Posts about EFL National League
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Blackburn Rovers vs. Luton Town
Bristol City vs. Preston North End
Coventry City vs. Middlesbrough
Reading vs. Queens Park Rangers
Sheffield United vs. Peterborough United
Stoke City vs. Huddersfield Town
West Bromwich Albion vs. Millwall
Cambridge United vs. Lincoln City
Charlton Athletic vs. Cheltenham Town
Ipswich Town vs. Bolton Wanderers
Milton Keynes Dons vs. Portsmouth
Oxford United vs. Wycombe Wanderers
Plymouth Argyle vs. Sheffield Wednesday
Rotherham United vs. Fleetwood Town
Shrewsbury Town vs. Crewe Alexandra
Sunderland vs. Accrington Stanley
Wigan Athletic vs. Doncaster Rovers
Crawley Town vs. Carlisle United
Forest Green Rovers vs. Northampton Town
Hartlepool United vs. Bristol Rovers
Leyton Orient vs. Oldham Athletic
Salford City vs. Bradford City
Scunthorpe United vs. Exeter City
Aldershot Town vs. Solihull Moors
Dover Athletic vs. Chesterfield
FC Halifax Town vs. Southend United
Stockport County vs. Yeovil Town
FT: Cheltenham Town 1-1 Milton Keynes Dons
FT: Accrington Stanley 1-0 Shrewsbury Town
FT: AFC Wimbledon 3-1 Oxford United
FT: Tranmere Rovers 1-0 Hartlepool United
FT: Stevenage 1-1 Swindon Town
FT: Oldham Athletic 0-3 Barrow
FT: Northampton Town 2-0 Scunthorpe United
FT: Newport County 2-2 Leyton Orient
FT: Mansfield Town 1-3 Harrogate Town
FT: Exeter City 0-0 Forest Green Rovers
FT: Carlisle United 2-1 Salford City
FT: Bristol Rovers 1-0 Crawley Town
FT: Southend United 2-2 Wrexham
FT: Solihull Moors 3-4 Weymouth
FT: Notts County 3-2 Aldershot Town
FT: Maidenhead United 3-4 Torquay United
FT: Eastleigh 3-3 King's Lynn Town
FT: Dagenham & Redbridge 2-2 Wealdstone
FT: Boreham Wood 0-0 Stockport County
HT: Cheltenham Town 1-0 Milton Keynes Dons
HT: Accrington Stanley 1-0 Shrewsbury Town
HT: AFC Wimbledon 0-1 Oxford United
HT: Tranmere Rovers 0-0 Hartlepool United
HT: Stevenage 0-0 Swindon Town
HT: Oldham Athletic 0-1 Barrow
HT: Northampton Town 0-0 Scunthorpe United
HT: Newport County 1-1 Leyton Orient
HT: Mansfield Town 1-2 Harrogate Town
HT: Exeter City 0-0 Forest Green Rovers
HT: Carlisle United 1-1 Salford City
HT: Bristol Rovers 0-0 Crawley Town
HT: Southend United 1-0 Wrexham
HT: Solihull Moors 1-3 Weymouth
HT: Notts County 1-1 Aldershot Town
HT: Maidenhead United 0-4 Torquay United
HT: Eastleigh 2-0 King's Lynn Town
HT: Dagenham & Redbridge 1-1 Wealdstone
HT: Boreham Wood 0-0 Stockport County
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Right, so I am now three years into maintaining an all time league table for the entirety of the English Football League - covering all four main divisions over every single league season - since the very first in 1888/89 right up until the present day. You can find my previous three posts on this project here if you want a trip down memory lane: 2019, 2020, 2021
Just like all previous instalments, I devised a scaling system whereby all points won in League 2 (or old Division Four) remain as they are, any points won in League 1 (old Division Three) are multiplied by 1.3, any points won in the Championship (old Division Two) are multiplied by 1.7, and any points won in the Premier League (old Division One) are multiplied by 2. Any points won in the National League or lower have been ignored. Also sticking around is the Points Per Season value (PPS), which I've used to indicate how efficient teams have been at earning their points over their respective histories.
I go into a lot more detail about why I chose this specific methodology in the original 2019 edition, so please check that out if you're confused as to why I've picked it. Admittedly its not perfect by any means, but I've come this far already, and I'm not too excited about the prospect of completely starting from scratch. However, I have made some additions to the process, but more on that later.
All league status is correct as to the end of the 2021-22 season (ie, Burnley, Watford, and Norwich are listed as Championship, Fulham and Bournemouth are Premier League etc). Clubs that are still in the play offs and therefore have their league status still yet to be decided are listed as such.
So, with all that out of the way, here's the updated English Football League table, from the start of the 1888-89 season to the end of 2021-22.
