The city of Bristol’s history of football is incredibly bad.

Like many other big conurbations in England, it has two professional football clubs, City and Bristol Rovers.

Neither of them has won a major trophy and combined, have only spent nine seasons in the top division (all Bristol City).

The Robins have the distinction of finishing second in their first-ever season in the First Division in 1907.

They became only the second team from the south in the top division after Arsenal (then known as Woolwich Arsenal).

The team stuck together for the entirety of their first stint in the top tier including a trip to the 1909 FA Cup final which they lost to Manchester United.

Their team consisted of club legends Sam Gilligan, Fred Staniforth, Billy Wedlock, and top scorer Billy Maxwell.

Their season didn’t start so well but a brilliant 13-match unbeaten run commenced in November.

Their startling season almost came to a halt as they lost three matches in a row including a 3-0 defeat to eventual champions Newcastle United in late March.

However, they picked themselves up and won their remaining four fixtures to finish second three points behind the Magpies.

This would be the apex of Bristol City’s history they would be relegated five years later and wouldn’t return until the late 70’s.

The history books will always look fondly on this team, which became the first southern team to finish in the top two of the First Division.

By all accounts, Charlton Athletic are one of the more surprising teams on this list.

They joined the Football League like many teams in the 1920s post-WWI but didn’t move up to the top division until 1936.

London became a hotbed of football in the 1930s.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and West Ham all established themselves in the top division, even Brentford joined in on the act.

The Addicks joined the party and marched to second place in the league under the guidance of legendary manager Jimmy Seed.

They would lose the title by three points to Manchester City despite drawing both their games against the champions.

They finished above former neighbours and four-times champions that decade, Arsenal in a brilliant first-ever season in the top tier.

The success continued finishing fourth a season later and third in 1939 before the outbreak of war.

Post-war Seed took the Addicks to two FA Cup finals in a row losing to Derby County but beating Burnley to win their sole major trophy.

Leeds United were born from the ashes of the old Leeds City in 1920.

They were never really contenders, up to that point, but their promotion in 1964 under celebrated manager Don Revie saw the start of the mighty Leeds era.

They won their first three games including a 4-2 victory over reigning champions Liverpool.

Then in October, they won six in a row including big wins against Tottenham, Burnley and Everton all champions in the previous five years.

They would lose one game against West Ham and then go on a wild 18-game unbeaten run into April when they would lose 1-0 against Sir Matt Busby’s Manchester United.

The Red Devils would be the eventual champions, but Leeds came ever so close.

They both finished on 61 points with Leeds missing out on goal average the title-deciding factor back in the day.

Goal average is the number of goals scored divided by the number of goals conceded, this had happened three times previously and the rule was changed to goal difference ten years later as it seemed more logical.

In effect, Leeds lost because they conceded 20 more goals than Manchester United and scored six less.

They beat Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-finals but would lose to Liverpool in their first-ever final.

Under Don Revie, the likes of Norman Hunter, Jack Charlton, Billy Bremner and Johnny Giles entertained Elland Road and the Yorkshire masses for a decade winning two league titles and an FA Cup.

They reached the European Cup final in 1975, losing to Bayern Munich in a game some fans still say was fixed by UEFA.

A long time ago, before all the money, Manchester City was embroiled in another financial scandal.

They were caught overpaying their players in the early 1900s when the Football League, as punishment, forced them to auction off said players, eventually getting them relegated.

That squad hosted the first City superstar, Billy Meredith.

The Welshman was a brilliant winger redefining the term into what we know it today, his exhilarating play made him a favourite in Wales and Manchester, and he was sold to Manchester United along with four other players in the auction.

City played their part in a magnificent title race which could have seen up to five clubs become champions.

Sheffield Wednesday did win the league for the second season in a row, whilst City fought off Everton, Aston Villa and Newcastle United for second place.

They beat Sheffield Wednesday in a remarkable run in the FA Cup reaching their first-ever final against Bolton Wanderers, winning 1-0 courtesy of Meredith.

They unfortunately lost their final game of the season to Everton two days later, which confirmed they lost the league by three points to the Owls.

The next season they would continue to dazzle the crowds finishing third this time only two points behind Newcastle with Everton sandwiched in the middle and Villa breathing down all their necks.

The good, exciting, times ended there, Meredith blew the whistle, was suspended from football for his part in breaking the wage cap and City sold most of their players to United.

Meredith would win the FA Cup again this time with United and he would help the Red Devils win the league title twice before WWI.

The unusual thing about Everton’s “surprise” title win in 1932 is that their team had won the league four years prior in 1928.

They had an awful season in 1930 that relegated them only to bounce back and reach the top two years later.

Even this new campaign brought some abnormality including only four draws all season in the league, and huge wins 8-1 versus Newcastle and 9-3 against Sheffield Wednesday.

This would be followed by another 9-2 against Leicester City and a 7-2 against Chelsea.

Top scorer and legendary striker Dixie Dean scored 44 goals during the campaign.

Despite losing both games against reigning champions Arsenal they did the double in the Merseyside derby.

