It goes without saying that association football is the most popular sport in the United Kingdom, and it isn’t even close. Although the likes of tennis and cricket might feel more quintessentially English, it is football that has grown to become the biggest sport in the country by a mile.
In spite of these, there are still some cities that have never been able to boast a Premier League team, even though the likes of Cardiff and Swansea in Wales have had teams play in the English top-flight. The question is, which are the biggest cities that haven’t yet seen Premier League football played there?
Bristol
When you think of the biggest cities in England, you will doubtless think of the likes of London, Liverpool and Birmingham. What you might not think of is Bristol, in spite of the fact that it is the country’s eighth-largest city. Bristol has long been represented by teams in all of the major sports, such as the Bristol Bears in rugby union and Gloucestershire County Cricket Club being based in the city. Football-wise, Bristol Rovers is the oldest team, having been formed in 1888, whilst Bristol City was formed 11 years later. There is obviously a fierce rivalry between the two sides.
Although Bristol City did play First Division football and it is always important to remember that football wasn’t invented in 1992, neither team has managed to make it into the Premier League. The Robins did make it to the Championship play-offs at the end of the 2024-2025 campaign, but a 6-0 aggregate loss to Sheffield United put paid to any dreams of making it any further. They had previously made it to the play-off final in 2008, losing to Hull City. Given its population of 480,000, it is easily the biggest city in England not to have welcomed Premier League football at some point.
Milton Keynes
It is fair to say that Milton Keynes’ relationship with association football is mixed at best. Although the city’s ever-growing population would put it on any list regarding the ‘biggest’ in the country, it is still a relatively young location and that shows. It was only founded in 1967 when the government decided that new towns were needed in the south-east of England in order to relieve the congestion of London, but it took until 2004 before a football team worthy of the name arrived in the area. Even then, it wasn’t native to Milton Keynes, having left London for the area.
That team was, of course, the MK Dons, which had been Wimbledon prior to the decision to depart South London for pastures new. That means that the issue is open to some debate, given the fact that Wimbledon did play Premier League football. It was prior to the relocation, however, so no Premier League football was actually played in Milton Keynes. Not only that, but the two clubs are considered to be entirely different entities, so there is no reason to consider the MK Dons as ever having been a top-flight side. They have played in every tier except the Premier League, though, so you never know.
Doncaster
‘Donny’, as it is known to locals, was named one of eight new cities created to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022. Given the fact that there are around 320,000 people living in the city, it is no surprise that it makes this list of biggest cities never to have welcomed a Premier League team. It is Doncaster Rovers that represent the city’s best hopes of seeing Premier League football, even if they are unlikely. Had the team played in the Premier League prior to 2022, you could still suggest that Doncaster as a city hadn’t seen top-flight football, given it wasn’t a city until then.
The club had been playing in League One, but at the end of the 2021-2022 campaign, they were relegated down to League Two. In the 2023-2024 season, the club made it to the semi-finals of the play-offs, but they lost the two-legged tie and hopes of promotion were scuppered. That changed in 2024-2025, thanks to the fact that the club won the League Two title at the end of the season and were promoted into League One automatically. Even so, any hopes of Premier League football arriving in the South Yorkshire city any time soon are little more than pipe dreams.
Salford
If you want a debate around whether or not a city has seen Premier League football, then Salford might be the right place to start. There is a strong argument that Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United, is actually based in Salford rather than Manchester, thanks to the location of the stadium. As a city, Salford pales in comparison to its neighbour, boasting a population of less than 300,000 and often being lumped in with Manchester by people who don’t know any better. There might well be a future for Salford City in the Premier League at some point in the future, though.
The ‘Class of ’92’ players of Phil Neville, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt were the owners of the club until Gary Neville and David Beckham formed a consortium to take it over, with the quartet of their former teammates remaining as part of the club’s plans in other roles. The takeover means that the long-term aim of getting the club into the Premier League might one day prove to be a reality, with as many as nine shareholders making up the new ownership consortium and planning to put their money as well as their expertise into getting Salford City to the top.
The Others
There are other cities in England that haven’t seen Premier League football played there, with the following being a list looking at the main ones:
- Plymouth
- Preston
- Peterborough
- York
- Southend-on-Sea
- Oxford
- Exeter
- Colchester
- Wells
- Salisbury
- Wakefield
- Bath
- Worcester