Club | Current Status | Total Seasons | PPS | Points | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Liverpool | Premier League | 118 | 131.9 | 15561 |
2 | Manchester United | Premier League | 119 | 130.0 | 15468 |
3 | Arsenal | Premier League | 118 | 124.2 | 14655 |
4 | Everton | Premier League | 123 | 114.3 | 14055 |
5 | Manchester City | Premier League | 119 | 117.2 | 13949 |
6 | Aston Villa | Premier League | 123 | 111.9 | 13766 |
7 | Sunderland | Championship | 121 | 108.4 | 13116 |
8 | Newcastle United | Premier League | 118 | 109.9 | 12971 |
9 | West Bromwich Albion | Championship | 123 | 104.9 | 12905 |
10 | Nottingham Forest | Championship (Play Offs) | 119 | 108.0 | 12848 |
11 | Blackburn Rovers | Championship | 123 | 103.9 | 12785 |
12 | Chelsea | Premier League | 106 | 120.5 | 12778 |
13 | Derby County | League One | 123 | 103.3 | 12709 |
14 | Sheffield United | Championship | 119 | 106.6 | 12690 |
15 | Sheffield Wednesday | League One | 119 | 104.2 | 12398 |
16 | Tottenham Hotspur | Premier League | 111 | 111.4 | 12362 |
17 | Bolton Wanderers | League One | 123 | 100.0 | 12298 |
18 | Preston North End | Championship | 123 | 99.6 | 12246 |
19 | Burnley | Championship | 123 | 99.3 | 12217 |
20 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Premier League | 123 | 97.8 | 12029 |
21 | Leicester City | Premier League | 117 | 102.8 | 12028 |
22 | Birmingham City | Championship | 119 | 101.0 | 12021 |
23 | Middlesbrough | Championship | 112 | 104.6 | 11718 |
24 | Stoke City | Championship | 113 | 100.0 | 11302 |
25 | Leeds United | Premier League | 95 | 115.3 | 10951 |
26 | Blackpool | Championship | 114 | 91.7 | 10449 |
27 | West Ham United | Premier League | 96 | 106.5 | 10227 |
28 | Bristol City | Championship | 100 | 101.9 | 10193 |
29 | Huddersfield Town | Championship (Play Offs) | 101 | 100.2 | 10125 |
30 | Notts County | National League (Play Offs) | 120 | 83.6 | 10027 |
31 | Fulham | Premier League | 104 | 94.9 | 9866 |
32 | Barnsley | League One | 113 | 87.3 | 9862 |
33 | Southampton | Premier League | 95 | 101.1 | 9606 |
34 | Bury | Defunct | 116 | 82.7 | 9597 |
35 | Grimsby Town | National League (Play Offs) | 111 | 84.0 | 9327 |
36 | Portsmouth | League One | 95 | 96.8 | 9200 |
37 | Norwich City | Championship | 96 | 94.8 | 9101 |
38 | Queens Park Rangers | Championship | 95 | 95.6 | 9082 |
39 | Charlton Athletic | League One | 94 | 95.9 | 9015 |
40 | Oldham Athletic | National League | 104 | 86.0 | 8946 |
41 | Cardiff City | Championship | 95 | 93.9 | 8922 |
42 | Millwall | Championship | 95 | 93.3 | 8859 |
43 | Hull City | Championship | 106 | 83.4 | 8845 |
44 | Coventry City | Championship | 96 | 91.6 | 8794 |
45 | Bradford City | League Two | 108 | 81.1 | 8754 |
46 | Crystal Palace | Premier League | 106 | 80.7 | 8549 |
47 | Watford | Championship | 95 | 89.5 | 8502 |
48 | Luton Town | Championship | 93 | 90.6 | 8423 |
49 | Reading | Championship | 95 | 88.1 | 8365 |
50 | Ipswich Town | League One | 77 | 108.2 | 8332 |
51 | Brighton and Hove Albion | Premier League | 95 | 87.4 | 8307 |
52 | Port Vale | League Two (Play Offs) | 106 | 78.2 | 8294 |
53 | Brentford | Premier League | 95 | 86.5 | 8216 |
54 | Plymouth Argyle | League One | 95 | 86.5 | 8213 |
55 | Lincoln City | League One | 109 | 73.3 | 7992 |
56 | Leyton Orient | League Two | 104 | 76.1 | 7915 |
57 | Swindon Town | League Two | 95 | 81.8 | 7774 |
58 | Chesterfield | National League (Play Offs) | 100 | 77.4 | 7739 |
59 | Bristol Rovers | League Two | 94 | 80.2 | 7536 |
60 | Walsall | League Two | 94 | 79.8 | 7503 |
61 | Stockport County | League Two | 99 | 74.5 | 7378 |
62 | Rotherham United | Championship | 90 | 81.6 | 7343 |
63 | Swansea City | Championship | 95 | 77.0 | 7312 |
64 | Northampton Town | League Two | 95 | 74.9 | 7111 |
65 | Southend United | National League | 94 | 75.1 | 7062 |
66 | AFC Bournemouth | Premier League | 91 | 77.1 | 7016 |
67 | Gillingham | League Two | 88 | 75.8 | 6668 |
68 | Doncaster Rovers | League Two | 90 | 72.9 | 6557 |
69 | Crewe Alexandra | League Two | 98 | 66.6 | 6525 |
70 | Carlisle United | League Two | 86 | 73.8 | 6351 |
71 | Rochdale | League Two | 94 | 64.7 | 6079 |
72 | Tranmere Rovers | League Two | 91 | 66.2 | 6023 |
73 | Wrexham | National League (Play Offs) | 80 | 74.5 | 5956 |
