100 seasons in the top divison: It’s time for us to hope history repeats itself
By Tony Attwood
Previously in this series:
We have recently noted that Arsenal have been in the top division for 100 consecutive seasons (the 2025/26 season being number 100). We have also noted that Everton are currently running a rather poor second having been in the top flight since 1954, a total of 69 consecutive seasons.
And while thinking of ports on the Irish Sea we might note that Liverpool’s current run started in 1962, giving them 61 consecutive seasons in the top flight.
As for Manchester United, their longest current run is 48 consecutive seasons, starting in 1976. Tottenham spent 1977–78 in the second tier, so they don’t come anywhere near the top teams for consecutive seasons.
And then having made that list, I started to wonder about near misses.
Since returning to the First Division in 1919/20, Arsenal have, as we recently noted, come 20th once in 1924/5 – a significant position since the 21st and 22nd clubs were relegated. This was the occasion when the manager Leslie Knighton, was sacked and replaced by Herbert Chapman. The following season, Arsenal came second.
The worst run in fact was in the 1970s when in 1974/5 Arsenal came 16th in the league, scoring just 47 goals in 42 games, and then the following season it was even worse with 17th, and going out of the FA Cup in the third round. It was not until the following campaign of 1976/7 that Arsenal recovered somewhat and ended up eighth. That season we had Malcom Macdonald in the team and he got 29 of the club’s 64 goals.
But that then started a run of 18 consecutive seasons of Arsenal finishing in the top half of the table, which only ended in 1994/5 when Arsenal came 12th. During that 18-year run of top-half finishes, Arsenal won the league twice, the FA Cup twice, the League Cup twice and the Cup Winners Cup once.
Then came 1994/5, the season George Graham finally called it a day. He left on 21 February 1995 with the league table showing Arsenal in 10th and with only 32 goals scored in 29 games. Here’s the top part of the table at that moment.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blackburn Rovers | 28 | 19 | 5 | 4 | 61 | 25 | 36 | 62 |
| 2 | Manchester United | 28 | 18 | 6 | 4 | 51 | 21 | 30 | 60 |
| 3 | Newcastle United | 28 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 47 | 30 | 17 | 51 |
| 4 | Liverpool | 27 | 13 | 9 | 5 | 46 | 22 | 24 | 48 |
| 5 | Nottingham Forest | 29 | 13 | 7 | 9 | 41 | 32 | 9 | 46 |
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur | 27 | 12 | 7 | 8 | 45 | 38 | 7 | 43 |
| 7 | Leeds United | 26 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 34 | 28 | 6 | 39 |
| 8 | Sheffield Wednesday | 29 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 38 | 38 | 0 | 39 |
| 9 | Aston Villa | 29 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 41 | 38 | 3 | 37 |
| 10 | Arsenal | 29 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 37 |
That departure of the manager only made things worse and Arsenal ended up 12th in the league, below such powerhouses as Wimbledon and QPR.
But 1994/5 was the last time that Arsenal finished outside the top ten in the first division – so we have had not only 100 years in the top league, but also 30 consecutive years in the top ten of the top league.
The lowest point in these 30 years were the two 8th place finishes following the reign of Emery as manager. But the era has also included the superb run of 1997/8 to 2004/5 which included winning the league three times and coming second five times.
And that last bit of detail shows the link with today. For in that run, Arsenal came second three seasons running (1998/9 to 2000/1). In the following seasons Arsenal won the league twice and came second twice.
Also in that run from 1997/8 to 2004/5, Arsenal won the FA Cup four times.
So 1998/9 to 2000/1 was the last time – in fact the only other time – Arsenal came second in the league three times running, and it was followed by two league titles and three FA Cup wins in the next four seasons.
I think it is time for a bit of hoping that history repeats itself.