100 consecutive seasons in the top league: 1919 to 2026. The full index of articles covering the complete period is published here
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By Tony Attwood
In 1930/31 Arsenal won the league for the first time. But I wondered what happened in the following season, and not just then but in other “following seasons”.
In fact after winning the league in 1931, Arsenal came runners-up in both the FA Cup and the League in the next campaign – 1931/32.
But then Arsenal won the league again in 1933 – and followed that up with league titles in 1934 and 1935. But in 1936 they came sixth (perhaps distracted by winning the FA Cup)
Arsenal’s record…
| Season | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1930–31 | 42 | 28 | 10 | 4 | 127 | 59 | 1 |
| 1931–32 | 42 | 22 | 10 | 10 | 90 | 48 | 2 |
| 1932–33 | 42 | 25 | 8 | 9 | 118 | 61 | 1 |
| 1933–34 | 42 | 25 | 9 | 8 | 75 | 47 | 1 |
| 1934–35 | 42 | 23 | 12 | 7 | 115 | 46 | 1 |
| 1935–36 | 42 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 78 | 48 | 6 |
| 1937–38 | 42 | 21 | 10 | 11 | 77 | 44 | 1 |
| 1938–39 | 42 | 19 | 9 | 14 | 55 | 41 | 5 |
| 1947–48 | 42 | 23 | 13 | 6 | 81 | 32 | 1 |
| 1948–49 | 42 | 18 | 13 | 11 | 74 | 44 | 5 |
| 1952–53 | 42 | 21 | 12 | 9 | 97 | 64 | 1 |
| 1953–54 | 42 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 75 | 73 | 12 |
| 1970–71 | 42 | 29 | 7 | 6 | 71 | 29 | 1 |
| 1971–72 | 42 | 22 | 8 | 12 | 58 | 40 | 5 |
| 1988–89 | 38 | 22 | 10 | 6 | 73 | 36 | 1 |
| 1989–90 | 38 | 18 | 8 | 12 | 54 | 38 | 4 |
| 1990–91 | 38 | 24 | 13 | 1 | 74 | 18 | 1 |
| 1991–92 | 42 | 19 | 15 | 8 | 81 | 46 | 4 |
| 1997–98 | 38 | 23 | 9 | 6 | 68 | 33 | 1 |
| 1998–99 | 38 | 22 | 12 | 4 | 59 | 17 | 2 |
| 2001–02 | 38 | 26 | 9 | 3 | 79 | 36 | 1 |
| 2002–03 | 38 | 23 | 9 | 6 | 85 | 42 | 2 |
| 2003–04 | 38 | 26 | 12 | 0 | 73 | 26 | 1 |
| 2004–05 | 38 | 25 | 8 | 5 | 87 | 36 | 2 |
| 2022-23 | 38 | 26 | 6 | 6 | 88 | 43 | 2 |
| 2023-24 | 38 | 28 | 5 | 5 | 91 | 29 | 2 |
| 2024-25 | 38 | 20 | 14 | 4 | 69 | 34 | 2 |
| 2025–26 | 38 | 26 | 7 | 5 | 71 | 27 | 1 |
Across this run of seasons Arsenal have come
- First, twice
- Second, four times
- Fourth, twice
- Fifth, three times
- Sixth, once
- Twelfth, once
So clearly on the basis of history, the most likely position for Arsenal next season will be second. And of course this likelihood is increased by the fact that Manchester City have not been punished in any way for their 110+ breaches of the regulations, and have a new manager who will be anxious to show that he too can win the league just like his predecessor.
What the figures do show, however, is that winning the league, even by the margin of seven points and a better goal difference, is not a guarantee of winning it again the next season. In fact, historically the most likely outcome is that Arsenal will come runners-up.
Of course the point here is that winning the league involves not only the winning team having done better than all the other teams, it also can involve one or two teams that did poorly in the previous season, now coming good.
Last season’s top five clubs all qualified for the Champions League, league phase, thus avoiding the preliminary rounds.
Now of course, all of the teams have had the chance to buy new players during the summer, but trying to take that into account at this stage can be very difficult, especially given that we still have no idea if any punishment or restriction is going to be placed on Manchester City following the guilty verdicts in over 110 cases of financial irregularity last season.
So here’s final table…
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 38 | 26 | 7 | 5 | 71 | 27 | +44 | 85 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 38 | 23 | 9 | 6 | 77 | 35 | +42 | 78 |
| 3 | Manchester United | 38 | 20 | 11 | 7 | 69 | 50 | +19 | 71 |
| 4 | Aston Villa | 38 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 56 | 49 | +7 | 65 |
| 5 | Liverpool | 38 | 17 | 9 | 12 | 63 | 53 | +10 | 60 |
Looked at afresh, the first thing we can note is that the goal difference of the top two was much greater than that of the next three, and this was caused by a combination of both goals scored and goals conceded.
Now what we can do is compare this with the season before
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 38 | 25 | 9 | 4 | 86 | 41 | +45 | 84 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 38 | 20 | 14 | 4 | 69 | 34 | +35 | 74 |
| 3 | Manchester City | 38 | 21 | 8 | 9 | 72 | 44 | +28 | 71 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 38 | 20 | 9 | 9 | 64 | 43 | +21 | 69 |
| 5 | Newcastle United | 38 | 20 | 6 | 12 | 68 | 47 | +21 | 66 |
Now the figures are by no means identical, but there is a similarity of pattern. This past season the top three clubs got 84, 74, 71 points and the season before it was 85, 78, 71. And given the variance there can be over the years, this is a notable similarity.
But we can also note that only three of the five appear in the top spots on both occasions. So the theory would appear to suggest that there is, at least of late, some movement in terms of which clubs make the top five, and some movement in the number of points, but it is perhaps not as great as one might imagine.
Taking ourselves back one more year we have further evidence of the pattern.
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester City | 38 | 28 | 7 | 3 | 96 | 34 | +62 | 91 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 38 | 28 | 5 | 5 | 91 | 29 | +62 | 89 |
| 3 | Liverpool | 38 | 24 | 10 | 4 | 86 | 41 | +45 | 82 |
| 4 | Aston Villa | 38 | 20 | 8 | 10 | 76 | 61 | +15 | 68 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 38 | 20 | 6 | 12 | 74 | 61 | +13 | 66 |
Indeed, we can create an appearance in the top five table which reads
- Arsenal: 3
- Manchester City: 3
- Liverpool 3
- Aston Villa: 2
- Chelsea: 1
- Tottenham Hots: 1
- Mancheseter United 1
- Newcastle United: 1
So we have three teams always in the top five throughout this era, just one that has made it twice and four teams that have achieved a top five place just once.
Of course every team wants to see itself as a regular in the top group, because that makes it easier to attract top players – it is a sort of “come to us and at least you’ll play in the top European competition,” and quite possibly win something. That message is much harder to put across when, although the club’s name is significant and known across Europe, it has only one top-five finish in the past three seasons. (Chelsea, Totts, ManU, Newcastle…)
