (as worn by Newton Heath, a football club set up as a railway works team that became Manchester United in the early twentieth century) to protest at the possibly precarious financial situation the owners have put the club in, such as offloading their own personal debts on United (ironically, much of that debt was money they'd borrowed in order to buy United). Cue mocking songs from (green and gold wearing) Norwich fans - "We've come for our scarves, we've come for our scarves... we're Norwich City, we've come for our scarves." The recent influx of absurdly lucrative sponsorship deals has helped to calm the protests - United fans still dislike the Glazer family's ownership of the club, but will accept that they seem to be running the commercial side well (and perhaps more importantly, leaving the football side well alone)...

…Or at least it calmed the protests until United were announced as one of the ESL Six in April 2021. That move destroyed what little goodwill the Glazers had managed to cultivate with the fanbase; after the ESL collapsed, executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward (a Glazer appointee who'd got the job after advising them on their takeover of the club) resigned, and there were many calls for the Glazers to sell the club…

…which were somewhat answered in 2023 when the Glaziers sold a 25% share in the club – including control of football operations – to English chemical executive Jim Ratcliffe, who in turn hired one of Man City's key backroom men, Omar Berrada to be their new CEO.

Has a long standing rivalry with City - the fact that Old Trafford is located in Trafford (technically outside the City of Manchester, but within the Greater Manchester area) makes most Mancunians who are not fans treat United as a bastard team to the area, though Mancunian United fans will bite back. That said, much like the Liverpool/Everton rivalry mentioned above, there are times where the fans will unite, such as the anniversary of the Munich plane crash in 1958 which killed several members of the United squad & left several others seriously injured (legendary City goalkeeper Frank Swift, who'd become a football reporter after retiring as a player, also died in the disaster, and at the time the whole of Manchester was in mourning, which would explain why City fans do not use the disaster to taunt United fans), or to pay tributes to the victims of the 2017 terrorist attacks at the Ariana Grande concert in the city.

Equally, there is a similarly longstanding (and, again, arguably much more vicious, lacking the family ties mentioned above) rivalry between United and Liverpool, one that can be traced back to the inter-city rivalry of the industrial revolution as well as the fact that they are by far the two most successful teams in English history. This can lead to epic footballing clashes and to unsavoury scenes on the pitch and in the stands, such as Luis Suárez' racial abuse of Patrice Evra and despite pleading from managers and officials on both sides, both sets of fans winding each other up with 'tragedy chanting' - United fans taunting Liverpool fans about the Hillsborough disaster, and the Scousers responding in kind by taunting the Mancs about Munich.

After Sir Alex's retirement, the club has been in a bit of a flux. Following several seasons of a managerial carousel and varying table positions over the years, the club brought in Erik ten Hag from Ajax, and his era began with a bang… for all the wrong reasons. With two extremely embarrassing performances, United lost 2-1 to Brighton at Old Trafford and 4-0 at Brentford, making ten Hag the first Man Utd manager in a hundred years to lose his first two games at the club.

They have since responded by going on a tear, with a 2-1 win against Liverpool (the score belying how dominant they were), a fortunate victory over Southampton and a convincing 3-1 win against a rejuvenated Arsenal. Despite meeting Manchester City and being thrashed 6-3, their form continued, and going into the new year, they managed to defeat City 2-1 in the reverse fixture, forcing themselves back into the Top 4 race, only to lose momentum against Palace and then suffer defeat against Arsenal. They bounced back, winning several games on the bounce including a Carabao Cup against Newcastle to put them back in the title race, but then they met a vengeful Liverpool, who tore them apart and won 7-0, their worst loss in league history. This, followed by a late season wobble and a very late resurgence by Liverpool, meant their old rivals looked very much like pipping them to the Top 4. Fortunately for them, they were able to recover their mojo and secured Champions League football with a thrashing of Chelsea in Match 37.

2023/24, however, has not gone the way they'd like, with some extremely shaky and inconsistant play that saw them drop entirely out of Europe and slide ignominiously down towards midtable in January, made worse with off-the-pitch controversies around the club's handling of domestic abuse allegations against two of its players, plus the sleep-inducing saga of a possible takeover continuing to drag on. The latter was eventually resolved on Christmas Eve when Sir Jim Ratcliffe, chairman of the INEOS chemicals group, agreed to purchase a 25% share in the club, which would also see him take over all major footballing responsibilities, as well as the hiring of one of Man City's key backroom men, Omar Berrada to be their new CEO.

Despite this, the team continue to be consistently inconsistent, looking like world-beaters one day, only to slump the next, as evidenced by a convincing win over West Ham, followed by grindy wins against Aston Villa and Luton, and then a stunning loss to Fulham, a bright start against Manchester City only to lose it late, a win against Everton with the only goals scored being penalties, leaving them eight points back from 4th only to draw and lose their way to 13 points back, and an FA Cup Semifinal against lower-league side Coventry City that saw them go up 3-0, blow the lead to go to extra time, nearly lose the match on a late winner that was determined to be offside, then squeak by on penalties to schedule a postseason FA Cup Final date with Manchester City. As things stand, it looks as though this is their last chance at anything resembling a successful season, as they followed up their near-collapse in the FA Cup by only just defeating the rock bottom Sheffield United, drawing with the similarly low in the table Burnley, and then being torn apart 4-0 by Crystal Palace and falling below Chelsea and out of the potential European places and having further misery piled on them by Arsenal winning 1-0 despite a lackluster performance, leaving the FA Cup Final as, potentially, their lone remaining hope of European football in 2024.

Newcastle United

I went to Blaydon Races,
'Twas on the Ninth of June...

Year Established: 1892
Nickname: The Magpies^note The fans refer to themselves as "The Toon".
Kit: Black and white striped shirts
Current Owner: Public Investment Fund^note Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund, chairman is Mohammed bin Salman
Current Manager: Eddie Howe
Current Captain: Jamaal Lascelles
Current Stadium: St James' Park^note Capacity: 52,338
2022/23 Position: 4th in Premier League
Premier League Tenures: 1993-2009, 2010-16, 2017–
Highest Premier League Finish: 2nd (1995/96 and 1996/97)
First Division Titles: 3; 1904–05, 1906–07, 1908–09, 1926–27
FA Cups: 6; 1909–10, 1923–24, 1931–32, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1954–55
Other Domestic Trophies: 1964–65, 1992–93, 2009–10, & 2016–17 Second Division/Championships; 1909 FA Charity Shield
European Trophies: 1968–69 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

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Perennial underachievers - always looking good on paper but never ''quite'' translating it to success on the pitch. Vocal and passionate support in sufficient numbers (their fans are known as "The Toon Army") to still describe themselves as a "big club", even though their last major honours consist of the Intertoto Cup in 2006 ^note  a Europe-wide pre-qualifying tournament for the UEFA Cup for teams that just missed out on qualifying automatically and before that the Texaco Cup in 1975 ^note  an innovative attempt at a tournament involving clubs from England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland which didn't last, ultimately morphing into the Anglo-Scottish Cup before being disbanded. Prince William has suggested establishing a tournament on similar lines, but no-one else seems interested, and some would say that's stretching it. They won the Fairs Cup (forerunner of the Europa League) in 1969, but last won the League in 1927 and the FA Cup in 1955. They came close to winning the League again in the mid-1990s under Kevin Keegan, coming second in 1995-96 (despite having a 12-point lead at Christmas) and 1996-97, and subsequently reaching the FA Cup Final in 1998 and 1999 (they lost 2-0 both times, to Arsenal and Man U respectively).

Nevertheless, despite a long period of not winning anything, they still maintain the seventh largest club stadium in the UK; Americans, imagine a stadium slightly bigger than that of the New York Yankees! Which is consistently packed out every season. Put simply, in Newcastle you can't be considered a true Geordie unless you support the team. They really, REALLY don't like Sunderland, and take every opportunity they can to mock their less fortunate rivals.

Well-known fans include Tony Blair, Mark Knopfler, Brian Johnson, Sting, WillNE and - venturing into the realms of fiction - Sid the Sexist.

Until recently the club was owned by Mike Ashley, a London businessman who did not turn up to matches on the reasonable grounds that the fans hated him and would quite happily lynch him. Officially renaming St James' Park "The Sports Direct Arena" was not calculated to go down well. That said, it didn't seem to matter, since even the BBC quickly stopped bothering to call it that and usually referred to it as St James' Park. This all changed in October 2021, when the club was officially bought by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, a deal that made them overnight the richest club in the world by a considerable margin^note For comparison, Man City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed has a net worth of 23.2 billion pounds, while the PIF has a net worth of 325 billion. but was also the source of considerable controversy due to the Saudi government's numerous human rights violations. The general consensus among Newcastle fans is that while the PIF share similar controversies and are just as shady as most other bank-rolling club owners, the situation around the club became so dire under Ashley that they would have accepted any offer just to get him out.

Early 2021/22 saw them utterly capitulate, sitting in a relegation spot up until the Saudi-backed takeover, but some canny use of the now nigh-unlimited bank account and the recruitment of Eddie Howe steered them out of the relegation spots and firmly upwards towards mid-table.

Their upward ambitions had the eyes of everyone in the league on them for the 2022/23 season, and they responded with only five league defeats all season (one each to Manchester City, Arsenal and Aston Villa, and the other two to otherwise struggling Liverpool), though whether their growth will continue is a different matter. They ended up fourth, securing a Champions League group stage place.

Unfortunately for them, the 2023/24 season started off poorly until they began to rally in September, now sitting in 8th following March, 16 points back of Top 4. Unfortunately, their other campaigns have been just as dire, finishing bottom of a Champions League Group of Death, leaving them well adrift of the riches of continental football yet again.

Nottingham Forest

Forest, ever Forest,
All our hopes are with you,
True supporters forever,
'til our days are through!

Year Established: 1865
Nickname: The Forest^note Sometimes referred to as the Reds or the Tricky Trees.
Kit: Red shirts, white shorts
Current Owner: Evangelos Marinakis
Current Manager: Nuno Espirito Santo
Current Captain: Joe Worrall
Current Stadium: City Ground^note Capacity: 30,576
2022/23 Position: 16th in Premier League
Premier League Tenures: 1992-1993; 1994-1997; 1998-1999, 2022-
Highest Premier League Finish: 3rd (1994/95)
First Division Titles: 1; 1977–78
FA Cups: 2; 1897–98, 1958–59
Other Domestic Trophies: 1906–07, 1921–22, & 1997–98 Second Division/Championships; 1950–51 Third Division South champions; 1977–78, 1978–79, 1988–89, & 1989–90 Football League Cups; 1978 FA Charity Shield; 1988–89 & 1991–92 Full Members' Cups
European Trophies: 1978–79 & 1979–80 European Cups; 1979 European Super Cups; 1980 Intercontinental Cup

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Enjoyed huge success under Brian Clough in the 70s and 80s, but the start of the Premier League brought relegation, and his retirement. Came back twice after that but, aside from a 3rd place finish in 1995, enjoyed little success, and ended up going down to League One in 2005, becoming the first European Cup-winning team to later be relegated to the third tier of their domestic league (they came back three years later).

Barely escaped relegation in 2016/17, and most recently made headlines for signing "Lord" Nicklas Bendtner, the former Arsenal striker, and onetime player of the year for his country, Denmark, who only played for them for six months, but scoring 2 goals, before leaving on a free transfer to Rosenborg in Norway. Forest avoided relegation by 2 goals, meaning fans attributed Bendtner, whose goals scored 3 points off top 6 teams Fulham and Newcastle, to their survival.

In the next season, they sacked Mark Warburton but then caused a great FA Cup shock a week later, being the first side since Arsene Wenger was Arsenal manager to knock the Gunners, who won 3 of the last 4 iterations of the world's oldest event, out at the earliest possible stage, also Arsenal's first direct defeat in round 3 (i.e. without a replay) since their famous 1992 loss to Wrexham, which was also done in impressive style with a young side hammering a demotivated reserve group of Arsenal players, with most main men left out completely for the League cup semifinal. Aitor Karanka, the ex-Middlesbrough boss, came in just a couple of days after that famous result.

Their 2021/22 season started on a negative note as they were dead last in the Championship after 7 matches, but former Swansea manager Steve Cooper managed to steer the ship and got the team to finish in a playoffs spot: in the final, they held off Huddersfield in a hotly contested match to return to the top flight after 23 years of absence, returning to the Premier League with the longest gap between matches in the division^note 23 years, 82 days.

In their first season back, they broke a record for the most players signed by a British club in one transfer window, with an incredible 22 new signings. After a poor start, they managed to climb out of the relegation zone after snatching some desperately needed points against teams like Chelsea and Liverpool, but only managed to achieve safety with a famous win against Arsenal late in the season.

Started off the 2023/24 season with pretty decent form, having signed Matt Turner from Arsenal, who immediately buoyed them to huge wins against Chelsea and Sheffield United and a handful of draws to sit comfortably midtable going into the third break. A subsequent downturn in form, however, saw Steve Cooper dismissed, with Nuno Espirito Santo, formerly of Wolves and Spurs, taking over. They currently sit 18th at the March break, having survived some thrilling relegation derbies, but also being slapped with a 4 point deduction for FFP breaches. They currently sit only one point behind Luton Town… for now.

Fierce rivals with fellow-East Midlanders Derby County.

Tottenham Hotspure

To dare is to do!

Year Established: 1882
Nickname: The Spurs^note Sometimes called the Lilywhites. The fans refer to themselves as the Yids or the Yid Army. The Tottenham borough was once known for having a high Jewish population, and the term was initially thrown out as a slur by opposing fans, before the Spurs supporters proudly appropriated it to protect their Jewish neighbors. To say this is now controversial with the British Jewish community would putting it lightly. It has been requested that the supporters stop using the term, but no action has taken place yet.
Kit: White shirts, navy shorts
Current Owners: Joe Lewis (Majority Shareholder) and Daniel Levy
Current Manager: Ange Postecoglou
Current Captain: Heung-Min Son
Current Stadium: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium^note Capacity: 61,559
2022/23 Position: 8th in Premier League
Premier League Tenure: 1992–
Highest Premier League Finish: 2nd (2016/17)
First Division Titles: 2; 1950–51, 1960–61
FA Cups: 8; 1900–01, 1920–21, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1966–67, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1990–91
Other Domestic Trophies: 1919–20 & 1949–50 Second Division Champions; 1970–71, 1972–73, 1998–99, & 2007–08 League Cups; 1921, 1951, 1961, 1962, 1967, 1981, & 1991 FA Community Shields; 1902 Sheriff of London Charity Shield
Continental Trophies: 1962–63 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup; 1971–72 & 1983–84 UEFA Europa League; 1971 Anglo-Italian League Cup

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A north London club, hated rivals to Arsenal due to geography^note Arsenal moved from Woolwich into Islington, which was a little too close to Tottenham's liking, back in the early 1910s. Are considered one of the most entertaining sides in the Premiership, with an expansive style that concedes many goals, but scores many more. For this reason, they are very popular with the neutrals.

Spurs are notorious for their Chairman, Daniel Levy, being one of the toughest negotiators in football. His ruthlessness has seen Tottenham Hotspur pick up some classy bargains (van der Vaart for £8 million from Real Madrid), recoup losses on expensive flops (Darren Bent sold for the exact amount he was bought for) and sell players for some obscene amounts (Gareth Bale being sold for a then world record transfer fee of £86 million).

It should be noted to the casual observer that Spurs fans' self applied nickname of "Yid Army" is the cause of some controversy. North London has long been well-known for its Jewish population and anti-Semitic chants (including references to gas chambers) would be directed at Spurs fans by opposition supporters — including fans of North London rivals Arsenal who have just as many Jewish fans as Tottenham. As a consequence, Spurs fans referring to themselves as the "Yid Army" was seen by some as a way to support the local Jewish community. However, to some, this is seen now to be belittling; the comedian and Chelsea supporter David Baddiel ^note (he of Fantasy Football League and "Three Lions" fame), who is himself Jewish, has been particularly outspoken on TV about this.

They are also notorious for choking at vital moments, to the point where "Spursy" or "do a Spurs" is football slang for essentially snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. At the end of the 2009-10 season Spurs became the team that broke the "Big Four" (the first since Everton in 2004-05) and gained the chance to qualify for Champions League football. They did well in the Champions League, beating top Italian teams AC Milan and Internazionale, before going out in the quarter-finals to Real Madrid, but failed to qualify again for the next season. They subsequently placed in the Top 4 following the 2010-11 season but due to the almost unprecedented achievement of Chelsea in coming 6th but managing to win the Champions League - Liverpool had come fifth in the 2004-05 season when they won the Champions League. That time, both Liverpool and 4th placed Everton had gone through the qualifying stages of the Champions League, but this time, Tottenham failed to qualify. This made them the first team in Football to place within the Champions League Qualification places but fail to qualify due to a lower-placed side winning the Tournament.

The Spurs were relatively unremarkable for the Premier League's first decade, usually finishing in a mid-to-low position, but became regular challengers for the Champions League first under Martin Jol, and then under Harry Redknapp. Managed their first Top Four finishes in 2010 and 2012 (and failed to qualify for the Champions League in the latter after sixth-place Chelsea won it).

The 2013/14 season saw Spurs selling Gareth Bale to Real Madrid for (at the time) a world record £85.3 million and sacking Andre Villas-Boas after a rocky start. In addition to loathing Arsenal, Spurs also have fierce derbies against West Ham United and Chelsea. They usually play exciting and attractive football, played by a young and talented team (at one point, they had the youngest squad in the division, albeit only by a fraction). On the other hand, they have such a reputation for bottling chances at trophies and other significant achievements that 'Spursy' has become a footballing adjective/pejorative to describe a team or player that has somehow snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. While this is unkind, a look at the Spurs trophy cabinet suggests that it isn't entirely unearned.

They spent the 2017/18 season and most of the 2018/19 season at Wembley Stadium, during which time their usual stadium White Hart Lane was redeveloped into a 61,559-seater stadium, into which they moved in April 2019. After a slow start, the form continued, with Real Madrid beaten at Wembley and the Stamford Bridge taboo ended. During the 2018/19 season, they would go from being 12 minutes away from being knocked out of the Champions League group stage - with two games left - to knocking Manchester City out in the quarterfinals, and then coming form 3-0 down on aggregate to Ajax inside the final half of the fixture to secure a berth to the Champions League final, which they would lose 2-0 to Liverpool (after conceding a penalty thirty seconds in).

Things went off the rails for Spurs in 2019/20, with a torrid start that saw them in the Bottom 10 of the table approaching the holidays as well as a Champions League campaign that featured a demeaning 7-2 home loss against eventual champions Bayern Munich (they must really have a beef with London clubs, huh?), culminating in manager Pochettino being sacked just six months after the Champions League Final appearance, with José Mourinho doing little more than earning another place above Arsenal, and Spurs never looking like a CL push.

