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All-Time Top-Flight Table
The following all-time table charts the history of top-flight English football, detailing the full record of the old First Division and current Premiership since the formation of the Football League in 1888.
This Uniform Table is based entirely on a basis of 2 points for a win and is therefore a more accurate reflection of the Top Flight's history and stays true to clubs that did well under the old system, e.g. Huddersfield Town in the 1920's, Arsenal in the 1930's and Wolves in the 1950's. The table includes the preceding legal entities of today's clubs e.g. Manchester United used to be Newton Heath which was dissolved when the club went bankrupt and then reformed; Arsenal was first Woolwich Arsenal and then Royal Arsenal, each of which have been separate legal entities.
What does the table tell us?
The all-time top flight table is a banner under which Evertonians can stand in the face of accusations that the club is not one of the Big 5 because Everton are second in the uniform table and used to lead it until very recently. Liverpool displaced them at the top around the 2007/08 season because of Everton's poor record in comparison since the end of their 1980s golden years.
Nevertheless, Everton remain the top flight English team, having spent more seasons in the top flight than any other club, played more matches as well as scored more than any other team in history. As of 2001-02, Liverpool had won more top flight games than any other in England. In the 2002-03 season, Everton became the first club to play 100 seasons in the top division.
Everton have been the most consistent club in history based on points scored against maximum top division matches available.
The Blues fall down when it comes to the percentage of games where a point-scoring result has been attained against actual matches played. Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal are better by some distance in this respect.
Uniform Table
Calculated at 2 points for each win; 1 point for a draw — correct to May 2011
Yrs Pl W D L F A Pts
1. Liverpool 96 3830 1773 953 1104 6283 - 4669 4499
2. Everton 108 4214 1717 1046 1451 6594 - 5883 4480
3. Arsenal 94 3830 1715 994 1121 6291 - 4846 4424
4. Manchester United 86 3474 1634 862 978 5975 - 4502 4130
5. Aston Villa 100 3880 1603 916 1361 6427 - 5761 4122
6. Manchester City 82 3316 1244 823 1249 4995 - 4949 3311
7. Newcastle United 80 3198 1249 784 1165 4895 - 4608 3282
8. Tottenham Hotspur 76 3090 1238 758 1094 4818 - 4420 3234
9. Chelsea 76 3094 1211 808 1075 4656 - 4449 3230
10. Sunderland 80 3112 1208 713 1191 4908 - 4777 3129
11. West Bromwich Albion 73 2842 1027 689 1126 4322 - 4546 2743
12. Blackburn Rovers 71 2682 1009 644 1029 4258 - 4270 2662
13. Bolton Wanderers 72 2764 1007 635 1122 4110 - 4390 2649
14. Sheffield Wednesday 66 2582 980 612 990 3976 - 4020 2572
15. Wolverhampton Wanderers 62 2384 938 536 910 3990 - 3870 2412
16. Derby County 65 2468 906 585 977 3764 - 3910 2397
17. Sheffield United 60 2356 871 560 925 3531 - 3762 2302
18. Middlesbrough 60 2400 813 601 986 3399 - 3713 2227
19. Leeds United 50 2060 846 523 691 3079 - 2784 2215
20. Nottingham Forest 56 2178 800 549 829 3069 - 3171 2149
21. West Ham United 54 2206 751 546 909 3150 - 3494 2048
