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Ten football clubs that rapidly climbed the English leagues

In this article, we take a look back at ten football clubs that rapidly climbed the English leagues, with their rise catching much attention.

Over the years we’ve seen many teams climb the English football league system, some from Non League to Football League and others from Football League to Premier League

With a good few clubs incredibly achieving multiple promotions in just a few seasons, we take a look at those who have managed it below and on the next few pages.

10) SWANSEA CITY

Swansea won promotion from the newly named League Two, achieving a league finish of third place in the 2004–05 season. Three years later, their 2007–08 season in League One, ended in a first-place finish and promotion in the process to the Championship.

After a few near-misses reaching the play-offs, which included a last day of the season miss for a play-off berth, due to a 0-0 draw with Doncaster Rovers during the close of the 2009–10 season, Swansea later finished 3rd the following season.

The “Swans” were promoted to the Premier League in 2011 after winning the play-off final at Wembley Stadium against Reading, thanks to a 4-2 victory and in the process became the first Welsh team in that league since its formation in 1992.

In Swansea’s centenary year, the club won their first major English trophy beating Bradford City in the 2013 Football League Cup Final which meant they qualified for the Europa League.

In the 2017/18 season, Swansea City lost their place in the Premier League and have been in the Championship ever since.

9) BURTON ALBION

Burton Albion secured promotion to the Football League in the final game of the 2008/09 season.

Burton’s first win in the Football League was 5–2 against Morecambe and they finished 13th in their first campaign in the Football League. Gary Rowett was appointed as the new manager of Burton in May 2012. In his first full season in charge, he led Burton to a fourth-place finish and the play-offs, missing out on automatic promotion by two points.

Burton lost their play-off semi final to Bradford City despite winning the first leg. In the 2013–14 season, Burton finished sixth, reaching the play-off final in which they lost to Fleetwood Town.

Under Hasselbaink in the 2014/15 season, the Brewers won League Two and were promoted to League One for the first time in their history.

Clough returned to Burton to replace him for his second spell as manager and led the club to a second-place finish in the league, earning promotion to the Championship, another first for Burton.

The Brewers opened their first season in the Championship in spectacular fashion losing away to local rivals Nottingham Forest.

Burton secured their Championship status on 29 April 2017 after a 1–1 draw with Barnsley.

In the 2017/18 season, Burton Albion lost their place in the Championship and have been in League One ever since.

8) MAIDSTONE UNITED

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The current club filled the void left by the old Maidstone United, which was a member of the Football League between 1989 and 1992. That club was forced out of the league through bankruptcy but the nucleus of a new club was built around the youth squad.

Maidstone Invicta were originally a youth team but made the step up to adult football in 1992 being elected to the Kent County League Fourth Division in 1993 and subsequently progressed through the non-league pyramid.

They changed their name to Maidstone United in 1995. They played in the Isthmian League Premier Division from 2013 having been promoted from the Isthmian League Division One South and won the league in the 2014–15 season to gain promotion to the National League South (formerly the Conference South) for the 2015–16 season.

Maidstone gained a second successive promotion to the National League in 2016, bringing fifth-tier football back to the town for the first time since the old club was promoted to the Football League in 1989.

As of the 2020/21 season, they play their football at National League South level.

7) SALFORD CITY

In March 2014, news broke of the proposed takeover of the club by former Manchester United players Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, subject to Football Association and Northern Premier League approval, with the deal expected to be completed by the summer. The remainder of the 2013–14 season saw Salford finish 12th in the Northern Premier League Division North.

With the proposed takeover of the club completed, the new ownership team were present at pre-season training in July 2014, at which Giggs suggested the consortium had ambitious aims for the non-league club, with a target of Championship level football within 15 years. The 2014–15 season started with Salford unbeaten in the first 13 games.

Despite the promising start, a dip in form during December resulted in only 4 wins from the following 11 matches which saw the team fall behind Darlington at the top of the league. The new managerial team went on to win 15 of the remaining 17 matches of the season, a feat which saw them regain their place at the top of the table.

With Darlington failing to win their penultimate match of the season, Salford were crowned champions, guaranteeing promotion to the Northern Premier League Premier Division. Having been in the top five places for the majority of the season Salford eventually finished third behind champions Darlington and runners-up Blyth Spartans to claim a playoff place.

Ashton United were defeated 3–1 in the semi-final at Moor Lane which was followed up four days later with a 3–2 win over Workington at the same venue in front of nearly 2,000 spectators with ‘the Ammies’ scoring twice in the final eleven minutes to claim their place in the National League North for the 2016–17 season, the highest level the club had ever reached in its 76-year history.

On 21 April 2018, the club became champions of the National League North for the 2017–18 season with one game to play, thereby securing promotion to National League, once again re-setting the bar for the highest level the club has ever attained.

The 2020/21 season sees them play in League Two, but have recently found themselves sacking managers on a regular basis despite being outside the playoff places and winning the EFL Trophy.

