Which Past Champions Have Never Reached The Premier League?
Throughout the 136 years there has been an English football league, replete with team kits, colours, players and supporters, there have been 24 teams that have made it to the very top of the tree.
Of those 24 teams, many of which are incredibly familiar names whilst others are former giants such as Huddersfield Town, 23 of them have played in the Premier League since its Simple Minds-soundtracked inception in 1992.
The sole exceptions are Preston North End, the very first football league champions, as well as the first team to ever win The Double of the football league and FA Cup and the first to have an “Invincibles” campaign a century before Arsenal’s historic achievement.
However, those glories are incredibly distant at Deepdale, and the Lilywhites have not even played a single minute of top-flight football since 1961. In 1992, when the Premier League started, Preston would be relegated to Division Three (now League Two).
In fact, in 1986, Preston finished 23rd of 24th, and were only saved from non-League football by virtue of re-election. The next year the entire scheme was scrapped.
Preston also holds the record for the highest margin of victory in an English football match at EFL level at the very least when they smashed Hyde 26-0, aided by the skill and wizardry of the so-called Scotch Professors.
They would have a second golden age starting in the 1930s, having spent most of the 20th century as a yo-yo club, winning an FA Cup in 1938 aided by the playing talents of later legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankley.
They would get even more competitive once the Second World War ended, thanks to the astonishing talents and longevity of Tom Finney, who mixed being a plumber in Preston with being one of the best players in the country, despite very nearly signing for Palermo.
He came agonisingly close to winning the First Division title in 1953, only losing on goal average by the narrowest of narrow margins.
However, when Tom Finney retired due to injuries in 1961, the Lilywhites never recovered, and a year later they would be relegated.
Despite reaching the Championship playoffs under David Moyes, they have never reached the top flight since.