2021/22 saw Tottenham mostly hold their own in the Top 6, eventually enduring the season's turbulence, shock results against smaller sides while taking massive results from other Big Six sides, and claiming a Top 4 spot toward the end of the season as both Arsenal and Manchester United wavered toward the end. 2022/23 started off reasonably well, with Spurs staying close to the top, grinding out results and even notching a hard-fought draw against Chelsea, but they were dismantled by Arsenal despite their run of form, stumbled into the World Cup break, and returned in uninspired form, drawing Brentford 2-2 being dismantled by Unai Emery's Aston Villa on New Years Day and dropping out of Top 4, and worst of all, conceding their first home defeat to Arsenal since 2014 with a tepid 0-2 performance.

Spurs saw their fortunes turn much for the better in the mid-to-late 2010s, coinciding with a fading Arsenal, yet they were never able to get over the line, and usually fell flat thereafter. They were the last team left fighting Leicester City for the 2015/16 Premier League title, which they eventually lost and then tumbled even further to finish below Arsenal and "finish 3rd in a two-horse race." The following season, they were runners-up and celebrated their first St. Gunneringham's Day in 22 years. In 2019, they played in their first Champions League Final after being only 12 minutes away from elimination only months before, though they conceded and early penalty and failed to rally for the rest of the match as Liverpool bested them to it. In 2021/22, they were favorites to win the inaugural Europa Conference League, only to catch COVID and forfeit their last group game, knocking them out, though they did pip Arsenal for Top 4 that season. 2022/23 saw their homegrown striker Harry Kane break Jimmy Greaves' scoring record, yet despite being "nailed on for Top 4" that year, they collapsed out of it at the tail end of the season, complete with a postmatch rant from manager Antonio Conte about the players' attitudes and expectations (to no one's surprise, he was fired the next day), leading to them finishing outside of European spots altogether. Perhaps symbolically, this was also the first year in six that Arsenal finished above them.

Summer 2023 saw the arrival of manager Ange Postecoglu from Celtic and the departure of Harry Kane for Bayern Munich shortly before the start of the season, but despite this, Spurs seemingly rallied around Ange and went unbeaten for ten matchweeks before utterly collapsing against Chelsea, having defeat snatched from the jaws of victory by Wolverhampton Wanderers, and suffering another defeat from a winning position against Aston Villa, drawing with City, losing to west Ham, demolishing Newcastle, and surviving Everton, only to slide back even further in March, now jostling Aston Villa for 4th while Arsenal, City, and Liverpool broaden their leads. After a lengthy break, however, Spurs faced a gauntlet to close the season, having to play all three of Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester City, with Aston Villa holding the advantage to finish Top 4 and England's chances of getting a 5th Champions League spot being very nearly gone entirely. This gauntlet began against Arsenal, who survived a late scare from Spurs to win the game and celebrate St. Totteringham's Day on their ground, and continued with a tepid 2-0 defeat to Chelsea on their ground^note with both goals coming off of set pieces after Postecoglu answered an interview question by commenting that he doesn't prepare for set pieces, a 4-2 drubbing at Anfield only made slightly more bearable by two late goals as consolation, leaving them seven points adrift of Top 4 with 3 matches to play, one of those matches being, nightmare of nightmares, a match against City just before the final day, where taking any points at all to try and make the Champions League could hand their hated rivals the title!

In April 2021 Spurs were one of the "ESL Six", withdrawing from the project two days after it was announced, along with the other EPL clubs involved.

Famous fans include Adele, Alan Sugar (who used to own the club), J. K. Rowling, Marina Sirtis, Hunter Davies (whose 1972 book The Glory Game was the result of nigh-on unlimited access to the inner workings of the club) ^note  he's actually a good example of a fan of a lower-league club lending his support to a top-flight one, as he grew up supporting Carlisle United and Adam Richman.

West Ham United

I'm forever blowing bubbles!

Year Established: 1895
Nickname: The Irons^note The fans refer to themselves as the Hammers.
Kit: Claret shirts with sky-blue sleeves, white shorts
Current Owners: David Sullivan (Majority Shareholder), Daniel Křetínský, the estate of David Gold and Albert Smith
Current Manager: David Moyes
Current Captain: Kurt Zouma
Current Stadium: London Stadium^note Capacity: 60,000
2022/23 Position: 14th in Premier League
Premier League Tenure: 1993-2003, 2005-11, 2012-
Highest Premier League Finish: 5th (1998/99)
FA Cups: 3; 1963–64, 1974–75, 1979–80
Other Domestic Trophies: 1957–58 & 1980–81 Second Division champions; 1964 FA Charity Shield; 1940 Football League War Cup
European Trophies: 1964–65 European Cup Winners Cup; 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference Leage: 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup
International Trophies: 1963 International League Champions

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Despite what the name suggests, they're based in east London, having begun life as the Thames Ironworks Football Club in 1895. "The Hammers" are notable for their devoted fan base and for having contributed several key players to England's only World Cup winning side in 1966, including hat trick hero Sir Geoff Hurst and legendary defender Bobby Moore.

The Hammers are based at the London Stadium (formerly known as the Olympic Stadium, it having been built to be the main stadium for the London 2012 Olympics) in Stratford. Mostly hang around the middle of the Premiership table, but occasionally slip down a division (they last played in the Championship in 2011-12). FA Cup winners three times, European Cup Winners Cup winners in 1965, and Europa Conference League winners in 2023. Known as "The Academy of Football" as it's been the starting place for a number of famous footballers, including Geoff Hurst (who scored a hat-trick in the 1966 World Cup Final) Bobby Moore (who captained the 1966 side), Trevor Brooking and Rio Ferdinand.

The Hammers have one of the most die-hard fanbases in the UK; games at their old Upton Park ground were considered some of the most highly charged and atmospheric in the League. They also have one of the most well-known club anthems, a lustily sung version of the old ditty "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles", the 'fortune's always hiding' line being something of a club motif, for the fans are proud of their underdog status.

Recently got new owners, one of whom made his money in porn. This is considered better than being owned by a bunch of creditors.

Historically, West Ham don't like Spurs and really loathe Millwall.

Their hooligan "firm" the Inter City Firm (ICF) was especially notorious - and features heavily in the movie Green Street (Green Street Hooligans in the USA) and consequently claim Elijah Wood as a celebrity fan. Another famous fan of the team is Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris, who has a bass with a sticker of the team's crest on it (which he commonly plays live with).

Harry Potter character Dean Thomas is another fan of the team. This was done in tribute to a Real Life friend of J. K. Rowling - it is in her honour that West Ham is the only football team identified by name in the Harry Potter series. Going back a few decades, Alf Garnett was quite vocal in his support of West Ham (but his actor Warren Mitchell supported Tottenham Hotspur).

The team has featured in most Premier League campaigns and generally finishes mid-table, but have twice suffered relegation on the back of ill-advised managerial appointments (Glenn Roeder in 2003, and Avram Grant in 2011). Recent years have been something of a roller coaster for West Ham.

On the one hand, their century-long tenure at Upton Park ended on a high note with a strong performance in the 2015/16 season. Under then manager and former player Slaven Bilić, the club achieved the rare feat of a “Premier League Grand Slam” by beating Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham, and both Manchester teams in a single season. But a move to the London Stadium (the renovated 2012 Olympic Stadium) in the autumn of 2016 would prove tumultuous as both players and supporters struggled to adjust to their new home.

The next two seasons would be dogged by uneven form, relegation fears, and simmering discontent among the club’s fans. Veteran manager Manuel Pellegrini took control of the club in the summer of 2018 and made a number of key signings. After another wobbly start, the Hammers began to show signs of consistency and positive attacking play, creating a fresh sense of optimism among fans. By the end of 2019, however, another nosedive in form led to the sacking of Pellegrini and reappointment of former caretaker, David Moyes, who, thanks in part to some canny signings, guided the club to safety once again. Moyes's tenre at West ham has been largely posituve.

An unusually strong 2020/21 campaign saw the club just miss out on the Champion's League, for which they would make amends by progressing all the way to the semi-finals of the Europa League the following season. Many fans have sited the Hammers' victory over serial Europa winners Sevilla, after extra time, as their best ever night at the London Stadium. 2021/22 saw West Ham jostle with the likes of Arsenal, Tottenham, and Manchester United for a Top 4 spot, utlimately finishing 7th and settling for the Conference League.

They then started the 2022/23 season in torrid form, losing all three matches and sitting bottom alongside Manchester United, and were in the drop zone for much of the season, only securing safety toward season's end.

The Hammers fared better in the Conference League and, in June of 2023, became the first British club to win the competition, defeating Serie A side Fiorentina in the final and securing a Europa League place in the process. The achievement sent fans into raptures as they hadn't seen their club win a major trophy since 1980 (The FA Cup) or a major European trophy since 1965 (The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup).

But in the summer they bid farewell to their captain Declan Rice as he completed a blockbuster nine-figure move to Arsenal, and despite not really cashing in on their new riches, they started off the season extremely well, handily winning their Europa League group. Unfortunately, their campaign began to show signs of shakiness as they started to suffer from injuries, and then they were brutally embarrassed 6-0 on their own ground by Arsenal, with Rice scoring a world-class screamer of a goal in the process to add insult to their many injuries, leaving them in 10th. Despite this, they picked themselves up and began to march back up the table, though they were still several points back of the European places, and progressed to the Europa League quarter-finals where they were defeated by newly crowned German champions Bayer Leverkusen. Following two further heavy defeats to London rivals, 5-2 to Crystal Palace and 5-0 to Chelsea, the latter of which ended their hopes of another season in Europe, it was announced that Moyes would leave the club by mutual consent at the end of the season. Former Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui is currently the front-runner to succeed him.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Hi ho Wolverhampton!

Year Established: 1877
Nickname: The Wolves
Kit: 'Old Gold' (not yellow, not amber) shirts, back shorts
Current Owners: Fosun International
Current Manager: Gary O'Neil
Current Captain: Max Kilman
Current Stadium: Molineux^note Capacity: 31,700
2022/23 Position: 13th in Premier League
Premier League Tenures: 2003-2004; 2009-2012, 2018-
Highest Premier League Finish: 7th (2018/19 and 2019/20)
First Division Titles: 3; 1953–54, 1957–58, 1958–59
FA Cups: 4; 1892–93, 1907–08, 1948–49, 1959–60
Other Domestic Trophies: 1931–32, 1976–77, 2008–09, & 2017–18 Second Division/Championships; 1923–24, 1988–89, & 2013–14 Third Division/League One champions; 1987–88 Fourth Division Champions; 1973–74 & 1979–80 Football League Cups; 1949*, 1954*, 1959, & 1960* FA Charity Shields (*shared); 1987–88 Associate Members' Cup; 1942 Football League War Cup; 1970–71 Texaco Cup
International Trophies; 1967 USA Cup (as the Los Angeles Wolves)

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Universally known as "Wolves" in the same way that everyone calls Tottenham Hotspur "Spurs". . Home games at Molineux. Founded in 1877, Wolves were one of the twelve founder members of the Football League. They had a successful spell in the 1950s, during which they won the League three times under the management of Stan Cullis and the captaincy of Billy Wright (who captained England a record 90 times, and if you thought David Beckham was the first England football captain to marry a pop star and thus become a celebrity off the pitch, think again — Billy was married to one of the Beverley Sisters ^note  a 1950s British pop trio modelled on the Andrews Sisters ). At that time, they were one of the first British clubs to install floodlights at their ground, and were dubbed "Champions of the World" due to their success at beating top foreign sides, although these were friendlies as official European competition was not established at the time.

Since then, they've been considered to be the archetypal 'Sleeping Giants' of English football, having some success in the 1970s but dropping as low as the Fourth Division for one season in the mid-1980s. Briefly in the Premier League between 2009 and 2012, they returned there in 2018 and finished seventh in their first season back, earning them a place in the Europa League. Strong rivalry with West Bromwich Albion.

One of their vice presidents is Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin.

In 2015, they opened up a new marketing slogan: "Supporting Wolves isn't always easy. But it's never dull. #EnjoyTheRide"

After their first Premier League campaign ended in immediate relegation they survived for a few years in the 2000s/2010s, only to be relegated in 2012, and then relegated again the following year, although were promoted back to the Championship in 2013/14 and have hung out in the lower half of the table. However, in 2017, a Chinese takeover allowed Mourinho's agent Jorge Mendes to help engineer the Midlands side's managerial appointments and transfers, and Wolves were successfully able to achieve promotion in early April 2018.

Their first season back in the top flight started with a draw at home against Everton and a defeat at Leicester, but they surprisingly managed to snatch two points away from Manchester City despite scoring with an offside handball. Form has bizarrely oscillated - one example being a 7 game run where they lost to Watford, Brighton, Huddersfield and Cardiff, but were very unlucky not to beat Arsenal, cut a 3-goal deficit to Spurs to one goal, and beat Chelsea from behind. Also knocked Manchester United out of the FA cup to make the semi-finals, and became the first team to be promoted and then finish in the Top 7 in the next season since Ipswich in 2000-01. They finished in 7th again the following year, before slipping all the way down to 13th the next year. Fought for a Europa spot, but ultimately fell short of even the Conference.

Have since started the 2022/23 season in dismal form, culminating in Bruno Lage's sacking in early October, to be replaced by former Real Madrid and Sevilla manager Julen Lopetegui. The new manager brought some desperately needed early results, including a huge 3-0 win over Liverpool to climb out of the relegation zone, and they managed to comfortably survive with several weeks left to play.

Just days before the new season began, however, Lopetegui resigned in a dispute over the club's transfer business; sacked Bournemouth boss Gary O'Neil was quickly installed as his replacement. The season has started about as well as could be expected for Wolves, suffering some early defeats to bigger sides, but they were able to end Manchester City's unbeaten season, before following that up by stealing three points from Spurs after 90 minutes and then winning against Chelsea on Christmas Eve, only to continue this form by thrashing Chelsea 4-2 in early January and climbing up to 8th, only a handful of points behind Manchester United in 6th, leaving open the slim possibility for a European competition next season.

As one last bizarre piece of trivia, in 1967, the Wolves became champions… of the American United Soccer Association. To elaborate, the fledgling USA (the league, not the country) was short on professional teams, so to fast-track the league's launch, they just imported whole teams from Europe and South America. Wolverhampton went to Los Angeles and played as the Los Angeles Wolves alongside two other English teams^note The others being Stoke City (the Cleveland Stokers) and Sunderland (the Vancouver Royal Canadians). The USA league's inaugural season in 1967, with the Wolves winning the sole USA Cup match 6–5 against the Washington Whips^note read: Aberdeen. The next year, the USA-league merged with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American Soccer League (a predecessor to the current Major League Soccer), with the LA Wolves playing one more season in the NASL, but by that point, it had no Wolverhampton players, and the team folded after that.

Relegated Teams (Will play in Championship next season):

Teams that have been guaranteed relegation to the Championship by finishing 18th or worse in the Premier League.

Burnley

Forever and ever, we'll follow a team!
It's Burnley FC, we are supreme!

Year Established: 1882
Nickname: The Clarets
Kit: Claret shirts with sky-blue sleeves
Current Owners: ALK Capital (majority); J.J. and Kealia Watt (minority), Dude Perfect (minority)
Current Manager: Vincent Kompany
Current Captain: Jack Cork
Current Stadium: Turf Moor ^note Capacity 22,546
2023/24 Position: 18th or 19th in Premier League (relegated)
Premier League Tenures: 2009-2010, 2014-2015, 2016-2022, 2023-2024
Highest Premier League Finish: 7th (2017/18)
First Divison titles: 2; 1920–21, 1959–60
FA Cups: 1; 1913–14
Other Trophies: 1897–98, 1972–73, 2015–16, & 2022–23 Second Divisions/EFL Championships; 1981–82 Third Division Champions; 1991–92 Fourth Division Champions; 1960 & 1973 FA Charity Shields; 1991–92 Anglo-Scottish Cup

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One of the first football clubs to turn professional (in 1883), and one of the twelve founder members of the Football League (which they've won it twice, the last time being in 1960). They were also the smallest club to have been promoted to the Premier League until Bournemouth's promotion in the 2014/2015 season. The club is based in a town in eastern Lancashire so small its population would only fill three of Old Trafford's stands. Notable for a pretty large fall from grace in the 1970s and 1980s, going from top-flight football to narrowly surviving relegation from the Football League.

Fierce rivals with fellow East Lancashire side Blackburn Rovers.

Famous Burnley fans include England cricketer James Anderson (who's from Burnley), His Majesty the King (apparently due to several of his charities operating in the area ^note the fact that Burnley wore the Royal coat-of-arms on their shirts in the late nineteenth century is probably coincidental) and Alistair Campbell, a key figure in the Blair government who has described Burnley being in the Premier League as an even greater achievement than the electoral landslide he helped Blair win in 1997.

Turf Moor is the only football ground in England that sells the French liqueur Bénédictine in its bars - a legacy of the First World War, during which soldiers of the East Lancashire Regiment who were stationed in the French town of Fécamp (which is where Bénédictine is made) developed a taste for "Béné and Hot" (basically, Bénédictine mixed with hot water). It's still popular with Burnley fans to this day.

Despite starting their freshman season (2009/10) well, things went horribly wrong after promotion-winning manager Owen Coyle left and they ended up getting relegated shortly after. They got another chance in the Premier League during the 2014/2015 season, in which they had a number of notable feats, including getting a 1-0 win against Manchester City, who they held away from home earlier in the season from 2 down, who up to that point had scored in every match. They fought hard to stay in the league, but it was not to be.

They were next promoted in 2016, finishing the season atop the Championship. They survived the next season, largely off the back of stunning home form (in the league - it could have been in the cup too, but Burnley lost at home to then-5th-tier Lincoln), despite earning only one away point before February (at Old Trafford after their ex-United keeper Tom Heaton stopped a Curb-Stomp Battle on his own), and no away wins until the end of April. They even qualified for the Europa Qualifying Rounds that season, but they didn't manage to make the Group Stage.

They also became the first team in nearly four years and 68 league games to beat Liverpool at Anfield in January 2021. 2021/22 has seen them struggle for survival, and they currently hold the status of being one of the five relegation-battling teams. In mid-April, Sean Dyche and a number of the coaching staff were unexpectedly sacked, and while the team responded well, they ultimately were sent packing at the last action.

Former Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany subsequently replaced Dyche permanently in the Championship and guided Burnley to another immediate promotion the following April. Shortly after securing promotion, the Clarets picked up a few prominent minority investors, first now-retired NFL great J.J. Watt and his wife (and pro soccer player) Kealia and then the Dude Perfect Web video collective. Their season was dire from start to finish, but they put up a fight until the penultimate matchday, being sent down after a defeat to Spurs.

Sheffield United

Oh Sheffield United,
Come thrill me again!

