The Biggest Clubs to have never Played in the Premier League

Luton Town became the 51st club to play in the Premier League since its inception in 1992 when they earned promotion from the Championship in May 2023. Six teams, meanwhile, have remained ever-present in the top flight of English football over the last three decades. Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham have not been relegated from the Premier League.

While many teams have featured throughout the history of the EPL, there are a number of clubs with large followings based in towns and cities across England and Wales who are yet to reach the promised land. As their wait goes on and on, this article will profile the biggest.

Bristol City
Bristol City plays at Ashton Gate in Bristol and regularly gets more than 20,000 spectators watching matches every week. However, the Robins are yet to experience playing in the big time though they did come close in 2008, losing the Championship Play-Off final against Hull at Wembley.

The club played in the top tier back in 1980 but has not played top-flight football since the Premier League was formed in 1992. For the most part, since the club was founded in 1894, Bristol City has played in the second and third tiers of the English football pyramid.

Preston North End
Preston North End is a storied club that won the First Division title in 1889 and 1890 and has also been runners-up on six occasions. The Lilywhites are also the club Sir Tom Finney scored 210 goals for in 473 appearances between 1946 and 1960.

However, not since 1961 have PNE played in the top division. Under David Moyes and later Billy Davies, Preston reached the Championship play-off final in 2001 and 2005 but lost out to Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United respectively.

Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth is the largest city in England never to have played host to a game in the top flight. Argyle returned to the second tier this season after 13 seasons away but is expected to finish in the bottom half of the table.

Wrexham
Wrexham has been constantly in the headlines during the last three years since Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney purchased the club in November 2020. Since then, Paul Mullin has scored the goals to fire the Welsh club back into the Football League and excitement is in the air.

However, the Red Dragons, who were founded in 1864 and are the oldest club in Wales, have never played in the Premier League. In fact, they have never featured in the top division. Wrexham’s highest league position came in 1979 when they finished 15th in the second tier.

Millwall
Millwall played their only two seasons in the top flight in the late eighties and so narrowly missed out on appearing in the opening season of the Premier League. The Lions home, The Den, boasts a capacity of 20,000 and the club is certainly one of the biggest names yet to experience the glitz and glamour of England’s top league.

Who Could Make the Leap First?
Despite being in the fourth division, Wrexham has all of the momentum and pull right now. However, Millwall, Preston and Bristol City are all established Championship clubs and who knows what a good run could turn into?