English Football Hall Of Fame

Imagine it's 1888 and you are the new Football League consisting of twelve football clubs from the North of England, and you decide to have a hall of fame board on the wall that every year will be updated with a new team name. Many such boards would simply list the champions of each season, so some clubs would appear over and over if they have won the title many times. For your hall of fame board however you decide it would be fairer to list each team once and only once, allowing more teams to make an appearance on the board over time, and making each team perpetually ineligible for future listing after they get listed on the board the first time. Preston North End get recorded on your board in 1889 as the inaugural champions, but when they win their second title on the trot in 1890 you instead list the runners up Everton on the board. In 1891 Everton win the title and Preston North End are runners up, so this time you list third place team Notts County on the board. This continues season by season until the present day, and the following list is what the entirety of the board would look like today.

In the era of parallel Division Threes (North and South) the same position in each Division Three is considered to be equal and thus there are a couple of seasons when two clubs, one from each Division Three, are listed. As I write this in 2025 we are perhaps 10-15 years or so from the listing descending as far as National League North and National League South, when it will once again be potentially possible to list two clubs in one season. So called 'phoenix clubs' are treated as a separate entity to the previous club of the same or a similar name, and are thus eligible for list even when the earlier incarnation of the club is already on the list. Cases where both versions of the club are listed are indicated with a asterisk next to the phoenixed version.

English Football League hall of fame

1889 – Preston North End – 1st in Football League
1890 – Everton – 2nd in Football League
1891 – Notts County – 3rd in Football League
1892 – Sunderland – 1st in Football League
1893 – Aston Villa – 4th in Division One
1894 – Derby County – 3rd in Division One
1895 – Blackburn Rovers – 5th in Division One
1896 – Bolton Wanderers – 4th in Division One
1897 – Sheffield United – 2nd in Division One
1898 – Wolverhampton Wanderers – 3rd in Division One
1899 – Liverpool – 2nd in Division One
1900 – Newcastle United – 5th in Division One
1901 – Nottingham Forest – 4th in Division One/
1902 – Bury – 7th in Division One
1903 – Stoke – 6th in Division One
1904 – Sheffield Wednesday – 1st in Division One
1905 – Manchester City – 3rd in Division One
1906 – Birmingham City – 7th in Division One
1907 – Bristol City – 2nd in Division One
1908 – Manchester United – 1st in Division One
1909 – Woolwich Arsenal – 6th in Division One
1910 – Bradford City – 7th in Division One
1911 – Oldham Athletic – 7th in Division One
1912 – Middlesbrough – 7th in Division One
1913 – West Bromwich Albion – 10th in Division One
1914 – Chelsea – 8th in Division One
1915 – Burnley – 4th in Division One

1920 – Bradford Park Avenue – 11th in Division One
1921 – Tottenham Hotspur – 6th in Division One
1922 – Cardiff City – 4th in Division One
1923 – Huddersfield Town – 3rd in Division One
1924 – West Ham United – 13th in Division One
1925 – Leeds United – 18th in Division One
1926 – Leicester City – 17th in Division One
1927 – Portsmouth – 2nd in Division Two
1928 – Swansea Town – 5th in Division Two
1929 – Grimsby Town – 2nd in Division Two
1930 – Blackpool – 1st in Division Two
1931 – Port Vale – 5th in Division Two
1932 – Plymouth Argyle – 4th in Division Two
1933 – Fulham – 3rd in Division Two
1934 – Brentford – 4th in Division Two
1935 – Hull City – 13th in Division Two
1936 – Charlton Athletic – 2nd in Division Two
1937 – Coventry City – 8th in Division Two
1938 – Chesterfield – 11th in Division Two
1939 – Luton Town – 7th in Division Two