Year Established: 1889
Nickname: The Blades
Kit: Red and white striped shirts, black shorts
Current Owner: Abdullah bin Musa'ed
Current Manager: Chris Wilder
Current Captain: John Egan
Current Stadium: Bramall Lane ^note Capacity: 32,702
2023/24 Position: 20th (relegated)
Premier League Tenures: 1992-1994; 2006-2007, 2019-2021, 2023-2024
First Division Titles: 1; 1897–98
FA Cups: 4; 1898–99, 1901–02, 1914–15, 1924–25
Other Trophies: 1952–53 Second Division champions; 2016–17 League One champions; 1981–82 Fourth Division champions; 1945–46 Football League North champions

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This Yorkshire team have played in all four divisions and are one of just four clubs to have actually finished top of all four of them (their one League Championship came back in 1898). Gained promotion back to the Premier League in 2019 after a twelve-year absence, getting relegated in 2022, before returning straight back for the 2023/24 season. Fierce rivals with Sheffield Wednesday with whom they contest the Steel City Derby.

Achieved promotion for the 2019/20 campaign and have became notable for merited away results at Stamford Bridge, Goodison, Tottenham, Molineux and Emirates Stadium (and limiting Liverpool and Man City to narrow wins) making a European place far likelier than the relegation that seemed odds on when the season began as they jostle with Big Six sides Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester United, and Chelsea, as well as surprise challengers Wolves and Burnley.

The following season was similarly spectacular, but for completely the opposite reasons... they officially made the worst start in the history of all four of England's top divisions and went down without even having 15 points to their name on the day relegation was confirmed.

They bounced back the following season though, having a strong campaign under new manager Paul Heckingbottom, achieving promotion by late April. The return has been abject though, with just one win in the opening four months of the season, plus a couple of pretty horrific thumpings (8-0 at home to Newcastle and 5-0 to Burnley, of all teams). To the surprise of no one, Heckingbottom was dismissed in early December, the first Premier League sacking of the season; more surprisingly, he was succeeded by a returning Chris Wilder, but they still haven't been able to do much to improve their chances, sitting bottom after the break with a measly 13 points. Their lone hope would be if Forest and Everton are both hit with points deductions strong enough to put them in striking distance, but Everton pull away with each passing weak, and they set the record for most goals conceded in a 38-game season with 93... with four whole matches left to play! This was unsurprisingly followed up by them getting slaughtered at Newcastle 5-1 and assuring their relegation, and then a 3-1 affair to Nottingham Forest tying them with Swindon Town for most goals conceded in a season at 100 even, which was followed with a 101st goal against Everton to fully surpass Swindon's historic record and lock Sheffield at the bottom of the table.

Famous fans include Michael Palin and Sean Bean. The latter, who was briefly a director of the club in the 2000s, actually got to play a Sheffield United player in the 1996 movie When Saturday Comes; not only did his character not die, it was the only one of his films in which he did not have to cover up the "100% Blade" tattoo on his left shoulder.

Promotion From the Championship

In the EFL Championship, the top level of the English Football League, the top two teams are guaranteed promotion to the Premier League, and are joined by one team that emerges as the winner of a four-team playoff set of the teams finishing 3rd-6th. These three teams then replace the three relegated teams from the Premier League (see above).

Promoted teams (Will play in Premier League next season):

Leicester City

The foxes are on the prowl!

Nickname: The Foxes
Kit: Blue shirts, white shorts
Current Owners: The Srivaddhanaprabha Family
Current Manager: Enzo Maresca
Current Captain: Jonny Evans
Current Stadium: King Power Stadium^note Capacity: 32,312. Has never had a sponsor-free name; previous sponsor was Walkers.
2023/24 Position: 1st in Championship (promoted)
Premier League Tenures: 1994-95, 1996-2002, 2003-04, 2014-2023, 2024–
Premier League Titles: 1; 2015–16
FA Cups: 1; 2020–21
Other Domestic Trophies: 1924–25, 1936–37, 1953–54, 1956–57, 1970–71, 1979–80, 2013–14, & 2023–24 level 2 champions; 2008–09 League One Champions, 1963–64, 1996–97, & 1999–2000 League Cups; 1971 & 2021 FA Community Shields

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By far best known for coming out of freaking nowhere to win the Premier League in 2015/16.

Before this, the team had a good run under Martin O'Neill's management in the late nineties, but things went rapidly downhill after he went north of the border for Celtic in 2000.

Leicester got relegated to League One in 2008, but they bounced back the following season and spent the next five seasons in the Championship. After being absent from the Premier League for ten years, the Foxes achieved promotion in 2014, following a miraculous rally that saw them come from bottom into safety within two months.

Following a tumultuous offseason that saw their old manager sacked, the club swiftly appointed Claudio ‘The Tinkerman’ Ranieri, former Chelsea boss, who had never won a top flight title in his 28 year career as a manager.

The team were 5,000–1 shots to win the title entering the 2015-16 season. They then proceeded to top the table in September, leading to jokes about how Leicester were going to win the league, only to then continue winning.

For further context, they smashed record after record - they became the first team to be bottom at Christmas in one season and top at Christmas the next, star striker Jamie Vardy (signed four years before from non-league Fleetwood Town for £1 million - in other words, what former England and Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney then earned in a month) scored goals in eleven consecutive games breaking the record set by legendary Netherlands and Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy and their entire first team cost £22 million. For context, Manchester United shelled out £36 million for the unproven but talented teenager Anthony Martial and most teams in the top 10 have at least one £20 million player and/or several £10 million-plus players.

Their unexpected success led to some people having to double down on rash declarations, including that of former England and Leicester striker Gary Lineker, current host of Match Of The Day (and face of Walker's Crisps), who had declared when Leicester were top at Christmas that if they won he would host Match of the Day in his underwear. After Leicester were crowned champions, everyone called him on it, including then Prime Minister David Cameron in Parliament. On the first programme of the 2016-17 season, Saturday 13th August 2016, he delivered on his promise, wearing Leicester City shorts no less.

Some credited the Foxes' success to the exhumation and reburial of Richard III (who had been resting in a Leicester carpark) bringing them good luck.

Their 2016/17 season wasn't quite so successful, with the worst title defence in over half a century, to the point that Ranieri was sacked in February 2017 (which led to a pretty big backlash pretty much everywhere owing to his popularity).

Tragedy struck the club early in the 2018/19 season, when a helicopter carrying widely beloved owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha crashed, killing everyone aboard and leading to mass mourning from everyone in the league. In matches afterwards, the players - many of whom had been part of the 2015/16 title winning side - were on the brink of tears, and the vast majority of the squad attended the funeral in Thailand. Touchingly, every Premier League club paid their tributes. 364 days later, Leicester won nine-nil AT Southampton, en route to a season challenging Manchester City for second place behind a rampaging Liverpool, ahead of Big Six teams Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester United. Ultimately, they fell short of their lofty performance, finishing 5th.

Since then, Jamie Vardy has proven evergreen, only getting faster despite his passing years, and demonstrating his skills by coolly grabbing a hat-trick in a 9-0 demolition of Southampton (itself the joint largest win in Premier League history, and the joint largest away win in English top flight history full stop) on the way to claiming the Golden Boot at a record-breaking age of 33 in 2019-20, as Leicester finished 5th and qualified for the Europa League.

In May 2021, Leicester reached the FA Cup Final — one of the first major British sporting events to experiment with large crowds following the COVID-19 Pandemic (attendance was capped at 20,000, significantly below Wembley's capacity). Thanks to the fact that their opponents Chelsea were one of the ESL Six, almost all neutrals wanted Leicester to win — which they did, overcoming their opponents 1-0 to win the FA Cup for the first time in the club's history.

Unfortunately, a string of bad results saw them slip out of the Top Four, and then in the final game, they let a 2-1 lead against Tottenham slip, sealing them at 5th place for the second year running. Have followed this up by falling back into the midtable in 2021/22 and have started the 2022/23 season in utter shambles, sitting dead bottom with just a single point in 7 games. They since found a way out of the relegation zone, but after months of just hanging in, Brendan Rodgers was sacked following a late collapse against Crystal Palace. Dean Smith, formerly of Villa and Norwich, was subsequently brought in for the remainder of the season, but things did not sufficiently improve and, despite a valiant 2-1 win over West Ham on the final day, it was not enough to prevent them becoming the second former Premier League champions to be relegated after Blackburn Rovers.

The 2023/24 season saw them decisively punch their ticket back to the Premier League, seeing them win the Championship with one game left to play.

Ipswich Town

Uppa Towen!

Established: 1878
Nickname: The Blues, The Tractor Boys
Kit: All blue
Current Owner: Gamechangers 20 Ltd. (Majority Shareholders) and Marcus Evans
Current Manager: Kieran McKenna
Current Captain: Luke Chambers
Current Stadium: Portman Road ^note Capacity: 30,311
2023/24 Position: 2nd in Championship (promoted)
Premier League Tenures: 1992–1995; 2000–2002, 2024–
Highest Premier League Finish: 5th (2000/01)
First Division Titles: 1; 1961–62
FA Cups: 1; 1977–78
Other Domestic Trophies: 1960–61, 1967–68, & 1991–92 Second Division champions; 1953–54 & 1956–57 Third Division South champions; 1936–37 Southern League champions; 1972–73 Texaco Cup
European Trophies; 1980–81 UEFA Cup

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A team from the largely rural county of Suffolk (hence the "Tractor Boys" nickname) who enjoyed two brief periods of success, one in the early 1960s (they won the League in 1962), the other in the late 1970s and early 1980s (winning the FA Cup in 1978 and the UEFA Cup in 1981). This is not unrelated to the fact that two of England's most successful national managers - Sir Alf Ramsey (who won the World Cup in 1966) and Sir Bobby Robson (who reached the World Cup semi-finals in 1990) - both began their managerial careers at Ipswich. Fierce rivals with Norwich City, with whom they contest the East Anglia Derby.

Also noted for the fact that several of their players appeared in Escape to Victory.

More ignominiously, Ipswich are the joint-record holders (along with Southampton and Bournemouth) of the worst defeat in the Premier League (9-0), having been beaten by Alex Ferguson's Manchester United by that score in 1995.

Famous fans include Ed Sheeran, who has sometimes evoked the town and its local A-road in his songs, even doing so during his opening verse in an Eminem collaboration. In 2021 he sponsored the team, with his tour sponsoring their shirts, and did promotions at Portman Road.

They won the First Division title in 1962 in their first ever top flight season, and were a successful club under Bobby Robson in the seventies, but their first few years in the Premier League were unimpressive, and they were relegated after a really terrible season in 1994/95. They came back in 2000, and finished fifth that year, only to end up back in the second tier the following year, but a torrid 2018/19 campaign saw them finish dead last with only 28 points out of 46 games, which sent them down into League 1, but they were able to win promotion in 2023 under the management of highly-rated young coach Kieran McKenna, while managing to score over 100 goals. On the final matchday of the 2023/24 season, their 2–0 win over Huddersfield Town secured second place, making them the first team since Southampton in 2012 to enter the Prem off back-to-back promotions.

Guaranteed playoff spot:

Leeds United

Marching On Together!

Nickname: The Peacocks^note Sometimes referred to as the Whites
Kit: All-white
Current Owners: 49ers Enterprises^note Yes, those 49ers; see more below.
Current Manager: Daniel Farke
Current Captain: Liam Cooper
Current Stadium: Elland Road^note Capacity: 37,890
2023/24 Position: 3rd in Championship
Premier League Tenures: 1992-2004, 2020-2023
Highest Premier League Finish: 3rd (1999/2000)
First Division Titles: 3; 1968–69, 1973–74, 1991–92
FA Cups: 1; 1971–72
Other Domestic Trophies: 1923–24, 1963–64, 1989–90, 2019–20 Second Division/Championships; 1967–68 Leagues Cup; 1969 & 1992 FA Charity Cups
European Trophies: 1967–68 & 1970–71 Inter-Cities Fairs Cups

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Replaced an earlier club called Leeds City… who were tossed out of the Football League and bankrupted just after World War I due to massive corruption, which included bribing league officials and paying their players illegal bonuses.

Although they were separated by one or two divisions from 2004 to 2020, Leeds holds a strong historical rivalry with Manchester United, dating back from the days when Man U was still Newton Heath and Leeds was a new football team in a rugby town. This rivalry is very unique in English football as it is not based on territorial affiliation or club success but on a historical basis: Manchester United represents Lancashire and plays in a red kit, while Leeds represents Yorkshire and wears white, an allusion to a particular conflict in British history involving the ruling noble families of the two England counties fighting for the Throne.

One of the powerhouses of English football in the 1960s and 1970s under Don Revie, albeit with a very bad reputation for foul play which led many to know them as "Dirty Leeds". Their all-white kit dates back to his tenure; he had the kit changed in emulation of Real Madrid, the leading club in Europe at the time. Under Revie, Leeds won the League twice, the Fairs Cup twice ^note  this was the forerunner of the UEFA Cup and the FA and League Cups once each, but were also League runners-up five times and FA Cup finalist twice. After Revie's departure they reached the European Cup final but lost thanks to what Leeds fans still see as dubious refereeing (they had two penalty appeals turned down and a goal disallowed), with subsequent rioting by fans leading to the club being banned from European competitions for several years.

When they began competing for promotion, they gained a reputation for bungling away leads, as they managed to blow nearly-assured promotion, and a nearly-assured playoff spot multiple times over the years, but with famed Argentine manager Marcelo "El Loco" Bielsa they finally played up to their potential and managed to dominate the Championship for all of the 2019-20 season, sealing their definitive return to the Premier League after 16 long years of absence.

They promptly threw down the gauntlet to the rest of the league by managing several surprise wins, though they ultimately finished midtable. Next season, however, a bunch of mid-to-long-term injuries to their starters left them hovering just above the drop zone; following a run of three successive heavy defeats in late February, 4-2 to Manchester United, 6-0 to Liverpool and 4-0 to Tottenham, Bielsa was let go and was replaced by former RB Leipzig and RB Salzburg manager Jesse Marsch. Marsch's leadership saw the team climb out of relegation, and they were able to secure their survival with a win on the final day. They carried their strong momentum into the next season, and after three matches, sat as high as 2nd in the table after trouncing a dismal Chelsea side 3-0.

They carried their momentum for a few months, but then went on a winless streak that lasted through the World Cup, all of December and January, and into February, leaving them stranded in the relegation zone and resulting in Jesse Marsch's sacking. Former Watford boss Javi Gracia replaced him, but failed to improve the club's situation, and was himself sacked in early May, with "Big Sam" Allardyce replacing him and given four matches to preserve the club's top flight status. These four matches ultimately yielded just one point and Leeds were ignominiously relegated on the final day after a 4-1 loss to Tottenham. Allardyce stood down less than a week later.

Not long after, the majority shareholder Andrea Radrizzani agreed to sell his stake to 49ers Enterprises, an investment arm of the NFL's San Francisco 49ers that bought into the club in 2018 and had increased its stake to 44% before Radrizzani sold out. In the following season, they found themselves in a three-way battle for automatic promotion wiht Ipswich and Leicester, which they converted into an automatic playoff place.

The Damned Utd and its film adaptation, The Damned United, depict the brief 44-day period in 1974 where the club was managed by legendary coach Brian Clough (who had had previous success with Derby and would go onto subsequent success at Nottingham Forest, but who was loathed by many in Leeds for his criticism of the team under Revie).

Southampton

Oh when the Saints go marching in…^note many clubs use this as a chant, but unlike most, Southampton don't have to change the lyrics.

Year Established: 1885
Nickname: The Saints
Kit: Red and white striped shirts
Current Owners: Sport Republic, backed by Dragan Solak
Current Manager: Russell Martin
Current Captain: Jack Stephens
Current Stadium: St Mary's Stadium^note Capacity: 32,505
2023/24 Position: 4th in Championship
Premier League Tenures: 1992-2005, 2012-2023
Highest Premier League Finish: 6th (2015/16)
FA Cups: 1; 1975–76
Other Trophies: 1921–22 (South) & 1959–60 Second Division champions; 1896–97, 1897–98, 1898–99, 1900–01, 1902–03, & 1903–04 Southern League champions; 2009–10 Football League Trophy

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Along with Ipswich and Bournemouth, have the unwanted record of having suffered the worst defeat in Premier League history (9-0), with the further ignominy of having suffered it twice in successive seasons, at home to Leicester in 2019 and away at Manchester United in 2021.

South Coast club who were regular fixtures (albeit usually struggling against relegation) until some epic mismanagement saw them relegated in 2005, and then again in 2009 to the third tier. Rebounded with back-to-back promotions in 2011 and 2012, though promotion-winning manager Nigel Adkins was controversially axed simply because the owners didn't think he was high-profile enough.

However, the new boss, Mauricio Pochettino, famous for his foul in the 2002 World Cup, helped Southampton climb into the top half of the table, resulting in Pochettino getting poached by Premier League rivals Tottenham. They continued their good form without him during the 2014/15 season however, briefly turning into unlikely title challengers under the management of Dutchman Ronald Koeman, and though they fell away, finished respectably. Losing yet more star players to clubs like Manchester United and Liverpool didn't seem to impede them again, despite a dismal period from late November to early January (where they only obtained 4 points from a possible 24), they turned it around to finish in their highest ever position and qualify for the Europa League group stage.

Things, however, have been tougher since due to the increasing changeover in managers, with veteran Mark Hughes being required to save them with 8 games left of 2017-18 despite reaching the FA cup Semi Final, though he succeeded. However, after just one win in their first 14 games (with the 15th "away" to Spurs, which would produce another routine loss under the interim management, though a last-gasp goal back made it the first time in 8 years every team scored in a PL game round), Sparky got canned for the second time in 2018, the final game seeing them lose a 2-0 lead to draw with Manchester United

Austrian Ralph Hasenhuttl, who had an impressive record in the German Bundesliga with young and unheralded squads, was the next to the role. His first home game saw a win over Arsenal, despite being pegged back twice, their first win since round 4, and the Gunners' first loss since round 2. However, a run of 3 favourable games produced only 2 points after the January window ended without investment despite a prior revival, but the inconsistency of rivals was enough for Southampton to steer away from the danger zone. The next season saw an utterly humiliating 9-0 home loss to Leicester (both Leicester strikers got hat-tricks), and widespread speculation that they would be relegated. However, this was followed by a winning run including at Stamford Bridge, at home to Spurs, and most notably, in the return in Leicester, aided by an astonishing scoring streak by Danny Ings, who barely missed out on that season's Golden Boot. Football is a strange game, sometimes. Hasenhuttl managed to survive another two seasons (one of which saw them lose 9-0 again, this time to Manchester United at Old Trafford) before he was eventually dismissed in November 2022 in the wake of a 4-1 home defeat to Newcastle.