74 | Exeter City | League One | 90 | 66.0 | 5937 |
75 | Hartlepool United | League Two | 90 | 63.2 | 5692 |
76 | Mansfield Town | League Two (Play Offs) | 79 | 70.5 | 5572 |
77 | Shrewsbury Town | League One | 71 | 74.9 | 5315 |
78 | Scunthorpe United | National League | 72 | 71.9 | 5178 |
79 | Darlington | National League North | 81 | 63.8 | 5166 |
80 | Torquay United | National League | 78 | 65.1 | 5074 |
81 | Colchester United | League Two | 70 | 71.8 | 5026 |
82 | York City | National League North (Play Offs) | 72 | 67.8 | 4883 |
83 | Peterborough United | League One | 62 | 76.9 | 4770 |
84 | Oxford United | League One | 56 | 81.1 | 4543 |
85 | Halifax Town | Defunct | 69 | 63.5 | 4383 |
86 | Bradford Park Avenue | National League North | 51 | 85.2 | 4345 |
87 | Newport County | League Two | 70 | 54.8 | 3839 |
88 | Wigan Athletic | Championship | 44 | 86.0 | 3782 |
89 | Chester City | Defunct | 66 | 54.2 | 3578 |
90 | Aldershot | Defunct | 52 | 64.5 | 3356 |
91 | Accrington Stanley | League One | 49 | 68.4 | 3353 |
92 | Southport | National League North | 50 | 65.7 | 3285 |
93 | Cambridge United | League One | 43 | 71.0 | 3055 |
94 | Barrow | League Two | 44 | 64.6 | 2841 |
95 | Wimbledon | Defunct | 27 | 97.6 | 2635 |
96 | Wycombe Wanderers | League One | 29 | 72.5 | 2103 |
97 | Hereford United | Defunct | 31 | 59.6 | 1847 |
98 | Workington | Northern Premier League Division One West | 26 | 60.7 | 1577 |
99 | Milton Keynes Dons | League One | 18 | 83.9 | 1511 |
100 | Cheltenham Town | League One | 22 | 62.6 | 1377 |
101 | New Brighton | Defunct | 22 | 61.9 | 1362 |
102 | Gateshead | Defunct | 24 | 56.1 | 1347 |
103 | Glossop North End | Northern Premier League Division One West | 17 | 72.9 | 1240 |
104 | Barnet | National League | 21 | 56.8 | 1192 |
105 | Yeovil Town | National League | 16 | 67.6 | 1082 |
106 | Gainsborough Trinity | Northern Premier League Premier Division | 16 | 67.3 | 1076 |
107 | Burton Albion | League One | 13 | 74.0 | 962 |
108 | Macclesfield Town | Defunct | 18 | 51.2 | 922 |
109 | Leeds City | Defunct | 10 | 84.4 | 844 |
110 | Morecambe | League One | 15 | 56.0 | 840 |
111 | Fleetwood Town | League One | 10 | 75.1 | 751 |
112 | Stevenage | League Two | 12 | 60.8 | 729 |
113 | Crawley Town | League Two | 11 | 63.7 | 701 |
114 | Wigan Borough | Defunct | 10 | 68.7 | 687 |
115 | Scarborough | Defunct | 12 | 57.3 | 687 |
116 | Nelson | North West Counties League Division One North | 10 | 68.2 | 682 |
117 | AFC Wimbledon | League Two | 11 | 60.0 | 660 |
118 | Merthyr Town | Southern League Division One South | 10 | 58.6 | 586 |
119 | Burton Swifts | Defunct | 9 | 57.6 | 518 |
120 | Ashington | Northern League Division One | 8 | 64.6 | 517 |
121 | Dagenham & Redbridge | National League | 9 | 56.0 | 504 |
122 | Rotherham County | Defunct | 6 | 77.7 | 466 |
123 | Durham City | Wearside Football League | 7 | 63.1 | 442 |
124 | Darwen | Defunct | 8 | 51.6 | 413 |
125 | Burton United | Defunct | 6 | 61.2 | 367 |
126 | Forest Green Rovers | League One | 5 | 65.4 | 327 |
127 | Rushden & Diamonds | Defunct | 5 | 62.2 | 311 |
128 | Aldershot Town | National League | 5 | 60.2 | 301 |
129 | New Brighton Tower | Defunct | 3 | 95.0 | 285 |
130 | Aberdare Athletic | Defunct | 6 | 46.5 | 279 |
131 | Accrington | Defunct | 5 | 55.2 | 276 |
132 | Kidderminster Harriers | National League North | 5 | 55.0 | 275 |
133 | Boston United | National League North (Play Offs) | 5 | 53.6 | 268 |
134 | Burton Wanderers | Defunct | 3 | 78.7 | 236 |
135 | Loughborough | Defunct | 5 | 41.4 | 207 |
136 | Salford City | League Two | 3 | 63.7 | 191 |
137 | Maidstone United | Defunct | 3 | 55.3 | 166 |
138 | Stalybridge Celtic | Northern Premier League Premier Division | 2 | 71.5 | 143 |
139 | Rotherham Town | Defunct | 3 | 45.3 | 136 |
140 | Harrogate Town | League Two | 2 | 55.0 | 110 |
141 | Thames | Defunct | 2 | 50.0 | 100 |
142 | Sutton United | League Two | 1 | 76.0 | 76 |
143 | Northwich Victoria | North West Counties League Premier Division | 2 | 34.5 | 69 |
144 | Middlesbrough Ironopolis | Defunct | 1 | 47.0 | 47 |
145 | Bootle | Defunct | 1 | 45.0 | 45​ |
2022 Observations
Liverpool have opened up a 93 point lead over Manchester United - the largest this gap has been since they took the top spot in 2020.