6) HULL CITY

Hull’s first play-off campaign ended unsuccessfully, being beaten by Leyton Orient in the semi-final in the 2000–01 season. However, successive promotions in the 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons saw Hull rise from the fourth tier to the second tier in a space of two years.

After 104 years of existence, Hull were promoted to the Premier League for the first time in their history, beating Watford in the play-off semi-finals and Bristol City in the 2008 Championship Play-off Final.

Hull’s first Premier League season saw safety from relegation ensured on the last day of the season, although the club was relegated the following season after finishing 19th in the league.

Three years later, Hull returned to the Premier League after finishing the 2012–13 season as Championship runners-up. In the 2013–14 season they achieved their highest ever league finish of 16th and were runners-up to Arsenal in their first ever FA Cup Final appearance.

Since then, they have been relegated and promoted a few more times – giving them proper yoyo club status. They lost their place in the Championship in the 2019/29 season, however are strong promotion candidates come the end of the 2020/21 League One campaign. Back up they go?

We continue our look at ten football clubs that rapidly climbed the English leagues…

5) ACCRINGTON STANLEY

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In the 1999/00 season, Accrington won promotion from Northern Premier League Division One (step 7). They then went on to win another promotion, this time from the Northern Premier League in 2002/03.

The club was promoted for the first time in its history to the Football Conference. The season was a success, with a final league position of 10th being achieved. The following season saw the club become a full time professional outfit. The 2004–05 also resulted in a 10th-place finish.

The 2005–06 season saw the return of Stanley to the Football League. Finishing on 91 points, the club went on a 19-game unbeaten run stretching from October to March, leaving the club an easy passage to League Two. 11 seasons later, staying in League Two for the whole time, they managed to win promotion to League One and have been there since, impressing many.

4) BRENTFORD

In the 2006–07 season, Brentford finished rock bottom of League One. Despite flirting with the League Two playoffs early in the 2007–08 season, dreadful form pointed to relegation into non-league football.

Assistant manager Andy Scott improved the squad for the 2008–09 season and by December 2008, Brentford were well-established in the automatic promotion places. The Bees sealed the League Two title. Brentford came within a penalty kick of automatic promotion to the Championship on the final day of the 2012–13 season, losing 1–0 to promotion rivals Doncaster Rovers at Griffin Park.

The Bees recovered brilliantly to beat Swindon Town on penalties in the 2013 playoff semi-finals after drawing 4–4 on aggregate, but the season came to an end after a 2–1 defeat to Yeovil Town in the final.

In the 2013-14 season, Brentford went on a club-record 19 match unbeaten run in League One which saw Mark Warburton carry on Rösler’s good work by leading Brentford to automatic promotion to the Championship with three matches to spare.

An unexpected 5th-place finish was attained Brentford’s first season in the second-tier since 1992–93, but the Bees were comfortably beaten by Middlesbrough in the 2015 playoff semi-finals. They bottled promotion for the 2019/20 season, messing up their form leading up to final day then lost their playoff final. They again give themselves a strong chance of promotion for 2020/21.

3) AFC WIMBLEDON

When AFC Wimbledon was formed, it affiliated to both the London and Surrey Football Associations, and entered the Premier Division of the Combined Counties League, the ninth tier of English football.

The club won promotion six times in 13 seasons, going from the ninth tier (Combined Counties Premier) to the third (League One).

AFC Wimbledon currently hold the record for the longest unbeaten run of league matches in English senior football, having played 78 consecutive league games without a defeat between February 2003 and December 2004.

They are the first club formed in the 21st century to make it into the Football League.

2) FLEETWOOD TOWN

Successive promotions as North West Counties League champions in 2005 and Northern Premier League First Division runners-up in 2006 saw the club reach the Northern Premier League Premier Division.

The 2007–08 season Fleetwood won the Northern Premier League, gaining promotion to the Conference North.

In the 2009–10 the Cod Army won promotion to the Football Conference by beating Alfreton Town 2–1 in the playoff final.

For the 2010–11 season they got as far the play-off semi-finals, against Wimbledon.

Fleetwood’s 2011–12 season was very successful. In the league Fleetwood went on a 29-game unbeaten run, and were declared champions with two games remaining, giving them promotion to the Football League for the first time.

Fleetwood had a good start to the 2012–13 season and had risen to 3rd in the league after 10 games. However Fleetwood only won 2 of the next 10 games slipping to 6th.

The 2013–14 season was another successful one. Having been in and around the automatic promotion places all season, the club narrowly missed out on automatic promotion finishing in 4th place.

After beating York City in the play-off semi-final, Fleetwood beat Burton Albion 1–0 from an Antoni Sarcevic free-kick in the play-off final at Wembley on 26 May to win promotion to League One for the first time.

