History of top teams?

[dmonahan]

Has any of the top level teams never left the top league? (Whether it was called Premier, 1st, or whatever). Soccer 365 has stats back to '97. In that period, only Arsenal, Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Newcastle, Spurs, Southampton and Everton have always been in the top tier.

Is there a web site that has the histories of all the teams?

Dick.

[Mel B]

Has any of the top level teams never left the top league? (Whether it was called Premier, 1st, or whatever). Soccer 365 has stats back to '97. In that period, only Arsenal, Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Newcastle, Spurs, Southampton and Everton have always been in the top tier.

Is there a web site that has the histories of all the teams?

Dick.


Get a book man. Theres loads kicking about mate.

[musicl]

I think every single team has left the top division at some point. But maybe Aston Villa are the only team never to.

[Villa]

if you go onto Villas website

http://www.avfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Honours/0,,10265,00.html

you will see they have been second and third division champions during 1930's, 50's and 70's, so they must have been out of the top flight a few times, its a shame, would have been a proud record the club could have boasted about.

Newcastle never graced the Premiership until the 93/94 season, as for the rest..... i dunno, ill have to do some research

[comme]

I'm pretty sure that Arsenal are the team that has been the longest in the top flight (since 1919) although they bought their way in to their eternal shame.

Everton hold the record for the most total years in the top flight.

Check these stats out

http://www.rsssf.com/tablese/engall.html

The RSSSF is a goldmine of information.

[kerpow]

Better still is :

http://www.the-english-football-archive.com/contents.htm

All the stats you could ask for.

As someone else said, Arsenal have never left the top flight (since promotion in 1916) but my team has accumulated the highest total no. of seasons.

[LeeS]

Here is a list of teams to have appeared in all 4 divisions of FA football:
Barnsley
Blackpool
Bolton Wanderers
Bradford
Bradford City
Brentford
Brighton and Hove Albion
Bristol City
Burnley
Bury
Cardiff City
Carlisle United
Coventry City
Crystal Palace
Fulham
Grimsby Town
Huddersfield Town
Leyton Orient
Luton Town
Millwall
Milton Keynes Dons
Northampton Town
Notts County
Oldham Athletic
Oxford United
Portsmouth
Preston North End
Sheffield United
Swansea City
Swindon Town
Watford
Wolverhampton Wanderers

Phew!! It seemed shorter upon my initial glancing at the page!!

Lee

[Peakite]

In terms of divisions Coventry would hold the record for the number they've been in as professionals. Prior to the advent of the Premiership managed 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and both division 3 north and south. Plus the Premiership/Championship if you want to count those separately.

[Milos]

In terms of divisions Coventry would hold the record for the number they've been in as professionals. Prior to the advent of the Premiership managed 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and both division 3 north and south. Plus the Premiership/Championship if you want to count those separately.

Yep that is correct, we have been in all the divisions. Don;t be too jealous.

[JCOldboy]

I think every single team has left the top division at some point. But maybe Aston Villa are the only team never to.

Close, but Villa did get bumped back in 87, then the came right back up to the top flight

[Scouse]

Everton have only been relegated twice and have only spent a total of 4 seasons outside the top flight.

both are records.

[Peakite]

Everton have only been relegated twice and have only spent a total of 4 seasons outside the top flight.

both are records.
The total number of seasons in the top flight is certainly Everton's record. Only having two relegations isn't going to be though. Arsenal with the one since joining the League.

[RichardL]

As someone else said, Arsenal have never left the top flight (since promotion in 1916) but my team has accumulated the highest total no. of seasons.
Arsenal are the only team to have been promoted without doing anything to earn promotion. They went up after WWI, but had only been 5th in the last season before the war. Div 1 expanded to 22 clubs. 2nd from bottom Chelsea were spared, but rather than also sparing last place Spurs, or promoting 3rd (in Div 2) placed Barnsley, they just picked Arsenal instead.

[RichardL]

The total number of seasons in the top flight is certainly Everton's record. Only having two relegations isn't going to be though. Arsenal with the one since joining the League.
Still one more than Wigan. OK, they've only been in the league since the late 1970s, but still impressive.

Reading once went 50 years without getting promoted, then went straight back down when they did.

[Celtic3]

I think every single team has left the top division at some point. But maybe Aston Villa are the only team never to.

The only team to play all it's games in the top flight since inception is Arsenal.....mind you they were lucky because they were due to go down when WW1 broke out and the league was suspended...........

[dmonahan]

The only team to play all it's games in the top flight since inception is Arsenal.....mind you they were lucky because they were due to go down when WW1 broke out and the league was suspended...........

I don't understand this. According to the "English Clubs Divisional Movements 1888-2005" on rsssf.com, Arsenal's history is:

Arsenal (1893) (Woolwich Arsenal to 1914)
101 I 88 [79*] 1904-13, 1919-
II 13 [11] 1893-1904, 1913-15

That looks like they were down twice.

Dick.

[Mel B]

I don't understand this. According to the "English Clubs Divisional Movements 1888-2005" on rsssf.com, Arsenal's history is:

Arsenal (1893) (Woolwich Arsenal to 1914)
101 I 88 [79*] 1904-13, 1919-
II 13 [11] 1893-1904, 1913-15

That looks like they were down twice.

Dick.


Nob.

Ps. He thinks he can talk a good game of football but really he cant sunbeam.

