English football clubs which have risen and fallen the most
Peaks and Troughs
In 2010, Blackpool FC became the first club to win promotion across all tiers via play-offs and feature in the Premier League. By 2016, they had fallen to the 4th or the bottom-most professional tier of English football, entering receivership three years later.
There have been other interesting stories of the same vein, except that the highs have been higher and the lows lower. TotalFootball recaps.
Biggest Rise
Let us start with the biggest possible rise, from outside the First Division (now Premier League) to European Champion! This distinction belongs to Nottingham Forest, who, at the time of writing were in the Championship, but were promoted to the Premier League for the first time this century, in 2022/23 season, after a 23-year absence.
Their extra-ordinary 4-year run, which remains unmatched in English football, was both historic and meteoric.
- 1976/77 — Promotion to First Division
- 1977/78 — First Division Champion
- 1978/79 — European Champion
- 1979/80 — European Champion