1) AFC BOURNEMOUTH

In 2008 Bournemouth had 10 points deducted for entering administration and were relegated. In the 2008–09 Football League Two season they started with a 17 point deduction, but after narrowly avoiding relegation from the Football League that season, they were promoted to League One at the end of the following season.

The climb continued. After making the League One play-off semi-finals in 2010–11, and achieving a mid-table finish in 2011–12, Bournemouth won promotion to the Championship at the end of the 2012–13 season, putting them in the second tier of the league for only the second time in their history.

In the 2014–15 season, they won the Championship title, and earned promotion to the Premier League for the first time in their history.

2019-20 was the end of their top flight stay, getting relegated, Eddie Howe left and have struggled to make themselves promotion candidates in their first season back in the Championship 20-21.

Others worthy of a mention include Hereford who reformed in 2014 and had three promotions in their three seasons, crowned champions of the Midlands League Premier Division, then Southern League Division One South & West, and then Southern League Premier Division all under manager Peter Beadle before holding up in the National League North since then.

In 2012, Darlington were placed the Northern League Division One, crowned champions in 2012–13 with a club record haul of 122 points, having scored 145 goals in the process, gaining promotion to the Northern Premier League Division One North for the 2013–14 season. The following season saw them finish as Division One North runners-up, though lost in the play-off semi final to Ramsbottom. In 2014–15, Darlo again finished second, and won the play-off final 2–0 against Bamber Bridge. Darlington clinched their second successive promotion and the 2015–16 Northern Premier League Premier Division title in April 2016 after beating Whitby Town 7–1. However, the club were unable to make it three promotions in a row, as despite finishing in the National League North play-off positions in 2016–17, ground grading issues prevented their participation.

AFC Fylde have had plenty of success in their shirt history, winning eight promotions since 1988. They’ve gone from starting out in the West Lancashire Football League Division Two before then reaching the National League, before falling back to the National League North for 2020-21.

Dorking Wanderers formed in 1999 and played in the West Sussex League Division Four and won the division at the first attempt. In 2001–02 the club finished as Division Three runners-up, earning a third consecutive promotion. After winning Division Two in 2003–04 they were promoted to Division One, and a third-place finish in Division One in 2005–06 saw them promoted to the Premier Division. In 2006–07, they won the West Sussex League’s Premier Division and promoted to Div Three of the Sussex County League. They went on to win Div Three in 2010–11. A third-place finish in Div Two the following season was enough to see them promoted to Div One. Although the team initially struggled in Div One, finishing third-from-bottom in 2012–13, they finished second in 2014–15, earning promotion to Div One South of the Isthmian League. Their first season in the Isthmian League they finished as runners-up in Div One South, qualifying for the promotion play-offs, going on to lose 2–1 to Faversham in the semi-finals but the following season saw them finish second again; in the play-offs they beat Hastings on penalties in the semi-final after a 1–1 draw, and then won again on penalties against Corinthian-Casuals in the final following a 0–0 draw, earning promotion to the Premier Division. In 2018–19 the club won the Premier Division by a margin of 22 points, earning promotion to the National League South for their first time in history and that’s where they’ve been since.

There has also been success at Luton Town who have been promoted from League Two and One in successive seasons in 2017–18 and 2018–19, meaning the Hatters would play in the Championship for the first time since 2006–07. Luton had previously contested five years in non league football, including three unsuccessful play-off campaigns due to inconsistent performance and financial uncertainty meant that they rose and fell through the divisions from season to season, and in 2007 a collapse began that would result in three successive relegations.

Truro City
2005–06: South Western League – 1st
2006–07: Western League Division One – 2nd
2007–08: Western League Premier Division – 1st
2008–09: Southern League Division One South & West – 1st

Shaw Lane
2011–12: Sheffield & Hallam County Senior League Division 1 – 2nd
2012–13: Sheffield & Hallam County Senior League Premier Division – 1st
2013–14: Northern Counties East League Division 1 – 2nd
2014–15: Northern Counties East League Premier Division – 1st

Bromsgrove Sporting
2016–17: Midland Football League Division 1 – 1st
2017–18: Northern Football League Premier Division – 1st
2018–19: Southern Football League Division One Central – 1st

South Shields
2015–16: Northern Football League Division 2 – 1st
2016–17: Northern Football League Division 1 – 1st
2017–18: Northern Premier League Division One North – 1st

Kings Langley
2013–14: Spartan South Midlands Football League Division One – 2nd
2014–15: Spartan South Midlands Football League Premier Division – 1st
2015–16: Southern Football League Division One Central – 1st

Chester
2010–11: Northern Premier League Division One North – 1st
2011–12: Northern Premier League – 1st
2012–13: Conference North – 1st

FC United of Manchester
2005–06: North West Counties Football League Division Two – 1st
2006–07: North West Counties Football League Division One – 1st
2007–08: Northern Premier League Division One North – 2nd (playoffs)

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