1947 – Barnsley – 10th in Division Two
1948 – Southampton – 3rd in Division Two
1949 – Q.P.R. – 13th in Division Two
1950 – Doncaster Rovers – 1st in Division Three North
1951 – Rotherham United – 1st in Division Three North
1952 – Lincoln City – 1st in Division Three North
1953 – Bristol Rovers – 1st in Division Three South
1954 – Ipswich Town – 1st in Division Three South
1955 – Accrington Stanley – 2nd in Division Three North, Leyton Orient – 2nd in Division Three South
1956 – Brighton & Hove Albion – 2nd in Division Three South
1957 – Hartlepool United – 2nd in Division Three North, Torquay United – 2nd in Division Three South
1958 – Scunthorpe United – 1st in Division Three North
1959 – Norwich City – 4th in Division Three
1960 – Shrewsbury Town – 3rd in Division Three
1961 – Walsall – 2nd in Division Three
1962 – Bournemouth – 3rd in Division Three
1963 – Northampton Town – 1st in Division Three
1964 – Swindon Town – 14th In Division Two
1965 – Crystal Palace – 7th in Division Two
1966 – Carlisle United – 14th in Division Two
1967 – Millwall – 8th in Division Two
1968 – Oxford United – 1st in Division Three
1969 – Watford – 1st in Division Three
1970 – Mansfield Town – 6th in Division Three
1971 – Halifax Town – 3rd in Division Three
1972 – Wrexham – 16th in Division Three
1973 – Tranmere Rovers – 10th in Division Three
1974 – York City – 3rd in Division Three
1975 – Peterborough United – 7th in Division Three
1976 – Hereford United – 1st in Division Three
1977 – Gillingham – 12th in Division Three
1978 – Cambridge United – 2nd in Division Three
1979 – Colchester United – 7th in Division Three
1980 – Reading – 7th in Division Three
1981 – Exeter City – 11th in Division Three
1982 – Southend United – 7th in Division Three
1983 – Newport County – 4th in Division Three
1984 – Wimbledon – 2nd in Division Three
1985 – Wigan Athletic – 16th in Division Three
1986 – Darlington – 13th in Division Three
1987 – Chester City – 15th in Division Three
1988 – Aldershot – 20th in Division Three
1989 – Crewe Alexandra – 3rd in Division Four
1990 – Stockport County – 4th in Division Four
1991 – Sacrborough – 9th in Division Four
1992 – Barnet – 7th in Division Four
1993 – Rochdale – 11th in Division Three
1994 – Wycombe Wanders – 4th in Division Three
1995 – Macclesfield Town – 1st in Conference
1996 – Stevenage Borough – 1st in Conference
1997 – Kidderminster Harriers – 2nd in Conference
1998 – Cheltenham Town – 2nd in Conference
1999 – Kettering Town – 2nd in Conference
2000 – Rushden & Diamonds – 2nd in Conference
2001 – Yeovil Town – 2nd in Conference
2002 – Boston United – 1st in Conference
2003 – Morecambe – 2nd in Conference
2004 – Aldershot Town* - 5th in Conference
2005 – Woking – 8th in Conference National
2006 – Accrington Stanley* - 1st in Conference National
2007 – Dagenham & Redbridge – 1st in Conference National
2008 – Burton Albion – 5th in Conference Premier
2009 – Histon – 3rd in Conference Premier
2010 – Crawley Town – 7th in Conference Premier
2011 – AFC Wimbledon* - 2nd in Conference Premier
2012 – Fleetwood Town – 1st in Conference Premier
2013 – Newport County* - 3rd in Conference Premier
2014 – Gateshead – 3rd in Conference Premier
2015 – Eastleigh – 4th in Conference Premier
2016 – Forest Green Rovers – 2nd in National League
2017 – Dover Athletic – 6th in National League
2018 – Sutton United – 3rd in National League
2019 – Solihull Moors – 2nd in National League
2020 – Salford City – 11th in League Two
2021 – Harrogate Town – 17th in League Two
2022 – Barrow – 22nd in League Two
2023 – Boreham Wood – 6th in National League
2024 – Bromley – 3rd in National League
2025 – FC Halifax Town* - 4th-6th in National League