25 Clubs With Most Seasons In English Top Flight Football
10. Sunderland
Total Seasons – 86
Current League – League One
Sunderland was formed in 1879 and joined The Football League for the 1890–91 season. They have won the first division title six times, a total only bettered by five other clubs. They have also won the FA Cup twice.
Sunderland play their home games at the 49,000-capacity all-seater Stadium of Light having moved from Roker Park in 1997. They have a huge rivalry with nearby club Newcastle United, with whom they have contested the Tyne-Wear derby since 1898.
9. Tottenham Hotspur
Total Seasons – 86
Current League – Premier League
The club was founded in 1892 as Hotspur FC. In 1884 the club was renamed “Tottenham Hotspur Football Club” to avoid confusion with another London club named Hotspur. Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has been the club’s home ground since April 2019, replacing their former home of White Hart Lane, which had been demolished to make way for the new stadium on the same site.
Spurs have won two league titles, eight FA Cups, four League Cups, seven FA Community Shields, one European Cup Winners’ Cup and two UEFA Cups. Tottenham were also the runners-up in the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League. They have a long-standing rivalry with nearby club Arsenal, with whom they contest the North London derby.
8. Chelsea
Total Seasons – 86
Current League – Premier League
Chelsea are among England’s most successful clubs, having won over thirty competitive honours, including six league titles and six European trophies. The club was founded in 1905 and play at Stamford Bridge.
They have won six first division league titles; five of which are Premier League titles. They have also won the FA Cup eight times. Chelsea are one of five clubs to have won all three of UEFA’s main club competitions, the first English club to achieve the UEFA treble, and the only London club to have won the Champions League.
7. Newcastle United
Total Seasons – 89
Current League – Premier League
Newcastle United was formed in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End. The club has been a member of the Premier League for all but three years of the competition’s history, spending 89 seasons in the top flight. They have never dropped below English football’s second tier since joining the Football League in 1893.
Newcastle have won 4 League titles, 6 FA Cups and a Charity Shield, as well as the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and the 2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup, the ninth highest total of trophies won by an English club. They have a long-standing rivalry with nearby club Sunderland, with whom they have contested the Tyne-Wear derby.
6. Manchester City
Total Seasons – 92
Current League – Premier League
Manchester City were founded in 1880 as St. Mark’s (West Gorton). They later became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894. The club’s home ground is the Etihad Stadium in east Manchester, to which it moved in 2003, having played at Maine Road since 1923. Before Maine Road, they used to play at Hyde Road.
Under the management of Pep Guardiola, they won the Premier League in 2018 becoming the only Premier League team to attain 100 points in a single season. The club has won the League titles six times, FA Cup six times, League titles seven times and European Cup Winners Cup.
5. Manchester United
Total Seasons – 96
Current League – Premier League
The club was founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, changed its name to Manchester United in 1902. They play at Old Trafford, which has been their home ground since 1910. Manchester United is one of the most widely supported football clubs in the world, and has rivalries with Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal and Leeds United.
Manchester United have won more trophies than any other club in English football, with a record 20 League titles, 12 FA Cups, five League Cups, three European Cups/UEFA Champions Leagues, one UEFA Europa League among a host of other trophies.