Arsenal

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
Owner: Stan Kroenke
Manager: Mikel Arteta
Captain: Martin Ødegaard
Stadium: Emirates Stadium^note Capacity: 60,260. Emirates Airlines is the current sponsor; the stadium's sponsor-less name is Ashburton Grove.
2024/25 Position: 2nd in Premier League
Premier League Tenure: 1991-
First Division/Premier League Titles: 13^note 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 (also the only undefeated season in Premier League history)
FA Cups: 14^note 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; 17^note 1930, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1938, 1948, 1953, 1991 [shared], 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

Based in Islington in North London, Arsenal was British-owned until late in 2010 when American billionaire Stan Kroenke (who also owns the Los Angeles Rams, Denver Nuggets, and Colorado Rapids) launched a takeover of the club, and as of July 2021 is completely owned by Kroenke.

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, much to the dismay of northern clubs such as Clapton Orient, Barnet, and Tottenham Hotspur.

They currently hold the record for the longest uninterrupted stay in the Top Division/Premier League, dating all the way back to 1919/20, when they were promoted under controversial circumstances following World War I. The First Division had two extra spaces for promotion that year, and rather than simply include two of the relegated teams, the League voted by ballot to include one of the relegated teams, but dropped the other relegated team in favor of Arsenal for "services to English football". Arsenal, having finished 6th in the Second Division (later corrected to 5th several decades later), were widely seen as an extremely controversial selection, but have proven their mettle since by staying in the top flight for over 100 straight years, with the 2025/26 season marking their 100th consecutive season^note Due to World War 2, several seasons weren't actually played, hence the discrepancy. Interestingly, the first relegated team that got voted to stay up was none other than Chelsea. The other relegated team that got sent down? Tottenham Hotspur. Thus was the heated rivalry born.

They have been known from the outset as an exciting and innovative attacking side, with Herbert Chapman creating concepts like the "WM Formation" and the role of the #10^note In footy, kit numbers tend to refer to actual positions and styles. 10 in particular refers to a creative, ball-playing attacking midfielder who often makes incisive passes to wingers or forwards for them to score. When the Premier League came round, however, they had spent several years under George Graham where they were known for their impenetrable defenses and pragmatic attacks (to the point where "Boring, Boring Arsenal" and "One-Nil To The Arsenal!" were common cheers/jeers by both loyal and opposing fans alike). Then in 1996, they hired a man who would irrevocably change not just the club but English football entirely. A little known French manager with previous experience at AS Monaco, who was managing over in Japan.

That manager's name? Arsène Wenger.

Wenger came into the club and changed everything. The team went from being a stout defensive side to an intricate, attacking team once again (and this style of play was thus dubbed "Wengerball"). He showed England what proper dieting could do to player fitness in a time when English players were known to partake in beer culture. In his first full season as manager, he led Arsenal back to the top and collected an FA Cup as well, and only a couple of years later, he led Arsenal to another League and FA Cup Double. Then he claimed Arsenal's squad could go an entire season unbeaten, was laughed at for the 2002/03 season when it didn't happen, then etched "The Invincibles" into Premier League memory in the 2003/04 season with 26 wins, 12 draws, and 0 losses, the only time this has been done in Premier League history^note but not English football, as Preston North End did it first in 1888/89, when there were a lot fewer teams and games to be played.

After going invincible, Arsenal settled into 3rd and 4th place finishes as they worked to pay off a new stadium, though they did make a Champions League Final in 2006 (which they lost to Barcelona), and despite winning three FA Cups in the mid-2010s, fans became impatient with Wenger because of this apparent lack of ambition. Wenger managed the club for a total of 1,235 games, reaching the 1,000 milestone on 22 March 2014 with Arsenal's fixture at Chelsea (against José Mourinho, no less), and after 22 years of management, he stepped down as Arsenal manager following the 2017/18 season's end.

Arsenal struggled for a few seasons under his replacement Unai Emery and Freddie Ljungberg, and Mikel Arteta had trouble out of the gate despite winning an FA Cup, but Arteta was given time and has put together a side of young players who play entertaining possession-heavy attacking ball and who are not afraid to throw down with the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool, even to the point where the team found themselves in a surprise title challenge in 2022/23, though they ultimately fell short as injuries stacked up and Manchester City bore them down. Any questions as to whether this was merely a purple patch were answered in the negative in 2023/24, where Arsenal jostled with City for almost the entire campaign, only to again fall short and finish in 2nd place, but pushing City to the final day this time around. Then they faced every inconvenience possible thrown their way in 2024/25, with injuries galore and... questionable refereeing decisions, and while they were never really in the title race, they still clawed their way to a second-place finish despite all of it.

Near misses both domestically and abroad have earned Arteta's Arsenal the Embarrassing Nickname "The Nearly Men", an appellation lamented by "big-name" fans such as Arseblog yet one that gets under the skin of Arteta when brought up in interviews. Have also gained a reputation of signing Chelsea players, to the point where every summer, the fans have their eyes peeled for the next "Chelsea reject", having signed Petr Cech, David Luiz, Jorginho, Kai Havertz, Raheem Sterling (on loan), and most recently, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Noni Madueke from the Blues since 2015. Chelsea, for their part, also took on ex-Arsenal players over a much longer period, such as Ashley Cole, William Gallas, Cesc Fabregas, Olivier Giroud, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Arsenal entered the 2025-26th season looking to celebrate their 100th consecutive top flight season in style, a mark precious few clubs in the entire world have achieved and the only team in England. Their opening run of games was considered the second-toughest across the entire league, featuring matches against Manchester United, Manchester City, and Liverpool, and despite going five points back of Liverpool early on, they fought their way to the top of the table by some distance in October and early November. December saw their lead shrink, then January saw them regain it, then February saw the lead shrink again, yet in March, they maintain a slim lead over Manchester City, growing just a little bot more with a City stumble to Forest, and are still considered strong favourites to win the title. Outside of the league, they have booked their place in the Carabao Cup Final to contest their first silverware of the season, they have advanced to the last 16 of the FA Cup, and they have received an incredibly favorable Champions League draw with their only potential stumbling block to the Final being Barcelona, though previous seasons would indicate no opponent is to be taken lightly.

Their Arch-Enemy is Tottenham Hotspur, a derby that has led to classic matches in both league and cup competitions, and they have lesser but still fierce derbies against other Big Six sides, plus fellow London club West Ham, and these occasions are almost always seen as Serious Business by the fans. Since the early 2000s, Arsenal supporters have celebrated "St. Totteringham's Day", the point in any given Premier League season where they are mathematically certain to finish above Tottenham Hotspur in the standings. The "holiday" suffered a 6-year hiatus between Wenger's last season in charge to Arteta's second season in charge, and likely contributed to the former's highly-contentious exit from the club. The North London Derby is also known for its bizarre incidents, such as a memorable moment in 2006 in which Arsenal pipped Spurs for 4th on the final day after Spurs came down with a bout of food poisoning from lasagna the night before. As such, lasagna has become the "sacred food" of St. Totteringham's Day celebrations. Never a dull moment in North London. This holday celebrated its earliest ever occasion (not including seasons where Spurs were playing in a lower league) on 1 March 2026.

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

One of the twelve founder members of the Football League, Birmingham-based 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, complete with guiding the team to a surprise Champions League qualification in the 2023/24 season and preventing his former team from lifting the Premier League by defeating them twice, the only team to do so. Unfortunately, the new season saw them go up against Arsenal at home early, where they were roundly defeated despite a well-organized defense and plenty of chances. They recovered well, but stumbled against through November to slip down to upper midtable in early December. By Christmas they settled into 6th, behind Bournemouth on goal difference and still very much in contention for a top-table finish. 2025 was less kind to the Villains, a series of tough fixtures and an ongoing injury crisis knocking the wind out of their sails to have them sit between fellow mid-table climbers Brighton and Fulham. Villa managed to claw their way back into top table contention, defeating a Newcastle side that was on an historic hot streak by an astonishing 3 goals. Their Champions League dreams came to an end when they fell in the quarterfinals to Paris Saint-Germain, and they were unable to clinch a return to the Champions League following a defeat to Manchester United on the final day.

