The 21 clubs to play seven or fewer seasons in the Premier League

When Birmingham first hit the Premier League, they stuck around for a bit. Starting with the 2002-03 seasons, Birmingham City stuck around for four years, even finishing as high as 10th in the table. They then yo-yo’ed a few times, but Birmingham went back down after the 2010-11 season and has been closer to being sent down another tier of English football as opposed to returning.

If Bournemouth sticks around after this season, it will hit the eight-season mark. That doesn’t feel like a given for the Cherries, but they have been fairly regular members of the Premier League over the last decade. After being promoted as the top team in the Championship prior to the 2015-16 season, the club spent five seasons in a row in the Premier League. Then, they dipped down a level for two seasons, but bounced back and began its current run.

Yeah, you can count Brighton in for an eighth Premier League season, in a row at that, in 2024-25. While the club likely won’t finish sixth again, Roberto De Zerbi and company are an established Premier League squad, though admittedly in their first few seasons they were in the relegation battle. Those days are behind Brighton… for now.

Derby has spent seven seasons in the Premier League, including six in the row at the turn of the millennium, but the club’s last foray into the league was ignominious. In 2007-08, Derby had probably the worst season in Premier League history. The Rams won a single game, finished with 11 points, and were relegated with gusto. Now playing third-tier football, Derby is nowhere near a Premier League return.

Forest has never found much footing in the Premier League, having two one-and-done runs and never managing more than three seasons in a row in the league. Now, in the 1994-95 season, Forest had a magical run and finished third immediately after promotion, but from 1999 until 2022, the club was playing second-, and even third-tier football. They should manage to avoid relegation in 2024, though, meaning another three-season run and an eighth season in the league.

Portsmouth’s story is a sad one. When it was promoted for the 2003-04 season, the team spent seven campaigns in a row in the Premier League, even winning the FA Cup in 2008. Then, financial woes arose. Pompey was relegated after the 2009-10 season, and afterwards dealt with falling into administration twice. Portsmouth fell all the way to League Two in 2013-14, the fourth tier of English football.

One of London’s “other teams,” QPR was a Premier League original, and finished in the top 10 of the table for its first three seasons. Then, in its fourth, Queens Park was relegated. QPR returned in 2011, spent two seasons up, did a quick yo-yo, and has been back in the Championship since 2015.

A Welsh club, Swansea is the last member of the seven-timers club. The Swans are also a club that strung together all their seasons in one go. From 2011 through the end of the 2017-18 seasons, Swansea was a Premier League club, but neither before nor since has it been around.

Sheffield United doesn’t seem likely to add a seventh season to the resume, as it feels more likely to finish last in the Premier League in 2024 than to avoid relegation. That would make the Blades a yo-yo team, having been in the Championship last season. At least Sheffield United was an original Premier League club, but it has never managed to stay in the league for more than two consecutive seasons.

Sheffield is the only six-timer, so we move down to the five-timers with Hull. Famously, in 2008-09, Hull spent not only its first season in the Premier League, but its first season in first-division football. It took them over a century! The Tigers have never stuck around more than two campaigns, though, and were in League One more recently than the Premier League.

Ipswich is a favorite to be promoted from the Championship, which would give the club its sixth Premier League season. That’s a swift turnaround. In 2022-23, Ipswich was a League One club. That means it could become the rare club to be promoted in back-to-back campaigns. It has not been in the Premier League since 2002, so that would be huge.

There are no four-timers at present, but Brentford seems likely to avoid relegation and become the sole member of said club. The Bees were promoted into the Premier League for the first time in 2021-22, and they have been there ever since, with no sign that is about to change.

Reading has played three seasons in the Premier League, but only managed to avoid relegation once. Hey, it has never finished last in the table, so there’s that! Although, Reading could not avoid being relegated from the Championship last season, so it is currently in League One.

The rise of Bradford City, largely an English football also-ran, was unexpected, and also brief. It has played two seasons in the Premier League, 1999-00 and 2000-01. The first season, Bradford finished 17th, one spot out of relegated. The next year, it won five games in one of the worst Premier League seasons ever, and these days you can find Bradford down in League Two, where it has been for half a decade.

Another Welsh club, Cardiff has been one-and-done twice. At least the club separated the seasons a bit, for the sake of the fans. Cardiff played in the Premier League in 2013-14 and 2018-19 and is floating around in the Championship.

In the 1920s, Huddersfield was the titan of English football. Of course, that was a while ago. After decades in the wilderness, Huddersfield returned to the Premier League, sticking around for both the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons. It almost was promoted again after the 2021-22 season, but otherwise has struggled in the Championship. So, you know, business as usual.

The final two-timer, and also a club we bet never will see the Premier League again. Oldham was a Premier League original, but after two seasons in the league, it started to fall with gusto. Oldham now play in the National League. That is, um, non-league football.

Time for the one-timers! Barnsley’s one season in the Premier League came in 1997-98, where it finished 19th. Since then, it has been a yo-yo club, but that is to say that Barnsley has been jumping back and forth between the Championship and League One.

Blackpool sure had some beautiful kits in its one Premier League season. That was about the highlight for the club from the resort town. Blackpool was a feel-good story, finishing sixth in the Championship but earning promotion through the playoff for the 2010-11 season. Of course, it was a one-time thing. The club has been in League Two more recently than it has been in the Premier League, and currently is down in League One.

Luton is, notably, a one-timer that is currently in the Premier League. A decade ago, the club was playing non-league football. Now, it has a chance – a chance! – to avoid relegation and play a second season in a row in the Premier League.

Finally, we arrive at the last time on this list. Swindon Town made history, in a way, as one of the first clubs promoted into the Premier League. Its one campaign in the league was the 1993-94 season, the second for the Premier League. The Robins also made history by allowing 100 goals, though that was back when there were 22 teams in the league so clubs played 42 times. Swindon Town was relegated in back-to-back seasons, and now play in League Two.