11 EFL clubs who have never won a league title in their history | OneFootball

There are 72 clubs in the EFL divisions in 2026-27 - but only a select few haven't tasted title glory with in the top four divisions

At the start of every single EFL season, the aim and dreams of every club is to walk away with the title of the league they are contesting - that isn't so realistic for everyone though.

When it comes to the 72 clubs that are spread across the Championship, League One and League Two though, only a handful can say that they've not tasted the glory of winning the title of any of the top four divisions in the English pyramid.

But who are the 11 clubs across the EFL divisions that have not won a championship title at League Two level or above? FLW takes a look at those teams, and whether or not they could end their hoodoo in 2026-27...

AFC Wimbledon

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No-one knew how the founding of AFC Wimbledon was going to go following Wimbledon FC's demise in the early 2000's, but backed by thousands of watching fans from the get-go, but starting off in the Combined Counties League Premier Division, they won five promotions in just nine seasons to reach the EFL in 2011.

It was a remarkable rise for the Dons, and since they reached the EFL, they've not only never left it, but also returned to the rebuilt Plough Lane home that the original Wimbledon side used to called home in what was a real feel-good moment.

Since they made it to the EFL, the Wombles have been promoted twice from League Two, but both of those occasions were through the play-offs, meaning they're yet to win a league title in the top four divisions, and you get the sense that after finishing 19th in League One in 2025-26, they likely won't be troubling the top two of what looks like a very competitive upcoming third tier year.

Barnet

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Having won the National League title in 2025, Barnet's return to League Two was an incredibly promising one, with an eighth-placed finish a big achievement for Dean Brennan and co.

That fifth tier title though is the highest level that the Bees have triumphed at though - they've only been at third tier level once in their entire history, which was in the 1993-94 season, which was just a handful of years after they first reached the EFL, and that promotion was won via finishing third in the old Fourth Division.

Could Barnet land their first ever EFL championship in 2026-27 though? Brennan's cause has not exactly been helped with the loss of free-scoring striker Callum Stead, as well as other first-team regulars like Ryan Glover and Mark Shelton, but if they are replaced with a similar level of quality, then they could be right up there.

Colchester United

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Bar a couple of years in non-league, Colchester United have been an EFL mainstay since the early 1950's, and they well and truly peaked between 2006 and 2008 when they reached the Championship for the very first time.

That second tier era did not last very long though, and for the last 10 years, the U's have been a League Two mainstay, and have rarely threatened getting out of the division on an upward trajectory.

United have won a Conference title in 1992, but they're still yet to claim an EFL championship of any level, and they may need a takeover to bolster their chances of that - one involving England and Chelsea icon John Terry recently fell through.

You won't get many more experienced managers at fourth tier level though than Danny Cowley, and if anyone can guide them to not only a promotion, but a League Two title, then it's him.

Crawley Town

Crawley Town first became an EFL club in 2011 by blasting through the Conference with a 105-point haul under Steve Evans' management - and they made it a second promotion in succession a year later by finishing third in League Two.

The Sussex outfit have only won promotion from League Two once more since then, and that was via the play-offs, so they have been unable to land themselves a title within the top four divisions in their time within the EFL system.

One positive is that they are yet to drop back into non-league since jumping out of it, although they almost succumbed to relegation in 2025-26, and ex-EFL striker Colin Kazim-Richards was subsequently confirmed as their manager for next season after a short stint as Red Devils boss at the back end of the campaign.

It could be another year of struggle though given ex-Türkiye international Kazim-Richards' inexperience, so it would be a massive shock if Town were to win their first EFL title next year.

Crewe Alexandra

Crewe Alexandra's academy system was once the envy of the EFL, but there's been a bit of a bleak feeling around Gresty Road in recent years.

Briefly an EFL club in the 1890's before returning to the system in 1921, the Railwaymen have never been a non-league club since, and the five years between 1997 and 2002 where they were a second tier outfit were the glory days of their existence.

Crewe have spent the last four years in League Two though, having lost the play-off final in 2024, but based on a 10th-placed finish in 2025-26, there's a small chance that they could make it back to League One for the first time since 2022 - a first title win however feels a long way away unless some more gems come through the academy like they were doing in the late 1990s, but that feels unlikely given they've recently downgraded to Category Three.