The 2025/26 season started off in dire fashion, taking them several games just to score their first goal, and for a time managing to not be bottom due to how much worse Wolves have been, but they have seemed to finally get going. At Christmas, they were even as high as 3rd, three points behind leaders Arsenal after an 11-game win streak. However, Arsenal put an end to that streak shortly before the New Year, and Villa have started to stumble, falling out of the title race and slipping into a battle for the Top 5 after being handed a 1-4 demolition by Chelsea.

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

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 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 sacked a few weeks after the end of the season, and replaced by Spaniard Andoni Iraola. They had a few positive seasons where they threatened European travels, but never quite managed to get them over the line.

2025/26 has started off brightly for the Cherries, sitting in second place at the end of October, far and away past anyone's expectations, but normal service soon resumed and Bournemouth slipped back as the usual contenders began to pull away, though they still remain in a distant fight for the Conference League and Europa League spots in March.

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

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 West London suburb of Brentford (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. 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 and Chelsea (even Liverpool, in an off year) 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 sat to close the season out. 2024/25 has started out better for them, with a handful of wins and losses to have them in midtable in late January, almost exactly halfway between the top 4 and the relegation zone. Earning some notable upsets, Brentford has remained an extremely steady side for the season, routinely occupying the halfway point on the table. Following season's end, they bid farewell to their manager Thomas Frank as he took the Spurs job to replace Ange Postecoglou; set piece coach Keith Andrews was subsequently promoted to manager to succeed him. In addition, captain Christian Nørgaard bid farewell to the club and joined Arsenal, marking a "changing of the guard" at Brentford as new leadership is set to take over on both the pitch and touchline.

2025/26 saw a new manager in Keith Andrews, who started off not the best for the Bees, with even some talk of them being early relegation favorites. But solid improvements throughout the season, including a fantastic run of form going into and then after the New Year and through February, have put them up at the top of the Europa League battle with plenty of talk about them being the surprise package of the season.

Rock star Rod Stewart trained with the club as a youth but was never offered the chance to register to play for the club so opted to concentrate on his music career. The Chase host Bradley Walsh also trained with them, so expect it to be brought up on the show whenever he or the Chasers get a chance.

Brighton & Hove Albion

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 23/24 season began with a blistering start but fell off toward the midway point, which repeated in the 2024/25 season, with them finishing midtable both times. The latter season was notable in that Brighton started the season with the youngest permanent manager in PL history—the then 31-year-old Fabian Hürzeler, who was hired away from St. Pauli after leading them to their first promotion to the Bundesliga in over a decade.^note In his first season, five of his players were older than he was.

They have started 25/26 off reasonably well for the Seagulls, but October brought some struggles that saw them slikde down the table to sit in the lower midtable as the league entered November, before suddenly catching fire and climbing up to as high as 6th shortly after the November break, only to plunge back down to 14th after going winless in several games. Have since climbed up to stay in the midtable spots.

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. This derby is actually called the M23 Derby... despite the fact that the M23 doesn't go anywhere near Brighton.

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.

Burnley

Hailing from East Lancashire, Burnley was 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. If you believe a mid-noughties Game Show, they have football fans' lowest IQ.

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 largely dire from start to finish, but they put up a fight until the penultimate matchday, being sent down after a defeat to Spurs. Their attacking style of football, in contrast to the often-defensive minded play previously under Dyche, won them some admirers though, among them German giants Bayern Munich, so much so that they duly poached Kompany to be their new manager. Despite this, their return to the Championship went swimmingly, with them consistently coming close to winning the title again. Despite narrowly losing out to Leeds United, Burnley's performance was more than enough to secure second place and another shot at the Premier League.

Their return to the Prem started off about as expected in the worst of ways, with their lone win of their first six matches being against fellow returners Sunderland, but a couple of wins in October saw them climb out of relegation for a time, before unfortunate results and their relegation rivals gaining crucial points saw them slip back into the drop zone, eight points adrift and odds-on favorites to be relegated, only ahead of Wolves, though with Wolves' resurgence, that lead is slowly slipping away.

Chelsea

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. Famous examples include Andriy Shevchenko, Fernando Torres, and Romelu Lukaku, all of whom cost eye-watering amounts of money at their time of purchase, and all of whom generally failed to live up to the billing^note though in fairness, Shevchenko had won the Ballon d'Or only a couple of years earlier, and Torres was Premier League proven (his issues have been attributed to being rushed back from a knee injury for the 2010 World Cup, losing much of his famous electric pace as a result). This reputation has carried on into the Boehly years, where Chelsea have been known to buy just about every single prospective youth talent under the sun at exorbitant prices, many of whom would never play for the club, causing accusations of turning into an "asset-management club" to come flying their way, particularly after they spent €1 billion across only three windows, and failing to convert that into meaningful trophies, which led to them being dubbed "Boehly's Blue Billion-Pound Bottlejobs" by Gary Neville following a defeat to Liverpool's youth academy^note There were a few stars, but the majority of the team was made of Liverpool's U23 side due to injuries and match congestion during the 2024 EFL Cup Final. While they did eventually win the UEFA Conference League in 2025 and even the Club World Cup the following summer, the reputation still hasn't gone away^note For extra salt in the wound, despite being a FIFA-organized competition, no other fanbase seriously acknowledges them as World Champions, not even PSG whom they defeated. There are a lot of reasons for this, legitimate or otherwise, but it generally boils down to the CWC gaining a reputation of being a "preseason tournament" due to player sales still happening in the middle of it. Chelsea players were even being bought and sold the days before and of the Final.

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. This also continued into the Boehly years, where no manager has lasted much longer than a full season with Chelsea. Thomas Tuchel started off the Boehly years in charge, then was fired a little over a year in and replaced with Graham Potter, who was fired before his season ended and Frank Lampard finished out the season (succeeding the manager who succeeded the manager that succeeded him). Then Mauricio Pochettino came in and had a better-than-expected campaign, but was fired at the end of the season and replaced with Enzo Maresca, who was at last able to guide Chelsea back to the Champions League while also winning a Conference League, making them the first English team to have won all three of Europe's continental competitions.

The 2025/26 season began with what was supposed to be the easiest opening run compared to the other Big Six sides, but Chelsea failed to take advantage and get out to an early start, with draws to Crystal Palace and Brentford, and defeats to Manchester United and Brighton. However, in their match against Liverpool going into the October Break, they snatched a late winner to come within five points of the top of the table (Arsenal, courtesy of said win), giving them a massive win to kickstart the season with. Unfortunately, this was followed up with even more stumbles, as the Blues ran hot-and-cold throughout late October and November, winning matches they should lose and dropping points in matches they should win. They put together a strong run of form on either side of the November break, even briefly seeming to enter the title race, but after a nervy 1-1 draw against Arsenal, their form turned abysmal and they slipped to being 15 points back of the leaders, leading to Maresca departing by mutual consent on New Year's Day and being replaced by Strasbourg manager Liam Rosenior. Despite being manager-less for nearly a week, Chelsea were able to hold Manchester City to a draw in that time, before they've gone on a run of good results to climb into the Top 5 race with only three total losses to their name... all three against Arsenal, two in the Carabao Cup Semifinals and one in the league.

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

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.

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.

After a dream 2024/25 campaign that saw them lift their first ever major silverware in the FA Cup, Crystal Palace opened the 2025/26 season with even more silverware, defeating Liverpool on penalties to win the Community Shield, and have since soldiered on for most of their matches, including defeating Liverpool (again) to leave themselves as the last unbeaten team in England, which would last until Everton notched a win at Goodison Park. They would slide a bit down the table after this, even being defeated by Arsenal (the lone goal of the match scored by former captain Eberechi Eze), and despite a little resurgence to enter the European spots, they started to slip to lower midtable as the season progressed. The team would also set a very unfortunate record with their FA Cup defense by crashing out in the third round to National League North's Macclesfield, which when judged by league position (6th tier vs 1st) is the biggest upset in FA Cup history.

NBC Sports football commentator Rebecca Lowe is a passionate fan of the team, as is Suzy Eddie Izzard, who has been associate director of the club since 2013.

Everton

One of the twelve founder members of the Football League, this Liverpudlian side spent a total of 105 seasons in the top-flight. To date, they are the oldest side to have a consistent run in the Premier League.

