The only four Football League teams that have never played at new Wembley | OneFootball

As Wembley hosts football matches once again this weekend, the famous stadium remains the away day that every fan wants most.

These days, there are plenty of pathways there. Since 2008, semi-finals for the FA Cup have been held at the venue along with the final and the playoff final for Championship, League One and League Two is also there.

The League Cup is another opportunity with the final being held there, while the EFL Trophy, which is only open to teams in Leagues One and Two as well as U21 sides from the Premier League and Championship, has provided plenty of clubs with chances for a trip.

And yet despite all these routes, for some fans of current Football League clubs, their teams have never made it to Wembley since the refurbishment back in 2007, one of them has never made it in their entire history.

Here are the four clubs that have yet to grace the new Wembley pitch and just how close they have come.

Blackburn Rovers

First up is a former Premier League winner with Blackburn Rovers not reaching Wembley since the old one was torn down.

Blackburn have plenty of pedigree in cup finals having won the FA Cup six times but all but one of them was played at the Oval in the 1800s. Rovers’ most recent FA Cup success, in 1928, was their only win at Wembley.

As for the new venue, since Wembley was reopened in 2008, Blackburn has never been in the playoffs. They were relegated from the Premier League in the 2011–12 season and dropped down to League One in 2017 but came back up in the second automatic spot. Since then, Rovers have never finished higher than seventh in the Championship.

As for the cups, they came very close to contesting the first FA Cup final ever played at new Wembley, narrowly losing to Chelsea 2-1 in extra time of the semi-final in 2007.

In the League Cup, they have reached the quarters three times since new Wembley was opened, most recently in 2012, but have not gone past the fourth round since then. Their one season in the EFL Trophy saw them eliminated in the group stage.

Ipswich Town

With an FA Cup win and playoff final victory, some of Ipswich’s most famous days have come at Wembley but it has been a long time since the Tractor Boys parked up there.

That playoff victory back in 2000 was the final competitive match to be played at old Wembley and Ipswich have not come close to reaching the venue since then.

In the FA Cup, they reached the fifth round in 2024-25 but lost to Nottingham Forest on penalties. During Ipswich’s stint in League One, they never made it past the third round of the EFL Trophy.

Ipswich have come slightly closer in the League Cup and reached the semi-finals back in 2010–11, even beating Arsenal 1-0 in the home leg, but lost 3-0 at the Emirates.

Ipswich have only been in the playoffs once this century, losing to arch rivals Norwich City in the semi-finals. They could, however, be set for a Wembley date this season in the race for Championship promotion.

Colchester United

Not far from Ipswich is another team yet to reach new Wembley, Colchester United.

The Us, currently managed by the Cowley brothers, reached the fourth round of the FA Cup in 2015–16 but lost to Tottenham and have not reached the third round of the EFL Trophy since the famous arch was installed.

In the League Cup, they reached the quarter-finals in 2009–10 but lost to Manchester United and their best chance came in the 2019–20 season when they put together an unbeaten run of 15 matches. That form coincided with the league being suspended and then stopped due to COVID so Colchester finished in the final playoff spot but lost to Exeter in the semi-finals.

Although Colchester fans would have been glad that was not the year they made it because the final was played in an empty Wembley.

Accrington Stanley

Accrington Stanley are unique for they are the only Football League club to not only have not made it to new Wembley, the Reds have never played there at all.

In the cups, Accrington have reached the FA Cup fourth round three times since new Wembley was opened, most recently in 2022–23, but no further than that. In that same time, they have only reached the third round of the League Cup on one occasion.

The EFL Trophy has brought a little more joy, where they reached the semi-final in 2022–23 only to lose to Bolton but Accrington’s best chance of a Wembley date has been the playoffs.

Accrington have twice reached the League Two playoffs since 2007 but lost in the semi-finals both times. In 2011, they lost to Stevenage who went up and in 2016 they lost to Wimbledon who also went up.