Should both clubs have similar seasons next year, Manchester City will overtake Everton and become the 4th most successful Football League club.
After spending 117 seasons together in league football, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester City are now separated by just one point. No other still functioning clubs are this finely separated.
Huddersfield Town are now the 30th team in history to make it above 10000 points after leapfrogging National League playoff contenders Notts County.
Unsurprisingly given their fantastic season, Forest Green Rovers are the year's highest climbers, jumping a whopping 7 places into 126th. This is mostly because they were sat in a rich vein of defunct and non league clubs, but still impressive nonetheless.
FC Halifax Town or Solihull Moors could potentially become the 146th team to play in the Football League, should one of them win the National League playoffs. If both are unsuccessful, 2022 will be the first year without at least one new Football League club since 2018.
Durham City appear to be the former Football League club that have fallen the farthest, without going bust. This season they were relegated to the Wearside League, sitting at level 12 of the English football pyramid.
But wait, there's more!
Given the somewhat un-scientific nature of my multiplication figures for each division, in previous editions of this post I've had people suggest a different way of generating the table: average finishing position. Rather than multiply a team's points by division, how about assigning a number from 1 to 92 for each club based on where they finish at the end of the season (1 to 20 for Premier League, 21 to 44 for Championship, etc). Do this for every season of league football for each club, add these together and then divide by the number of seasons. In theory, this sounded great, until I ran into the issue of clubs like the original Accrington, who only played 5 Football League seasons in the late 1800s and went bust when it only had 1 division - meaning their average finishing position was higher than a lot of top tier mainstays.
To counter this, I decided to only focus on the current 92 Football League clubs, and rank them based on this process described above. This was relatively straightforward, the only small issue being to remember the number of teams in each division at a certain point (for example the top division alone has changed between 12, 14, 16, 20, 21, and 22 teams over its 123 year history). With that completed though, here is the historical average finishing position of the 92 Football League clubs that partook in the 2021/22 season:
Club | Current Status | Total Seasons | Total Pos | Average | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Liverpool | Premier League | 118 | 938 | 7.9 |
2 | Arsenal | Premier League | 118 | 1008 | 8.5 |
3 | Everton | Premier League | 123 | 1201 | 9.8 |
4 | Manchester United | Premier League | 119 | 1192 | 10.0 |
5 | Tottenham Hotspur | Premier League | 111 | 1189 | 10.7 |
6 | Aston Villa | Premier League | 123 | 1457 | 11.8 |
7 | Chelsea | Premier League | 106 | 1369 | 12.9 |
8 | Manchester City | Premier League | 119 | 1594 | 13.4 |
9 | Newcastle United | Premier League | 118 | 1672 | 14.2 |
10 | Sunderland | Championship | 121 | 2038 | 16.8 |
11 | West Bromwich Albion | Championship | 123 | 2210 | 18.0 |
12 | West Ham United | Premier League | 96 | 1776 | 18.5 |
13 | Leeds United | Premier League | 95 | 1850 | 19.5 |
14 | Blackburn Rovers | Championship | 123 | 2460 | 20.0 |
15 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Premier League | 123 | 2530 | 20.6 |
16 | Derby County | League One | 123 | 2567 | 20.9 |
17 | Middlesbrough | Championship | 112 | 2369 | 21.2 |
18 | Sheffield Wednesday | League One | 119 | 2615 | 22.0 |
19 | Leicester City | Premier League | 117 | 2589 | 22.1 |
20 | Sheffield United | Championship | 119 | 2655 | 22.3 |
21 | Bolton Wanderers | League One | 123 | 2791 | 22.7 |
22 | Nottingham Forest | Championship (Play Offs) | 119 | 2744 | 23.1 |
23 | Birmingham City | Championship | 119 | 2771 | 23.3 |
