List of unrelegated association football clubs

Historical considerations

More often than not, football clubs have played in more than one top-tier competition. It is therefore possible that teams relegated at one point in their history, but have not done so in the competition in which they currently compete. This is the case for multiple teams in countries where football was played in regional leagues prior to the creation of a unified national league. In such countries, a national champion was previously declared by means of a play-off tournament between teams that qualified through their regional tournaments. In Germany, for instance, seven teams have never been relegated from the Bundesliga (some joining more recent), but three of them found themselves expelled from the older Oberligen. Only Hamburg has played continuously in the top tier of the German football system since the end of World War I. In the Netherlands, football used to be organised in regional competitions as well. The unified Eredivisie was born in 1956, and four teams have continuously played at this highest national level since then.

Even before the establishment of regional competitions, football was played in league systems. The very first football championships in Europe were often organised on a local level. Taking these smaller competitions into account, Austria Wien and Rapid Wien can claim to have played at the highest possible level since competition began in Austria in 1911. At that time however, the only organised football was played in the league of Lower Austria, which was then located in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and only teams from Vienna took part. Later, Austrian teams competed in the German football system for several years, which made it possible for Rapid Wien to become German champion in 1941. The current Austrian Bundesliga was only established in 1974, and to this point a total of five teams never relegated from that competition.

In Greece and Turkey, competitive football was organised in even smaller leagues. In both countries, city-leagues were the highest level for quite some time. In 1959, a unified Hellenic championship was founded, and Olympiacos, Panathinaikos and PAOK have played in every season of it. However, these teams were already high-flyers in the preceding city-leagues. The same applies to Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray in Turkey.

In Russia, football too was first played at city-level. The St. Petersburg Football League was established in 1901, and its Moscowian counterpart followed in 1909. Many years later, in 1936, the Soviet Top League was formed. This competition ceased to exist when the Soviet Union fell, and new leagues were formed in the fifteen successor states. As a result, many teams entered a top division for the first time in their history. In Estonia, for example, the new Meistriliiga was composed of clubs that never participated in the top flight before. As these are relatively new competitions, many clubs can claim to have never been relegated from the top-level. But only Dynamo Kyiv and Dinamo Tbilisi have always played at the highest possible level. On the other hand, Dynamo Moscow has played in every season of the Soviet Top League but was relegated in 2015–16 Russian Premier League season.

Besides the Soviet, also the Czechoslovak and Yugoslav football leagues split into multiple competitions in the early 90’s. A total of eight teams have not been relegated from the national championships of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, but no team managed to achieve this in Czechoslovak times. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, football became divided alongside ethnic lines and competition was held in three different leagues, before the establishment of a national division in 2000. In Kosovo, a national league also exists, although not it was not recognised by UEFA or FIFA until 2016. In all, three clubs - Red Star Belgrade, Partizan Belgrade and Dinamo Zagreb - play at the highest level since the creation of socialist Yugoslavia. And Hajduk Split have never relegated since they first played in the championship of the now long gone Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. But many more teams never relegated from their current national championships.

In still many other instances, new top-tier leagues were created to replace existing national championships. In England, seven teams have been present in every season of the Premier League, which was founded in 1992. None of them however had an uninterrupted run in the preceding First Division. Thus, a great number of teams can claim to have never been relegated from these newer competitions. In Scotland, only Celtic and Aberdeen have never been relegated. Rangers were liquidated in 2012 and were subsequently placed in the fourth tier of the Scottish football league system as a new club. Similarly, Cliftonville, Glentoran and Linfield have the unique distinction of having played at the top flight in Northern Ireland for 125 years, but five more teams have been present in every season of the NIFL Premiership, which was only established in 2008.

There are however leagues that have been running for a long time. Not surprising, fewer clubs manage to stay on top the longer a competition runs. The Spanish Primera División was born in 1929, and only Athletic Bilbao, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid have been present ever since. The same year the Italian Serie A became a round-robin tournament, and only Inter Milan has continuously played at the highest level from that moment forward - even doing so since their formation in 1908. And finally, no team that plays in the Swiss Super League – established in 1897 – has not been relegated at one point in their history.

Unrelegated for three quarters of a century

This table lists all clubs that have continuously played at the highest level for 75 years or more until their first relegation. Taken into account are all the leagues that formed the highest level at the time each club played in them. Competitions that were organised on sub-regional levels are excluded though. This is the reason no clubs from Greece or Turkey are listed, as in those countries football was played in city-level competitions up until 1959.

The large number of Brazilian football clubs on this list can be explained by the fact that these clubs were dominant in the relatively small state leagues, which formed the highest tier of competition in Brazil for more than half a century. The Taça Brasil, which existed between 1959 and 1968, is not considered a top-tier tournament for the purpose of this list, as it was a knockout competition between the different state champions, and no team took part in every edition.

As of 2015, the majority of the teams listed below continue to play at the top, although a few have ended their uninterrupted spell. Note also that some teams have been relegated (and promoted back) before the start of their record spell.

^{*AC Milan withdrew from the 1908 Italian Championship.
**Bohemians were relegated in 1911 from the (now Northern) Irish League, but returned in 1912 and stayed there until 1920 to form the Irish Free State (now Republic of Ireland) League, from which they have never been relegated.
***Santos withdrew from the 1920 Paulistão and the 1979 Brasileirão.
****Corinthians and São Paulo withdrew from the 1979 Brasileirão.}

Source: RSSSF and RSSSF Brasil

Unrelegated from current national top level

This is a list of football clubs which have never been relegated from their current national top-level league and have played at least ten seasons at this level.

It should be noted that new clubs debut at the highest level almost every season. In 2015, teams like Bournemouth in England, Ingolstadt in Germany and Carpi in Italy, joined the elite for the first time. Quite often, these hopefuls relocate back to a lower division after one or more seasons. The purpose of this list is to provide an overview of clubs that proved to be successful over an extended period of time. Therefore, only clubs that manage to stay around for a minimum of ten years are included in this list.

The year before the name of each team indicates when they began their uninterrupted run. Clubs that are in bold are founding members of their current league.