7 biggest clubs to have never played in the Premier League: Bristol City, Wrexham…
Fifty-one different clubs have played in the Premier League – but there are still some teams that we can’t believe have never played in the competition.
The success of Bournemouth, Brighton and Brentford in recent seasons has given hope to a host of their former lower league contemporaries, while the likes of Blackpool and Luton Town have also managed a season at the top level.
We’ve identified the seven biggest clubs that have never played in the Premier League since the competition’s inception back in 1992.
Bristol City
Bristol is a bigger footballing city than many outsiders realise; the Downs League is the biggest amateur set-up in the country and both City and Rovers have a strong core of support despite their lack of success.
While Rovers have just been relegated to League Two, City came within a Dean Windass goal of making the top-flight in 2008 and have been Championship staples for the past decade.
Ashton Gate has been rebuilt into a smart 27,000-seater stadium that hosts both international matches and the club has felt primed for Premier League football for a while.
But the team has rarely threatened to finish above mid-table until the 2024-25 season, when Liam Manning’s side put themselves firmly in the play-off picture.
The odds would be against City surviving in the modern-day closed shop Premier League without big investment, but away fans would enjoy the novelty of an away day in Bristol if nothing else.
Preston North End
Preston North End are a storied club that won the First Division title in 1889 and 1890 and have also been runners-up on six occasions.
The Lilywhites are also the club that Sir Tom Finney, one of the true greats of English football, scored 210 goals for in 473 appearances between 1946 and 1960.
But North End have not been in the top division since 1961 and have seen neighbours Burnley, Blackpool and Wigan Athletic all enjoy spells in the Premier League.
Under David Moyes and later Billy Davies, Preston reached the Championship play-off final in 2001 and 2005 but lost out to Bolton and West Ham respectively.
Deepdale is a smart, modern stadium that wouldn’t look out of place in the Premier League, but Preston are in danger of dropping into League One following a terrible run of form.
Millwall
Millwall played their only two seasons in the top flight in the late eighties and narrowly missed out on the inaugural Premier League season of 1992-93.
The notoriety of the club’s fanbase is known throughout Europe and we can’t imagine the Metropolitan Police would be thrilled by the prospect of Millwall in the top flight.
But another part of us would relish seeing the gilded elite visit The Den and welcome Millwall’s presence as an antidote to the increasingly bland Premier League.
Derbies against Chelsea and West Ham, among others, would capture the imagination of both twig-limbed violence enthusiasts and old school football men relishing some blood and thunder action.
Plenty of similar-sized London clubs have established themselves in the Premier League, so why not Millwall?
Plymouth Argyle
With a population of 277,000, Plymouth is the largest city in England never to have played host to a game in the top flight.
Argyle have spent the last two seasons in the Championship, but will be relegated in 2024-25 after the ill-advised appointment of Wayne Rooney as manager.
Devon is an often-overlooked part of the country, so if Argyle were to ever reach the Premier League, it would put the region on the map.
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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, the Welsh club have leapt from the National League to the Championship in three seasons and the ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ documentary has won the club a ton of new supporters from America.
The Red Dragons, who were founded in 1864 and are the oldest club in Wales, have never featured in the top division.
Wrexham’s highest league position came in 1979 when they finished 15th in the second tier, which is almost certain to be beaten soon.
While the club’s aim will be to consolidate in the second tier next season, the ultimate aim of their celebrity owners is to see Premier League football at the Racecourse Ground before too long.
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Notts County
Notts County are the oldest professional club in world football, famously inspiring Italian giants Juventus to adopt black and white stripes as their home kit.
They won the FA Cup in 1894 and spent time in the top-flight in the 1980s and early 1990s.
They were relegated from the First Division in 1992 – the season before the inception of the Premier League – and haven’t threatened to return since.
After well-documented financial issues and the madness of Sven-Goran Eriksson managing the club in the late 2000s, County have qualified for the League Two play-offs in 2024-25.
With Meadow Lane still a stone’s throw away from Nottingham Forest and the City Ground, County’s ultimate aim will be to play their near rivals in a league game.
Port Vale
Port Vale are the second-biggest club in Staffordshire behind Stoke City, who have spent a decade in the Premier League between 2008 and 2018.
Vale were an impressive side in the 1990s, spending five years in the First Division, coming closest to promotion in the 1996-97 campaign when they finished 8th.
And the club have just been promoted back to League One for the 2025-26 season.
While the odds of Vale making the top-flight any time soon are small, plenty would’ve said the same about Bournemouth and Brentford not too long ago.