Football Teams in London: Full Guide to All 18 Clubs (2025–26)

London beats every other city on earth for sheer density of professional football clubs — and the 2025–26 season proves it. This guide maps all 18 professional men’s clubs across the capital’s leagues and boroughs, backed by verified data.

Total professional football clubs in London: 18 · London clubs in the Premier League (2025–26): 7 · London clubs in the Championship (2025–26): 3 · Oldest professional club: Fulham (founded 1879) · Clubs with most top‑flight titles: Arsenal (13)

The table below breaks down London’s professional clubs by division for the 2025–26 season, showing where each club sits in the English football pyramid.

How Many Football Clubs Are in London?

Counting London’s professional football clubs means first defining what counts as “professional” — a figure that shifts depending on the source. Visit London’s official tourism guide states that London has “more than a dozen professional football teams, more than any other city in the world,” published in April 2025 (Visit London tourism guide). The Stadium Guide puts the figure at 13 clubs within Greater London considered professional, with more in the wider metropolitan area (The Stadium Guide). Other commercial guides list 17 to 18 clubs when including surrounding areas and National League sides (P1 Travel guide to London clubs).

What counts as a professional football club?

The English Football League (EFL) describes itself as “the largest single body of professional clubs in European football,” overseeing the Championship, League One and League Two tiers (EFL official website). Clubs in the Premier League and EFL divisions are fully professional with paid contracts and formal registration. The National League, sitting directly below League Two, is the top tier of non-league football in England — some clubs there operate semi-professionally, with players combining football with other work (Wikipedia – National League division). Sources vary on whether National League clubs qualify as “professional,” which accounts for part of the discrepancy in total counts.

How many London clubs play in the English Football League?

For the 2025–26 season, the Premier League has seven London clubs, the Championship has three (Charlton Athletic, Millwall, and Queens Park Rangers per Wikipedia data), and League One has at least two (AFC Wimbledon and Leyton Orient) (Wikipedia – 2025–26 EFL Championship). League Two has minimal London representation. Below that, National League sides Barnet, Dagenham & Redbridge, Sutton United, and Wealdstone operate in and around Greater London.

Which London Football Clubs Play in the Premier League?

Seven London clubs occupy Premier League positions for the 2025–26 season: Arsenal, Brentford, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur, and West Ham United (Jobs In Football London clubs guide). The official Premier League clubs list for the 2026–27 season confirms five of these — Arsenal, Brentford, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, and Tottenham — with their continued top-flight status verified (Premier League official clubs list).

Arsenal

Arsenal Football Club is based in Holloway, north London. The club has competed in every Premier League season since the league’s inception in 1992–93 — never relegated — making it one of the most consistent top-flight presences in English football (Wikipedia – List of Premier League clubs). Arsenal leads all London clubs with 13 Premier League titles.

Chelsea

Chelsea Football Club is based in Fulham, west London. Like Arsenal, Chelsea has contested every Premier League season since 1992–93 without relegation from the division (Wikipedia – List of Premier League clubs). The club plays home matches at Stamford Bridge.

Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club plays at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in north London and is consistently listed among the capital’s leading Premier League clubs (P1 Travel London clubs guide). The club has been a regular top-flight contender for decades, though its continuous run in the Premier League is shorter than Arsenal’s or Chelsea’s.

Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace Football Club is based in Selhurst, south London. The club has been continuously in the Premier League since gaining promotion for the 2013–14 season — a sustained presence now spanning more than a decade (Wikipedia – List of Premier League clubs).

Fulham

Fulham Football Club plays at Craven Cottage in west London and is regularly featured in visitor guides as one of the capital’s Premier League teams (Visit London football guide). Founded in 1879, it holds the distinction of being London’s oldest professional club.

Brentford

Brentford Football Club plays at the Gtech Community Stadium in west London and appears as a Premier League team on both 2025–26 overviews and official 2026–27 club lists, indicating sustained top-flight status (ZeeMaps Premier League map 2025–26). Brentford’s recent promotions represent one of the tighter Premier League tenures among London’s clubs.

West Ham United

West Ham United plays at London Stadium in Stratford, east London, and is listed among London-based Premier League clubs during the mid-2020s (P1 Travel London clubs guide). The club has maintained top-flight status more consistently than some rivals, though it has experienced relegations in its history.