22. Burnley 52 2020 792 453 775 3205 - 3239 2037
23. Birmingham City 57 2306 724 583 999 3049 - 3656 2031
24. Stoke City 55 2106 698 504 904 2775 - 3285 1900
25. Preston North End 46 1720 671 390 659 2701 - 2569 1732
26. Leicester City 46 1900 603 500 797 2796 - 3247 1706
27. Southampton 35 1416 464 391 561 1868 - 2080 1319
28. Portsmouth 33 1356 484 322 550 2021 - 2208 1290
29. Huddersfield Town 30 1260 480 317 463 1874 - 1854 1277
30. Coventry City 34 1390 430 396 564 1604 - 1954 1256
31. Blackpool 28 1172 415 282 475 1788 - 1941 1112
32. Ipswich Town 26 1084 402 265 417 1442 - 1500 1069
33. Charlton Athletic 26 1050 355 253 442 1424 - 1651 963
34. Notts County 30 1068 341 253 474 1403 - 1712 935
35. Norwich City 21 864 264 263 337 1012 - 1254 791
36. Queen's Park Rangers 20 822 277 223 322 1028 - 1111 777
37. Fulham 22 884 264 233 387 1156 - 1429 761
38. Bury 22 804 279 180 345 1176 - 1340 738
39. Cardiff City 15 630 224 154 252 865 - 993 602
40. Luton Town 16 658 213 168 277 864 - 1011 594
41. Wimbledon 14 554 186 171 197 702 - 754 543
42. Oldham Athletic 12 484 159 129 196 604 - 713 447
43. Grimsby Town 12 488 167 97 224 756 - 940 431
44. Bradford City 12 468 152 126 190 584 - 671 430
45. Crystal Palace 13 530 137 156 237 546 - 792 430
46. Bristol City 9 358 114 94 150 428 - 510 322
47. Watford 8 326 104 77 145 450 - 508 285
48. Brentford 5 210 76 46 88 330 - 359 198
49. Wigan Athletic 6 228 65 57 106 227 - 347 187
50. Brighton & Hove Albion 4 168 47 48 73 182 - 244 142
51. Bradford Park Avenue 3 122 40 27 55 172 - 204 107
52. Accrington 5 122 35 33 54 226 - 313 103
53. Oxford United 3 124 27 38 59 150 - 229 92
54. Swansea City 2 84 31 17 36 109 - 120 79
55. Reading 2 76 26 13 37 93 - 113 65
56. Millwall 2 76 19 22 35 86 - 117 60
57. Hull City 2 76 14 23 39 73 - 139 51
58. Northampton Town 1 42 10 13 19 55 - 92 33
59. Darwen 2 56 11 8 37 75 - 195 30
60. Carlisle United 1 42 12 5 25 43 - 59 29
61. Barnsley 1 38 10 5 23 37 - 82 25
62. Swindon Town 1 42 5 15 22 47 - 100 25
63. Leyton Orient 1 42 6 9 27 37 - 81 21
64. Glossop North End 1 34 4 10 20 31 - 74 18
© Copyright Heikki Pietarinen and RSSSF 1997/2011
Seasons in the Top-Flight from 1888-89 to end of 2011-12.
A total of 114 seasons.
109 Everton
101 Aston Villa
97 Liverpool
95 Arsenal
87 Manchester United
83 Manchester City
81 Newcastle United
81 Sunderland
77 Tottenham Hotspur
77 Chelsea
74 West Bromwich Albion
73 Bolton Wanderers
66 Sheffield Wednesday
72 Blackburn Rovers
65 Derby County
63 Wolverhampton Wanderers
60 Sheffield United
60 Middlesbrough
56 Nottingham Forest
57 Birmingham City
56 Stoke City
52 Burnley
54 West Ham United
50 Leeds United
46 Preston North End
46 Leicester City
34 Coventry City
34 Southampton
33 Portsmouth
30 Notts County
30 Huddersfield Town
28 Blackpool
26 Ipswich Town
26 Charlton Athletic
22 Bury
21 Queens Park Rangers
21 Norwich City
23 Fulham
16 Luton Town
15 Cardiff City
14 Wimbledon
13 Crystal Palace
12 Oldham Athletic
12 Grimsby Town
12 Bradford City
9 Bristol City
8 Watford
5 Brentford
5 Accrington
4 Brighton & Hove Albion
3 Oxford United
3 Bradford Park Avenue
7 Wigan Athletic
2 Darwen
2 Reading
2 Hull City
3 Swansea City
2 Millwall
1 Swindon Town
1 Northampton
1 Leyton Orient
1 Glossop North End
1 Carlisle United
1 Barnsley
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