24 | Stoke City | Championship | 113 | 2650 | 23.5 |
25 | Southampton | Premier League | 95 | 2391 | 25.2 |
26 | Burnley | Championship | 123 | 3236 | 26.3 |
27 | Ipswich Town | League One | 77 | 2131 | 27.7 |
28 | Preston North End | Championship | 123 | 3701 | 30.1 |
29 | Portsmouth | League One | 95 | 3119 | 32.8 |
30 | Charlton Athletic | League One | 94 | 3090 | 32.9 |
31 | Fulham | Premier League | 104 | 3445 | 33.1 |
33 | Huddersfield Town | Championship (Play Offs) | 101 | 3362 | 33.3 |
32 | Norwich City | Championship | 96 | 3209 | 33.4 |
34 | Crystal Palace | Premier League | 106 | 3541 | 33.4 |
35 | Coventry City | Championship | 96 | 3319 | 34.6 |
36 | Blackpool | Championship | 114 | 4150 | 36.4 |
37 | Queens Park Rangers | Championship | 96 | 3507 | 36.5 |
38 | Cardiff City | Championship | 95 | 3717 | 39.1 |
39 | Luton Town | Championship | 93 | 3796 | 40.8 |
40 | Hull City | Championship | 106 | 4515 | 42.6 |
41 | Barnsley | League One | 113 | 4813 | 42.6 |
42 | Watford | Championship | 95 | 4087 | 43.0 |
43 | Millwall | Championship | 95 | 4194 | 44.1 |
44 | Bristol City | Championship | 100 | 4461 | 44.6 |
45 | Oldham Athletic | National League | 104 | 4831 | 46.5 |
46 | Brighton and Hove Albion | Premier League | 95 | 4459 | 46.9 |
47 | Swansea City | Championship | 95 | 4470 | 47.1 |
48 | Lincoln City | League One | 109 | 5158 | 47.3 |
49 | Wigan Athletic | Championship | 44 | 2112 | 48.0 |
50 | Reading | Championship | 95 | 4567 | 48.1 |
51 | Plymouth Argyle | League One | 95 | 4691 | 49.4 |
53 | Bradford City | League Two | 108 | 5515 | 51.1 |
52 | Brentford | Premier League | 95 | 4863 | 51.2 |
54 | Oxford United | League One | 56 | 2990 | 53.4 |
55 | Leyton Orient | League Two | 104 | 5562 | 53.5 |
56 | Swindon Town | League Two | 95 | 5116 | 53.9 |
57 | Port Vale | League Two (Play Offs) | 106 | 5733 | 54.1 |
58 | Rotherham United | Championship | 90 | 4902 | 54.5 |
59 | AFC Bournemouth | Premier League | 91 | 5001 | 55.0 |
60 | Bristol Rovers | League One | 94 | 5226 | 55.6 |
61 | Milton Keynes Dons | League One | 18 | 1028 | 57.1 |
62 | Tranmere Rovers | League Two | 91 | 5352 | 58.8 |
63 | Fleetwood Town | League One | 10 | 604 | 60.4 |
64 | Walsall | League Two | 94 | 5689 | 60.5 |
65 | Doncaster Rovers | League Two | 90 | 5455 | 60.6 |
66 | Shrewsbury Town | League One | 71 | 4326 | 60.9 |
67 | Carlisle United | League Two | 86 | 5273 | 61.3 |
68 | Forest Green Rovers | League One | 5 | 309 | 61.8 |
69 | Peterborough United | League One | 62 | 3889 | 62.7 |
70 | Gillingham | League Two | 88 | 5529 | 62.8 |
71 | Burton Albion | League One | 13 | 826 | 63.5 |
72 | Accrington Stanley | League One | 49 | 3160 | 64.5 |
73 | Crewe Alexandra | League Two | 98 | 6335 | 64.6 |
74 | Northampton Town | League Two | 95 | 6225 | 65.5 |
75 | Wycombe Wanderers | League One | 29 | 1917 | 66.1 |
76 | Colchester United | League Two | 70 | 4625 | 66.1 |
77 | Scunthorpe United | National League | 72 | 4803 | 66.7 |
78 | Cambridge United | League One | 43 | 2881 | 67.0 |
79 | Newport County | League Two | 70 | 4720 | 67.4 |
80 | Mansfield Town | League Two (Play Offs) | 79 | 5355 | 67.8 |
81 | Exeter City | League One | 90 | 6289 | 69.9 |
82 | Barrow | League Two | 44 | 3083 | 70.1 |
83 | Rochdale | League Two | 94 | 6670 | 71.0 |
84 | Hartlepool United | League Two | 90 | 6474 | 71.9 |
85 | AFC Wimbledon | League Two | 11 | 797 | 72.5 |
86 | Crawley Town | League Two | 11 | 834 | 75.8 |
87 | Sutton United | League Two | 1 | 76 | 76.0 |
88 | Cheltenham Town | League One | 22 | 1674 | 76.1 |
89 | Stevenage | League Two | 12 | 917 | 76.4 |
90 | Salford City | League Two | 3 | 233 | 77.7 |
91 | Morecambe | League One | 15 | 1226 | 81.7 |
92 | Harrogate Town | League Two | 2 | 172 | 86.0​ |
This is something I'm planning on maintaining alongside my original table, updating it as teams get relegated/promoted from the Football League each year. At the moment I'm still happy with the old system, but I think its interesting to keep this one going too, and who knows how it may evolve as time goes on?