Which London Clubs Are in the Championship?

Three Greater London clubs competed in the EFL Championship for the 2025–26 season: Charlton Athletic, Millwall, and Queens Park Rangers (Wikipedia – 2025–26 EFL Championship). Visit London lists QPR, Charlton Athletic, Millwall, AFC Wimbledon, and Leyton Orient as clubs in and around the capital’s football league system (Visit London football guide).

Millwall

Millwall Football Club plays at The Den in south-east London and appears in official tourism lists as a professional club in the city’s football league system (Visit London football guide). Founded in 1885, Millwall is among the oldest professional clubs in London after Fulham.

Queens Park Rangers

Queens Park Rangers, based at Loftus Road Stadium in west London, are regularly listed among London’s professional clubs, competing in the EFL Championship in the mid-2020s (The Stadium Guide London football guide). The club has experienced multiple promotions and relegations between the Championship and League One.

Charlton Athletic

Charlton Athletic Football Club plays at The Valley in south-east London and is listed among London Championship clubs in 2025–26 (Wikipedia – 2025–26 EFL Championship). The club’s history includes periods in the Premier League alongside long stretches in the lower tiers.

The pattern here is clear: London’s Championship presence is concentrated in the south and west of the city, with Millwall, QPR, and Charlton Athletic carrying the flag for the capital at the second tier. Whether Watford should be grouped with London clubs remains disputed — the club is in Hertfordshire but sometimes included in capital-focused guides (Visit London football guide).

Where Are London Football Clubs Located by Area?

London’s professional football clubs spread across the city’s compass points, creating a geography of rivalry. The north holds Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur; the south carries Crystal Palace, Millwall, Charlton Athletic, and AFC Wimbledon; the east hosts West Ham United, Leyton Orient, and Dagenham & Redbridge; the west claims Chelsea, Fulham, Brentford, and QPR (Jobs In Football London clubs guide). Central London has no permanent professional club stadium, though clubs like Chelsea border central areas.

North London clubs

• Arsenal (Holloway)
• Tottenham Hotspur (Tottenham)
• Barnet (The Hive Stadium, sometimes included in broader London tallies)

South London clubs

• Crystal Palace (Selhurst)
• Millwall (Bermondsey, The Den)
• Charlton Athletic (Charlton, The Valley)
• AFC Wimbledon (Plough Lane)

East London clubs

• West Ham United (Stratford, London Stadium)
• Leyton Orient (Brisbane Road/Matchroom Stadium)
• Dagenham & Redbridge (Victoria Road)

West London clubs

• Chelsea (Fulham, Stamford Bridge)
• Fulham (Craven Cottage)
• Brentford (Gtech Community Stadium)
• Queens Park Rangers (Loftus Road)

Central London clubs

No professional club has a permanent stadium in the central zone of London — the closest venues are Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge in Zone 2 and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, also in Zone 2–3. This absence is partly why some guides list Chelsea as a Central London club, given its proximity to the city centre.

What this geography produces is a network of intra-city derbies — Arsenal versus Tottenham in the north, the South London derby between Crystal Palace and Millwall or Charlton, and West London matchups between Chelsea, Fulham, Brentford, and QPR — that give Londoners a genuine choice of local loyalties (Jobs In Football London clubs guide).

What Is the Oldest Football Club in London?

Fulham Football Club, founded in 1879 as Fulham St Andrew’s Church Sunday School FC, is the oldest professional football club in London (Visit London football guide). The club has played continuously at professional level and remains in the top flight as of the 2025–26 season — a rare combination of longevity and current relevance.

Fulham (1879)

Fulham’s founding predates the Football League by 12 years. Playing at Craven Cottage by the Thames, the club’s history runs parallel with the development of the game itself. Visit London’s guide explicitly names Fulham as London’s oldest professional club, citing the 1879 foundation date.

Other early clubs: Millwall (1885), Arsenal (1886), Tottenham (1882)

Millwall formed in 1885, Tottenham Hotspur in 1882, and Arsenal in 1886 (originally as Dial Square in Woolwich) — all predating the Premier League era by more than a century. Tottenham’s north London location places it firmly in the city’s footballing heritage alongside Arsenal, with the two clubs building one of English football’s oldest and most intense rivalries.