Part of one of (arguably) the most famous rivalries in Football, with neighbours Liverpool, and one of the oldest, going all the way back to both clubs' origins. Everton was the original Liverpudlian football club, previously holding games at Anfield and training at Melwood. If that sounds familiar, that's because the owner of Anfield — John Houlding — was the founder of Liverpool FC, which he did of necessity after Everton fled to Goodison Park to escape his gouging of the rent to use his facilities and won the legal right to use the name Everton from him. The two teams have been bitter rivals ever since.

This rivalry has ranged everywhere from friendly competition to seemingly utter hatred over the hundred-plus years of the clubs' existence. For many decades allegiances between the two teams reflected sharp cultural, political, and religious divides within the city of Liverpool,^note A lot of popular myths predominate about the religious and ethnic character of both clubs, but neither club has ever been strongly associated with any particular sectarian identity. The associations likely emerged as the football rivalry began to really heat up, probably as a way of exaggerating already existing divisions that had no real rhyme or reason, and even then which club was associated with which side flip-flopped depending on the time period in question. Despite this, the stereotypes have had an extremely strong influence on popular consciousness; in the 60s, older Liverpudlian Catholics were known to resist wearing gear associated with Liverpool FC in public for fear of being mistaken for Protestants. Liverpool is a strange place. though the sporting rivalry predominated into the modern day. In the 80s, the rivalry had the reputation of being The Friendly Derby, owing to the city's solidarity in the face of neglect by the Thatcher administration. The late 80s and especially the 90s saw the rivalry heat up again, and as of 2025 it is probably as close to outright hatred as it has ever been. Strong resentments fuel the derby on both sides, particularly during the 9 years that Jürgen Klopp managed Liverpool. On the Everton side, the swashbuckling, showboaty football that Liverpool played during this time period was perceived as akin to bullying, made even more painful by Klopp's famous emotional verve. Liverpool have grievances of their own, 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 on-pitch brutality, officially having the most red cards in Premier League history. However relations between fans remain cordial, to the point where it is the only derby not to enforce fan segregation — 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, though a competent player in his own right, 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 by the greats of the game. While the two did eventually play each other, Anthony had by that point moved to Cardiff City. In 2021, when Liverpool legend Rafael Benítez 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 Benítez' name.

Much like Manchester United and Manchester City, there is a perception that Everton is the team for "real" Liverpudllians while Liverpool's fanbase is international. While Liverpool has had a larger international fan base for longer, owing to their long history of success in European competition, the city itself is pretty evenly divided between the two, and Everton has had a not-negligible international fanbase of its own for decades. Notably, Everton has had strong support in North America since the 80s and is one of the best-supported foreign clubs in Ireland.

A consistent mainstay in top flight, originally considered one of England's "Big Five" along with Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur, Everton was historically the more successful of the two Liverpool-based clubs. This all changed when Liverpool got a hold of Bill Shankly and spent the next few decades winning everything in sight. The Premier League era hit both clubs like a ton of bricks, but while Liverpool would eventually bounce back to some degree from the massive slump, Everton would spend the first decade of the Premier League constantly fighting relegation. David Moyes's appointment as manager in 2002 had them reverse this drop, often challenging for the 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. Spent a few years threatening relegation during and following the COVID-disrupted 2019/20 season, but were always able to escape at the last. 24/25, the club's last season at Goodison Park, was perhaps a quintessential Everton season, as they were able to stave off relegation and finish midtable, sending out Goodison Park on a high and heading to their new waterfront stadium, handing Goodison over to their women's team.

In 2025/26, they started the new season brightly, with two wins out of three going into the first break. A bright spot has been the arrival of former Manchester City star Jack Grealish on loan, whose debut performances with the club were enough to win him the first Player of the Month honor of his career. They currently sit in a clustered upper midtable, on the verge of competing for European spots, five points back of hated rivals Liverpool in 6th.

Famous fans include Paul McCartney (apparently) ^note none of The Beatles were really into football (the identification of Paul as an Everton fan rather than a Liverpool one is presumably based on the fact that he is known to have attended the 1968 FA Cup final), 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

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. 24/25 started off well enough, though it ended with Fulham in midtable once again, but the season was largely overshadowed by revelations of systematic sexual abuse perpetrated by former owner Mohamed Fayed at all of his businesses, including his targeting of young players from the women's team. An enquiry into Al-Fayed's conduct is ongoing as of the start of 2025, regarding conduct going as far back as the 1970s.

25/26 has seen them stumble to start before getting back into the swing of things after the first break, climbing up to sit comfortably midtable going into the new year, flirting with slipping into the drop zone before climbing up to thrust themselves into a battle for the Conference League and Europa League spots.

Fulham's best-known celebrity fan is fictional — Wolfie Smith. His support was often mentioned and he was usually shown wearing a Fulham scarf. Given the footballing allegiance of Robert Lindsay (the actor who played him), it may actually be a Derby County scarf, meaning his scarf was also acting the part of a Londoner.

Leeds United

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 has held 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. Their position as a historic regional footballing powerhouse also set them up as rivals of Liverpool FC. Leeds diehards still see them both as their rivals. Nowadays, perhaps the one thing that Manchester United and Liverpool fans can agree on is that they absolutely don't.

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.^note 49ers Enterprises has since teamed up with American healthcare tycoon Andrew Cavenagh to buy a majority stake in Rangers. In the following season, they found themselves in a three-way battle for automatic promotion with Ipswich and Leicester, which they converted into an automatic playoff place, but fell in the playoff final to Southampton. Despite the narrow miss, the 24/25 campaign went much better for them, with Leeds decisively securing automatic promotion.

Came back playing about to expectations, finding themselves hovering a few points clear of the drop zone as late as early March, but never far enough away to be comfortable.

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).

Liverpool

The most successful club in English football, having won the top tier twenty times and the European Cup/Champions League six times, but took until 2020 to win the top tier in the Premier League era, 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, winning the title in 2005 and 2019, and making the finals in 2007, 2018 and 2022. Known to have been almost unbeatable in the second half of the 20th Century, the Premier League era left them behind as it was conquered by perennial rivals Manchester United, who overtook them in trophies won by absolutely dominating the domestic title for the first two decades of the competition. In true Liverpool fashion, they managed to even the score through greater success in international competition as United fell from grace, but are still a couple of domestic honors away from surpassing the Red Devils at home - though after winning the 2025 league title, they are now once again level with United on 20 league wins, and eyeing up the 'perch' that Sir Alex Ferguson spent more than quarter of a century trying to knock them off.

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.

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 the widely beloved Jürgen Klopp. Securing the Champions League, then a first top division title in 30 years was just the icing on the cake, although after the Super League debacle, Fenway Sports Group's approval has been far more mixed.

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. The disaster, along with the events four years earlier of the Heysel Stadium disaster (which sadly also involved Liverpool fans) and the Bradford City Fire of 1985 contributed to the 1980s being seen as a low point for English football in general. Hillsborough prompted a review of crowd control practices at games and of stadium design and upkeep (leading to terrace seating being banned from the top two flights in favour of all-seater stadia). To this day, Liverpool have incorporated two torches into their badge in remembrance of the victims. The event was such a tragedy that joking about it or spreading lies about it will turn the city against you (even fans of local rivals like Everton). Case in point, after The Sun published a viciously slanderous piece on the disaster, which they dubbed "The Truth", you couldn't line a birdcage in the Merseyside area with that paper.

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. When on a particularly strong streak, it's referred to as 'Fortress Anfield'. 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. Liverpool's fans, colloquially known as 'Kopites' (and more rarely, collectively as 'the Kop'), 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 its intimidating reputation. Following two expansions, has grown from 44,000 to 54,000, finally to 61,000, it has only got that much louder, being voted the joint loudest stadium in Europe along with Barcelona's Camp Nou (which at the time of voting was 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. The global fanbase of Liverpool numbers in the hundreds of millions and can range to domestic and international fans both of the club and of certain players, such as Mohammed Salah inspiring a large group of Egyptian fans. Strangely, there is also a large collection of Norwegian fans as well, such as current Arsenal captain Martin Ødegaard in his boyhood. Intermittent Norwegian players, including cult hero John Arne Riise, plus cheap ferry tickets, are suggested to be part of why.