Once again I would like to thank the Football Club History Database, which is what made the original 2019 post possible. Even aside from being an incredibly useful tool for this project, its also a weirdly interesting rabbit hole to go down reading about obscure clubs throughout history.
For the past two years I've been maintaining an all time table for the entirety of the English Football League, covering all four main divisions over every single season, from the inaugral 1888/89 one right up to the present day. If you want to take a look back at my previous two posts on this subject you can find them both here: 2019, 2020
As with the previous two years, the scaling system I devised remains the same. All points won in League 2 (or old Division Four) remain as they are. Any points won in League 1 (old Division Three) are multiplied by 1.3, any points won in the Championship (old Division Two) are multiplied by 1.7, and any points won in the Premier League (old Division One) are multiplied by 2. Any points won in the National League or lower have been ignored.
I know that this is not the best way of doing things, but at this point I'm too far into this to change the system to something more simple. Maybe at some point in the future I'll try some different methodology, but for now I've opted to keep it as it is.If you want any further details on why I chose these specific multiplication values, I go into a little more detail in the 2019 edition. Also with previous years, the Points Per Season value (PPS) is included to show how efficient teams have been at earning their points over their lifetimes.
All league status is correct as to the end of the 2020-21 season (ie, West Brom, Fulham, and Sheffield Utd are listed as Championship, Norwich and Watford are Premier League etc). Clubs that are still in the play offs and therefore have their league status still yet to be decide are listed as such. The non-league classifications may be a bit off too, as some of their seasons were cancelled or delayed. So with all of that in mind, here is the updated all time English Football League table, from the start of the 1888-89 season to the end of 2020-21.
# | Club | Current Status | Total Seasons | PPS | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Liverpool | Premier League | 117 | 131.4 | 15377 |
2 | Manchester United | Premier League | 118 | 130.1 | 15352 |
3 | Arsenal | Premier League | 117 | 124.1 | 14517 |
4 | Everton | Premier League | 122 | 114.6 | 13977 |
5 | Manchester City | Premier League | 118 | 116.6 | 13763 |
6 | Aston Villa | Premier League | 122 | 112.1 | 13676 |
7 | Sunderland | League One | 120 | 108.4 | 13007 |
8 | Newcastle United | Premier League | 117 | 110.0 | 12873 |
9 | West Bromwich Albion | Championship | 122 | 104.9 | 12792 |
10 | Nottingham Forest | Championship | 118 | 107.7 | 12712 |
11 | Blackburn Rovers | Championship | 122 | 103.8 | 12668 |
12 | Derby County | Championship | 122 | 103.7 | 12652 |
13 | Chelsea | Premier League | 105 | 120.3 | 12630 |
14 | Sheffield United | Championship | 118 | 106.5 | 12563 |
15 | Sheffield Wednesday | League One | 118 | 104.1 | 12288 |
16 | Tottenham Hotspur | Premier League | 110 | 111.1 | 12220 |
17 | Bolton Wanderers | League One | 122 | 100.0 | 12204 |
18 | Burnley | Premier League | 122 | 99.6 | 12147 |
19 | Preston North End | Championship | 122 | 99.5 | 12138 |
20 | Birmingham City | Championship | 118 | 101.2 | 11942 |
21 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Premier League | 122 | 97.8 | 11927 |
22 | Leicester City | Premier League | 116 | 102.8 | 11924 |
23 | Middlesbrough | Championship | 111 | 104.5 | 11599 |
24 | Stoke City | Championship | 112 | 100.0 | 11197 |
25 | Leeds United | Premier League | 94 | 115.7 | 10875 |
26 | Blackpool | League One (Play Offs) | 113 | 91.6 | 10347 |
27 | West Ham United | Premier League | 95 | 106.5 | 10115 |
28 | Bristol City | Championship | 99 | 102.0 | 10100 |
29 | Notts County | National League (Play Offs) | 120 | 83.6 | 10027 |
30 | Huddersfield Town | Championship | 100 | 99.9 | 9986 |
