Back-to-back promotions in football: list of clubs who have achieved feat as Wrexham reach the Championship

Winning promotion is an incredible achievement for any Football League club but adapting and thriving in a new division is a whole new challenge. 

Many newly promoted teams often struggle to make the jump up to a higher level of competition and most almost immediately find themselves in a relegation battle. Southampton, Ipswich Town and Leicester City are all example of this in the Premier League after dropping immediately down to the second tier while Burnley, Sheffield United and Luton experienced a similar fate the year before.

However, Wrexham are a prime example of how a team with the right decision making can successfully upgrade their team and make the jump up to a new division. The Red Dragons, backed by the Hollywood riches of Ryan Reynolds have secured automatic promotion into the Championship for the first time in 43 years, while they are the first team in EFL history to achieve three consecutive promotions directly from the National League to the Championship.

League One winners Birmingham will hope to write a similar storyline next season and the West Midlands side are already being tipped as potential contenders to win the Championship title in their first season back in the division. But just how common are back-to-back promotions and who was the last side to achieve the feat?

Here we take a look back at some of the most memorable back-to-back promotions from the last 30 years of football.

Who was the last side to achieve back-to-back promotions?

Ipswich Town and Wrexham are two of the most recent teams to achieve back-to-back promotions.

Ipswich’s journey up the division was inspired by the appointment of former Manchester United and Tottenham coach Kieran McKenna, who in his first managerial role has introduced a cavalier front-foot style of football. The Tractor Boys finished second to win automatic promotion from League One in the 2022/23 season - scoring an incredible 101 goals in the process. They continued that form in the Championship with another second place finish, ahead of the likes of Leeds United and Southampton, whilst scoring a league-high 92 goals.

Wrexham have also enjoyed a tremendous journey from the National League to the Championship. The Red Dragons edged Notts County to the National League title in the 2022/23 season with a record-breaking 111 points, whilst scoring 116 goals. They adapted wonderfully to life in the Football League this term to finish second with 88 points - 10 clear of fourth placed MK Dons. This year they proved they could continue to exceed expectations by finishing runners-up behind Birmingham in League One while beating the likes of Stockport and Wycombe to the last promotion spot.

Prior to that, the last club to achieve back-to-back promotions were one of the great underdog stories of the last decade in Luton Town in 2019.

The Hatters enjoyed a sensational rise up the football ladder and were incredibly competing in the National League during the 2013/14 campaign. Luton won promotion that same season and Nathan Jones guided the club to the third tier of English football in the 2017/18 campaign, with Luton finishing runners-up behind Accrington Stanley.

The Bedfordshire club continued to thrive in the third tier the next season, despite the mid-season departure of Nathan Jones and they lifted the League 1 title the following campaign with an incredible 94 points.

Luton went on to earn a fourth promotion in nine years in the 2023 play-offs but were unable to sustain their status in the promised land of the Premier League under manager Rob Edwards.

Which other clubs have achieved back to back promotions?

Achieving promotion is the pinnacle for many clubs outside the Premier League but a number of teams have achieved it in two consecutive seasons.

In total since 1992 there have been 21 instances of teams achieving back-to-back promotions. 

The most common example of this is teams making the immediate jump from the National League to League 1 and teams making the immediate jump from League 2 to the Championships.

Rotherham United have the special distinction of being the only club to achieve two separate back to back promotions. They won promotion from League Two to the Championship in 1999-2001 and 2012-2014.

Watford, Norwich, Southampton and most recently Ipswich are the only teams to win promotion from League 1 to the Premier League in back-to-back seasons.

Here is a list of all the teams to achieve two consecutive promotions since the Premier League was formed in 1992.

National League to League 1

• Wycombe Wanderers: 1992-1994
• Doncaster Rovers: 2002-2004 
• Carlisle: 2004-2006
• Exeter: 2007-2009
•  Stevenage: 2009-2011
• Crawley: 2010-2012  
• Bristol Rovers: 2014-2016
• Wrexham: 2022-2024

League 2 to Championship

• Bury: 1995-1997
• Brighton: 2000-2002
• Rotherham: 1999-2001
• Peterborough: 2007-2009
• Rotherham: 2012-2014
• Burton Albion: 2014-2016
• Luton Town: 2017-2019
• Wrexham: 2023-2025

League 1 to Premier League

• Watford: 1997-1999
• Southampton: 2010-2012
• Norwich: 2009-2011
• Ipswich: 2022-2024