How often has each club been promoted to the Premier League, and who leads the way for the most promotions via the Championship play-offs? We have the answers.
Each season sees the Premier League welcome three new clubs from the Championship, with two winning automatic promotion and a third coming up via the play-offs. But which teams have won promotion to the Premier League the most since the inaugural season in 1992?
Clubs With the Most Promotions to the Premier League (Since 1992)
5 – Norwich City, West Bromwich Albion, Leicester City
4 – Burnley, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Watford
3 – Birmingham City, Bolton Wanderers, Hull City, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United, West Ham United, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Ipswich Town
Leicester City’s 2023-24 Championship title win saw them promoted to the Premier League for the fifth time, equalling tallies achieved by both Norwich City and West Brom.
Their title win this season was their second in the Premier League era, following their success in 2013-14. They followed that up two years later with a sensational Premier League title win in 2015-16. Their other three promotions to the Premier League came via the play-offs (1993-94 and 1995-96) and a second-place finish in 2002-03.
Three of Norwich’s promotions to the Premier League have come via title wins (2003-04, 2018-19 and 2020-21), while they finished as runners-up in 2010-11 to QPR and won the 2015 play-off final at Wembley Stadium against Middlesbrough.
West Brom have seen just one of their promotions to the Premier League come via a title win (2007-08) with their other four coming as runners-up in the second tier: 2001-02, 2003-04, 2009-10 and 2019-20. They’ve never been promoted to the Premier League via the play-offs.
Crystal Palace have won promotion to the Premier League on four occasions, with only one of those coming via a title (1993-94). Palace have won promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs more often than any other team since 1991-92 (3).
Southampton secured promotion via the Championship play-offs thanks to a slender 1-0 win over Leeds United at Wembley in the final.
It’s the second time they’ve been promoted to the Premier League and first since 2011-12, when they finished runners-up to Reading.
Their return to the top flight for the 2024-25 campaign meant they bounced back at the first time of asking having been relegated – with Leicester and Leeds – in 2022-23.
Clubs With the Most Promotions to the English Top-Flight (All-Time)
13 – Leicester City
12 – Birmingham City
11 – Manchester City
10 – West Bromwich Albion
9 – Bolton Wanderers, Middlesbrough, Norwich City, Sheffield United
8 – Burnley, Sheffield Wednesday, Sunderland
7 – Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Derby County, Leeds United, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, West Ham United, Wolverhampton Wanderers
Of course, English football didn’t begin in 1992 with the introduction of the Premier League.
Overall, in second-tier history within the English Football League, Leicester have both won promotion (13) and won the title (8) more times than any other club. They enjoyed title success in the following seasons: 1924–25, 1936–37, 1953–54, 1956–57, 1970–71, 1979–80, 2013–14 and 2023–24.
Birmingham City have won promotion to the top-flight 12 times, although they have only won the title in four of those (1892-93, 1920-21, 1947-48 and 1954-55). Manchester City have won the second-tier seven times but have won promotion to the top flight less often (11) than Birmingham (12) overall.
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