They would go on a terrible run from December through to February where they lost six times before going on a ten-game unbeaten run.

They crawled over the line winning only one of their remaining four fixtures to win the league by two points over Arsenal.

Manager Thomas McIntosh would win the FA Cup a few years later before passing away from cancer.

Everton would win a fifth league title just before the war started.

Tottenham had spent the last 15 years in the second division, thanks in part to WWII forcing a break of six years in the process.

So, when the Spurs came marching in it was a bit of shock that they took the league by storm in their first season back in the top tier.

It didn’t start to plan, losing 4-1 at home to Blackpool, but they soon remedied that with a 4-1 win at Bolton.

By late September, Arthur Rowe’s team had lost three times and drawn twice, with only three wins it was a decent start for a promoted team but not a title-winning start.

Then came a massive eight wins in a row, to set them up nicely for a title fight.

Whilst winning another eight in a row was ambitious, they did win the North London derby, before an eight-win unbeaten streak clinched the league for Spurs.

They would lose to their season’s nemesis Huddersfield for a third time before finishing with a couple of wins over Sheffield Wednesday and Liverpool to beat Manchester United to the title by four points.

Their squad included two future managerial greats, Bill Nicholson who would win the league and cup double ten years later for Spurs and Alf Ramsey.

Liverpool have won 19 league titles in their history, but none will be as impressive as this.

They were champions for the first time earlier that decade winning the league in 1901, but after a shock relegation, the Reds got promoted at the first time of asking.

Liverpool lost five out of their first eight games, including a Merseyside derby. Then came the mesmerising run of 11 games without a loss.

They would eventually lose to Stoke on Boxing Day, but they kept rolling with the punches. It would include a run in the FA Cup to the semi-finals which ended in yet another loss to Everton.

They would win the league by four points over Preston as they beat Sheffield United in the final game of the season. It is worth mentioning then Liverpool manager the legendary Tom Watson.

He secured the Reds their first two titles in 20 years up until the war, which includes becoming the first of five clubs to have won the league the year after getting promoted.

He passed away from Pneumonia and is buried at Anfield Cemetery.

Arguably the man who first helped Liverpool become the great club we know today; he also won a league title with Sunderland before joining Liverpool.

One of only four men to have won league titles in England with two separate clubs the others being Herbert Chapman, Kenny Dalglish and Brian Clough.

This leads us to Nottingham Forest in 1978.

Clough had already established himself as a great manager at arch-rivals Derby County winning the league in 1972.

Clough had a miserable time with Leeds United but returned to the East Midlands and took Europe by storm.

He would only lose three matches all season his last being a defeat to Leeds in November.

He would draw twice with reigning champions Liverpool, once on Boxing Day and the other on the final day of the season.

Bob Paisley made Liverpool the top dogs winning the last two league titles and the previous European title, Liverpool would go on to win the European title again this season.

Clough on the other hand had yet to start his European dominance with Forest but managed to win the league by seven points of the Reds.

To make matters worse he also beat Liverpool in the League Cup final drawing 0-0 at Wembley before winning the replay 1-0 at Old Trafford.

This era would start a rivalry between Liverpool and Forest which saw them win five English and European titles in a row between them (both stopped by Aston Villa).

Clough’s team included the brilliant Peter Shilton in goal, Viv Anderson, Trevor Francis, Tony Woodcock, Ian Bowyer, John Robertson, Archie Gemmill and the list is endless.

It was a time to remember for Nottingham Forest, they would win another League Cup and two European Cups becoming one of the great European sides.

Clough would stay at Forest for 18 years to establish a legacy that will never be forgotten.

It takes something special to go from nothing to something in a short space of time.

Ipswich Town did that better than anyone else. No team from East Anglia had ever played in the top tier.

Ipswich came out of nowhere to rise through the divisions and take that particular title.

The Tractor Boys, nicknamed such because of the strong farming tradition in the county of Suffolk, reached the top division for the first time in 1961.

Alf Ramsey would take them to the top in their first-ever season.

They beat favourites Burnley, Tottenham Hotspur and Everton to win the trophy.

They would start their campaign with two matches against the champions from 1960 Burnley, they lost at Turf Moor 4-3 but thrashed the Bees 6-2 at Portman Road.

They would also lose to another one of the three favourites Everton 5-2 at Goodison Park.

They did manage the double over reigning champions and firm favourites Tottenham, under the guidance of Bill Nicholson.

Never stringing more than four wins in a row during the season they managed to pip Burnley to the title at the end of the season by three points with Tottenham and Everton in tow.

The only downside was a defeat to arch-rivals Norwich in the FA Cup.

Ipswich fans remember their team under Bobby Robson more fondly.

However, Alf Ramsey arguably produced the club’s greatest feat coming into an established league for the first time ever and beating the top teams to the title.

Ray Crawford and Ted Phillips are the titans of this team.

Unfortunately, it wouldn’t last Ramsey would go on to manage England, we all know what happened there and Ipswich were relegated two seasons later.