They have extremely fierce derbies with former competitive rivals turned grudge match Manchester United (which goes right back to the inter-city rivalry of the industrial revolution), their geographic rivals Everton, and lesser rivalries with with competitive rivals Arsenal and Manchester City. United and Liverpool were frequently in the mix over the decades for the English title, as were Arsenal and latterly City (taking United's place), leading to the three-way battle between them, and yet matches between those two pale in comparison to the affair that is the Merseyside Derby with Everton. The Merseyside Derby actually holds the record for the most cards in any English fixture, and while Liverpool currently are the far stronger side, that has not stopped Everton from delighting in every chance they can get when it comes to even minorly inconveniencing their hated neighbors. However, despite the hatred between them, make light of the Hillsborough Disaster around either of those fanbases at your own peril - and generally, as the sad demise of Liverpool striker Diogo Jota in 2025 showed, they can and do come together in times of sorrow.

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 domestic 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', known for a swashbuckling style of all-out attack, led by a front-line known as 'the Red Arrows'. This was cemented by a Champions League victory in 18/19 (while missing out on the Premier League title 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 set the previous season). This campaign also saw them win the earliest title in Premier League history (by matches played), clinching the title with 7 matchweeks to spare, and ironically it was also the latest title win in Premier League history (by calendar date, unsurprisingly), Klopp was unable to repeat either feat, though he did manage a few Cups in the interim before announcing that he would depart at the conclusion of the 2023/24 season, citing burnout, and appointing Arne Slot as his successor. His last game was a celebration of his tenure, but he simply asked that fans welcome Slot as they had him, and led the crowd in a new chant dedicated to his successor.

While it was generally agreed that Klopp left massive shoes to fill, both in terms of success and popularity, being inarguably the most popular Liverpool manager since the legendary Kenny Dalglish, and there were suspicions that Slot might turn out to be a new Erik Ten Hag (having also come in from the Eredivisie with a big reputation), Slot's Reds flew out of the traps and quickly became known for their ruthless metronomic efficiency. Dubbed 'the Slot Machine', they won the league in 2024/25 in his first season off the back of a terrific run of form from Salah and Diogo Jota, shooting ahead of everyone early in the campaign as Arsenal and Manchester City wrestled with injuries, wrapping up the league by April.

Tragedy struck the club over the summer, as Jota and his brother were killed in a car wreck. All of football mourned the loss of the brothers, and the mood around the club has been understandably sad. The club retired Jota's number 20 shirt as a tribute across all of its teams, and the only effects seemed to be fans loyally singing Jota's song at the 20th minute of each match, regular as clockwork, and a summer splurge to try and fill Jota's void. The Reds lost to Crystal Palace in the Community Shield, but won the next eight games in all competitions, leading to predictions they'd stroll to another title. These wins depended late goals and luck, however, and when both failed, their confidence and form collapsed, highlighting the slow starts of several new signings, and a string of injuries at right back also underlined the loss of Trent Alexander-Arnold. Resembling a shell of the team that had imperiously carried all before them just months earlier, players admitted the club had been shaken by Jota's death. The scoring heroics of new signing Hugo Ekitike, gaining favourable comparisons to former Liverpool great Fernando Torres, and Dominic Szoboszlai, who did his best impersonation of a young Steven Gerrard, dragged Liverpool out of hole after hole, but it was only damage limitation. This culminated with a misfiring Mo Salah venting his frustrations in a press conference about seemingly being scapegoated for the club's troubles, before departing for AFCON with his future uncertain. Isak, meanwhile, had just begun to click, then had his leg broken quite literally just as he scored against Spurs.

By the turn of the year, however, things took a turn up for the book; the club didn't rise to Salah's bait and he returned from AFCON in a better state of mind, Wirtz finally settled in, forming a lethal partnership with Ekitike and going from not scoring until Christmas to scoring 6 and creating 8 afterwards, while Liverpool went from the worst set-piece performers in 2025 to the best by March 2026, even ahead of "Set Piece FC" Arsenal! However, a shock defeat to Wolves in March has seen them slip out of the Top 5 on goal difference, and they found themselves drawn on an incredibly difficult half of the Champions League bracket, but they still favor their chances to go far in the FA Cup to win a trophy on the season.

Manchester City

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.). 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, for a long time they failed 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). However, seasons subsequent to this have seen City fail to replicate this success, getting bounced out in the quarterfinals by Real Madrid on penalties in 23/24 and just barely making it to the knockout phase of 24/25, only to be immediately knocked out...by Real Madrid.

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.

City would go on to dominate English football for nearly a decade following the Centurion season, with only a Liverpool title during the COVID-disrupted 2019/20 season providing a gap despite the Reds' close challenges. In 2022/23, Arsenal suddenly found themselves in the mix as well under the management of former Pep student Mikel Arteta, to the surprise of everyone (including themselves), and they predictably fell short as City pipped them to the title en route to a treble-winning season behind new striker Erling Haaland's robotic precision. Arsenal pushed them to the final day the following season, but came just short yet again as both City and Arsenal entered "Terminator Mode" and gunned down opponents left and right, with Arsenal having one stumble that cost them dearly. 24/25, however, saw them regress badly to the point where they were never really in the title race at all, were dumped out of the Champions League in the Round of 32, and only managed to qualify for the 25/26 Champions League in the final weeks, and all of this came after Erling Haaland mockingly told Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta to "stay humble" after managing to snatch a late draw in an early match between the two, which then turned into a phrase that the rest of the league hurled right back in their faces.

While all of the above has been going on, however, there was other news in the background. UEFA charged City with breaching Financial Fair Play rules in 2019, though nothing came of it. However, then the FA charged City with 115 (and counting) breaches of their profit and sustainability rules over the past decade in early 2023, the trial of which is ongoing with the verdict due to come any day now (which will likely not go into effect for some time due to appeals). Punishments could be as little as a fine to as much as the stripping of trophies.^note The FA clarified that they lack the jurisdiction to remove Manchester City from the Premier League, due to the lower tiers of football being under the aegis of the EFL. They are, however, capable of slapping City with a points deduction so large that it would be a de facto automatic relegation. 60 is the number being suggested as the minimum.

The 2025/26 season started off bumpily. They got a quick first win, Spurs handed them their usual defeat, they bounced back, they dismantled United, everything was looking like more of the same. However, they suffered a defeat against Brighton after having led for most of the match, and their first match against Arsenal in London ended in a draw despite taking an early lead. They followed this up with several routine wins, but Aston Villa handed them another defeat to leave them five points back from the top, level with hated rivals United going into November. They were able to thump Liverpool 3-0 at the Etihad to climb back into the title race against Arsenal, only for Newcastle to deal them another defeat right after the November break. Capitalizing on an Arsenal stumble in December, they climbed within striking distance of the Gunners, even going ahead of them for a few hours multiple times due to playing earlier, but early 2026 has seen a worrying trend with their only league win being against Wolves and draws or losses otherwise, causing them to fall behind in the race, though they clawed their way back to being a handful of points behind Arsenal with a game in hand, though they let a game slip against Forest to give Arsenal an extra little cushion. Nevertheless, they dispatched Newcastle to book a place in the League Cup final against Arsenal to grapple over some silverware on the year.

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 City are also majority owners of Major League Soccer side New York City FC alongside the New York Yankees.

Manchester United

England's second most successful club, though they and Liverpool swap places every few years like clockwork and they stand shoulder-to-shoulder in terms of domestic success. 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 one of the most popular in the world (behind only Spanish juggernauts Real Madrid and Barcelona) with an official fan club that comprises approximately 5% of the planet's population. 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 (US $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. By 2024, their value had increased to £5.5 billion (US $6.55 billion), just behind Real among football/soccer clubs, but they're now outside the world top 10 due to huge increases in value of several US teams (not just in the NFL). 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. These were somewhat answered in 2023 when the Glazers 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, but this did not lead to any immediate major success. If anything, things have gotten worse! Fan rancour over footballing failures and the poor state of upkeep of Old Trafford, which despite the club's technical wealth, has not been noticeably maintained in the last few decades, and become notoriously (to other rivals, hilariously) prone to leaking in particularly wet weather... which Manchester is quite prone to. On fans. And, at times, in press conferences.

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^note It has been argued that what was interpreted as racial abuse was the result of a Culture Clash between the Afro-Uruguayan Suarez and the Afro-French Evra, but the FA found against Suarez regardless, and Suarez's ungracious behavior towards Evra in the aftermath didn't help matters 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. United fans spent the first two and a half decades of the Premier League gloating about Liverpool's drop off, even as they began to experience the same thing. Following the success of first Klopp, then Slot, as United's situation becomes ever more abject and Liverpool have become prone to using United as target practice (in one particularly egregious case, an off-form Liverpool won 7-0, United's worst league defeat since the 1930s), the gloating is being returned with interest.

