The Top Five Clubs Never to Have Played Premier League Football
Since 1992 the Premier League has hosted 49 different clubs. Former teams like Ipswich, Sunderland, Portsmouth and Oldham have all fallen on tough times through poor performance, bad management, and just pure bad luck.
On the flip side to that there are some good teams that haven't been able to crack the EPL. Let's take a look at the best five teams that haven't been able to make it to the Premier League yet.
Millwall
Millwall have been a historically good side but have somehow never been able to make it into top-flight football. They came closest in 2001/02 when they were narrowly beaten by Birmingham City in the play-off final. They regularly finish up not far off of playoff positions in the Championship but just haven't had that extra bit to get promoted.
Luton Town
Luton might have been unlucky once, but Preston North End have been on multiple occasions. They were founder members of the Football League back in 1888 and have spent 17 of the last 21 years in the second tier. That earned the team play-off appearances four times, losing in the final to Bolton (3-0) in 2001 and West Ham (1-0) in 2005. They were beaten semi-finalists again in 2006 and 2009, but they did win a Wembley play-off to return to the Championship in 2015.
Preston North End
Bristol is the biggest city in England to never have hosted Premier League football but the Robins have come close. In 2008, they were beaten in the play-off final by Hull City, who secured their first-ever Premier League spot in doing so. Since then, a top-six finish has been tough to come by. They placed eighth in 2019 and like Millwall, appear to be stranded in midtable and hoping for a bit of luck to see them achieve promotion.
Bristol City
Bristol is the biggest city in England to never have hosted Premier League football but the Robins have come close. In 2008, they were beaten in the play-off final by Hull City, who secured their first-ever Premier League spot in doing so. Since then, a top-six finish has been tough to come by. They placed eighth in 2019 and like Millwall, appear to be stranded in midtable and hoping for a bit of luck to see them achieve promotion.
Peterborough United
Peterborough United are not one of football’s traditional big sides, and unlike the others on the list, they’ve never come close to the Premier League or the top flight. They were only elected to the Football League in 1960 and haven’t been promoted to the Championship without being relegated straight away since 2012. They were promoted last season but are already struggling, and Premier League football looks to be a distant dream right now.
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All the way from the Land Down Under, I created Wolfgang Sport as I enjoy writing and watching British and American sports. Started in 2017, I started the blog as a way to connect my passion for sports in the US & UK.
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