31 | Barnsley | Championship | 112 | 87.6 | 9811 |
32 | Fulham | Championship | 103 | 94.3 | 9713 |
33 | Bury | Defunct? | 116 | 82.7 | 9597 |
34 | Southampton | Premier League | 94 | 101.3 | 9526 |
35 | Grimsby Town | National League | 111 | 84.0 | 9327 |
36 | Portsmouth | League One | 94 | 96.9 | 9106 |
37 | Norwich City | Premier League | 95 | 95.3 | 9057 |
38 | Queens Park Rangers | Championship | 104 | 86.3 | 8970 |
39 | Charlton Athletic | League One | 93 | 96.1 | 8939 |
40 | Oldham Athletic | League Two | 103 | 86.5 | 8908 |
41 | Cardiff City | Championship | 94 | 94.0 | 8832 |
42 | Hull City | Championship | 105 | 83.4 | 8759 |
43 | Millwall | Championship | 94 | 93.0 | 8742 |
44 | Bradford City | League Two | 107 | 81.3 | 8696 |
45 | Coventry City | Championship | 95 | 91.4 | 8686 |
46 | Watford | Premier League | 94 | 90.0 | 8456 |
47 | Crystal Palace | Premier League | 105 | 80.5 | 8451 |
48 | Luton Town | Championship | 92 | 90.2 | 8296 |
49 | Reading | Championship | 94 | 88.3 | 8296 |
50 | Ipswich Town | League One | 76 | 108.4 | 8241 |
51 | Port Vale | League Two | 105 | 78.2 | 8216 |
52 | Brighton and Hove Albion | Premier League | 94 | 87.3 | 8205 |
53 | Brentford | Championship (Play Offs) | 94 | 86.4 | 8124 |
54 | Plymouth Argyle | League One | 94 | 86.3 | 8109 |
55 | Lincoln City | League One (Play Offs) | 108 | 73.4 | 7925 |
56 | Leyton Orient | League Two | 103 | 76.3 | 7857 |
57 | Chesterfield | National League | 100 | 77.4 | 7739 |
58 | Swindon Town | League Two | 94 | 81.9 | 7697 |
59 | Bristol Rovers | League Two | 93 | 80.2 | 7456 |
60 | Walsall | League Two | 93 | 80.1 | 7449 |
61 | Stockport County | National League (Play Offs) | 99 | 74.5 | 7378 |
62 | Rotherham United | League One | 89 | 81.2 | 7226 |
63 | Swansea City | Championship (Play Offs) | 94 | 76.7 | 7209 |
64 | Southend United | National League | 94 | 75.1 | 7062 |
65 | Northampton Town | League Two | 94 | 74.8 | 7031 |
66 | AFC Bournemouth | Championship | 90 | 76.3 | 6867 |
67 | Gillingham | League One | 87 | 76.0 | 6616 |
68 | Doncaster Rovers | League One | 89 | 73.1 | 6508 |
69 | Crewe Alexandra | League One | 97 | 66.9 | 6488 |
70 | Carlisle United | League Two | 85 | 74.1 | 6298 |
71 | Rochdale | League Two | 93 | 64.8 | 6026 |
72 | Wrexham | National League | 80 | 74.5 | 5956 |
73 | Tranmere Rovers | League Two | 90 | 66.1 | 5948 |
74 | Exeter City | League Two | 89 | 65.8 | 5853 |
75 | Hartlepool United | National League (Play Offs) | 89 | 63.3 | 5638 |
76 | Mansfield Town | League Two | 78 | 70.4 | 5495 |
77 | Shrewsbury Town | League One | 70 | 75.0 | 5250 |
78 | Darlington | National League North | 81 | 63.8 | 5166 |
79 | Scunthorpe United | League Two | 71 | 72.6 | 5152 |
80 | Torquay United | National League (Play Offs) | 78 | 65.1 | 5074 |
81 | Colchester United | League Two | 69 | 72.0 | 4971 |
82 | York City | National League North | 72 | 67.8 | 4883 |
83 | Peterborough United | Championship | 61 | 77.2 | 4708 |
84 | Oxford United | League One | 55 | 80.8 | 4445 |
85 | Halifax Town | Defunct | 69 | 63.5 | 4383 |
86 | Bradford Park Avenue | National League North | 51 | 85.2 | 4345 |
87 | Newport County | League Two (Play Offs) | 69 | 54.6 | 3770 |
88 | Wigan Athletic | League One | 43 | 85.2 | 3663 |
89 | Chester City | Defunct | 66 | 54.2 | 3578 |
90 | Aldershot | Defunct | 52 | 64.5 | 3356 |
91 | Southport | National League North | 50 | 65.7 | 3285 |
92 | Accrington Stanley | League One | 48 | 68.2 | 3274 |
93 | Cambridge United | League One | 42 | 71.0 | 2980 |
94 | Barrow | League Two | 43 | 65.0 | 2797 |
95 | Wimbledon | Defunct | 27 | 97.6 | 2635 |
96 | Wycombe Wanderers | League One | 28 | 71.3 | 1996 |
97 | Hereford United | Defunct | 31 | 59.6 | 1847 |
98 | Workington | Northern Premier League Division One West | 26 | 60.7 | 1577 |
99 | Milton Keynes Dons | League One | 17 | 82.1 | 1396 |
100 | New Brighton | Defunct | 22 | 61.9 | 1362 |
101 | Gateshead | Defunct | 24 | 56.1 | 1347 |
102 | Cheltenham Town | League One | 21 | 62.1 | 1305 |
103 | Glossop North End | Northern Premier League Division One West | 17 | 72.9 | 1240 |