Has a smaller but still tense competitive rivalry with Arsenal, which can be traced back decades as well, but hit its peak during the Wenger and Ferguson years as the two managers competed year-in-and-year-out for titles. Ferguson walked away with more league titles, and a couple of Champions League victories as well, but even he spoke glowingly of Wenger's invincible season. After years of being enemies, the managers became close friends, with the two of them having special messages for each other in light of major achievements. Not that this has cooled either set of fans' attitudes in matches, mind.

After Sir Alex's retirement, the club was in flux for several seasons. Ferguson's chosen replacement David Moyes did not pan out and was sent packing in his first season and he was followed by a revolving door of managers over the years, including Jose Mourinho, former club legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and up-and-coming Ajax manager Erik Ten Hag, but the best United were able to do in this time were spin their wheels and lift a few cups and a Europa League. Ten Hag in particular was seen as a major disappointment as he was expected to be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with Guardiola, Klopp, and Arteta, and was never able to do that. He was fired after an awful start to the 2024/25 season, replaced by Ruben Amorim of Sporting Club de Portugal, who hit the ground running... in the wrong direction. At first, he seemed to right the ship, getting a few needed wins going into 2025, but then it all went catastrophically wrong, and despite making it to the Europa League Final, United finished with a historically awful season, sitting all the way down in 15th with a meager 42 points, their lowest ever in the Premier League, with their only consolation being that they finished ahead of Spurs. The Europa League Final brought no joy either, as they then lost to Spurs off a Luke Shaw own goal, making that consolation turn bitter.

2025/26 saw them more or less pick up right where they left off, being defeated by an extremely lackluster Arsenal, drawing Fulham, and then most embarrassingly, being dumped out of the Carabao Cup by Grimsby Town of League Two. They were able to start notching a few wins, including holding on for dear life to win 2-1 over Chelsea despite red cards to both teams, but dismantlings at the hands of City and Brentford have left the Red Devils sitting in 14th, 8 points off leaders Liverpool and closer to relegation than the Top 4 (again) going into October, though a routine win over Sunderland saw them climb up to the midtable, giving them something to build off of, and they followed it up with their first win at Anfield in ten years, capped off by a late goal from Harry Maguire to give Amorim his first consecutive victories since taking over the job, which was followed up with another win over Brighton, followed by battling 2-all draws away at Forest and Spurs, causing many to wonder if they have finally turned a corner. While they were unable to make it 5 wins in a row (matching the condition a viral United fan said had to be met before he would cut his hair), they have generally gotten wins more often than not in the weeks since, climbing into a Top 4 fight going into the new year, despite several more embarrassments along the way, such as handing Wolves their third point of the season at Old Trafford!

Despite his historically bad first season and hit and miss second, a large section of the fanbase were willing to give Amorim the benefit of the doubt, many pointing out that, when he became manager of Sporting, they were in a very similar situation to that United are in right now: they hadn't won the league for years and the atmosphere was becoming very toxic indeed. He was able to turn it completely around there and said fans were hopeful that, if given time and resources, he could do the same with them. The club's directors seemed to be in the same boat as well... until, in the early days of 2026, Amorim made some harsh comments about them, after which he was sacked. Which, suffice to say, has divided the fanbase right down the middle. Darren Fletcher was installed as their interim, but his results weren't good, as they only managed a 2-all draw with struggling Burnley, before losing at home to Brighton in the FA Cup, the first time for nearly 45 years they'd been knocked out of both cups in their first match. He was swiftly replaced by Michael Carrick for the remainder of the season, and his first game in charge saw them duly sweep aside their neighbours Manchester City 2-0, and it could've been more but for three marginal offside calls, and they followed this up by winning a thrilling contest against Arsenal at the Emirates 3-2 behind thunderbolt goals from Dorgu and Cunha, and then another thrilling win over Fulham. United climbed into 3rd and look to be returning triumphantly to Europe, though there are still questions over their long-term sustainability, given this all came because their matchload was greatly reduced by early departures from tournaments and no Europe.

Much of the commentary on United, however, has focused on the administrative side of things, namely the grievous and very public mismanagement of the club. Soaring ticket prices, a non-existent presence in the transfer market, Old Trafford quite literally crumbling, and highly-publicized downsizing and penny-pinching on staff costs have coexisted with announcements of the construction of a new stadium slated to cost upwards of £2 Billion and complaints about the cost of player contracts. The fact that said stadium has been unfavourably compared to a space age circus tent doesn't help. Being saddled with a multitude of debts caused by the Glazer family buyout and the cost of breaking managerial contracts (ten Haag's alone cost the club an eye-watering £14.5 million) have certainly not helped either. Club ownership is arguably at its worst nadir in popularity in the history of the club, not helped in the least by such brilliant PR moves as publicly blaming club legend Alex Ferguson for the club's current state. Fan protests at matches are the rule rather than the exception, and even Ferguson, who was club ambassador as recently as 2024, has had trouble hiding his disgust at the current state of affairs. There is even a fan-owned breakaway club, F.C. United of Manchester, that has become one of the largest non-league teams in England. It is likely to be some time before United are truly competitive again, much to the chagrin of the club's increasingly impatient fans.

Newcastle United

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.

Despite utterly collapsing shortly after the acquisition, the timely hire of Eddie Howe and some canny spending of their new deeper funds saw them establish themselves as a solid upper-midtable side, before eventually vaulting themselves into Champions League qualification. They didn't go far, and they failed to qualify the next season due to the thinness of their squad and the match congestion that comes with such a schedule, but their momentum is upward all the same, and they were able to return to the Champions League again for the next season.

The big highlight of the season, however, came when Newcastle finally won their first major trophy in 70 years; after defeating Arsenal 4-0 on aggregate over two legs to book a trip to Wembley for the Carabao Cup Final, their second in three years, they faced defending champions Liverpool and duly beat them 2-1.

2025/26 has been a shaky start for the Magpies, drawing Leeds and (19th place) Villa, as well as being defeated by Liverpool in what was informally called the "Alexander Isak Derby" due to Isak's links with the Reds, made official shortly thereafter where Isak was purchased for £130 million. The reluctance to sell the striker seems to have been borne out, as Newcastle have struggled to break out of mid-table in the matches since, including losing right at the death to Arsenal at St. James' Park where they had been on a three-match winning run. They were able to string together a few desperately-needed wins to climb into lower midtable, but at the new year, they remain several points back from the European spots, much less ready to challenge for them, though that didn't stop them from taking a strong win against Manchester City in mid-November as if to say "Don't count us out yet", though they followed it up by slipping further down the table to be firmly out of European contention and being dispatched out of the Carabao Cup semifinal over both legs by Man City.

Nottingham Forest

An historic team who, as its name suggests, are based in Nottinghamshire. Forest has had a rollercoaster history, tending to bounce in and out of the top flight from decade to decade. 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 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.

When they returned to the Premier League, they set the record for the longest gap between two matches in Premier League history at over 23 years. For a time, they struggled in lower-midtable, but the hiring of Nuno Espirito Santo saw them catapult themselves upward, safely away from any relegation talk, with eyes on even greater sights than mere safety. They did manage to achieve a return to Europe, but despite spending all of 24/25 being "nailed on for third", they fell short and finished qualifying for the Europa League.

The new season started off decently enough, going into the first break with a decent haul of points, before Nuno Espirito Santo was suddenly sacked and replaced with Ange Postecoglou, which saw them dismally sink down the table immediately after to sit only one point above the drop zone, and all of this while they will have to simultaneously contest the Europa League after letting Champions League qualification slip through their fingers last season. After only 39 days in charge, in which he only saw two draws from eight games, Postecoglou was sacked following an absolute capitulation in a 3-0 defeat to Chelsea. Sean Dyche came in as his successor just days later, and was initially unable to stop the bleeding, much less turned them into any kind of threat (Forest went the entire month of October without scoring a league goal, and very nearly without scoring in any competition at all, barring two goals on the 2nd in their Europa League match). But then came November, and in just four matches, Forest have surged out of the drop zone, including delivering a 3-0 chastening to a floundering Liverpool in Anfield, giving them something to build off of for the rest of the season. They weren't been able to climb higher than a few points clear of the relegation zone and, with the club fourth bottom of the league, Dyche became their third managerial casualty of the season, dismissed in mid February. Vitor Pereira, just months on from being sacked by Wolves, was brought in as his successor. Forest managed a heroic draw against Manchester City to close the gap on Spurs just as West Ham managed a win to draw level with them, meaning with 9 games to play and points even, they have themselves a relegation battle on their hands.