Fleetwood Town

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A non-league team for the entirety of their history until 2012, Fleetwood Town climbed through the divisions from 2005 onwards, winning five promotions from the North West Counties system to the EFL in what seemed like a rags to riches story.

They were funded by the ill-fated Andy Pilley, who managed to bring Jamie Vardy to the club and he fired the Cod Army to the EFL in his last act for the club before his move to Leicester, and just two years into their fourth tier history, the Lancashire outfit were on the move again - this time into League One.

That was via the play-offs though, and after 10 years at third tier level, Town dropped back into League Two in 2024, and in the two years that they have been back, they have not been close to challenging at the top end of the table.

Cash isn't flowing as much as it was in Fleetwood's glory days of the early 2010's, and that will mean a first EFL championship title feels a million miles away.

Newport County

Of Wales' four current EFL representatives - Cardiff City, Swansea, Wrexham AFC and Newport - the Exiles are the only ones to have never lifted a professional title, having spent much of their existence in the third and fourth-tiers.

Newport's 114-year history has been a rollercoaster journey, which saw the East Wales outfit even make it as high as the then-Second DIvision after World War II before going on to win the Welsh Cup in 1980.

At the time, that handed Welsh sides an otherwise-improbable entrance into European competition and County would enjoy a remarkable run to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup Winner's Cup, narrowly losing out to eventual finalists Carl Zeiss-Jena of East Germany - who had already defeated both Roma and Valencia.

That was as good as it ever got for Newport, though. The 1980s brought on financial turmoil that would leave Newport out of business in 1989 - prompting the club to reform and providing the inspiration for their 'Exiles' nickname - though they've since rebuilt and eventually made it out of the non-league game to end a 25-year absence from the EFL in 2012.

These days, Newport are regular battlers against relegation and, after only dodging the drop on the final day of last season, the focus of current boss and ex-Leicester City title-winning defender Christian Fuchs will simply be on avoiding another dogfight as opposed to breaking the Exiles' perennial silverware duck.

Rochdale

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Rochdale, by contrast, have endured a more uneventful history than most, the majority of which has also been played out at third and fourth-tier level.

Founded in 1907, the Greater Manchester side have often paled in comparison to geographical compatriots and set a staggering - though perhaps unwanted - record of spending 36 successive years in the fourth-tier from 1974 to 2010 before heading up to League One with a third-placed finish under Keith Hill.

A further 37 years of Dale's history has taken place in the third-tier, and they will hold ambitions of eventually returning to that level after bringing a first-ever three-year stint outside the EFL to an end by winning the National League play-offs in May.

For now, at least, Rochdale will need to consolidate back in League Two under fresh stewardship before competing for a return to League One, having appointed Ian Watson to replace Jimmy McNulty after he succeeded Dave Challinor at Stockport County.

Salford City

Salford City's lack of real history and heritage is often pointed out by rival League Two supporters, and it's no surprise that the Ammies are one of eleven EFL outfits to have never won a league title above the National League North.

Only founded in 1940, City initially went by the name of Salford Central before adopting their current name in 1989. Some 25 years later, everything would change when the 'Class of 92' - fronted by Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Phil Neville and Paul Scholes at the time - acquired the club, and increased exposure and bankrolling would see Salford gain four promotions in the next five seasons to reach the EFL for the first time ever in 2019.

Salford have now spent the last seven seasons in League Two and recorded an all-time highest league finish last time out by winding up in fourth position before losing the play-off final to Notts County.

Stevenage

Founded considerably later in 1976, though with a rise borne from footballing merit as opposed to the deep pockets of some of 'Fergie's Fledglings', Stevenage's divisional history is mixed and Boro have enjoyed 16 seasons in the fifth-tier, 13 in League Two and a further three in League One, only turning professional in 1994.

The Hertfordshire-based outfit gained a first promotion to League Two in 2010, having previously been denied entrance to the Football League some 14 years prior owing to insufficient ground facilities, and immediately won the fourth-tier play-offs to make it from the fifth-tier to League One within two seasons.

Stevenage's stunning rise continued with a run to the League One play-offs straight after, although a subsequent squad exodus slammed the brakes on Boro's journey and preceded relegation back to League Two, where they would spend nine years before returning as runners-up in 2023.

They have been steadily building ever since, and matched their all-time highest league finish by breaking into the top-six against all odds under Alex Revell last time out.