Time spent in each division

[Panda]

This is the latest thing I've been researching. It's a breakdown of how long each football club has spent in each division.

The number of seasons in each division are shown in brackets like this:
(Premiership/Old Div 1 - Championship/Old Div 2 - League 1/Old Div 3 - Div 3 North - Div 3 South - League 2/Old Div 4)

Aberdare Athletic (0-0-0-0-6-0)
Accrington (5-0-0-0-0-0)
Accrington Stanley (0-0-2-31-0-3)
Aldershot (0-0-5-0-19-29)
Arsenal (90-13-0-0-0-0)
Ashington (0-0-0-8-0-0)
Aston Villa (96-10-2-0-0-0)
Barnet (0-0-1-0-0-11)
Barnsley (1-64-16-5-0-10)
Barrow (0-0-3-30-0-11)
Birmingham City (54-46-4-0-0-0)
Blackburn Rovers (67-36-5-0-0-0)
Blackpool (27-43-22-0-0-7)
Bolton Wanderers (68-28-11-0-0-1)
Bootle (0-1-0-0-0-0)
Boston United (0-0-0-0-0-5)
AFC Bournemouth (0-2-37-0-28-9)
Bradford City (12-29-19-16-0-17)
Bradford Park Avenue (3-22-2-14-0-10)
Brentford (5-10-36-0-16-13)
Brighton & Hove Albion (4-18-21-0-30-7)
Bristol City (9-41-23-0-20-2)
Bristol Rovers (0-19-30-0-25-6)
Burnley (51-39-11-0-0-7)
Burton United (0-15-0-0-0-0)
Burton Wanderers (0-3-0-0-0-0)
Bury (22-39-23-1-0-17)
Cambridge United (0-8-9-0-0-18)
Cardiff City (15-36-10-0-9-10)
Carlisle United (1-15-11-23-0-21)
Charlton Athletic (26-39-4-0-10-0)
Chelsea (72-19-0-0-0-0)
Cheltenham Town (0-0-2-0-0-6)
Chester City (0-0-15-20-0-30)
Chesterfield (0-20-31-20-0-17)
Colchester United (0-1-22-0-8-24)
Coventry City (34-24-5-1-16-1)
Crewe Alexandra (0-12-9-30-0-32)
Crystal Palace (13-31-7-0-26-3)
Darlington (0-2-4-28-0-44)
Darwen (2-6-0-0-0-0)
Derby County (64-40-2-2-0-0)
Doncaster Rovers (0-14-13-17-0-31)
Durham City (0-0-0-7-0-0)
Everton (104-4-0-0-0-0)
Exeter City (0-0-14-0-30-32)
Fulham (18-50-14-0-4-3)
Gainsborough Trinity (0-16-0-0-0-0)
Gateshead (0-9-0-23-0-2)
Gillingham (0-5-29-0-25-16)
Glossop (1-16-0-0-0-0)
Grimsby Town (12-52-18-10-0-11)
Halifax Town (0-0-12-30-0-27)
Hartlepool United (0-0-7-30-0-42)
Hereford United (0-1-4-0-0-21)
Huddersfield Town (30-33-17-0-0-6)
Hull City (0-52-18-11-0-10)
Ipswich Town (26-25-0-0-11-0)
Kidderminster Harriers (0-0-0-0-0-5)
Leeds City (0-11-0-0-0-0)
Leeds United (50-30-0-0-0-0)
Leicester City (46-56-0-0-0-0)