Fierce rivals with fellow-East Midlanders Derby County.

As a final, trivial note, they are the only team to have won more European Cups than their domestic league.

Sunderland

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 an utterly 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 for their boss in traditional football fan fashion... by brandishing a giant inflatable penis in the home end while singing odes to their beloved Dick. Said penis was promptly confiscated, which only led to a slight change of lyrics), 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 a few years treading water until the 2024/25 season where they picked up French coach Régis Le Bris. Despite not coming into the club with much excitement^note Le Bris was acknowledged as a talented coach with an eye for player development, but had just overseen Lorient's relegation from Ligue 1, so expectations for him at Sunderland were certainly very mixed, he quickly proved himself by taking Sunderland straight to the top of the Championship table. While a late season decline in form saw Sunderland fall into a playoff position, they managed to overcome two favourites in Coventry and Sheffield United - scoring last second winners in both bouts, the latter in the 95th minute - to achieve promotion back to the Premier League. Despite being considered relegation favourites even before the 2025/26 season started, Sunderland have had a start beyond their wildest dreams. With massive victories over Chelsea, Brentford, Bournemouth and Newcastle, combined with many well-fought draws against the likes of Arsenal, Everton, Liverpool and Man City, the Black Cats have come out of New Year's Day boasting an unbeaten home record while sitting comfortably in the Europa League qualification battle, even if there are some concerns around their medium-term form owing to their reactive playstyle^note They have among the lowest Expected Goals rating in the league, with their results around New Years being noted for having lots of great draws but no outright wins and AFCON disruption^note They are by far the team most affected by players competing at AFCON with six, including star midfielder Noah Sadiki (DR Congo) and forward Chemsdine Talbi (Morocco). No other team in the league has more than three AFCON players for comparison.. This caused them to fall out of the Top 4 race over the course of Jnauary and February, but they seem to have settled comfortably in midtable.

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

Tottenham Hotspur

Hated rivals of fellow North London club 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, and then were promoted into the First Division at their expense in 1919. Are considered one of the most entertaining sides in the Premiership, with an expansive style that concedes many goals, but in a good season, scores many more. In a bad one, it is a matter of scoring almost as many. 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, usually in the most spectacular fashion possible. For instance, there's the ever-famous "Lasagna-gate", where the team came down with food poisoning on the final day of the 2005-06 season from the previous night's lasagna dinner that saw them (almost literally) shit the bed and be pipped for 4th by Arsenal. There was the time they were the last team remaining in the Leicester City fairy tale and seemed nailed on for 2nd, only to lose all momentum and end up finishing 3rd, which is endlessly mocked as them "finishing 3rd in a 2-horse race". There was even the time they looked to be the heavy favorites to win the first ever UEFA Europa Conference League, only to come down with COVID and forfeit a crucial game in the group stage, causing them to be dumped out at the first hurdle. (In)famously ridiculed by Sir Alex Ferguson before a game where his pregame speech was simply "Lads, it's Tottenham."

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. 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.

They would use this success in the early 2010s to springboard to even greater heights in the mid-10s. At first, it started off badly, with Spurs selling their best player Gareth Bale to Madrid for a record fee and the signings brought into replace him failing to live up, but after Bale's departure, a young manager named Mauricio Pochettino would take the helm, and a young unknown academy player named Harry Kane would emerge as their new stalwart, next to his partner Son Heung-Min and they would guide Spurs to even greater heights. Spurs finally celebrated their first St. Gunneringham's Day in 21 years, solidified their hold over a Top 4 spot, came close to winning the league twice in a row (one being the Leicester City season, which turned them into de facto villains), and even made it all the way to the Champions League Final. Unfortunately, they lost said final, clinically dispatched by a Liverpool side that never really had to get out of third gear. Poch was sacked not long after, and Spurs never recovered, eventually selling Kane to Bayern Munich and receding out of the regular Top 4. Australian Ange Postecoglou would eventually take charge and at first had things going the right way, but as teams figured out how to play around Spurs, they slipped down into a battle for Top 4, which they failed to do... although at the crucial game that locked them out of the Champions League, fans were actually celebrating, because that particular loss was to Manchester City, and it helped deny Arsenal the title that season, much to Ange's consternation^note He made barbed comments before and after the game about fans who cheer against their own team, and was even filmed getting into a shouting match with a fan during said game when the fan reportedly asked him to throw the match. Postecoglou would make good on his promise to win a trophy in his second season, guiding Spurs to a Europa League (their first trophy in any capacity in 17 years)... in which they didn't even score the only goal of the game, due to it being a Luke Shaw own goal despite the goal being credited to Brennan Johnson for kicking it onto Shaw. However, after a torrid league season that saw them finish 17th, Postecoglou was sacked shortly thereafter and was replaced by Thomas Frank. The club also bade farewell to longtime stalwart Son Heung-min after the season as well.

Their 2025/26 season started off with heartbreak, as they led 2-0 in the UEFA Super Cup against Paris Saint-Germain, before, in typical Spurs fashion, the lead was squandered and the match went to penalties. Spurs would take another 2-0 lead on penalties before letting it slip again, and PSG would win the Super Cup, kicking off the Thomas Frank era with another Spurs slip. For the most part, they were able to put this incident behind them, defeating Manchester City (as usual) and sitting pretty near the top of the table, but they began to slide in November just in time for a North London Derby, where they were absolutely embarrassed 4-1 by their hated rivals^note They generated 0.06 xG across the entire game, their lowest in nearly 400 games. They also fell victim to a hat trick from Eberechi Eze, whom they had attempted to sign in the summer, only for Arsenal to swoop in at the last to steal their signing. The lone goal was a midfield chip over Raya's head from midfield by Richarlison, which was the longest goal in North London Derby history, but it did little to spare Spurs' blushes, after which their fortunes seemingly regressed even further as they slipped further down the table to be only seven points above the relegation fight at the New Year. And following a pretty terrible start to said New Year, Frank was dismissed in early February following a home defeat to Newcastle. He was succeeded for the rest of the season by Igor Tudor, former manager of numerous clubs in Serie A, with a new permanent manager to be appointed in the summer, who immediately got off to a bumpy start by being obliterated by Arsenal (again) and then being taken out by Fulham to lock in the earliest St. Totteringham's Day in English history, and it has caused Spurs to be involved in another relegation battle, as Forest and West Ham closed the gap to just 1 point in early March with 9 matches to play, but Spurs holding a game in hand.

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,^note Rowling was rumored for a long time to support West Ham, due their presence in the Harry Potter series. She later clarified that this was a tribute to a friend, and that she came from a Spurs-supporting family 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

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).

Russell Brand is a passionate fan of the team, having at one point regularly contributed columns on the the team for The Guardian. Early on in his career, his support for West Ham was used in some of his stand-up routines (the joke being that an effete Bourgeois Bohemian like Brand supported a team associated with working-class hooliganism in pop culture).

The team has featured in most Premier League campaigns and generally finishes mid-table with occasional deep cup runs (including one that led to the famous 2006 FA Cup Final against Liverpool. The fact that this final is known as 'the Gerrard Final' probably says all that needs to be said, and likely all Hammers fans want to be said), 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.

They established themselves as a midtable side in the late-10s, even threatening to break into the Europa League places at times, though the best they managed was a stint in the Europa Conference League in 2022/23, which they won behind their captain Declan Rice. Rice would be sold to Arsenal the following season for a blockbuster fee, which they translated into better stability but not success, simply returning to midtable once again, where they have stayed since.

The 2025/26 season has not started well at all, with heavy defeats away at newly promoted Sunderland and at home to Chelsea and Tottenham, resulting in manager Graham Potter being dismissed after just five games and replaced by Nuno Espirito Santo, himself recently fired by Nottingham Forest. His first game in charge saw them take a point against Everton, and become the first away team to score at their opponents' new stadium, only to then lose their subsequent three games; they have since arrested this run with good wins over Newcastle and Burnley though and at the new year, they sit in the drop zone by two points, but they continue to fumble opportunities to climb out of it, though a win against Fulham saw them draw level with Nottingham Forest, just one point behind Spurs, agonizingly close to safety and only behind on goal difference, with 9 matches left to play.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Universally known as "Wolves" in the same way that everyone calls Tottenham Hotspur "Spurs".