[Peakite]

Sorry Richard. The 92/93 2nd division table:

1. STOKE CITY 46 17 4 2 41 13 10 8 5 32 21 93
2. BOLTON WANDERERS 46 18 2 3 48 14 9 7 7 32 27 90
3. Port Vale 46 14 7 2 44 17 12 4 7 35 27 89
4. WEST BROMWICH ALBION 46 17 3 3 56 22 8 7 8 32 32 85
5. Swansea City 46 12 7 4 38 17 8 6 9 27 30 73
6. Stockport County 46 11 11 1 47 18 8 4 11 34 39 72
7. Leyton Orient 46 16 4 3 49 20 5 5 13 20 33 72
8. Reading 46 14 4 5 44 20 4 11 8 22 31 69
9. Brighton & Hove Albion 46 13 4 6 36 24 7 5 11 27 35 69
10. Bradford City 46 12 5 6 36 24 6 9 8 33 43 68
11. Rotherham United 46 9 7 7 30 27 8 7 8 30 33 65
12. Fulham 46 9 9 5 28 22 7 8 8 29 33 65
13. Burnley 46 11 8 4 38 21 4 8 11 19 38 61
14. Plymouth Argyle 46 11 6 6 38 28 5 6 12 21 36 60
15. Huddersfield Town 46 10 6 7 30 22 7 3 13 24 39 60
16. Hartlepool United 46 8 6 9 19 23 6 6 11 23 37 54
17. Bournemouth 46 7 10 6 28 24 5 7 11 17 28 53
18. Blackpool 46 9 9 5 40 30 3 6 14 23 45 51
19. Exeter City 46 5 8 10 26 30 6 9 8 28 39 50
20. Hull City 46 9 5 9 28 26 4 6 13 18 43 50
21. PRESTON NORTH END 46 8 5 10 41 47 5 3 15 24 47 47
22. MANSFIELD TOWN 46 7 8 8 34 34 4 3 16 18 46 44
23. WIGAN ATHLETIC 46 6 6 11 26 34 4 5 14 17 38 41
24. CHESTER CITY 46 6 2 15 30 47 2 3 18 19 55 29


And Celtic3, Arsenal's relegation season has been mentioned before, 1st division 12/13:


1. SUNDERLAND 38 14 2 3 47 17 11 2 6 39 26 54
2. Aston Villa 38 13 4 2 57 21 6 8 5 29 31 50
3. Sheffield Wednesday 38 12 4 3 44 23 9 3 7 31 32 49
4. Manchester United 38 13 3 3 41 14 6 5 8 28 29 46
5. Blackburn Rovers 38 10 5 4 54 21 6 8 5 25 22 45
6. Manchester City 38 12 3 4 34 15 6 5 8 19 22 44
7. Derby County 38 10 2 7 40 29 7 6 6 29 37 42
8. Bolton Wanderers 38 10 6 3 36 20 6 4 9 26 43 42
9. Oldham Athletic 38 11 7 1 33 12 3 7 9 17 43 42
10. West Bromwich Albion 38 8 7 4 30 20 5 5 9 27 30 38
11. Everton 38 8 2 9 28 31 7 5 7 20 23 37
12. Liverpool 38 12 2 5 40 24 4 3 12 21 47 37
13. Bradford City 38 10 5 4 33 22 2 6 11 17 38 35
14. Newcastle United 38 8 5 6 30 23 5 3 11 17 24 34
15. Sheffield United 38 10 5 4 36 24 4 1 14 20 46 34
16. Middlesbrough 38 6 9 4 29 22 5 1 13 26 47 32
17. Tottenham Hotspur 38 9 3 7 28 25 3 3 13 17 47 30
18. Chelsea 38 7 2 10 29 40 4 4 11 22 33 28
19. NOTTS COUNTY 38 6 4 9 19 20 1 5 13 9 36 23
20. ARSENAL 38 1 8 10 11 31 2 4 13 15 43 18


And as dmonahan points out, they weren't in the top flight from its inception. Took the best part of two decades to get there (the Football League was founded with Villa the southernmost team). Although that does work out at only one relegation season.

Tables from RSSSF, relegations from FCHD (which makes Wigan's relegation above their only one, even in their non-league days.

[keller]

In terms of divisions Coventry would hold the record for the number they've been in as professionals. Prior to the advent of the Premiership managed 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and both division 3 north and south. Plus the Premiership/Championship if you want to count those separately.

Coventry must also hold the record for the amount of times they managed to escape relegation from the top flight in the last couple of weeks of the season!!

Can remember in '85 they were playing Everton last game of the season who were already champions, we needed Everton to get something for us to stay up (Norwich). Well we all thought that Everton would win, only for Coventry to win 5-1, yes 5-1!!!, sending us down (the bad memories are flooding back lol) with about 25 points more than the bottom team. Still, we came back up as champions the next year!!!!

[comme]

Arsenal are the only team to have been promoted without doing anything to earn promotion. They went up after WWI, but had only been 5th in the last season before the war. Div 1 expanded to 22 clubs. 2nd from bottom Chelsea were spared, but rather than also sparing last place Spurs, or promoting 3rd (in Div 2) placed Barnsley, they just picked Arsenal instead.

There have always been major suspicions over this. Many people still claim that Arsenal bought their way in at the expense of Spurs and this, coupled with moving in to Spurs' area has always been a major issue between the two clubs.