This is a list of association football clubs with multiple consecutive promotions or relegations.
For an
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
club to achieve three consecutive
promotions is somewhat rare, to achieve subsequent further promotions even rarer. Many football league systems are organised in a pyramid system, allowing league champions and, in many cases, clubs placed immediately behind the champions to achieve promotion, either directly or through a play-off system. To achieve three or more promotions all as league champions, like the now defunct
Gretna did from 2004 to 2007, or
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
did from 2010 to 2013 is exceptional.
It is comparably easier for a club to achieve three consecutive relegations, as no particular effort is required. In professional football and, to a lesser extent, in semi-professional and amateur football, this is often caused by financial trouble.
A club that achieves promotion, followed by immediate relegation and a subsequent repeat of this cycle is often described as a
Yo-yo club
A yo-yo club is a sporting side that is regularly promoted and relegated. The phrase is most typically used in association football in the United Kingdom, especially in reference to promotion to and relegation from the Premier League.
The name ...
.
[Up and Down!]
RSSSF.com, accessed: 4 October 2011
Note:
* Dissolved and reformed clubs, and clubs relegated due to financial irregularities are not included in this list.
Clubs
The list is sorted by number of promotions or relegations followed by the alphabetical order of location:
Promotions
Clubs with three or more consecutive promotions:
Relegations
Clubs with three or more consecutive relegations:
Promotions and relegations
Yo-yo clubs, meaning clubs that consecutively bounce between two leagues and have, in the process, switched leagues five or more times:
Promotions and/or relegations
Clubs with four or more consecutive promotions and/or relegations, spread over three or more divisions:
Notes
References
{{Reflist
Association football club records and statistics