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. They ultimately would fall short. 2024/25 saw them regress into being relegation candidates, though they managed to survive on the final day.

2025/26, however, would be more of the same starting out. It took them six matches to notch their first point in the campaign, a match in which they very nearly won it until a late Palhinia goal saved Spurs' bacon. Despite having not moved from 20th place since the start of the season, the club expressed unwavering faith in Pereira's management by extending his contract 3 years. Wolves, no stranger to narrow escapes, seem determined to stay the course, but they have become odds-on favorites for relegation. Following an especially dire performance in a 3-0 loss to Fulham that left them sitting dead last, eight points from safety, Pereira was dismissed. Their new manager, Rob Edwards, joined the team despite having just signed to be the manager of Middlesbrough a mere five months prior, where he had led them to 2nd in the Championship. In what is shaping up to be one of the most unfortunate managerial moves in history, Wolves still haven't won a game by the end of 2025, while Middlesbrough remain promotion favourites without him. For perspective, the previous 'worst team ever' was Derby County in the 2007/08 season, who by the New Year still had 6 points including their first and only win. Wolves had 3 points and no win to their name! However, something changed at the turn of the new year, because Wolves came out with a point to prove, snatching two shock wins and four shock draws in the ensuing weeks (including the first ever 2-0 comeback draw by the bottom-of-the-league side against top-of-the-league side Arsenal in Premier League history, which was followed up by a late win against Liverpool on top of that), but they still remain several points adrift, and the question over their sudden turn of form is simple: "Is it too little, too late?"

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 Wolves would win 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.

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

Guaranteed playoff spot:

Barnsley

Have played at Oakwell in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, 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

Have historically alternated between the top two divisions but are currently in League One, having been relegated from the Championship in 2024.

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, but they bounced right back up the following season.

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

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

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.

Blackpool

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

A Greater Manchester team, 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 and 2024, though they failed to win both times.

Bradford City

West Yorkshire Club infamous for the day when one stand of their old and decrepit Valley Parade stadium burned down during a game in 1985, killing 56 people. The fire – as well as the Hillsborough Disaster a few years later – prompted a revitalization of British stadia safety standards, and by the end of the 1990s, Valley Parade was completely 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

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. The ensuing season went catastrophically wrong for them, seeing them be forced to promote elder star Aarn Ramsey to player-captain, but he was unable to rescue the team's fortunes and they were sent down.

Charlton Athletic

A southeast 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

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, ultimately just missing out on the play-offs this time. But their most memorable moments of that season 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. A poor start to the following season, however, saw manager Mark Robins, who'd been with them since the League Two days, sacked, to a very mixed response from the fanbase; he was succeeded, however, by a very high profile appointment in the form of Frank Lampard, who guided them to a playoff appearance, though they fell short against Sunderland.

Derby County

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 only just missed out on a playoff spot in 2023. They would win promotion on the final day of the following season and returned to the Championship in 2024.

Huddersfield Town

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, this West Yorkshire-based club was the first 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

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.

Ipswich Town

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.

Unfortunately, their return to the top has started off badly, with perhaps the most unforgiving opening games possible: they were taken apart by Liverpool in their first game, utterly decimated by City in their second despite taking an early lead, and have floundered in more games to sit inside the drop zone. A few strong performances, including a surprising 2-0 defeat of Chelsea, have enabled Ipswich to bounce back, and are within a single victory of escaping the relegation zone, despite being stuffed by first Manchester City, then Liverpool, again. Since then, however, escape from the relegation zone has run away from Ipswich Town. Despite generally having the best form of the promoted sides, a losing streak in the Spring derailed their campaign and they were sent packing in late April.

Leicester City

An East Midlands side easily 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 then-recent exhumation and reburial of King Richard III (who had been resting under 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, winning the Championship with one game left to play, only for them to then have their manager, Enzo Maresca, poached by Chelsea. Steve Cooper, formerly of rivals Nottingham Forest, came in during the summer to replace him.

Leicester opened the year by thumbing their noses at Spurs yet again, snatching a late draw off a Jamie Vardy goal (complete with Vardy reminding Tottenham that he's won more Premier Leagues than them), but were defeated by Fulham and Aston Villa shortly thereafter. They snagged a couple of draws, including against fellow bottom-feeder Everton, and very nearly got another one against Arsenal behind a heroic goalkeeping performance, a lucky deflection, and an absolute wondergoal, only to fall just short at the end and sit just above the relegation bubble. Nevertheless, they recovered to notch another win against Bournemouth, then mounted another 2-0 into 2-3 comeback against Southampton to climb well clear of the drop zone. A subsequent run of four league games without a win, however, saw manager Cooper be relieved of his duties; Ruud van Nistelrooy, fresh from a successful caretaker stint in charge of Manchester United, came in to replace him, and immediately guided the team to a massive win to lift them further clear of their relegation rivals. However, a stuffing at the hands of relegation rivals Wolves, followed by other defeats, including a 3-1 loss to Liverpool (which, while largely expected, was dispiriting given that Leicester had gone 1-0 up) knocked them straight back down into the relegation zone. The brief scare of a points deduction that would have almost certainly sealed Leicester's fate thankfully came to nothing, leaving their fate in their own hands for now. Leicester managed to climb out of the relegation zone at the end of January thanks to an upset of Tottenham Hotspur, but promptly dropped back in again after being stuffed by a resurgent Everton, and they remained vulnerable. A string of goalless losses made Leicester relegation favourites and a failure to improve form put them in a must-win situation against a Liverpool side who were a mere two wins away from being Premier League champions; despite fighting for their lives against the champions-elect, they were sent down in the end, completing a historic 9 goalless losing streak in the process, but in a bittersweet ending, in their final home match of the season, they bid farewell to Jamie Vardy in his 500th game for the club, and he capped off his Foxes career with his 200th goal.

Luton Town

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 didn't go 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. Alas, it wasn't enough to save them from relegation, and things in the next season went just as badly as they were promptly kicked down to League One.

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 .

Middlesbrough

One of the "North-East Three" along with Newcastle and Sunderland – though unlike them, they're based in North Yorkshire. 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.

Norwich City

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 had a surprisingly high number of celebrity board members. The majority shareholder from 1996 until 2024 was 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 if Tim Kaine quit politics after the 2016 election to run the Richmond Flying Squirrels with Patton Oswalt and David Chang.

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.

Having spent three seasons in the top flight during the early 2010s (their longest stint since the 90s), they were relegated in 2014, beginning most of a decade impersonating a footballing yo-yo. They returned to the Premier League straightaway for the 2015/16 season, 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 but fell to Leeds United in the semi-final.

Oldham Athletic

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. . They spent three seasons there before getting promoted back to the EFL in 2024/25 after beating Southend United in the play-off final.

Portsmouth

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 - he had the Fan Nickname "Al-Mirage"). 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

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

Established in 1871 which makes it one of the oldest football clubs in England ^note  but not the oldest — for that, see Notts County below 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 United

This South 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.

Sheffield Wednesday

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.

2025 would unfortunately embroil the club in a range of off-pitch issues. The club's owner, Thai businessman Dejphon Chansiri, had long been seen as a hands-off owner responsible for some of the club's financial issues on top of holding an extremely adversarial relationship with the fans^note The consensus is that he was the type of owner who came in and invested heavily in the first year or two, then lost interest in the duties of ownership when those investments didn't immediately result in promotion. Some "highlights" of his tenure include branding the club's kits and stadium with the Chansiri name, setting up multiple shell companies that only seemed to exist to sponsor the club, using the Hillsborough stadium as loan collateral, sacking manager Darren Moore shortly after winning promotion back to the Championship and using a public club statement to suggest that him asking for too much money was the reason, the subsequent press conference announcing his replacement descending into Chansiri ranting against his critics and former players, responding to fan protests by publicly announcing that he would not make any future investments in the club, and failing to pay a tax bill then attempting to have fans crowdfund a £2 million debt payment. All that would come to a head in the 2025 preseason with reports that players were not being paid, resulting in sanctions being placed on the club by the EFL. After months of both fan and player protests and boycotts that also often saw the fans of other clubs join in, the club entered administration. While everybody is happy to see Chansiri gone, the sanctions have left Wednesday with negative points in the league table with relegation being confirmed in late February, after a loss to neighbours Sheffield United of all teams, setting an unfortunate record for the fastest Championship relegation in its history.