Leyton Orient (1-41-14-0-20-15)
Lincoln City (0-34-10-21-0-35)
Liverpool (92-11-0-0-0-0)
Loughborough (0-5-0-0-0-0)
Luton Town (16-34-13-0-16-4)
Macclesfield Town (0-0-1-0-0-9)
Maidstone United (0-0-0-0-0-3)
Manchester City (78-25-1-0-0-0)
Manchester United (82-22-0-0-0-0)
Mansfield Town (0-1-22-16-4-26)
Merthyr Town (0-0-1-0-9-0)
Middlesbrough (58-37-2-0-0-0)
Middlesbrough Ironopolis (0-1-0-0-0-0)
Millwall (2-35-17-0-21-5)
Milton Keynes Dons (14-6-5-0-0-5)
MK Dons (without Wimbledon) (0-0-2-0-0-1)
Wimbledon (14-6-3-0-0-4)
Nelson (0-1-0-9-0-0)
New Brighton (0-0-0-21-0-0)
New Brighton Tower (0-3-0-0-0-0)
Newcastle United (77-26-0-0-0-0)
Newport County (0-1-12-0-28-19)
Northampton Town (1-3-15-0-30-31)
Northwich Victoria (0-2-0-0-0-0)
Norwich City (21-31-3-0-25-0)
Nottingham Forest (56-44-2-0-2-0)
Notts County (30-37-20-0-9-12)
Oldham Athletic (12-36-19-15-0-7)
Oxford United (3-18-15-0-0-8)
Peterborough United (0-2-21-0-0-24)
Plymouth Argyle (0-37-25-0-13-5)
Portsmouth (30-38-7-0-3-2)
Port Vale (0-41-27-5-8-13)
Preston North End (46-38-19-0-0-5)
Queens Park Rangers (20-21-13-0-26-0)
Reading (1-15-31-0-25-8)
Rochdale (0-0-6-30-0-43)
Rotherham Town (0-3-0-0-0-0)
Rotherham United (0-27-26-21-0-7)
Rushden & Diamonds (0-0-1-0-0-4)
Scarborough (0-0-0-0-0-12)
Scunthorpe United (0-6-9-8-0-34)
Sheffield United (60-38-5-0-0-1)
Sheffield Wednesday (66-31-7-0-0-0)
Shrewsbury Town (0-10-25-1-7-13)
Southampton (35-36-3-0-6-0)
Southend United (0-7-23-0-30-20)
Southport (0-0-4-30-0-16)
Stalybridge Celtic (0-0-0-2-0-0)
Stockport County (0-26-13-25-0-31)
Stoke City (52-40-7-1-0-0)
Sunderland (76-29-1-0-0-0)
Swansea City (2-34-20-0-6-18)
Swindon Town (1-18-26-0-30-5)
Thames (0-0-0-0-2-0)
Torquay United (0-0-10-0-24-39)
Tottenham Hotspur (72-16-0-0-0-0)
Tranmere Rovers (0-11-22-29-0-17)
Walsall (0-15-34-11-19-8)
Watford (8-21-16-0-30-5)
West Bromwich Albion (71-35-2-0-0-0)
West Ham United (50-31-0-0-0-0)
Wigan Athletic (2-2-17-0-0-8)
Wigan Borough (0-0-0-11-0-0)
Wolverhampton Wanderers (60-43-2-1-0-2)
Workington (0-0-3-7-0-16)
Wrexham (0-4-24-30-0-21)
Wycombe Wanderers (0-0-10-0-0-4)
Yeovil Town (0-0-2-0-0-2)
York City (0-2-16-22-0-28)