He was replaced by Luton Town manager Nathan Jones, under whom their league form continued to slump and, after just fourteen games in charge and with the club bottom of the table, he too was fired, to be replaced by his assistant Ruben Selles. Despite a win over Chelsea in his first game in charge and draws at both Old Trafford and the Emirates, Selles was unable to lift the club off the foot of the table and they were ultimately relegated in mid-May following a loss to Fulham. They bounced back into the playoff places in 2023/24.

West Bromwich Albion

Boing boing, Baggies!

Year Established: 1878
Nickname: The Baggies
Kit: Navy and white striped shirts
Current Owner: Guochuan Lai
Current Manager: Carlos Corberan
Current Captain: Chris Brunt
Current Stadium: The Hawthorns^note Capacity: 26,850
2023/24 Position: 5th in Championship
Premier League Tenures: 2002-03, 2004-06, 2008-09, 2010-2018, 2020-21
Highest Premier League Finish: 8th (2012/13)
First Division Titles: 1; 1919–20
FA Cups: 5; 1887–88, 1891–92, 1930–31, 1953–54, 1967–68
Other Trophies: 1901–02, 1910–11, & 2007–08 Second Division/Championships; 1965–66 Football League Cup; 1920 & 1954 FA Charity Shields; 1977 Tennent Caledonian Cup

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Currently a mid-table Premiership side. They were one of the twelve founder members of the Football League but have only been Champions once, in 1920. They won their last major trophy (the FA Cup, for the fifth time) in 1968 and then spent 1986 to 2002 out of the top flight. Like Sunderland, they have a reputation as somewhat of a "yo-yo team" - in the nine seasons from 2001-02 to 2008-09, seven resulted in either promotion or relegation, the other two being a defeat in the play-off final and a survival in 2004-05 where they became the first team to escape relegation having been bottom at Christmas (in fact, they were still bottom going into their final match) The turnaround was so improbable it was dubbed "The Great Escape".

They were relegated the following season, however. Under Tony Pulis, they re-established their mid-table status, proving a hard team to break down and a consistent threat to top teams via set-pieces up until a dire end to the 2016-17 season sent them plummeting and, when wins in their first 2 games in the 2017-18 season were followed by a 19 game winless run, Pulis was sacked in favor of Alan Pardew. Having oscillated between stability and PR disasters throughout 8 years in the PL unimpeded, their 2017-18 campaign descended into farce, and Pardew was ditched with one league win in 30 league games, and 10 points adrift with 18 to gain, though Moore gaining 11 of them in his first 5 games, including against Man Utd, Liverpool and Spurs, ensured WBA were only demoted on the final week.

They failed to gain promotion in the 2018-19 year, but managed it the following season. However, like Fulham, they were kicked right back down, a season best known for Liverpool winning at the Hawthorns thanks a 93rd minute header from their goalkeeper.

Statistically, West Brom has the most intelligent fans... no, seriously. Among said fans are Frank Skinner (of Fantasy Football League fame), Eric Clapton and Liam Payne.^note Who ironically hails from Wolverhampton, home of West Brom's arch rivals Wolves.

Norwich City

On the Ball, City

Established: 1902
Nickname: The Canaries
Kit: Yellow shirts, green shorts
Current Owners: Delia Smith, Michael Wynn-Jones and Michael Foulger
Current Manager: David Wagner
Current Captain: Grant Hanley
Current Stadium: Carrow Road^note Capacity: 27,010
2023/24 Position: 6th in Championship
Premier League Tenures: 1992-95, 2004-05, 2011-14, 2015-16, 2019-20, 2021-22
Highest Premier League Finish: 3rd (1992/93)
Trophies: 1971–72, 1985–86, 2003–04, 2018–19, & 2020–21 Second Division/Championship titles; 1933–34 & 2009–10 Third Division South/League One champions; 1961–62 & 1984–85 Football League Cups

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The only professional football team in the county of Norfolk, Norwich City have only spent one season outside the top two tiers since 1960 but the only major competition they've won is the League Cup in 1962 (when none of the big teams entered) and 1985 (when they and defeated finalists Sunderland were both relegated). The club had the misfortune to have their most successful period in the late 1980s and early 1990s when English clubs were banned from European competition (any article on Norwich in Europe inevitably includes a list of the seasons they should have qualified), but did manage a single season in the UEFA Cup in 1993-94, where they had the satisfaction of knocking out German giants Bayern Munich (who had bemused everyone by dubbing Norwich a small village of mustard farmers). The club's anthem, "On the Ball City", is considered the oldest football anthem still in use. Have a fierce local rivalry with Ipswich Town from the neighbouring county. The fact that Norwich's local rivals are 45 miles away gives an indication of how isolated the city is.

Entered popular culture by playing a supporting role in the film Mike Bassett: England Manager, although the scenes set in Norwich were filmed nowhere near the city, to the locals' annoyance.

Norwich City has a surprisingly high number of celebrity board members. The majority shareholder since 1996 is Delia Smith, and Stephen Fry was a director for a time. Between 2015 and 2018, the club's chairman was Ed Balls. If American readers don't realise how weird that is, imagine the running mate of the defeated presidential candidate quitting politics to run a sports team in his home town with a celebrity chef and a comedian.

Norwich were the first team to top the Premier League, beating Arsenal 4-2 on the opening weekend of the 1992/93 season after being 2-0 down at half-time. It isn't just a quirk of history either: They were also the first team to be top at Christmas, and were still title contenders at the end of March, only to lose 3-1 to eventual champions Manchester United. They ultimately finished 3rd (still their highest league place) and qualified for the UEFA Cup.

They returned to the Premier League in the 2015/16 season, beginning most of a decade impersonating a footballing yo-yo. Despite a famous victory against Manchester United at Old Trafford, they were relegated despite doing their part in the final days. Came back for the 2019/20 season, but despite a famous 3-2 win over Manchester City and an earnest devotion to their stylish attacking football, they got kicked right back down immediately.

Dominated the Championship the next season, and earned promotion once again by finishing 1st, but followed that up with a season in which they languished in last place, with their relegation confirmed in late April. In 2023/24, they made the playoffs.

Other Former Premier League Clubs

Barnsley

Helo, hello! We are the Barnsley Boys!

Year Established: 1875
Nickname: The Tykes
Kit: Red shirt, white shorts.
Current Owners: Chien Lee, Paul Conway, Grace Hung, Neerav Parekh, Billy Beane^note yes, that Billy Beane and The Cryne Family
Current Manager: Martin Devaney (caretaker)
Current Captain: Alex Mowatt
Current Stadium: Oakwell ^note Capacity: 23,009
2023/24 Position: 6th in League One
Premier League Tenure: 1997-98
Highest Premier League Finish: 19th (1997/98)
FA Cups: 1; 1911–12
Other Trophies: 1933–34, 1938–39, 1954–55 Third Division North Champions; 2015–16 Football League Trophy

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Have played at Oakwell since 1888 (the year after they were founded), joined the Football League in 1898. One FA Cup in 1912 (they were also runners-up in 1910).

Barnsley finished third in the Second Division in 1915, the last season before the First World War. When football resumed after the war, it was decided to expand the First Division. Barnsley were the highest-placed team not to have been promoted, but instead a vote gave the extra place to Arsenal, who had finished three places below them. Although the decision was somewhat Vindicated by History since Arsenal have never been relegated, it remained a sore point for several years afterwards.

Barnsley have spent more seasons in the second tier than anyone else: They spent their first thirty league seasons there and, after a low point in the 60s and 70s saw them relegated to the fourth tier, spent another sixteenth consecutive seasons there in the 80s and 90s.

After 102 years trying to make it into the top flight of English football, they managed it in 1997, and then were relegated after only one season, having spent virtually the entire season in the bottom three. Did manage a strong FA Cup run in the same season though, reaching the fifth round and knocking Manchester United out along the way. Came close to a return in 2000, but were relegated to the third tier two seasons later.

since which they have yo-yoyed between the second and third tiers. They were most recently relegated to the third tier in 2022.

Since 2017, Barnsley have been owned by an international consortium which includes Oakland Athletics executive Billy Beane, whose use of statistical analysis in baseball was the subject of the book and film Moneyball.

Traditionally, they have a friendly rivalry with Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United, and a less friendly rivalry with Leeds United.

Birmingham City

I am a City fan,
and I am from Birmingham!

Year Established: 1875
Nickname: The Blues^note The fans refer to themselves as the Bluenoses.
Kit: Blue shirts, white shorts
Current Owner: Paul Suen (majority), Tom Brady (minority)
Current Manager: Tony Mowbray
Current Captain: Harlee Dean
Current Stadium: St Andrew's ^note Capacity: 30,016
2023/24 Position: 22nd in Championship (relegated)
Premier League Tenures: 2002-2006; 2007-2008; 2009-2011
Highest Premier League Finish: 9th (2009/10)
Trophies Won: 1892–93, 1920–21, 1947–48, 1954–55 Second Division Champions; 1994–95 Third Division Champions; 1962–63 & 2010–11 Football League Cups; 1990–91 & 1994–95 Football League Trophies; 1905 Birmingham Senior Cup; 1945–46 Football League South Champion

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Have historically alternated between the top two divisions but are currently in the Championship, having been relegated from the Premier League in 2012.

Despite having little success throughout their history (although arguably two League Cup wins, in 1963 and 2011, is better than most), they were the first English team to ever take part in European competition - and also the first English team ever to reach a European final - the Fairs Cup (the forerunner to the UEFA Cup, which became the Europa League) in both 1960 and 1961, although they lost on both occasions. They competed in Europe again in the 2011-12 season after qualifying for the Europa League by way of winning the League Cup for the second time.

Fierce rivals with Aston Villa in what is known as the Second City Derby. Also rivals with fellow-Midlanders Wolves and West Brom. With Villa and Wolves, forms one-third of a trio of Midlands clubs that have benefited from Chinese investment.

The word "benefit" is used loosely however at this stage. The investors sacked local boy Gary Rowett just before Christmas with the side near the Play-off places, replacing him with Gianfranco Zola, and Zola saw the team slide towards the relegation zone, resigning after a loss to Burton in the pre anti penultimate fixture, with Brum now just 1 point above the relegation zone. Harry Redknapp came in, and they won their last 2 games to stay in the Championship when a loss in either of them would have seen Birmingham relegated, but was sacked after a slow start to the next season, another one where they survived for definite on the final day.

During the 2023 offseason, City picked up a new minority owner in retired NFL legend Tom Brady (with his main role initially being in the club's sports science, health, and nutrition programmes), and, a few months into the subsequent season, England and Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney was appointed as manager; his tenure would be a short one though, with fifteen games in charge yielding just two wins, and he ended up being the first English league managerial casualty of 2024. The season ended with City's relegation to League One.

Jasper Carrott is a fan and once served as a club director, and used to mention them (usually in an uncomplimentary manner, reflecting the club's distinct lack of success) in his act.

Blackburn Rovers

Run, run, wherever you may be!
We are the Blackburn Rovers FC!

Established: 1875
Nickname: The Rovers^note Sometimes referred to as the Blue and Whites, Riversiders, or Riverside Rovers.
Kit: Blue and white halved shirts
Current Owners: The V H Group
Current Manager: John Eustace
Current Captain: Elliott Bennett
Current Stadium: Ewood Park ^note Capacity 31,367
2023/24 Position: 19th in Championship
Premier League Tenures: 1992-1999; 2001-2012
First Division/Premier League titles: 3; 1911–12, 1913–14, 1994–95
FA Cups: 6; 1883–84, 1884–85, 1885–86, 1889–90, 1890–91, 1927–28
Other Trophies: 1938–39 Second Division Champions; 2001–02 Football League Cup; 1912 FA Charity Shield; 1986–87 Full Members' Cup

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One of the twelve founder members of the Football League and had some success in the early twentieth century, winning the League twice before the First World War.

Came (back) to prominence when the Premier League was created, thanks largely to a spending spree bankrolled by local tycoon Jack Walker that included signing Alan Shearer before Newcastle did - they were runners-up in 1994 before winning it the following year under the management of Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish. This led Rovers fans to claim that their club was better than Liverpool, Everton and Spurs - although fans of all three teams would strenuously disagree with that!

The first of two former champions to have been relegated – twice no less – with the second occurring in 2012, and almost suffered another relegation in 2013 after being run very well by Indian poultry farmers Venky's, who sacked then-manager Sam Allardyce and replaced him with the highly unpopular Steve Kean, leading to relegation the following year, and the club getting through four managers in the following season in the Championship. Relegated again in 2017, with Venkys still owning the club, but immediately returned to the Championship the following year.

Fierce rivals with near-neighbours Burnley, with whom they contest the East Lancashire Derby.

Blackpool

We follow Blackpool FC
We come from the seaside,
The only team in football
In tangerine and white!

Established: 1887
Nickname: The Seasiders; The Tangerines.
Kit: Orange shirts, white shorts
Current Owner: Simon Sadler
Current Manager: Neil Critchley
Current Captain: Chris Maxwell
Current Stadium: Bloomfield Road ^note Capacity: 17,338
2023/24 Position: 8th in League One
Premier League Tenure: 2010-2011
Highest Premier League Finish: 19th (2010/11)
FA Cups: 1; 1952–53
Other Trophies:''' 1929–30 Second Division Champions; 2001–02 & 2003–04 Football League Trophies; 1917 Anglo-Italian Cup; 1943 Football League War Cup; 1935–36, 1936–37, 1941–42, 1953–54, 1993–94, 1994–95, & 1995–96 Lancashire Senior Cups

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Their only major honour is winning the FA Cup in 1953, a match known to history as the "Matthews Final" after legendary winger Stanley Matthews inspired the team to come back from 3-1 down to win 4-3; although his team-mate Stan Mortensen scored a hat-trick (the only player to do so in an FA Cup final at Wembley), it is Matthews for whom that final is remembered. It's also considered to be the first major televised sporting event (in Britain at least), as many televisions had at the time been bought or rented by households across the country in anticipation of the Queen's Coronation which took place a month later.

Blackpool graced the old First Division from the 1930s to the 1960s, subsequently sliding down to the Fourth Division before becoming the only club to get promoted from every division of the Football League by way of the play-off system, leading to them spending one season (2010-11) in the Premier League.

They were then relegated twice in a row as the ownership was losing control and fans were turning against the Oyston family regime that has owned the Tangerines for decades, but snuck into the play offs in League Two, despite continued fan anger at the club's corrupt ownership, after winning their last game when any 2 of 9 teams could have made the play off, and beat Luton dramatically before holding off Exeter in the play off final.

After four seasons in League One, during which the Oystons finally sold up, to the unbridled delight of the entire fanbase, they returned to the Championship, again via the play-offs, in 2021, only to get sent back down in 2023.

Bolton Wanderers

We're the one and only Wanderers!

Established: 1874 (as Christ Church F.C.)
Nickname: The Wanderers^note Sometimes referred to as the Trotters.
Kit: White shirts, navy shorts
Current Owners: Football Ventures
Current Manager: Ian Evatt
Current Captain: Antoni Sarcevic
Current Stadium: Toughsheet Community Stadium ^note Capacity: 28,723
2023/24 Position: 3rd in League One
Premier League Tenures: 1995-1996; 1997-1998; 2001-2012
Highest Premier League Finish: 6th (2004/05)
FA Cups: 4; 1922–23, 1925–26, 1928–29, 1957–58
Other Trophies: 1908–09, 1977–78, & 1996–97 level 2 Champions; 1972–73 Third Division Champions; 1958 FA Charity Shield; 1988–89 & 2022–23 EFL Trophies; 1945 Football League War Cup

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One of the twelve founder members of the Football League, and the club that's spent the most seasons in the top flight without actually winning it. FA Cup winners four times, most recently in 1958. Home games at the University of Bolton Stadium (formerly the Reebok Stadium). Bolton alternated between the Championship and the Premier League in the 1990s, but had a more sustained run in the Prem in the 2000s under the management of Sam "Big Sam" Allardyce, qualifying for the UEFA Cup in 2005 by virtue of finishing sixth.

Their fortunes gradually deteriorated after Allardyce left however, and they were eventually relegated in 2012. After a dismal 2015/16 campaign, which saw them in 173 million pounds of debt, and handed a transfer embargo to boot, they were relegated to the third tier for the first time since 1993, though they won their way back up next season, and only narrowly avoided going down again in the final minutes of the 2017-18 season, but fell apart the following season, as financial woes got so bad that the certainty of them even playing games was low and their last home game cancelled completely.

Things got so bleak that they were at risk of being expelled from the Football League altogether and doomed to extinction (a fate that befell unfortunate neighbours Bury FC, who had been in the Football League for 134 years until this happened), until they were saved in the eleventh hour by Football Ventures buying the team out.

The following season was one of total turmoil, in no small part due to the COVID-19 outbreak, but they were relegated to League Two. They were, however, able to turn it around and returned to League One at the first opportunity, and earned a playoff spot in 2023, though they failed to win. Earned another playoff spot in 2024.

Bradford City

Take me home, Midland road...

Year Established: 1903
Nickname: The Bantams^note Sometimes referred to as the Paraders or the Citizens.
Kit: Claret & amber shirts, white shorts
Current Owner: Stefan Rupp
Current Manager: Graham Alexander
Current Captain: Richard O'Donnell
Current Stadium: Valley Parade ^note Capacity: 25,136
2023/24 Position: 9th in League Two
Premier League Tenure: 1999-2001
Highest Premier League Finish: 17th (1999/2000)
FA Cups: 1; 1910-11
Other Trophies: 1907–08 Second Division champions; 1928–29 & 1984–85 Third Division champions; 1938–39 Third Division North Challenge Cup; 1906, 1907, 1908, & 1909 West Riding County FA Challenge Cups

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West Yorkshire Club infamous for the day when one stand of their Valley Parade stadium, which was old and decrepit, burned down during a game in 1985, killing 56 people. The fire prompted a revitalization of British stadia safety standards, and Valley Parade has since been totally rebuilt.

Famously survived on the last day of the 1999/2000 season by beating Liverpool. Unfortunately, in a portent of what would later happen to neighbours Leeds United, they then massively overspent on players and underwent financial meltdown, ending up in the Football League's lowest tier by 2007 (though they won promotion out of that division in 2013). Generally chased promotion to the Championship since they knocked Chelsea out of the FA cup in 2015, until a dire end to the 2017-18 season ended promotion hopes and continued into the new year.

Cardiff City

I'll be there, I'll be there,
With my little pick and shovel, I'll be there!

Year Established: 1899
Nickname: The Bluebirds
Kit: Blue shirts, white shorts
Current Owner: Vincent Tan
Current Manager: Erol Bulut
Current Captain: Joe Ralls
Current Stadium: Cardiff City Stadium ^note Capacity: 33,280
2023/24 Position: 12th in Championship
Premier League Tenures: 2013-14, 2008-19
Highest Premier League Finish: 18th (2018/19)
FA Cups: 1; 1926–27
Other Trophies: 2012–13 Championship winners; 1946–47 Third Division South champions; 1992–93 Third Division champions; 1912–13 Southern League Second Division champions; 1927 FA Charity Shield; 1911–12, 1919–20, 1921–22, 1922–23, 1926–27, 1927–28, 1929–30, 1955–56, 1958–59, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1975–76, 1987–88, 1991–92, & 1992–93 Welsh Cups; 2001–02 FAW Premier Cup

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The second Welsh club to have played in the Premier League. Their constant failures to get promoted to the top-flight were the source of a running joke for many years, until things finally went right in 2013 when they won the Football League Championship and earned promotion.

