10 Clubs with the Most Consecutive Promotions in Football History [Ranked]

With the backing of two Hollywood stars and the conglomerate that is Disney producing a series about them, Wrexham have done what had previously been thought unthinkable – completed three consecutive promotions and made their return to the Championship. It is a true return to glory for the Welsh side, who have been on the brink of collapse on several occasions, but now find themselves one step away from the promised land of the Premier League.

Not even Hollywood’s best scriptwriters could have envisioned such a meteoric rise for the Red Dragons, as climbing the ranks so quickly and consecutively is almost unprecedented. However, these 10 sides have completed consecutive promotions even more times than Wrexham, with it being impossible for the Welsh giants to overtake them, even if they reached the top flight next season.

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10

Olympique Akbou – Algeria

Five Promotions

We kick things off in Algeria with Olympique Akbou. Founded in 1936, the Blues and White play out of Kabylie, which is a mountainous region in the northernmost part of the country. They play in the first tier of Algerian football, but incredibly, that wasn’t the case as recently as five years ago.

The club have been on a remarkable rise since the 2018/2019 season, with the only season they didn’t technically get promoted being the 2020/21 campaign, when no football was being played as a result of the pandemic.

9

C.F. Os Belenenses – Portugal

Five Promotions

Operating in the third-highest league in Portugal, C.F. Os Belenenses were able to have a stint in the second tier last season after completing an incredible rise from the Lisboa Third Division, where they were at the start of the 2018/19 season.

There is a slight asterisk to this, though. While Belenenses more than earned their final promotion during the 2022/23 season, they didn’t gain it by the most ordinary of means. Instead, they were handed a place in the second tier because Cova da Piedade failed to obey registration rules and were consequently kicked out of the division.

8

NK Zavrc – Slovenia

Five Promotions

While the achievements of NK Zavrc were outstanding, their story turned sad just a few years later. The Slovenian-based outfit went from the country’s regional leagues to its second tier by the 2012–2013 season, where they finished top for the fifth season running to make it to the top flight for the first time.

After finishing fifth in their first two campaigns, they would go on to suffer a relegation, and by 2016 they were forced to cease operations due to financial struggles, rebrand as DNS Zavrc, and drop all the way down to the bottom of the footballing pyramid.

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7

Iwaki FC – Japan

Five Promotions

Though Iwaki FC now compete in the second-highest league in Japan, their promotion to it was actually not part of a rise over the course of consecutive seasons. Only founded in 2012, Iwaki have gone from being literally nothing to having quite the presence in the Japanese game, managing seven promotions in eight seasons, with their streak being snapped in 2020 as they finished 7th in the Japan Football League.

A season later, they won the division and were promoted from the J3 League (the third tier) at the first time of asking too. If it weren’t for that one blip, the Fukushima outfit could’ve topped this list.

6

Varesina Calcio – Italy

Five Promotions

Varesina Calcio currently play in Serie D, and their rise to the fourth tier of Italian football was part of their historic promotion run. Founded in 2010, the club had to start at the very bottom of the football pyramid in a country that is obsessed with the sport and that breaking into would not have been easy to do.

However, having started in the Terza Categoria Lombardy for the 2010/11 season, they had managed to find their way to the fourth step by the end of the 2014/15 campaign after getting promoted from the Eccellenza Lombardy as the division’s champions.

5

TV Herkenrath – Germany

Five Promotions

The first of two German sides, and what is more impressive is that they did it almost simultaneously. TV Herkenrath are not just a football club, as they also have a basketball side too, but they haven’t been able to match the feat that those on the pitch managed.

The five promotions in question came between the 2010–2011 and 2014–2015 terms. And incredibly, the team that follows them on this list made almost the exact same journey at almost the same time, just a couple of leagues ahead.

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4

SV Rodinghausen – Germany

Five Promotions

While TV Herkenrath rose from Kreisliga C to Westfalenliga 1, SV Rodinghausen went from Kreisliga A to Regionalliga, which is the fourth tier of German football. Based out of North Rhine-Westphalia, the club were able to gain promotion to the western version of the division, with their journey starting a year earlier in the 2009–2010 season.

Rodinghausen have stayed put ever since, but that was not due to the fact that they couldn’t go higher. In fact, they won the fourth tier in the 2019/20 season but declined to be promoted to the 3. Liga. Their decision may have ended up for the best, as since then they have managed a fourth-place, two sixth-place, and one eighth-place finish.

3

SC Sagamihara – Japan

Five Promotions

Back to Japan we go with SC Sagamihara, who didn’t quite reach the same heights as Iwaki FC did years later, but perhaps what’s more startling is that their consecutive promotions ended the same year that their counterparts were actually founded.

Starting in the Kanagawa Prefectural League Division 3 in 2008, by 2012 they had risen up to the Kanto League Division 1, where they finished top of the lot and gained promotion to the fourth tier of Japanese football. They have largely remained in the J3 League ever since, except for their one promotion to the J2 League, which ended in instant relegation.

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2

Dalkurd FF – Sweden

Five Promotions

Back to Europe with the final team with five promotions, that being Sweden’s Dalkurd FF. The Swedes are the first team on record to have completed five consecutive promotions, with their run beginning in 2005, where they started in Division 6 Dalarna Mellersta.

By 2010, they had made it to Division 2 (the fourth tier of Swedish football) and were then promoted to tier three, ending their run. Their rise didn’t stop there, though, and they enjoyed a single season in the Allsvenskan – the top flight – in 2018, but were relegated and are now back down in the fourth tier.

1

Grazer AK – Austria

Six Promotions

And then there was one. The only team ever known to have achieved six consecutive promotions is Grazer AK from Austria. In essence, they have taken what Wrexham have achieved and doubled it.

Their rise began in the 2013–14 season, where they were playing amateur football, and their final promotion came in the 2018–19 campaign to the Austrian First League, which is actually the country’s second division. After four years without a promotion, they finally gained a spot in the Austrian Bundesliga after coming first in the 2023/24 term, marking a return to the top flight for the first time since the club went into administration 17 years earlier.