104 | Barnet | National League | 21 | 56.8 | 1192 |
105 | Yeovil Town | National League | 16 | 67.6 | 1082 |
106 | Gainsborough Trinity | Northern Premier League Premier Division | 16 | 67.3 | 1076 |
107 | Macclesfield Town | Defunct | 18 | 51.2 | 922 |
108 | Burton Albion | League One | 12 | 74.5 | 894 |
109 | Leeds City | Defunct | 10 | 84.4 | 844 |
110 | Morecambe | League Two (Play Offs) | 14 | 56.1 | 786 |
111 | Fleetwood Town | League One | 9 | 77.7 | 699 |
112 | Wigan Borough | Defunct | 10 | 68.7 | 687 |
113 | Scarborough | Defunct | 12 | 57.3 | 687 |
114 | Nelson | North West Counties League Division One North | 10 | 68.2 | 682 |
115 | Stevenage | League Two | 10 | 68.2 | 682 |
116 | Crawley Town | League Two | 10 | 64.0 | 640 |
117 | AFC Wimbledon | League One | 10 | 61.2 | 612 |
118 | Merthyr Town | Southern League Premier Division South | 10 | 58.6 | 586 |
119 | Burton Swifts | Defunct | 9 | 57.6 | 518 |
120 | Ashington | Northern League Division One | 8 | 64.6 | 517 |
121 | Dagenham & Redbridge | National League | 9 | 56.0 | 504 |
122 | Rotherham County | Defunct | 6 | 77.7 | 466 |
123 | Durham City | Northern Alliance Premier Division | 7 | 63.1 | 442 |
124 | Darwen | Defunct | 8 | 51.6 | 413 |
125 | Burton United | Defunct | 6 | 61.2 | 367 |
126 | Rushden & Diamonds | Defunct | 5 | 62.2 | 311 |
127 | Aldershot Town | National League | 5 | 60.2 | 301 |
128 | New Brighton Tower | Defunct | 3 | 95.0 | 285 |
129 | Aberdare Athletic | Defunct | 6 | 46.5 | 279 |
130 | Accrington | Defunct | 5 | 55.2 | 276 |
131 | Kidderminster Harriers | National League North | 5 | 55.0 | 275 |
132 | Boston United | National League North | 5 | 53.6 | 268 |
133 | Forest Green Rovers | League Two | 4 | 60.8 | 243 |
134 | Burton Wanderers | Defunct | 3 | 78.7 | 236 |
135 | Loughborough | Defunct | 5 | 41.4 | 207 |
136 | Maidstone United | Defunct | 3 | 55.3 | 166 |
137 | Stalybridge Celtic | Northern Premier League Premier Division | 2 | 71.5 | 143 |
138 | Rotherham Town | Defunct | 3 | 45.3 | 136 |
139 | Salford City | League Two | 2 | 60.5 | 121 |
140 | Thames | Defunct | 2 | 50.0 | 100 |
141 | Northwich Victoria | North West Counties League Premier Division | 2 | 34.5 | 69 |
142 | Harrogate Town | League Two | 1 | 57.0 | 57 |
143 | Middlesbrough Ironopolis | Defunct | 1 | 47.0 | 47 |
144 | Bootle | North West Counties League Premier Division | 1 | 45.0 | 45 |
145 | Sutton United | League Two | 0 | - | 0 |
2021 Observations
Manchester United have slightly closed their gap to Liverpool by 10, moving only 25 points behind the most successful English club of all time.
Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester City are now seperated by just three points. Had Leicester beaten Tottenham yesterday, they would have overtaken their midlands rivals.
West Ham United become the 29th team in history to make it above 10000 points, overtaking both Bristol City and Notts County in the process. Huddersfield Town will - barring a complete and total disaster - become the 30th team to do this next season.
Fleetwood Town are this year's highest climbers, jumping Stevenage, Nelson, Scarborough, and Wigan Borough into 111th
Sutton United will become the 145th team to play in the Football League next season, and are the third newcomer in three years after Harrogate Town in 2020, and Salford City in 2019.
FC Halifax Town, Eastleigh, and Bromley can all still qualify for the National League Play Offs. Should any of them do so and then go on to win them, one could become the 146th team to play in the Football League.
26 of the 145 clubs no longer exist, up from 25 in 2020 (following the demise of Macclesfield Town) and 24 in 2019 (following the demise of Bury).
I just want to thank the Football Club History Database again, as without it I would never have been able to finish my original post in 2019. Definitely give it a look if you're interested in the stories of long forgotten obscure English clubs like Mexborough Town and Zenith Windows FC.
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