The only non-English side to have won the FA Cup (in 1927) and got to the 2008 final, where they were beaten by Portsmouth.

Fierce rivals with Swansea City; matches between the two still produce crowd trouble on a regular basis.

Their owner, Vincent Tan, is a controversial figure for his constant Executive Meddling ^note For instance, Tan changed the kit's color from its traditional blue to red, only to change it back in 2015 because of fan protests, and changed the away kit to red instead, which was considered to be a more than acceptable compromise (if only because away kits usually change colour on an annual basis)., his jeers toward his own players and his lack of knowledge of the game ^note  Case in point: he once criticized his team's goalkeeper for not scoring enough goals. However, his decision to sack Malky Mackay has helped vindicate his reputation after details about the former manager's… unsavory text messages came to public light.

Despite signing players such as England international Steven Caulker, their first season in the Premier League was a far cry from the success of their rivals Swansea City and the Bluebirds got relegated ignominiously, and have since bounced around the Championship. However, under Neil Warnock, they managed the division's best winning start in 2017, with 5 on the trot, and got a fairer crack of the PL whip in real colours.

In spite of their season being destroyed by their marquee signing being killed in a plane crash a day after joining the club, they won back-to-back, a feat not achieved the previous time, but lost late to Crystal Palace to be sent down with one match left to play, bringing an end to their rather tragic season. The following season, they managed a playoff spot, but lost to Fulham.

Charlton Athletic

The mist rolling in from the Thames, my desire,
Is always to be found at Valley Floyd Road.

Year Established: 1905
Nickname: The Addicks
Current Owner: Thomas Sandgaard
Current Manager: Nathan Jones
Current Captain: George Dobson
Current Stadium: The Valley ^note Capacity: 27,111
2023/24 Position: 16th in League One
Premier League Tenures: 1998-1999; 2000-2007
Highest Premier League Finish: 7th (2003/04)
FA Cups: 1; 1946–47
Other Trophies: 1999–2000 Championship winners; 1928–29 (South), 1934–35 (South), & 2011–12 Third Division/League One champions; 1943–44 Football League War Cup joint winners; 1994–95, 2012–13, 2014–15 Kent Senior Cups; 2022–23, 2023–24 London Senior Cups

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Another London-based club, who narrowly failed to survive in their first Premier League season, before establishing themselves as a decent mid-table side for a few years. However, things quickly went downhill after long-time manager Alan Curbishley left, and they were relegated the following year, then again in 2009. They won promotion back to the Championship in 2012, before their new owner's mismanagement of the club saw them sent back down in 2016, having relied on a partnership with clubs of his in Belgium, Spain and Hungary, where he was losing popularity at a rapid rate. Lost in Playoffs in 2017-18 under the guidance of ex Leeds and West Ham bad boy Lee Bowyer, but earned a shock win over Sunderland with the last action of the play-off final the next year. Despite a valiant effort, they went straight back to League One the following season however.

Coventry City

Let's all sing together,
Play up Sky Blues,
While we sing together,
We will never lose!

Established: 1883
Nickname: The Sky Blues
Kit: All sky blue
Current Owner: Doug King
Current Manager: Mark Robins
Current Captain: Liam Kelly
Current Stadium: Coventry Building Society Arena ^note Capacity: 32,609
2023/24 Position: 9th in Championship
Premier League Tenures: 1992-2001
Highest Premier League Finish: 11th (1993/94 and 1997/98)
FA Cups: 1; 1986–87
Other Trophies: 1966–67 Second Division Champions; 1935–36, 1963–64, & 2019–20 Third Division/League One Champions; 2016–17 EFL Trophy; 1935–36 Third Division South Cup; 1910–11, 1922–23, & 2006–07 Birmingham Senior Cups; 1959–60 Southern Professional Floodlit Cup

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West Midlands-based club, with rivalries with Leicester City and the two Birmingham-based clubs. Like Southampton they were longtime members of the top-flight, reaching the First Division for the first time in the 1960s when Jimmy Hill was the manager (as well as changing the home kit to sky blue, he also wrote the club song - see above). They then spent 34 consecutive seasons in the top flight before being relegated in 2001. but constantly struggled and finally went down in 2001. Contrary to what Monty Python's Flying Circus would have you believe, they have won the FA Cup (in 1987, well after the referenced sketch aired).

Their failures to win promotion combined with the cost of building a new ground caused their finances to deteriorate as the decade progressed, leading to them being relegated again in 2012. To add insult to injury they were kicked out of their ground the following year, playing their 2013–14 "home" games 40 miles away in Northampton.

They're now back in their Coventry ground… though they're now tenants of the Wasps rugby union club, formerly playing near London, which bought the ground and moved their home matches there in late 2014. They had a torrid 2016/17 campaign and have gone down to League 2. They last placed in the top 5 in any division in 1966, but Reached the FA cup last 16, including beating Stoke, and placed 6th, thereby earning a playoff place, in 2017-18. They won the play off final, finally getting upward trajectory.

Talks between their owners SISU and Wasps had broken down before the 2019/20 season, so they had to move out of Ricoh Arena and arrange a groundsharing agreement with Birmingham City while a new stadium gets planned. On the plus side, while the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 outbreak, with each team be allocated points on a Points-Per-Game basis, Coventry finished 1st and achieved promotion to the Championship. Their Championship performance improved over the following seasons, and they made the promotion playoff final in 2022/23, to be played against familiar foe and fellow league climbers Luton Town, but they fell in sudden-death penalties. 2023/24 saw them dust themselves off and go again in an extremely tight field of contenders, but their most memorable moments came in the FA Cup, where a late stoppage time winner in the quarter-finals against Wolves sent them to the semi-finals in Wembley. In that semi-final, they gave Manchester United an epic scare, coming from three goals down to force extra time, and having what would've been a winning goal ruled out for a very narrow off-side, before finally succumbing to a penalty shoot-out.

Derby County

All teams who come here,
There's nowhere to hide,
Everyone is frightened,
Of that Derby pride.

Year Established: 1884
Nickname: The Rams
Kit: White shirts, black shorts
Current Owner: David Clowes
Current Manager: Paul Warne
Current Captain: Curtis Davies
Current Stadium: Pride Park Stadium ^note Capacity: 33,597
2023/24 Position: 2nd in League One (promoted)
Premier League Tenures: 1996-2002; 2007-2008
Highest Premier League Finish: 8th (1998/99)
First Division Titles: 2; 1971–72, 1974–75
FA Cups: 1; 1945–46
Other Trophies: 1911–12, 1914–15, 1968–69, & 1986–87 Second Division Champions; 1956–57 Third Division North Champions; 1975 FA Charity Shield; 1971–72 Texaco Cup; 1970 Watney Cup

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East Midlands club and one of the twelve founder members of the Football League. Champions twice in the 1970s (the first under Brian Clough, the second under ex-player Dave Mackay) and long-standing rivals of Clough's other club, Nottingham Forest. They were a generally decent side for a few years under Jim Smith, until they were relegated in 2002.

Returned for one season after that, which can only be described as a failure of the most epic kind. We're talking the lowest points total in Premier League history, the earliest relegation in Premier League history, only a single win from 38 matches (24 points adrift of 19th place, much less safety) and even a bizarre sex tape scandal involving their manager erupting in the middle of it (which, frankly, was more fun to follow than the team itself). Their season was legendarily bad.

They most recently made it into a playoff spot, winning the home fixture against Fulham, but losing the away by a greater margin. After Gary Rowett joined Stoke, ex-Chelsea icon Frank Lampard decided the Rams were his first managerial job. They found their way into the play offs, and controversially beat Leeds, in spite of having lost the first leg at home, 1-0, they earned a 4-2 win in a high-octane return, only to lose to Aston Villa. Lampard would leave after that season for Chelsea. Their 2021/22 season started in a very bleak note as the club entered administration, which had them start at -12 points on the first matchday; as if that wasn't enough, in a prime display of Murphy's Law, the team was deducted a further 9 points on November due to breaching EFL accounting rules. Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney was called up as manager to steer what was by all accounts a sinking ship, but with the team's heroic efforts on the pitch they sat within striking distance of safety in multiple occasions.

Sadly, despite heroics like a 2-1 win against a nearly unstoppable Fulham, they were officially relegated to League One with three matches to spare, as the club's future was becoming bleaker by the day. Rooney then abruptly resigned as manager during the summer. Despite it all, the club was officially bought on July 1 by a consortium led by lifelong Rams supporter and property developer David Clowes, meaning they would avoid yet another points deduction in League One, and they only just missed out on a playoff spot in 2023, though the following season they would win promotion on the final day.

Huddersfield Town

So Town play up, and bring the Cup
Back to Huddersfield!

Established: 1908
Nickname: The Terriers
Kit: Blue and white striped shirts
Current Owner: Phil Hodgkinson
Current Manager: vacant
Current Captain: Christopher Schindler
Current Stadium: Kirklees Stadium ^note Capacity: 24,500
2023/24 Position: 23rd in Championship (relegated)
Premier League Tenure: 2017-19
Highest Premier League Finish: 16th (2017/18)
First Division Titles: 3; 1923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26
FA Cups: 1; 1921–22
Other Trophies: 1969–70 Second Division champions; 1982–83 Third Division champions; 1979–80 Fourth Division champions; 1922 FA Charity Shield

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Like Preston North End, Huddersfield are an historic team with regard to English football. When the English top flight was the Football League's First Division, they were the first team to win three straight titles (1923/24 to 1925/26), as well as the first team to score an Olímpico (a goal directly from a corner kick) in English history.

They have not won a title since, and they began slipping over the next few decades, going down from the top flight in 1972 as far as the Fourth Division in 1975 (the first League Champions to do so). The Terriers spent most of their time in the Premier League era sitting still in the Championship and League One (with a single year in League Two), but in 2012 they won promotion to the Championship. They then climbed the ranks to make it to the Championship Playoff Final in 2017, where they beat Reading 4-3 on penalties.

The 2017-2018 season was their first season in the Premier League, and their first top-flight season in 45 years. They became the second newly promoted team to not concede a goal before the first international break (in the 3 games, wins by 3-0 and 1-0 and a 0-0 draw). They struggled afterwards, but then became the first team to beat Manchester United in the 2017-18 season, and shock late season stalemates at Etihad Stadium and Stamford Bridge allowed their survival with time to spare. This didn't occur the next season though, as their inability to find a goalscorer cut Huddersfield well adrift from the start, and indeed, they suffered the second earliest relegation (one day later than Derby's hapless 2007-08 ensemble), with three wins, two of which were against Wolves, the other against fellow strugglers Fulham, scoring just 18 goals in the process.

Floundered for a few years, but won a playoff spot in 2022, though they ultimately fell short in the Playoff Final. Had a disastrous 2023/24 season and dropped to League One.

Famous fans over the years have included Harold Wilson (who was from Huddersfield) and Patrick Stewart (who's from nearby Mirfield).

Hull City

For I can't help falling in love with you
The Tigers!

Year Established: 1904
Nickname: The Tigers
Kit: Black-and-amber shirts, black shorts
Current Owners: Acun Ilıcalı
Current Manager: vacant
Current Captain: Richie Smallwood
Current Stadium: KC Stadium ^note Capacity: 25,450
2023/24 Position: 7th in Championship
Premier League Tenures: 2008-10; 2013-15; 2016-17
Highest Premier League Finish: 16th (2013/14)
Trophies Won: 1932–33, 1948–49, 1965–66, & 2020–21 Third Division/League One champions

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Hull first entered the Premier League (and indeed the top-flight) in 2008. The Kingston upon Hull-based team's debut season was mostly remembered for them doing well until then-manager Phil Brown decided to berate his entire team on the pitch during half-time of one match. After that moment, they barely avoided relegation after failing to win a single home game for the rest of the season (winning only once away, at Fulham) before going down the following year having not won a single game on their travels.

Hull returned to the top-flight in 2013 under Steve Bruce's management and finished as runners-up to Arsenal in the 2014 FA Cup after being up 2-0 within 20 minutes. While the Tigers went out of the Premier League on the final day the following season, they quickly rebounded and ultimately achieved promotion after beating Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 in the 2016 Championship playoff final. Usually struggling against relegation and being the whipping boy of the League in the first half of the 2016/17 season, including a wince-worthy 5-1 defeat to Liverpool, a change of manager restored fortunes somewhat (including with a 2-0 victory over Liverpool), but it was not enough to stop them from going down and losing star left-back Andy Robertson... to Liverpool.

A failed spell under ex-Russia boss Lenoid Slutskiy led to Hull needing another boss change, and risking an untenable back to back relegation and financial ruin after a decade of yo-yoing between the top 2 tiers, though Nigel Adkins has stabilised them since and they were able to stay up in the Championship for next season, only to be kicked down after a truly dismal second half of the season in 2020, with just 6 points in 20 games. Since then, they've come back up, but barely missed out on a playoff place in 2023/24.

Middlesbrough

We're the Red Army from Middlesbrough!

Established: 1876
Nickname: The Boro; The Smoggies
Kit: Red shirts, white shorts
Current Owner: Steve Gibson
Current Manager: Michael Carrick
Current Captain: Jonny Howson
Current Stadium: Riverside Stadium ^note Capacity: 34,742
2023/24 Position: 8th in Championship
Premier League Tenures: 1992-93; 1995-97; 1998-09; 2016-17
Highest Premier League Finish: 7th (2004/05)
Domestic Trophies: 1926–27, 1928–29, 1973–74, & 1994–95 Second Division/Championships; 1893–94, 1894–95, & 1896–97 Northern League Champions; 2003–04 League Cup; 1894–95 & 1897–98 FA Amateur Cups; 1975–76 Anglo-Scottish Cup
Worldwide Trophies: 1980 Kirin Cup

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One of the "North-East Three" along with Newcastle and Sunderland. League Cup winners in 2004 - their only major honour, although they've also been FA Cup and UEFA Cup finalists (in 1997 and 2006, respectively). Have tended to alternate between the top two divisions, coming to national attention for several high-profile foreign signings in the mid-1990s when they were managed by former England captain Bryan Robson - a period which saw them reach both major cup finals and get relegated in the same season.

Were controversially relegated for failing to fulfil a fixture in 1997, but came back the following year and lasted over a decade, generally finishing mid-table (although they reached the finals of the UEFA Europa League (then the UEFA Cup) in 2006, losing to Sevilla in the finals^note This win by Sevilla marked the start of their Europa League domination. In the next 10 years since their victory against Middlesbrough, they would win 4 more titles) before eventually going down in 2009.

They won promotion in 2016, only to go down again the following season. Gary Monk was controversially sacked pre-Xmas because Boro thought his style wasn't good enough. Who did they bring in his place? Tony Pulis! Pulis led them to the Championship playoff, though they were ousted by Aston Villa. However, a late slump the next season saw them miss out on one completely, and a new boss needed in their former player, ex-England international defender Jonathan Woodgate. He was replaced by Neil Warnock in June 2020 after the club lost their first game following the season's pause due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Warnock left the club in November 2021 to be replaced by ex-Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder, who was sacked in October 2022 to be replaced by former Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick. In his first season, Carrick turned them around from relegation candidates to reaching the play-off semi-final, losing to Coventry.

The club occasionally falls victim to the Acquired Error at the Printer trope, with tickets sometimes referring to them as "Middlesborough", as was the case for the 2015 Championship Play-Off Final.

Oldham Athletic

When I see you Oldham,
I go out of my head,
I just can't get enough,
I just can't get enough!

Year Established: 1895
Nickname: The Latics
Kit: Blue shirts, white shorts
Current Owner: Frank Rothwell
Current Manager: Micky Mellon
Current Captain: Carl Piergianni
Current Stadium: Boundary Park ^note Capacity: 13,309
2023/24 Position: 10th in National League
Premier League Tenure: 1992-1994
Highest Premier League Finish: 19th (1992/93)
Trophies Won: 1990–91 Second Division champions; 1952–53 & 1973–74 Third Division champions; 1906–07 Lancashire Combination champions; 1908, 1967, & 2006 Lancashire Senior Cups

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Smallish club based in Greater Manchester who nonetheless spent a few years in the top flight back in the early 90s. They were relegated in 1994 and since 1997 have been in the third tier - the longest period any non top-flight club have been in their division without being promoted or relegated. However, this was ended on the final day of 2017-18. Paul Scholes, a famous devotee, managed just 7 games for them in 2018-19.

In April 2022, after a season of struggle that saw them stuck in the bottom three since October, they became the first ex-Premier League club to be relegated out of the Football League into the National League, the top-flight of the paradoxically named non-league system ^note  This is because the Championship, League 1, and League 2 are part of the English Football League, which governed all professional football until the Premier League decided to do its own thing. .

Portsmouth

Play up, Pompey!

Year Established: 1898
Nickname: Pompey
Kit: Blue shirts, white shorts, red socks
Current Owner: Michael Eisner
Current Manager: John Mousinho
Current Captain: Tom Naylor
Current Stadium: Fratton Park ^note Capacity 21,063
2023/24 Position: 1st in League One (promoted)
Premier League Tenure: 2003-2010
Highest Premier League Finish: 8th (2007/08)
First Division Titles: 2; 1948–49, 1949–50
FA Cups: 2; 1938–39, 2007–08
Other Trophies: 2002–03 Second Division champions; 1923–24, 1961–62, 1982–83, & 2023–24 Third Division/League One Champions; 2016–17 League Two champions; 1901–02 & 1919–20 Southern League First Division champions; 1900–01, 1901–02, & 1902–03 Western League First Division champions; 1949 FA Charity Shield; 2018–19 EFL Trophy; 1902–03, 1912–13, 1951–52, & 1986–87 Hampshire Senior Cups

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South coast club, whose fortunes seem to be the opposite of bitter rivals Southampton at any given time. After getting into the Premier League, their fortunes improved year on year, including winning the FA Cup…

…until their playboy millionaire^note (and arms dealer) owner pulled the plug on them in 2009, sending them into a financial meltdown that made Bradford and Leeds's declines look tame (at one point being bought by Ali Al-Faraj, an enigmatic Saudi businessman who may not even exist). They were relegated the following year, relegated to League One in 2012 (thanks to a points deduction) and relegated to League Two the year after that, only avoiding bankruptcy when the supporters' trust purchased the club. They were able to win promotion to League One again in 2017, and controversial former Disney CEO Micheal Eisner purchased them that summer. A few years later, they continued their upward momentum by winning promotion to the Championship for the first time since the early 2010s.