Southampton

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. Bitter rivalry with Portsmouth.

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, which they won over Leeds United to achieve promotion.

The new campaign did not go to plan, their return to the Premier League being utterly dismal. The Saints even failed to manage a result against Arsenal at home, who finally broke the Gunners' St. Mary's curse. They spent almost the entirety of the season bolted firmly to the rock bottom of the table, and were early relegation favourites. Despite having led the team to promotion the previous season, patience with new manager Russell Martin began to wear thin after winning just one game in 15, made even worse by deteriorating relationships with the fans and players. A 5-0 thrashing by Tottenham Hotspur, which saw Southampton concede 4 goals in the first 25 minutes of the match, was the final straw and Martin was sacked immediately afterward (as in, just minutes after the final whistle blew). The spur-of-the-moment decision left Simon Rusk, head of the Southampton's Academy, as interim manager while the team scrambled to find a new head coach. Ivan Juric, fresh off a turbulent spell at AS Roma, was tapped as Martin's replacement. Despite some creditable performances against tough teams, the Saints took until February to win a game since squeaking by Everton in November and until beating fellow strugglers Ipswich, had lost every game since Juric took over. Became the first team to be sent packing with seven matches remaining after an utterly pathetic campaign, the earliest any side has been relegated in the Premier League, and one of the earliest in the history of top-flight English football. Predictably, Ivan Juric found himself without a job shortly thereafter, leaving Simon Rusk to once again take over on an interim basis, with club legend and former captain Adam Lallana serving as his assistant. The only thing the duo had left to accomplish is avoiding yet another unwanted record: the worst performance in Premier League history. They finally managed to accomplish this with a draw against, of all teams, Manchester City, which they celebrated by dunking on Derby County on social media, the smallest of consolation prizes in such a dismal season.

Will Still, formerly of Ligue 1 middleweights RC Lens, stepped up to take over as Southampton returned to the Championship, where they rang in their new season with a decisive victory over pop culture giants Wrexham. Results faded after that though, and Still was dismissed in early November with the club perched just above the drop zone.

Stoke City

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.

In the 2010s, Stoke was known as the Premier League's mid-table 'unfashionable' physical side. This was 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 his son, Liam Delap, is now a highly regarded striker at Ipswich Town), 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 Wednesday 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 for several years, 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, 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' (granted he was also absolutely jacked and separately dubbed 'the Power Cube', because, well, he was cube-shaped, but he was still very short). For the next few years, they became the team from mid-table that the big teams worry about.

Stoke did well, 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, winning every trophy available, Hughes was sacked at midseason and Stoke hasn't been a promotion contender since.

Swansea City

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

Hailing from Wiltshire, 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 that 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

Hertfordshire-based 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 by some distance 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, especially given that he 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 to date been twenty-two 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 fans (who are not Elton John or a close relative of Elton John) are probably former England cricketer Steve Finn and 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; Luton fans are invited to insert their own joke here .

West Bromwich Albion

A side from the West Midlands, 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 to a 95th-minute header from their goalkeeper.^note The first goal ever by a Liverpool keeper in a competitive match.

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.

Wigan Athletic

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

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 post-Hillsborough 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 clubs becoming 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

The original Wimbledon FC, this is 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. Despite these gestures of apparent goodwill, they are, bar none, the single most hated football club in all of England. If a football club were Overshadowed by Controversy, this would be it.

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

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. AFCW returned to League One by winning the 2025 promotion playoffs.

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.

Accrington Stanley

• 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

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

Bristol City

One of the oldest southern teams in England, the third team south of Birmingham to join the Football League (behind Arsenal, then at Woolwich, and Luton Town). They were a very successful club in their early days, very quickly gaining entrance into the First Division and even finishing as high as runners-up in the 1906-07 league. This would, unfortunately, be the height of their league success, after which they would sink quickly to the Second Division and remain thereabouts or the Third Division for decades. then they climbed back out ever so briefly in the 70s, only to sink back down even further in the 80s, plunging as far as the Fourth Division for two seasons (and becoming the first team ever to go from First to Fourth in three seasons). Established themselves as a lower-Second Division/Championship and upper-Third Division/League One side in the meantime, making the occasional playoff.

Had a memorable campaign in 2024/25, managing to slip into the playoff, with the potential to qualify for the Premier League for their first-ever time (they just missed out in 2008), and it would have also been their first Top Flight since 1979-80, but they were defeated by Sheffield United.

Burton Albion

Bury

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

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 top level of the Combined Counties League (seven 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

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 (true to their name), 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 itemamong 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

Hereford United / Hereford

^{Click for Hereford badge}

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.

Lincoln City

Established: 1884
Nickname: The Imps^note Inspired by the Lincoln Imp whose likeness also serves as the club's badge.
Kit: Red and white striped shirts, black shorts
Owner: Lincoln City Holdings
Manager: Michael Skubala
Captain: Tendayi Darikwa
Stadium: Sincil Bank ^note Capacity: 10,669
2024/25 Position: 11th in League One
Lower-Tier Trophies: 1931–32, 1947–48 & 1951–52 Third Division/League One champions; 1975–76 & 2018–19 Fourth Division champions; 1987–88 & 2016–17 Fifth Division champions
Other Trophies: 2017–18 EFL Trophy, 1988 Conference Championship Shield

A club based in the county seat of Lincolnshire, and currently its highest-ranked team. Generally a lower-tier team for most of its existence, it teased being a Second Division mainstay in the 1950s before sharply dropping down to the Fourth Division after the end of the decade, with the 1980s offering their only sustained period of time above that. They were ultimately relegated to the non-league in the 2010–11 season.

They would then become best known for their miracle run in the 2016–17 FA Cup, in which they went through League One's Oldham Athletic, the Championship's Ipswich Town, the Championship's league leaders Brighton and Hove Albion, plus the Premier League's Burnley to reach the quarter finals, the first non-league team to achieve that feat in over a century. They ultimately fell 0-5 to eventual FA Cup winners Arsenal, but received a standing ovation after the match for their efforts. After that run, they quickly rose back through the EFL and have been a solid League One side since then.

Has no direct relation to the Lincoln Red Imps, the top domestic team of Gibraltar. Their name came from the fact that the team's initial sponsor lived in Lincoln at the time.

Millwall

Modestly successful South East London 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). Such is Millwall's reputation that the Docklands Light Railway station serving Millwall district was originally planned to be named "Millwall Park", but fears over the name association led it to instead becoming "Mudchute" - All that despite Millwall not even having its grounds in the district since 1910; they instead currently play in Bermondsey across the river. 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"). Also in recent years, Millwall is noteworthy for having had their women's team break away from the club in 2019 to become the independent London City Lionesses. The Lionesses were promoted to the top-flight Women's Super League in 2025, becoming the first and currently only independent team to do so.

Notts County

This Nottingham-based side is 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 Scottish Premiership page.
• 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.
• More 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 Hype Backlash 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

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 second 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

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". This Lancashire-based club's 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". One of their more famous celebrity fans is Preston native Freddie Flintoff, cricket great turned TV presenter.

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

Rotherham United

Salford City

In May 2025, Gary Neville and David Beckham bought out the stakes of the other Class of 92 members, becoming the sole co-owners.

West Auckland Town

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

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, secured a second straight promotion to League One in 2024, and made it three promotions in a row in 2025 with a rise to the Championship.

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 two separate companies, first RR McReynolds Company LLC and later Wrexham Holdings 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). That all being said, because of this exposure and the money and success that come with it, many fans find them to be extremely controversial for similar reasons as Chelsea, Manchester City, etc., in that their financial and footballing success came from rich ownership and publicity rather than the publicity coming from on-the-field achievement.

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 sealed promotion to the Championship in April 2025, becoming the first team to be promoted three consecutive times within England's top five divisions.^note Several English clubs have been promoted three times running in lower leagues.

Wrexham fans consider their main rivals to be Chester (the successor club of Chester City), with whom they contest the Cross-Border Derby (well, not so much now with Wrexham's meteoric rise up the pyramid); 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".