All 72 EFL clubs ranked by AI from smallest to biggest | OneFootball

Football League World has consulted AI to rank EVERY club in the EFL from smallest to biggest...

The 2025-26 EFL regular season at all three levels has been completed, with just the play-offs remaining - as well as the National League final between Rochdale and Boreham Wood - to determine what clubs are where for the following campaign.

There's been some real surprises in the three leagues during the past nine months - Leicester City's back-to-back relegations is certainly one of them, whilst Bromley have made it to the third tier of English football for the very first time in their history.

But out of the 72 clubs that played in the EFL this season, who does AI think is the biggest and smallest? They have all been ranked from 72nd to 1st - let's take a look.

72 ? ? Bromley

As already mentioned, Bromley have made history in 2025-26 by winning promotion to League One for the very first time, with Andy Woodman working wonders in the dugout at Hayes Lane.

Given their quick rise though through non-league, having spent most of their known history at lower levels, AI believe the south London outfit are the smallest within the EFL, whilst also noting their small stadium as a factor too.

Another club that have been in non-league for a large amount of their history is Harrogate Town, reaching the EFL for the very first time in 2020 after two promotions in three years.

After six years punching above their weight though in League Two, with their highest finish being 13th in 2023-24, the Sulphurites have returned to the National League for next season, and AI has them as only ahead of Bromley in the size rankings for EFL clubs - perhaps due to their recent fourth tier campaigns.

Despite their Football League history earlier in their existence, Accrington Stanley's fall down the pyramid into the Lancashire Combination division, folding of the club and subsequent re-emergence and rise back up the leagues is a remarkable story.

It took Stanley just three years in the Conference to make it back to the EFL in 2006, and for 20 years now, the Lancashire outfit have remained in the top four tiers, and they were well and truly ahead of their size in League One between 2018 and 2023.

Back in League Two now though, Stanley have settled in the lower reaches of that division, and AI say that they're one of the 'least-resourced clubs in the EFL', as well as being famous mostly for the Milk Marketing Board advert in the 1980's and 1990's.

69 ? ? Barrow

Another northern club with Football League history prior to the 1970's, Barrow's recent times have been spent mainly in non-league, but in 2020, after 48 years away, the Cumbrian outfit returned to League Two.

Their stay in the EFL lasted six years, narrowly missing out on the play-offs in 2023-24 in their best fourth tier finish, but they'll spend 2026-27 back in the National League after a dismal most recent season.

And with their remote location and limited commercial reach, with even the first-team squad training in Manchester (nearly 100 miles away) on a daily basis, AI think Barrow only have three clubs behind them as the smallest in the EFL.

68 ? ? Newport County

Welsh football within the EFL system is in decent nick, with Wrexham, Swansea City and Cardiff City all set to play Championship football in 2026-27.

The forgotten team though is Newport County, who are another club who had to reform and go again after being expelled from the Conference in 1989, and after 24 years of work, the Exiles were back in League Two in 2013.

County have remained there ever since. Two play-off finals have been lost in that time, but there have been more relegation scares than promotion battles, including this past season, and AI believe with their modest crowds at Rodney Parade, Newport are 68th in the EFL size rankings.

A non-league club for much of their history, Crawley entered the EFL for the very first time in 2011, having stormed to the Conference title under the now well-known Steve Evans.

And despite four seasons at League One level in their 15 years of being in the professional ranks, AI still has the Sussex outfit - who narrowly escaped being relegated back to non-league this year - relatively low in the standings, given their 'small fanbase' and 'limited tradition'.

66 ? ? Cheltenham Town

The town is more famed for its horse racing than football, but Cheltenham climbed into the EFL for the very first time in 1999 - and bar one season where they dropped back into the National League, they have been there ever since.

The Robins have won three promotions to League One in that time, albeit they've never quite managed to stay there for too long, and they look very much like a mid-table fourth tier side now - their relative small Whaddon Road stadium also helps contribute to AI's thinking that Town are one of the smaller EFL clubs.

65 ? ? Fleetwood Town

For much of their history, Fleetwood Town have lurked in the shadows further up the Fylde coast from the bigger town of Blackpool, but after their quick ascent through non-league between 2005 and 2012, where they won five promotions in eight years, the Cod Army reached the EFL for the very first time.

Backed by the financing of the now-jailed Andy Pilley, it took Fleetwood only two years in League Two to reach the third tier, and they would lose in two play-off semi-finals in their 10-year League One stay, before dropping back into League Two.

Fleetwood have a small fanbase and have somewhat dropped back to being a mid-table League Two club, with their recent League One history perhaps putting them above clubs like Cheltenham in the standings.

Colchester United are very much an established EFL club, having only spent two recent years in non-league in the early 1990's, and they even rose to the lofty heights of the Championship for two years between 2006 and 2008.

The U's may be the highest-ranked club in Essex, but they're still relatively modest in the eyes of AI when it comes to EFL clubs in general, especially when it comes to crowd size - could a John Terry-led takeover help boost their profile.

63 ? ? Salford City

Like the recently mentioned Fleetwood, Salford City were a non-league club until very recently, and backed by the cash of Peter Lim and the profile of the Class of 92, four promotions in five years guided them to the EFL.

The Ammies have found it somewhat harder to push to the next level though having spent seven years in League Two trying to get to the third tier, and with AI noting the crowded Manchester market making sure their fanbase isn't exactly a large one, Salford are ranked as one of the smaller clubs in the EFL.