Queens Park Rangers

We are the Rangers Boys!
Stand up and make some noise!

Year Established: 1882
Nickname: The Rangers^note Sometimes referred to as the Hoops.
Kit: Blue and white hooped shirts
Current Owners: Tony Fernandes, Ruben Gnanalingam and Lakshmi Mittal
Current Manager: Marti Cifuentes
Current Captain: Geoff Cameron
Current Stadium: Loftus Road Stadium ^note Capacity: 18,489
2023/24 Position: 18th in Championship
Premier League Tenure: 1992-1996, 2011-2013, 2014-2015
Highest Premier League Finish: 5th (1992/93)
First Division Titles: 1; 1975–76
Other Trophies: 1982–83 & 2010–11 Second Division/Championships; 1947–48 & 1966–67 Third Division champions; 1907–08 & 1911–12 Southern League Champions; 1905–06 Western League Champions; 1966–67 League Cup

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West London club, currently playing in the Championship at Loftus Road - which since 2019 has been named the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium in honour of a charity which aims to combat knife crime and youth violence; Kiyan Prince was a promising youth team prospect at QPR who was fatally stabbed in 2006, aged 15. League Cup winners in 1967.

Rivals with the three other West London clubs - Brentford, Chelsea and Fulham (of which, QPR fans regard Chelsea as their "main" rivals).

They were regular fixtures in the top-flight until relegation in 1996. After 15 years of varying fortunes they returned to the Premier League in 2011 with rich new owners, and barely survived the 2011/12 season before things went epically wrong the following season and they were relegated. They returned for 2014/15 after beating Derby County in the play-offs, but crashed out of the league after a brutal thrashing from Manchester City.

Formerly managed by footballing stalwart Harry Redknapp, the club is facing an uncertain future as they have enough financial debt to potentially prevent them from playing in the English Football League. However, they continue playing there, albeit as an unremarkable mid-table side.

Reading

In Dublin's fair city,
Where girls are so pretty,
I first set my eyes on Sweet Molly Malone!

Year Established: 1871
Nickname: The Royals
Kit: Blue and white hooped shirts, white shorts
Current Owners: Dai Yongge and Dai Xiu Li
Current Manager: Ruben Selles
Current Captain: Liam Moore
Current Stadium: Madejski Stadium ^note Capacity: 24,161
2023/24 Position: 17th in League One
Premier League Tenures: 2006-2008; 2012-2013
Highest Premier League Finish: 8th (2006/07)
Trophies Won: 2005–06 & 2011–12 Championships; 1925–26 (South), 1985–86, & 1993–94 Third Division champions; 1978–79 Fourth Division champions; 1987–88 Full Members' Cup; 1941 London War Cup; 1938 Third Division South Cup; 1995–96 & 2021–22 EFL Trophies;

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Established in 1871 which makes it one of the oldest football clubs in England ^note  but not the oldest — for that, see Notts County above but it didn't join the Football League until 1921 when the Third Division South was created. Made their first appearance in the top flight in 2006-07, where they defied predictions of relegation ... for one season, going back down to the Championship in 2008. Subsequently promoted back to the Premier League in 2012, this time lasting in the top flight for just the one season. Finished in a playoff spot in 2017 and made it to the Championship Final, where they lost on penalties to Huddersfield, but have largely struggled in the seasons since, and dropped into League One for the first time in just over 20 years in 2023.

Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday are simply the best,
Home or away you have to say
we are better than the rest!

Year Established: 1867
Nickname: The Owls
Kit: Blue and white striped shirts
Current Owner: Dejphon Chansiri
Current Manager: Danny Röhl
Current Captain: Barry Bannan
Current Stadium: Hillsborough ^note Yes, that Hillsborough. Capacity: 39,732
2023/24 Position: 20th in Championship
Premier League Tenure: 1992-2000
Highest Premier League Finish: 7th (1992/93, 1993/94 and 1996/97)
First Division Titles: 4; 1902–03, 1903–04, 1928–29, 1929–30
FA Cups: 3; 1895–96, 1906–07, 1934–35
Other Trophies: 1899–1900, 1925–26, 1951–52, 1955–56, 1958–59 Second Division champions; 2011–12 League One champions; 1889–90 Football Alliance champions; 1990–91 Football League Cup; 1935 FA Charity Shield

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Formed as an off-shoot of a local cricket club which played its games mid-week, hence the name. Home games at Hillsborough in the Owlerton district of Sheffield (hence the nickname). Honours include four League titles (although the last of those was in 1930), three FA Cups (the last one in 1935) and one League Cup (1991, the last time a club from outside the top flight won a major trophy).

Haven't been in the Premier League since a pretty terrible season in 2000 (in which they lost 8-0 in an early season game) got them relegated, and the club's very existence came under threat in 2010 due to its perilous financial position (a fate narrowly averted by most clubs outside the Premier League in the early years of the 21st century).

Came close to promotion to the Prem in 2016 and 2017, but unluckily lost in the play-offs to near rivals both times, before an abysmal 2020/21 campaign saw them finish bottom and go down with a whimper. Spent two years in League One before earning promotion back to the Championship via the playoffs in 2022-23 after a spectacular comeback where they beat Peterborough United 5-1 in the semi-final second leg, overcoming a 4-0 deficit from the first before a penalty shootout win, before beating Barnsley via a similarly dramatic last minute goal in the final. Their first season back in the second level wasn't great, but they did survive a relegation dogfight.

Stoke City

We'll be with you, be with you, be with you
By your side we'll always stay,
We'll be with you, be with you, be with you
Every step along the way!

Year Established: 1863
Nickname: The Potters
Kit: Red and white striped shirts
Current Owners: The Coates Family
Current Manager: Steven Schumacher
Current Captain: Joe Allen
Current Stadium: Britannia Stadium^note Capacity: 27,740
2023/24 Position: 17th in Championship
Premier League Tenure: 2008-2018
Highest Premier League Finish: 9th (2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16)
Trophies: 1932–33 & 1962–63 Second Division champions; 1926–27 & 1992–93 Third Division North/Second Division champions; 1890–91 Football Alliance champions; 1910–11 Birmingham & District League champions; 1909–10 & 1914–15 Southern League Division Two champions; 1971–72 League Cup; 1991–92 & 1999–2000 Football League Trophy; 1973 Watney Cup

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Founded as Stoke (the "City" bit being added in 1926 after Stoke was granted city status), they were one of the twelve founder members of the Football League (although they failed to get re-elected after finishing bottom in the first two seasons). They're also well-known for being the main club of the first-ever Ballon d'Or winner ^note (European Footballer of the Year), Sir Stanley Matthews who had two spells at the club (1932-47 and 1961-65; he retired just after turning 50, although he later felt he could have probably played for another two years). Their only major honour is the League Cup that they won in 1972. Fierce rivals with Port Vale, with whom they contest the Potteries Derby.

Today, Stoke are known as the Premier League's mid-table 'unfashionable' physical side. This is partly due to media Flanderization, as for several seasons the club's defining characteristic was the long throw-ins of Rory Delap. He has since retired, and they've partly shaken off the reputation for violent, old fashioned long ball football. Partly. It is still a Running Gag among English football fans to ask if a flair player like Lionel Messi "could do it on a wet Tuesday evening in Stoke". Stoke reached the FA Cup final in 2011, losing 1-0 to Manchester City.

Top-flight mainstays from Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire until the mid-80s, when they were relegated after an infamously awful 1984/85 season. They then spent the next two decades bouncing between the second and third tiers, before Tony Pulis bought them back into the Premier League in 2008.

They consistently finished in the mid-table since then, though their somewhat ugly footballing style and failure to progress saw Pulis get sacked in 2013. He was replaced by Welshman Mark Hughes, who steadily cleaned away their thuggish reputation (and baffled the footballing world) by buying former Barcelona players Bojan and Ibrahim Affelay, former Inter Milan attacker Marko Arnautovic and highly rated starlet and talisman of the Swiss national team, Xherdan Shaqiri, the then-23-year-old star of the Swiss national team, adding them to a team that already included highly rated former Barcelona striker Bojan Krkić. Shaqiri last in particular caused a lot of double takes since he was the exact opposite of Stoke's stereotypical kind of player, being tiny even by the standards of tiny technical players at 5'6'', which had led to him being dubbed 'the Magic Dwarf'. For the next few years, they became the team from mid-table that the big teams worry about. Also well known for the meme “But can he do it on a cold rainy Wednesday night at Stoke?”

Stoke did well, establishing themselves as an entertaining mid-table threat to the rest of the league on their day, until losing many of the players who got them there in the 2017 close season (Krkić foremost among them). Defensive problems led to a string of heavy defeats and subsequently the sacking of manager Mark Hughes. The new manager Paul Lambert improved the defence, but the attack faltered, leading to their relegation. Shaqiri left for Liverpool in 2018. Hughes was sacked at midseason and Stoke hasn't been a promotion contender since.

Sunderland

Haway the lads!

Year Established: 1879
Nickname: The Black Cats
Kit: Red and white striped shirts
Current Owner: Kyril Louis-Dreyfus^note The current youngest owner of a football team in the English Football League. Also a distant cousin of Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Current Manager: Mike Dodds (interim)
Current Captain: Max Power
Current Stadium: Stadium of Light^note Capacity: 48,707
2023/24 Position: 16th in Championship
Premier League Tenures: 1996-97; 1999-2003; 2005-06; 2007-17
Highest Premier League Finish: 7th (1999/2000 and 2000/01)
First Division Titles: 6; 1891–92, 1892–93, 1894–95, 1901–02, 1912–13, 1935–36
FA Cups: 2; 1936–37, 1972–73
Other Trophies: 1975–76, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2004–05, & 2006–07 Second Division/Championships; 1987–88 Third Division champions; 1984–85 & 2013–14 Football League Cups; 1936 FA Charity Shield; 2020–21 EFL Trophy; 1903 Sheriff of London Charity Shield; 1892, 1893, & 1895 Football World Championships

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Deadly rivals of Newcastle from just across the county, and relatively regular members of the Premier League since 1996. Challenged for the European spots for a few years in the early 2000s under Peter Reid, but otherwise have generally finished lower mid-table, along with being relegated after two really awful seasons in 2003 and 2006. Known for being a "yo-yo team", meaning they tend to keep getting promoted and relegated, being too good for one division and not quite good enough for the next.

Their proudest moment was winning the FA Cup as underdogs against the then-powerhouse Leeds United in 1973, although they have won the League six times (all pre-war).

Spent the past few seasons looking almost certain for relegation before rallying under a new manager to finish safely; First Paolo Di Canio came in at the end of the 2012/13 season, where they obtained 8 points from their last 7 games to secure safety. The following season, after the appointment of Gus Poyet in October, they won 4 of their last 6 games to avoid relegation (which had looked near-certain for most of the season. Unfortunately, another bad run in 2014/15 saw Poyet sacked, with Dutchman Dick Advocaat hired on a short-term contract to help the team survive relegation. While he succeeded, becoming much loved by the fans (who clubbed together to get a massive bouquet of flowers for Advocaat's wife when she reversed her decision to make him retire at the end of the 2014/15 season, and demonstrated their affection in traditional football fan fashion... by brandishing a giant inflatable penis in the home end while singing odes to their beloved Dick), a poor start to the 2015/16 season led to his parting company with the club and the safest of safe pairs of hands, Sam 'Big Sam' Allardyce, coming in to guide Sunderland to better fortunes, eventually escaping relegation again after beating Everton 3-0.^note That result also meant that both Norwich and bitter rivals Newcastle were relegated instead. During the pre-season, Big Sam left to become England Manager, and so he was replaced by former Everton and Manchester United boss David Moyes.

Relegated in late April 2017 for the first time in 10 years. They took 364 days to record a home win, beating Fulham 1-0 on December 16 2017, their first home win since December 17 2016. Ironically, Fulham were also the side that Sunderland earned their sole home league win against in 2005-06, their final home league game, and rearrangement of an abandoned match from a month earlier (though they won home games in cup competitions, although only against Cheltenham after extra time, and Northwich). Prior to the win over Fulham in late 2017, Sunderland appointed Chris Coleman, famous for getting Wales into the last 4 of the European Championships, and making them the UK's best side despite generally weaker players than England, aside from Bale and Ramsey. Home form continued to deteriorate in the Championship, however, and they ultimately went down again with a 2-1 loss to Burton Albion in April, going on to finish bottom. Lost the playoff final the next season with the very last action, and ended up spending a further three seasons in League One before finally winning their way back into the Championship in 2022.

Sunderland's first two seasons in League One are chronicled in the Netflix documentary series Sunderland 'Til I Die.

Swansea City

Take me down to the Vetch Field
Way down by the sea,
Where I will follow Swansea,
Swansea FC!

Year Established: 1912
Nickname: The Swans
Kit: White shirts, black shorts (although they've sometimes gone for an all-white kit)
Current Owners: Stephen Kaplan & Jason Levien and Swansea City Supporters Trust
Current Manager: Luke Williams
Current Captain: Matt Grimes
Current Stadium: Liberty Stadium^note Capacity: 20,909
2023/24 Position: 14th in Championship
Premier League Tenure: 2011-2018
Highest Premier League Finish: 8th (2014/15)
Trophies Won: 1924–25, 1948–49, & 2007–08 Third Division/League One champions; 1999–2000 League Two champions; 2012–13 Football League Cup; 1993–94 & 2005–06 Football League Trophies; 1912–13, 1931–32, 1949–50, 1960–61, 1965–66, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1988–89, & 1990–91 Welsh Cups; 2004–05 & 2005–06 FAW Premier Cup

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Became the first Welsh club to ever play in the top division after being promoted in 2011.

Reached the old First Division in 1981 after three successive promotions, but by 1986 they were back in the Fourth Division. After almost being relegated out of League Two in 2003 (which would have caused the club to fold due to the financial difficulties they faced at the time), they enjoyed a meteoric rise to the Premier League thanks to their attacking, possession-focused tactics - as chronicled in the 2014 documentary film Jack to a King: The Swansea Story. Having established themselves as consistent mid-table finishers in their first two seasons, Swansea earned their first major piece of silverware when they won the League Cup in 2013, qualifying for the Europa League in the process.

They started the 2015/16 season well, but slumped significantly after the first few weeks, eventually leading to the sacking of intensely popular and widely admired manager Garry Monk, who had gone straight from retirement from playing for Swansea to management and had, at the end of the previous season, been tipped for the England job. An upturn in performance following Guidolin's recruitment managed to bring Swansea to safety.

After a rough start to the following season, Guidolin was shown the door, and replaced by former USA boss, Bob Bradley^note In doing so, becoming the first American to ever manage a Premier League club, before he too was shown the door two and a half months afterwards after failing to re-invigorate the squad. They appointed their third manager of the season in the form of former Bayern Munich assistant manager Paul Clement, and he began with a stunning win away to Liverpool, and Swansea managed to survive after a late revival, ensuring a 7th PL season in a row on the Gower Peninsula. Caused a surprise by signing Portugal international Renato Sanches on loan from Bayern Munich, after the Euro 2016 winner struggled for first team action at the club Clement was a former assistant manager of. He hopes to better Portuguese winning team teammate Eder, who had failed to make impact in a brief spell there before his stunning winner against hosts France in the 2016 final. However, Renato himself was struggling (and passed to a billboard in a game at Chelsea), prompting rumours of his loan being cancelled, and Clement being sacked for Carvahal, himself sacked by Sheffield Wednesday a few days earlier. Eased past Liverpool and Arsenal in successive league games, and had a best cup run in over 50 years including winning one replay 8-1.

Sent down on the final day of the 2017/18 season, managed a playoff spot in the 2019/20 season but were defeated by Brentford. Managed another playoff spot in 2020/21, but were defeated again by Brentford in the final.

Swindon Town

You are my Swindon,
My only Swindon,
You make me happy,
When skies are grey (and red and white)!

Year Established: 1879
Nickname: The Robins
Current Owner: Clem Morfuni
Current Manager: Gavin Gunning (interim)
Current Captain: Dion Conroy
Current Stadium: County Ground ^note Capacity: 15,728
2023/24 Position: 19th in League Two
Premier League Tenure: 1993-1994
Highest Premier League Finish: 22nd (1993/94)
Domestic Trophies: 1995–96 Third Division champions; 1985–86, 2011–12, & 2019–20 Fourth Division/League Two champions; 1910–11 & 1913–14 Southern League champions; 1898–99 Western League champions; 1968–69 League Cup
European Trophies: 1970 Anglo-Italian Cup; 1969 Anglo-Italian League Cup

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Their only top-flight season to date did not go at all well, as they were relegated in bottom place after conceding precisely one hundred goals, a record tthat stood for thirty years. To add insult to injury, they were then relegated the following year (though like Crystal Palace, this was only due to league reconstruction), and have since spent most of their time bouncing around between the bottom two divisions, as evidenced by their relegation to League Two in 2017. Their stadium is next to a bizarre set of roundabouts called The Magic Roundabout. Gained promotion despite the COVID-19 outbreak shortening the 2019/20 season.

Watford

Hoist up the Watford flag,
Hear how the Hornet's sing,

Eestablished: 1881
Nickname: The Hornets
Kit: Yellow shirts, black shorts (although they've sometimes gone in for red shorts instead ^note  if you really want to get Watford fans arguing among each other, express an opinion either way )
Current Owner: Gino Pozzo
Current Manager: Tom Cleverley (interim)
Current Captain: Tom Cleverley
Current Stadium: Vicarage Road^note Capacity: 21,500
2023/24 Position: 15th in Championship
Premier League Tenures: 1999-2000, 2006-07, 2015-2020, 2021-22
Highest Premier League Finish: 11th (2018/19)
Trophies Won: 1981–82, 2014–15, 2020–21 Second Division/Championships; 1968–69 & 1997–98 Third Division champions; 1977–78 Fourth Division champions; 1914–15 Southern Football League champions

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Hertfordshire club ^note  not London, although some people do get this mixed up as Watford is located within the M25 which has had its fair share of ups and downs but has never won anything more significant than two third-tier championships.

The most famous thing about Watford is that Elton John supported the club as a child and invested heavily in them from the mid-1970s onwards, becoming chairman and appointing a promising young manager called Graham Taylor, who managed the club from 1977 to 1987. As a result, Watford rose from the Fourth Division to the top of English football with a simple, yet effective long ball strategy. They finished second in the League in 1983 and reached the FA Cup final for the first time a year later (they lost to Everton). Off the pitch, Elton and GT worked hard to engage with the local community and promote Watford as a family-friendly club ... several years before anyone else thought of encouraging families to go to football matches. While Taylor's unsuccessful spell managing the England national team from 1990-93 made him generally unpopular with most English football fans, he remains a revered figure at Watford to this day, and Elton himself has stated that he came to regard Taylor as a brother he never had, who told him in no uncertain terms to get his act together (in terms of his alcoholism and drug-taking) in a way that most football club managers would not have ever dared speak to their chairmen. Taylor managed the club again from 1996-2000, taking them from what is now League One into the Premier League, later served as chairman, and was the club's Honorary Life President until his death in 2017.