[Thor]

Arsenal (90-13-0-0-0-0)
Aston Villa (96-10-2-0-0-0)
Birmingham City (54-46-4-0-0-0)
Blackburn Rovers (67-36-5-0-0-0)
Bolton Wanderers (68-28-11-0-0-1)
Chelsea (72-19-0-0-0-0)
Derby County (64-40-2-2-0-0)
Everton (104-4-0-0-0-0)
Liverpool (92-11-0-0-0-0)
Manchester City (78-25-1-0-0-0)
Manchester United (82-22-0-0-0-0)
Middlesbrough (58-37-2-0-0-0)
Newcastle United (77-26-0-0-0-0)
Nottingham Forest (56-44-2-0-2-0)
Sheffield United (60-38-5-0-0-1)
Sheffield Wednesday (66-31-7-0-0-0)
Sunderland (76-29-1-0-0-0)
Tottenham Hotspur (72-16-0-0-0-0)
West Bromwich Albion (71-35-2-0-0-0)
Wolverhampton Wanderers (60-43-2-1-0-2)

So those 20 have spent the most time in the top flight

[Admin]

Great info, cheers! Leicester have never been lower than the top 2 either, like Leeds

[Robin]

That's great information, thanks for sharing it!

[Robin]

I see some clubs like Mansfield and Coventry have played in both the Div 3 North and South, which seems quite rare.

[Tom]

Very interesting, assuming the last 2 figures are for Conference and below?

Interesting that Reading have spent more time in either the Conference and League 1 than any other. League 1 I knew (its been mentioned by fans that historically we are effectively a League 1 side). Its only in the last 9 years that I considered us to be an established Championship side with the clubs ambition. But I never realised we'd spent that much time outside the league completely!

[Robin]

They haven't been outside the league as above the figures show:

The number of seasons in each division are shown in brackets like this:
(Premiership/Old Div 1 - Championship/Old Div 2 - League 1/Old Div 3 - Div 3 North - Div 3 South - League 2/Old Div 4)

[Tom]

But surely that only covers 4 divisions?

Premiership
Championship
League 1 (equivalent to old Division 3 + North/South divides.)
League 2

There's 6 figures there, I swear I'm not going dumb!

[Earl Purple]

admin said:

Great info, cheers! Leicester have never been lower than the top 2 either, like Leeds

in the latter case hopefully not for long...

[Earl Purple]

Bradford City played top-flight football from 1908 to 1922 and then again 1999-2001. There were 4 "non-seasons" in the first period due to the first world war.

[Earl Purple]

Let's order these:

Everton (104-4-0-0-0-0)
Aston Villa (96-10-2-0-0-0)
Liverpool (92-11-0-0-0-0)
Arsenal (90-13-0-0-0-0)
Manchester United (82-22-0-0-0-0)
Manchester City (78-25-1-0-0-0)
Newcastle United (77-26-0-0-0-0)
Sunderland (76-29-1-0-0-0)
Chelsea (72-19-0-0-0-0)
Tottenham Hotspur (72-16-0-0-0-0)
West Bromwich Albion (71-35-2-0-0-0)
Bolton Wanderers (68-28-11-0-0-1)
Blackburn Rovers (67-36-5-0-0-0)
Sheffield Wednesday (66-31-7-0-0-0)
Derby County (64-40-2-2-0-0)
Wolverhampton Wanderers (60-43-2-1-0-2)
Sheffield United (60-38-5-0-0-1)
Middlesbrough (58-37-2-0-0-0)
Nottingham Forest (56-44-2-0-2-0)
Birmingham City (54-46-4-0-0-0)

[Panda]

tro1 said:

But surely that only covers 4 divisions?

Premiership
Championship
League 1 (equivalent to old Division 3 + North/South divides.)
League 2

There's 6 figures there, I swear I'm not going dumb!

The figures for Division 3 North and South have been listed separately to League One and the Old Division 3.

Therefore, the breakdown of Reading's time in each division is as follows:

1 season in the Premiership
15 seasons in the Championship/Old Division 2
31 seasons in League 1/Old Division 3
0 seasons in Division 3 North
25 seasons in Division 3 South
8 seasons in League 2/Old Division 4

[Panda]

Current league clubs who have never played in the top flight:

Accrington Stanley
Barnet
Boston United
Bournemouth
Bristol Rovers
Cheltenham Town
Chester City
Chesterfield
Colchester Unietd
Crewe Alexandra
Darlington
Doncaster Rovers
Gillingham
Hartlepool United
Hereford United
Hull City
Lincoln City
Macclesfield Town
Mansfield Town
Peterborough United
Plymouth Argyle
Port Vale
Rochdale
Rotherham United
Scunthorpe United
Shrewsbury Town
Southend United
Stockport County
Torquay United
Tranmere Rovers
Walsall
Wrexham
Wycombe Wanderers
Yeovil Town

[Robin]

I remember Tranmere coming close on two occasions but it wasn't to be

[Zodiac]

To be honest I think if you were to include leauge 1 and the old div 3 north and south all under the same bracket it would simplify matters somewhat. Great stuff though, and really quite interesting.

[Admin]

Earl P, could you extend that list of the teams to fare the best please...

And yeah the Stags got put in div 3 north or south on alternate seasons some years, as they were right on the border.

[frag]

Despite Mansfield clearly being in the north