Recently, they've been moving between the Premiership and the Championship after being bought by the Pozzo family, who successfully bussed in foreign players from the two other clubs they own - Italy's Udinese and Spain's Granada, turning Watford into a winning team. The flip-side of this has been an extremely high turnover of managers in recent years. Since the Pozzos took over in 2012, there have been nineteen of them, although prior to 2021 the main man was striker Troy Deeney, who after a three-month enforced absence in 2012 (due to his being sent to prison for affray) proved to be nothing short of inspirational on the pitch, cementing himself in the hearts of all Watford fans several months after his release with a wonder goal against Leicester City. Watford won promotion to the Premier League in 2015 (after an eight-year absence from the top flight) and made it to a second FA Cup final in 2019 — only to be comprehensively blown away by Manchester City (6-0). The Hornets were relegated back to the Championship the following year but won promotion back to the Premier League in 2021, before being relegated yet again in 2022.

Watford have a distinctly unfriendly rivalry with Luton Town, on the grounds that they're the closest half-decent club for miles. Although the rivalry dates back to the 1880s (when both clubs were founded ^note  Watford was actually the result of a merger between two local clubs in 1898, but traces its origins back to the foundation of the oldest of those two in 1881 ), the animosity intensified in the 1960s and reached a peak in the 1980s, when they were both in the old First Division, with derbies regularly producing crowd trouble. From the late 1990s onwards, though, the clubs didn't play each other for several years due to being in different divisions (with Watford trying to get into the Premier League while Luton were wallowing in the lower divisions and even the Conference for a few years); in the 2020-21 season, they found themselves in the same division for the first time in fourteen years. Watford won the Vicarage Road fixture 1-0, with Luton returning the favour with the same scoreline at Kenilworth Road. Two seasons later, following another unsuccessful spell in the Premier League, Watford again found themselves in the same division as Luton, and once again the bragging rights were shared with one home win apiece.

The best-known Watford fan (who isn't Elton John or a close relative of Elton John) is probably Chris Stark, DJ and co-presenter of That Peter Crouch Podcast. Other famous people from Watford, like Geri Halliwell and boxer Anthony Joshua, have tended to be somewhat lukewarm in expressing their support ^note  Halliwell posed for a photo-shoot in a Watford shirt with her bandmates in 1996 and subsequently met with some of the players but has since been referred to as a Chelsea fan, while Joshua has at times declared that he does not support any football team, although at other times he has also claimed that he supports Watford .

Wigan Athletic

We come from Wigan and we live in mud huts!

Year Established: 1932
Nickname: The Latics
Kit: Blue and white striped shirts, blue shorts
Current Owner: Talal Al Hammad
Current Manager: Shaun Maloney
Current Captain: Tendayi Darikwa
Current Stadium: DW Stadium ^note Capacity: 25,138
2023/24 Position: 12th in League One
Premier League Tenure: 2005-2013
Highest Premier League Finish: 10th (2005/06)
FA Cups: 1; 2012–13
Other Trophies: 2002–03, 2015–16, 2017–18, & 2021–22 League One champions; 1996–97 Fourth Division champions; 1970–71 & 1974–75 Northern Premier League champions; 1984–85 & 1998–99 Football League Trophies; 1972–73, 1973–74, & 1975–76 Premier League Shields

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Lancashire club who spent the better part of a decade surviving against the odds, always managing to pull off last-day escapes. Home games at the DW Stadium which they share with the Wigan Warriors Rugby League team (which has always been much more successful than the football team). Founded in 1932 and was non-league until they got elected to the Football League in 1978.

Won promotion to the Premier League in 2005, after which they reached the League Cup final in 2006 (which they lost to Man United, 4-0) and then won the FA Cup in 2013 (by way of beating Man City, 1-0)… but, alas, they were relegated in the same season.

They almost reached the FA Cup final again the next year (beating Manchester City in the quarter-finals, no less), but eventual winners Arsenal put them out on penalties in the semi-finals. Relegated to League One twice in 3 years after horrific seasons (the ill advised appointment of Mackay, and Whelan's laughable and senile defence of his slurs in 2014-15, and despite rebounding with Ulster striker Will Grigg becoming a meme after a great season, they went back down again after their squad didn't adapt). Knocked City out of the cup AGAIN thanks to Grigg (having defeated two lowlier PL sides beforehand) and were too good for League One again.

Two seasons later, they were controversially relegated back to League One after being deducted twelve points for entering administration. After a couple of years, they reentered the Championship after a dominant campaign, only to get kicked right back down, finishing bottom in 2023.

Wimbledon

Year Established: 1889
Relocated: 2004
Nickname: The Dons; The Crazy Gang
Kit: All-navy
Stadium: Plow Lane ^note Capacity: 15,876
Premier League Tenure: 1992-2000
Highest Premier League Finish: 6th (1993/94)
FA Cups: 1; 1987-88
Other Trophies: 1982–83 Football League Fourth Division champions; 1974–75, 1975–76, & 1976–77 Southern Football League champions; 1930–31, 1931–32, 1934–35, 1935–36, 1958–59, 1961–62, 1962–63, & 1963–64 Isthmian League champions

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A South London team, playing in all-navy, and the only former Premier League club which is no longer in existence.

Came to prominence in the 1980s with a rapid rise up the divisions combined with the newsworthy antics of their players, who included Vinnie Jones. Won the FA Cup in 1988 against the all-conquering Liverpool, but had to abandon its Plough Lane ground in 1991 due to new safety rules. After sharing a ground with neighbours Crystal Palace for a time, the owners began to consider moving the team out of London.

Eventually they settled on the new town of Milton Keynes, 50 miles north of London. While understandably incredibly unpopular with Wimbledon fans, this move was also criticised by fans of many other clubs who were disturbed at the prospect of American-style "franchises" that moved cities to go where the money was. The move was eventually allowed, on the understanding that the team would be renamed and would not officially retain the history and honours of Wimbledon FC (Wimbledon FC's trophies and memorabilia were handed to the London Borough of Merton, the local authority that administers Wimbledon and district). This leads us to...

Milton Keynes Dons

Year Established: 2004
Nickname: The Dons
Current Owner: Pete Winkelman
Current Manager: Mike Williamson
Current Stadium: Stadium MK ^note Capacity: 30,500
2023/24 Position: 4th in League Two
Trophies Won: 2007–08 League Two champions; 2007–08 Football League Trophy; 2006–07 Berks & Bucks Senior Cup; 2004 Portimão Cup

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The team created by the move of Wimbledon to Milton Keynes. The name "Dons" is a reference to Wimbledon's old nickname, but most other fans call them "Franchise FC" due to the manner of their creation. In an attempt to appease hostile sentiment among other fans, they do not claim the history of Wimbledon FC but bill themselves as a new club formed in 2004. Taking over Wimbledon's old position in the third tier of the league, they were swiftly relegated to the fourth, but bounced back to the second tier in 2015-16, picking up a minor trophy along the way. However, their stay in the second tier only lasted that season. It got worse for them in 2017–18, as they dropped back to League Two. And There Was Much Rejoicing among football fans throughout England (with the exception of Milton Keynes itself), as it meant that for the first time they were in a lower league than...

AFC^*A Fans' Club Wimbledon

From Batsford to Dave Basset,
At Plough Lane we belong,
We're the loyal supporters,
And we come from Wimbledon!

Year Established: 2002
Current Owners: Wimbledon Football Club Supporters’ Society
Current Manager: Johnnie Jackson
Current Captain: Will Nightingale
Current Stadium: Plough Lane ^note Capacity: 9,300
2023/24 Position: 10th in League Two
Trophies Won: 2008–09 Conference South Champions; 2004–05 Isthmian League Division One champions; 2003–04 Combined Counties League champions; 2003–04 Combined Counties League Premier Challenge Cup; 2009–10 Isle of Man Tournament; 2007–08 & 2011–12 champions; 2013–14 London Senior Cup; 2004–05 Surrey Senior Cup

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Feeling alienated by all of the above, a group of Wimbledon fans founded their own team, starting in the amateur London leagues. The club was rapidly promoted through the regional leagues and gained entry to the Football League in 2011, only nine years after the club was founded. Although the club does not officially claim to be a continuation of the old Wimbledon FC, it is regarded by its own fans and most neutrals as its Spiritual Successor - Vinnie Jones even gave the club his 1988 FA Cup winner's medal.

Crowd turnout at their home games tends to be significantly higher than both home crowd turnout for other clubs in their division and MK Dons' average turnout. They also hold the record for the longest unbeaten run in any league, at 78 games! After five seasons in League Two, they won the 2016 promotion playoff, placing them in the same division as MK Dons for the first time. And then during the 2017–18 season, they got approval for a new stadium a stone's throw from Wimbledon FC's old ground, and ended the season in mid-table while seeing MK Dons suffer the drop. The 2018–19 season was mostly a disaster for AFCW, as they were in relegation trouble throughout and survived the drop only on goal difference. Meanwhile, back in League Two, MK Dons finished third, sending them back to League One to rejoin AFCW for another season. Both teams struggled to survive the drop in the 2019–20 season, cut short due to COVID-19; they finished in the last two safe spots of 19th (MKD) and 20th (AFCW). The new ground opened in November 2020. AFCW dropped to League Two in 2022, and barely survived relegation in 2023; MKD suffered its own drop to League Two in 2023, placing the two sides in the same league once again.

John Green of the VlogBrothers plays a virtual version of AFC Wimbledon on the somewhat confusingly names "hankgames" channel on YouTube, which has evolved into the VlogBrothers as a whole sponsoring AFC Wimbledon's shorts and a stand on the old Kingsmeadow ground.

Other Notable Clubs

Accrington Stanley

Year Established: 1878 (later iterations founded 1868 and 1968)
Nickname: The 'Owd Reds
Kit: All-red
Current Owners: Andy Holt
Current Manager: John Doolan
Current Stadium: Crown Ground^note Capacity: 5,450
2023/24 Position: 17th in EFL League Two
League Championships: 2017–18 League Two Champions; 2005–06 Conference Champions; 2002–03 Northern Premier League Champions; 1999–2000 Northern Premier League Division One Champions; 1902–03, 1905–06, 1973–74, & 1977–78 Lancashire Combination Champions; 1980–81 Cheshire County League Division Two Champions
Cups Won: 2001–02 Northern Premier League Challenge Cup; 2002–03 Northern Premier League Challenge Shield; 1971–72, 1972–73, 1973–74, & 1976–77 Lancashire Combination Cup; 1971–72 Lancashire Combination League Cup

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This is actually the third League club from the Lancashire town...

• The first, simply called Accrington, was one of the twelve founder member of the Football League back in 1888 but went bust six years later.
• Local side Stanley Villa, named for the fact that they'd been set up by the working men's club on Stanley Street, renamed themselves Accrington Stanley after the collapse of the original Accrington FC. They played in the Football League from 1921 to 1962, mostly in the Third Division North ^note  established in 1920, the Third Division of the Football League (now called League One) was split geographically between north and south, with both of those divisions jointly forming the third tier, until 1958 when the Fourth Division (now called League Two) was created and the geographic split done away with but they spent two years in the then new Fourth Division at the end. After four seasons as a non-league side, they too went bust. As a result, Accrington Stanley graffiti was used for a long time (especially in comedy) to show that a place was so run down that the graffiti hadn't been cleaned up since the club was playing in the League. Thanks to the below, though, this joke has become somewhat outdated.
• The current club was formed in 1968, and played in various non-league leagues (Lancashire Combination, North West Counties League, etc) for the next few decades. They unexpectedly came to national attention in 1989 thanks to a milk commercial in which one of the boys joked that if Ian Rush (the then Liverpool centre forward) didn't drink milk, he'd be "only good enough to play for Accrington Stanley". They rose to the Conference in 2003 and gained promotion to the League in 2006. As a result of winning League Two in 2018, they played in League One until being knocked back down to League Two in 2023.

Barnet

Year Established: 1888
Nickname: The Bees
Kit: Amber shirts, black shorts, black shorts
Current Chairman: Anthony Kleanthous
Current Manager: Dean Brennan
Current Stadium: The Hive Stadium^note Capacity: 6,500
2023/24 Position: 2nd in National League
Trophies Won: 1990–91, 2004–05, & 2014–15 National League Champions; 1965–66 & 1976–77 Southern League Division One Champions; 1988–89 Conference League Cup; 1971–72 Southern League Cup; 1945–46 FA Amateur Cup; 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, & 1985 Mickey Mays Memorial Trophies; 1931–32, 1932–33, 2021–22 Middlesex Senior Cups; 1937–38, 1940–41, 1946–47 London Senior Cups

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Suburban North London (formerly Hertfordshire) side who became the favourite 'second team' to many after winning the Conference and gaining promotion to the League for the first time in 1991. Have since alternated between League Two and what is now the National League. Well-known for a few things:

Underhill, their old ground, had a pronounced slope from the North Terrace to the South Stand — the goal in front of the former was 11 feet higher than the goal in front of the latter — which was for a time the maximum slope allowed by the Football League. Any side winning the toss there always opted to kick uphill in the first half.

In the early 1990s, disputes between chairman Stan Flashman and manager Barry Fry became legendary - the former sacked and reinstated the latter eight times before Fry finally left for good in 1993.

The club had a running dispute with the local council in the 2000s over the lease on Underhill which ultimately ended in 2013 with the club moving to a new ground, The Hive, in nearby Edgware.Bradley Walsh, presenter of The Chase, played for them when they were a semi-pro side in the late 1970s.

Long-running Match Of The Day commentator John Motson was a fan, having worked for a local newspaper before getting a job at The BBC.

Blackburn Olympic

Established: 1878
Dissolved: 1889
Nickname: The Light Blues
Kit: Light blue shirts
Stadium: Hole-i'-th'-Wall
FA Cups: 1; 1883
Trophies Won: 1882 East Lancashire Charity Cup; 1879 & 1880 Blackburn Association Challenge Cups; 1878 Livesey United Cup

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Famous for being the first Northern team (as well as the first team from a predominantly working-class background) to win the FA Cup, which they did in 1883 by defeating Old Etonians 2-1. Their victory marked a turning point in football's transition from a pastime for upper-class gentlemen to a professional sport. Olympic, however, were unable to compete with wealthier and better-supported clubs in the new professional era ^note  when the Football League was formed in 1888, a rule was put in place stating that only one club from each town or city could join, and Blackburn Rovers were chosen to represent Blackburn , and folded in 1889.

Burton Albion

Year Established: 1950
Nickname: The Brewers; The Yellow and Black Army
Kit: Yellow shirts, black shorts
Current Chairman: Ben Robinson
Current Manager: Martin Paterson
Current Stadium: Pirelli Stadium ^note Capacity 6,912
2023/24 Position: 20th in League One
Trophies Won: 2014–15 League Two Champions; 2008–09 Conference Premier Champions; 2001–02 Northern Premier League Champions; 1963–64, 1996–97, 1999–2000 Southern League Cups; 1982–83 Northern Premier League Challenge Cup; 1955–56 Staffordshire Senior Cup; 1953–54 & 1996–97 Birmingham Senior Cups

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A non-league club who started to get noticed in the late 1990s and early 2000s when they were managed by Nigel Clough (son of Brian); during his first spell in charge, they rose to the Conference and held Man United to a 0-0 draw in the third round of the 2006 FA Cup; subsequently, over 11,000 Burton fans (almost double the Pirelli Stadium's capacity!) went to Old Trafford for the replay (which they lost). Won promotion to the League in 2009, by which time Clough had gone to Derby County. Since then, they've risen as high as the Championship (during Clough's second spell in charge) although they were relegated to League One in 2018.

Bury

Year Established: 1885
Nickname: The Shakers
Kit: White shirts, navy shorts
Current Owner: Football Supporters' Society of Bury Ltd.
Current Manager: Dave Mc Nabb
Current Stadium: Gigg Lane ^note Capacity 12,500
2023/24 Position: 3rd in North West Counties Football League
FA Cups: 2; 1899–1900, 1902–03
Other Trophies: 1894–95 Second Division Champions; 1960–61 & 1996–97 third-tier champions; 2021–22 North West Counties Football League Division One North Champions; 1904 Football World Championship

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Lancashire side which won the FA Cup twice in the early 1900s ^note  the second, a 6-0 win over Derby County in 1903, is still the record margin of victory in an FA Cup final and has only been equalled once, by Man City over Watford in 2019 and last graced the First Division in 1929. Finished 2018-19 as runners-up of League Two, thus earning promotion to League One, but were unable to begin the 2019-20 season due to long-standing financial difficulties, resulting in their expulsion from the Football League. The club subsequently went into administration, although in 2022 a group of fans bought the ground and the "Bury FC" trading name. Meanwhile, another group of fans set up a successor club, Bury AFC. In the summer of 2023 the two groups merged.

Not to be confused with Bury Town, a non-league side from Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk.

Corinthian-Casuals

Year Established: 1939
Nickname: The Amateurs; The Chocolate & Pink
Kit: Brown and pink halved shirts
Current Chairman: Brian Adamson
Current Manager: Paul Barnes
Current Stadium: King George's Field ^note Capacity 2,000
2023/24 Position: 21st in Isthmian League South Central Division (relegated)

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Amateur side based in South London, formed in 1939 from the merger of two famous amateur clubs formed in the 1880s, Corinthian and (unsurprisingly) Casuals. The former in particular were famed for their sportsmanship and the fact that they only played for the love of the game, to the extent of not playing on Saturdays (so their players could play for other clubs) and refusing to participate in the FA Cup as that meant playing for a prize — although they were as good as the top sides of the day ^note  for example, shortly after Blackburn Rovers won the FA Cup in 1884, Corinthian played them in a friendly and beat them 8-1 , and often contested the Charity Shield (for which they made an exception as the proceeds went to, well, charity) back when it was an amateurs versus professionals affair. Notable players included sporting polymath C.B. Fry ^note  who represented England at cricket and football, in addition to jointly holding the world record for the long jump — and those are only his most notable sporting achievements , a young C. Aubrey Smith and Andrew Watson (the first black footballer to play at international level ^note  although his three appearances for Scotland in the early 1880s predated his time with Corinthian ). On two occasions, they provided all of the players for the England team ^note  for the 1894 and 1895 fixtures against Wales , a feat no other club has ever matched. They also helped to spread the game around the world, being the first football club to tour outside Europe; Corinthians, one of the most successful football clubs in Brazil, is named for them. This has led Corinthian-Casuals to tour Brazil several times in recent years; in 1989, the legendary Sócrates turned out for them in a friendly against their Brazilian near-namesakes (one of his former clubs). Currently in the Isthmian League (six or so divisions below the Premier League), a lone amateur survivor among semi-pro clubs.

Absolutely nothing to do with Football Hooligans, some of whom were referred to as 'casuals' in the late 1970s and early 1980s on account of their dress sense, which favoured designer clothes over working-class clothing and club colours, making them less readily identifiable to the police.

Forest Green Rovers

Year Established: 1889
Nickname: Forest; The Green; FGR
Kit: Lime green and black striped shirts
Current Owner: Dale Vince
Current Manager: Steve Cotterill
Current Stadium: The New Lawn ^note Capacity: 5,141
2023/24 Position: 24th in League Two (relegated)
Trophies Won: 2021–22 League Two champions; 1997–98 Southern League champions; 1996–97 Southern League South champions; 1981–82 Hellenic League champions; 1981–82 FA Vase

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Gloucestershire team based in the small rural town of Nailsworth which, with with a population of just under 6,000, is the smallest place in England to hold a Football League match.

Under the ownership of green energy industrialist Dale Vince, FGR has attracted international attention for being the greenest football club in the world, having become the first carbon-neutral football club to be certified as such under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) initiative Climate Neutral Now. The pitch - which is certified organic thanks to the use of horse manure as a fertiliser - is cut using a solar-powered lawn-mower. The kit is made from made from a composite material consisting of recycled plastic and coffee grounds. The entire match-day menu is vegan (quite radical, given that meat pies have long been the most popular food item among football fans) and their players are encouraged to go vegetarian. Rivals with Cheltenham Town, a derby which is nicknamed "El Glosico" ^note (a play on El Clásico, the rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid).

Made British football history in July 2023 when, following the departure of manager Duncan Ferguson, the club put academy manager Hannah Dingley in caretaker charge, thus making her the first woman to takes charge of a UK senior men's team. However, she was replaced by Dave Horseman before the season started.

Hartlepool United

Year Established: 1879
Nickname: The Pools; The Monkey Hangers^note a nickname given to people from Hartlepool in general, derives from a possibly apocryphal incident during the Napoleonic Wars involving the people of the town capturing a monkey that had survived a shipwreck off the coast, accusing it of being a French spy and - when it proved strangely unable to deny this - hanging it. The club's mascot is called H'Angus the Monkey as a result. In 2002 H'Angus - or rather, Stuart Drummond, the man in the costume - ran for election as Mayor of Hartlepool and, to the bemusement of many, actually won. He ended up serving three terms, only standing down when the people of Hartlepool voted to abolish the elected mayoralty
Kit: All blue
Current Owner: Raj Singh
Current Manager: Darren Saril
Current Stadium: Victoria Park^note Capacity: 7,858
2022/23 Position: 12th in National League
Trophies Won: 1904–05 FA Amateur Cup; 1908–09, 1909–10, 1956–57, 1957–58, & 2004–05 Durham Challenge Cups

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No major honours, although they did make the League One play-off final in 2005. Dropped into non-league football in 2017, won promotion back to League Two in 2021. Well known by viewers of Soccer Saturday as being the team that Jeff Stelling supports… sometimes, quite vocally. Meat Loaf, Jannick Gers from Iron Maiden and Ridley Scott are also fans.

Hereford United / Hereford

^{Click for Hereford badge}

Year Established: 1924 (Hereford FC founded 2014)
Nickname: The Bulls
Kit: White shirts, black shorts
Current Chairman: Chris Ammonds
Current Manager: Paul Caddis
Current Stadium: Edgar Street^note Capacity: 5,250
2023/24 Position: 11th in National League North
Trophies Won: 1975–76 Third Division champions; 2017–18 Southern League Premier champions; 2016–17 Southern League Division One champions; 2015–16 Midland League Premier champions; 1989–90 Welsh Cup; 1951–52, 1956–57, 1958–59 Southern League Cup; 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18 Herefordshire County Cups; 2015–16 Midland Football League Cup

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Came to national attention in 1972 for the most famous act of giant-killing in the history of the The FA Cup when they beat Newcastle United 2-1 in a third round replay. At the time, Newcastle were in the First Division and Hereford were non-league. Ronnie Radford, scorer of Hereford's first goal (which levelled the scores, forcing the match into extra time) got interviewed every January (the month when the cup's third round matches are played) for the next five decades; the match also proved to be a Star-Making Role for John Motson who was commentating on it for Match Of The Day.

Hereford got elected to the League that summer, and reached the Second Division for one season in 1976/77, but went down to the Conference after 25 years of League membership; after a brief stint back in the League in the mid-2000s, the club was dissolved in 2014. A successor club, Hereford, currently plays in the National League North.

Millwall

"No-one likes us, no-one likes us, no-one likes us, we don't care..."

Established: 1885
Nickname: The Lions
Kit: Blue shirts, white shorts
Current Owner: Millwall Holdings
Current Manager: Neil Harris
Current Stadium: The Den ^note Capacity: 20,146
2023/24 Position: 13th in Championship
Trophies Won: 1987–88 Second Division champions; 1927–28, 1937–38, & 2000–01 Third Division/League One champions; 1961–62 Fourth Division champions; 1907–08 & 1908–09 Western Football League champions; 1894–95 & 1895–96 Southern Football League champions; 1982–83 Football League Trophy

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Modestly successful Championship side, famous mostly for their rowdy fanbase and extremely violent hooligan firm, the Bushwhackers, fictionalized in films like Green Street and The Football Factory. It was crowd trouble by Millwall fans that led to Luton's infamous away fan ban (see above). Their biggest successes were a two-year spell in the top flight back in the 1980s and reaching the FA Cup Final in 2004, losing comfortably to Manchester United. They currently play in the Championship after winning the 2016-17 League One play-off.

In recent years, the traditional "violent Millwall fan" image has begun to become a bit stale, as violence has largely decreased. Frustration at media demonization led to the club's famous chant (see above, sung to the tune of "Sailing").

Notts County

Year Established: 1862
Nickname: The Magpies^note although unlike Newcastle United, it's sometimes shortened to "The Pies".
Kit: Black and white striped shirts
Current Owners: Alexander & Christoffer Reedtz
Current Manager: Stuart Maynard
Current Stadium: Meadow Lane^note Capacity: 19,841
2023/24 Position: 14th in League Two
FA Cups: 1; 1893–94
Other Domestic Titles: 1896–97, 1913–14, & 1922–23 Second Division champions; 1930–31 & 1949–50 Third Division South champions; 1970–71, 1997–98, & 2009–10 Fourth Division/League Two champions
European Titles: 1994–95 Anglo-Italian Cup

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The oldest professional club in the world, formed in 1862, they were one of the twelve founder members of the Football League. Despite repeatedly being relegated to the bottom League division (now League Two), the club had never been non-league until 2019. Notts County have accumulated a large amount of trivia over their 150-year existence:

• Famous Italian club Juventus were gifted a set of old Notts County shirts when their old (pink!) shirts faded; Juve have played in black-and-white stripes ever since.
• The stadium at which Notts County play their home games, Meadow Lane, is the shortest distance in the English League from another stadium, the other being the City Ground, home of Nottingham Forest ^note  for the shortest distance between stadia in the UK as a whole, see under Dundee and Dundee United in the Scotland section .
• County fans like to sing about being "the only football team in Nottingham", since (despite the name) the City Ground actually lies outside the city's boundaries, in the neighbouring borough of Rushcliffe on the other side of the River Trent.
• Notts County have changed divisions within the English League more times than any other league club, most recently getting relegated back to League Two during the 2014-15 season.
• Most recently the club shocked the football world by hiring former England Manager Sven-Göran Eriksson as Director of Football as well as signing England defender Sol Campbell, having seemingly been taken over by a group of wealthy investors from the Middle East; however, this turned out to be a fraud on a large scale and the club was sold to current owner Ray Trew for a nominal fee in late 2009. Police fraud investigations continue into these affairs. However, Trew has thankfully since been able to bring spiralling debt under control, avoid administration, attain promotion and relative stability, as well as some notable cup runs.
• Alas, in 2017 Trew sold the club to Alan Hardy, under whose eventful stewardship they were relegated from League Two in 2019, becoming a non-league side for the first time since they were founded over 150 years ago.
• While competing in the National League (the fifth tier of English football), they had an incredible 2022/23 season, getting a record 107 points... only to not get automatically promoted, as Wrexham had gotten ''111'' points. They still got their happy ending by winning the promotion playoffs to snag the second promotion spot to League Two.
• Major rivals are Forest (of course) and, as a result of the two Nottingham clubs not having been in the same division for many years, Mansfield Town (which is also in the county of Nottinghamshire). However, during to the 2022/23 season, a rivalry developed between Notts County and Wrexham; the backlash against the hype surrounding the Welsh club following the success of Welcome to Wrexham seemed to naturally coalesce around Wrexham's main promotion rivals. When a County supporters' group was asked to provide a profile of the club by the documentary's makers, they responded: "No. Shove your shite documentary up your arse", which everyone involved deemed to be Actually Pretty Funny. So too was the (entirely unfounded) tabloid rumour that Taylor Swift was interested in buying Notts County as a result of the success of the Wrexham documentary.

Oxford United

We all live in a yellow submarine…

Year Established: 1893
Nickname: The U's, Yellows
Kit: Yellow shirts and blue shorts
Current Owner: Erick Thohir & Anindya Bakrie
Current Manager: Des Buckingham
Current Stadium: Kassam Stadium^note Capacity: 12,500
2022/23 Position: 5th in League One
Trophies Won: 1984–85 Second Division champions; 1967–68 & 1983–84 Third Division champions; 2015–16 League Two champions; 1952–53, 1960–61, & 1961–62 Southern League champions; 1985–86 League Cup; 1952–53 & 1953–54 Southern League Cups

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Elected to the Football League in 1962 as replacements for Accrington Stanley, they began a steady rise through the divisions that saw them spend two seasons in the top flight during the 1980s. It was followed by a steady fall through the divisions that saw them relegated from the Football League in 2006 to be replaced by ... Accrington Stanley. They regained their league status in 2010 and currently play in the third tier.

During their relatively short stay in the First Division, they won the League Cup in 1986. Their chairman during this period was Robert Maxwell. Yes, THAT Robert Maxwell. This made them the first winner of a major English trophy to be relegated to non-league.

Since they're the only league team in Oxfordshire, their main rivalries are with teams from counties that border it, notably Reading (Berkshire) and Swindon Town (Wiltshire).

Preston North End

Year Established: 1880
Nickname: The Lillywhites, The Invincibles
Kit: White shirts, navy shorts
Current Owner: Wordon Limited
Current Captain: Ryan Lowe
Current Stadium: Deepdale ^note Capacity 23,404
2023/24 Position: 10th in Championship
First Division Titles: 2; 1888–89, 1889–90
FA Cups: 2; 1888–89, 1937–38
Other Trophies: 1903–04, 1912–13, & 1950–51 Second Division champions; 1970–71 & 1999–2000 Third Division/League One champions; 1995–96 Fourth Division champions; 1940–41 Football League War Cup; 1886–87, 1892–93, 1894–95, 1899–1900, 1938–39, & 1996–97 Lancashire Senior Cups

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One of the twelve founder members of the Football League and the first Champions… and, since they won the FA Cup in the same season (1888-89), the first club to do the "Double". Their last major success was winning the FA Cup in 1938, and they haven't graced the top division since 1961. Deepdale, their ground, used to be the home of the National Football Museum (which moved to Manchester in 2012).

Their most famous ex-player is Sir Tom Finney, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest-ever footballers; in 2004, a statue of him called "The Splash" was unveiled outside Deepdale ^note  it was inspired by a famous photo that showed him beating two Chelsea defenders on a waterlogged Stamford Bridge pitch in 1956. Bill Shankly, a team-mate of Finney's at Preston before he went on to manage Liverpool, once said of him that he "would have been great in any team, in any match and in any age - even if he had been wearing an overcoat".

Strong rivalry with Blackpool (called "The Donkey Lashers" by PNE fans).

Rotherham United

Year Established: 1871
Nickname: The Millers
Kit: Red shirts with white sleeves, white shorts
Current Chairman: Tony Stewart
Current Manager: Steve Evans
Current Stadium: New York Stadium ^note Capacity: 12,021
2023/24 Position: 24th in Championship (relegated)
Trophies Won: 1950–51 & 1980–81 Third Division champions; 1988–89 Fourth Division champions; 1995–96 & 2021–22 EFL Trophies; 1945–46 Football League Third Division North Cup

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South Yorkshire club which plays its home games at the New York Stadium (yes, really — the land on which the stadium stands was previously occupied by the Guest & Chrimes Foundry which used to make the fire hydrants for New York City). Formed as the result of a merger between two Rotherham clubs in 1925. Beaten finalists in the first-ever League Cup final (in 1961; they lost 3-2 on aggregate to Aston Villa ^note  originally, even the League Cup final was played over two legs, home and away; the final switched to a single match at Wembley in 1967 ). They've spent much of their existence going between the Third and Fourth Divisions (Leagues One and Two in modern parlance), although in recent years they've been moving between the Championship and League One.

Salford City

Year Established: 1940
Nickname: The Ammies
Kit: Red shirts, white shorts
Current Owner: Project 92 Limited
Current Head Coach: Karl Robinson
Current Stadium: Moor Lane ^note Capacity: 5,106
2023/24 Position: 20th in League Two
Trophies Won: 2017–18 National League North champions; 2014–15 Northern Premier League Division One North champions; 2019–20 EFL Trophy; 1977–78 & 1978–79 Manchester Premier Cups

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Lower-league Manchester club, noted for being taken over by several former Manchester United players (David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Gary and Phil Neville, Paul Scholes) in 2014; as a result, the club featured prominently in the BBC documentary Class of 92: Out of Their League. Won promotion to the Football League for the first time in 2019.

West Auckland Town

Year Established: 1893
Nickname: West
Kit: Yellow and black kit
Current Manager: Gary Forrest
Current Stadium: The Wanted Metal stadium ^note Capacity: 2,000
2023/24 Position: 11th in Northern League Division One (qualified for playoff)
Domestic Trophies: 1959–60 Northern League champions; 1959–60, 1962–63, & 2018–2019 Northern League Cups
International Trophies: 1909 & 1911 Sir Thomas Lipton Trophies

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Non-league County Durham side. Founded in 1893 as West Auckland, they were famously invited to take part in the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy — one of the first-ever international football competitions ^note  it was predated by the Torneo Internazionale Stampa Sportiva which took place in Italy the previous year in Italy in 1909.^note  Lipton, a tea merchant (as in, the Lipton tea brand) and philanthropist, proposed an international tournament and invited sides from Italy, Germany, Switzerland and England to take part; the FA refused to have anything to do with it, but Lipton was determined that England should be represented at his tournament and so invited West Auckland, an amateur side mostly consisting of coal miners, to take part; local legend has it that Lipton actually wanted Arsenal (then known as Woolwich Arsenal) to go, but gave his secretary instructions to "contact W.A.", which were misinterpreted They beat Swiss side Winterthur 2-0 in the 1909 final. The tournament was meant to be a one-off but it ended up being repeated two years later — so West Auckland went back to Italy to defend their title and did so, beating Juventus (yes, that Juventus) 6-1 in the final. A year later, the club folded due to financial difficulties (caused in part by the club having to pay for their own travel costs to go to Italy not once, but twice) although it was reconstituted as West Auckland Town in 1914. The trophy was pawned to a local hotelier but returned to the club in 1960, only to be stolen in 1994; it has never been recovered, but an exact replica can be found in a secure cabinet in the West Auckland Working Men's Club.

The story of their triumph was made into a TV Movie in 1982; entitled The World Cup: A Captain's Tale, it starred Dennis Waterman as Bob Jones, the West Auckland captain who scored one of the goals in the 1909 final.

Wrexham

Year Established: 1864
Nicknames: The Red Dragons, The Robins, The Town
Kit: Red shirts
Current Owner: Wrexham Holdings LLC (Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney)
Current Manager: Phil Parkinson
Current Captain: Luke Young
Current Stadium: Racecourse Ground ^note Capacity: 12,600
2023/24 Position: 2nd in League Two (promoted)
Trophies: 1977–78 Third Division champions; 2022–23 National League champions; 2004–05 Football League Trophy; 2012–13 FA Trophy; 1943–44 Football League North Cup; 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, & 2003–04 FAW Premier Cups; 1877–78, 1882–83, 1892–93, 1896–97, 1902–03, 1904–05, 1908–09, 1909–10, 1910–11, 1913–14, 1914–15, 1920–21, 1923–24, 1924–25, 1930–31, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1959–60, 1971–72, 1974–75, 1977–78, 1985–86, & 1994–95 Welsh Cups

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The oldest football club in Wales and the third oldest in the world (founded in 1864), playing at the Racecourse Ground (which is the oldest international football stadium in the world, having hosted Wales's first home fixture back in 1877 and is still occasionally used by the Welsh national team). Welsh Cup winners a record 23 times, and performed a notable upset in the FA Cup in 1992 when they knocked Arsenal (at the time, the reigning League Champions) out in the third round. Returned to League Two in 2023 after a 15-year stint in non-league football, and secured a second straight promotion to League One in 2024.

The future of the club came into doubt when they were bought by Alex Hamilton, a notorious corporate raider. He did everything he could to kill the team so he could strip the assets and sell off the land the home ground sits on for commercial developments. The fans led a popular uprising to take back control. Although the fans were successful, Hamilton's damage had lasting effects that negatively affected the club's finances and ability to attract talented coaches and players.

Ryan Reynolds (yes, that guy) and Rob McElhenney have owned the club (through their company, RR McReynolds Company LLC) since 2020. This is chronicled in the TV documentary series Welcome to Wrexham which shows their efforts to connect with the local community, untangle the boondoggle Hamilton left behind, build a winning line-up and gain promotion back into the Football League. As a result, Deadpool appears to have been adopted as an unofficial club mascot (some fans can be seen dressed as him in the show). Thanks to the resulting higher profile, Wrexham were included in FIFA 22 as part of the "Rest of the World" section, the first non-League club to be thus featured (they'd previously been in FIFA 07 prior to their relegation from League Two).

Wrexham narrowly missed out on promotion in 2022, losing to Grimsby Town in the play-offs. They achieved a return to the Football League on 22 April 2023, 15 years to the day since they were relegated from it, with a 3-1 win over Boreham Wood confirming them to have won the National League title. Less than a year later, Wrexham's 6–0 smashing of Forest Green Rovers on 13 April 2024, combined with the only two clubs that could have pipped them to the promotion places (MK Dons and Barrow) dropping points that day, secured a promotion to League One.

Wrexham fans consider their main rivals to be Chester (the successor club of Chester City), with whom they contest the Cross-Border Derby; the legendary former Liverpool and Wales striker Ian Rush, who played on both sides, has described the rivalry as "as intense as they come" and "like Wales v England really".

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