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Several football clubs succeed in playing at the highest level without being relegated. This page lists the clubs that managed to stay in top flight for an extended period of time, and those that have never been relegated from their current top-tier league. ==Historical considerations== More often than not, football clubs have played in more than one top-tier competition. It is therefore possible that teams relegated at one point in their history, but have not done so in the competition in which they currently compete. This is the case for multiple teams in countries where football was played in regional leagues prior to the creation of a unified national league. In such countries, a national champion was previously declared by means of a play-off tournament between teams that qualified through their regional tournaments. In Germany, for instance, seven teams have never been relegated from the Bundesliga (some joining more recent), but three of them found themselves expelled from the older ''Oberligen''. Only Hamburg has played continuously in the top tier of the German football system since the end of World War I. In the Netherlands, football used to be organised in regional competitions as well. The unified Eredivisie was born in 1956, and four teams have continuously played at this highest national level since then. Even before the establishment of regional competitions, football was played in league systems. The very first football championships in Europe were often organised on a local level. Taking these smaller competitions into account, Austria Wien and Rapid Wien can claim to have played at the highest possible level since competition began in Austria in 1911.〔 At that time however, the only organised football was played in the league of Lower Austria, which was then located in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and only teams from Vienna took part. Later, Austrian teams competed in the German football system for several years, which made it possible for Rapid Wien to become German champion in 1941. The current Austrian Bundesliga was only established in 1974, and to this point a total of five teams never relegated from that competition.〔 In Greece and Turkey, competitive football was organised in even smaller leagues. In both countries, city-leagues were the highest level for quite some time. In 1959, a unified Hellenic championship was founded, and Olympiacos, Panathinaikos and PAOK have played in every season of it.〔 However, these teams were already high-flyers in the preceding city-leagues. The same applies to Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray in Turkey.〔 In Russia, football too was first played at city-level. The ''St. Petersburg Football League'' was established in 1901, and its Moscowian counterpart followed in 1909. The latter championship was won by Dynamo Moscow between 1910 and 1914. Many years later, in 1936, the Soviet Top League was formed. This competition ceased to exist when the Soviet Union fell, and new leagues were formed in the fifteen successor states. As a result, many teams entered a top division for the first time in their history. In Estonia, for example, the new Meistriliiga was composed of clubs that never participated in the top flight before.〔 As these are relatively new competitions, many clubs can claim to have never been relegated from the top-level. But only Dynamo Moscow, Dynamo Kyiv and Dinamo Tbilisi have always played at the highest possible level.〔 Besides the Soviet, also the Czechoslovak and Yugoslav football leagues split into multiple competitions in the early 90’s. A total of eight teams have not been relegated from the national championships of the Czech Republic〔 and Slovakia,〔 but no team managed to achieve this in Czechoslovak times. In Bosnia and Herzegovina football became divided alongside ethnical lines, and competition was held in three different leagues, before the establishment of a national division in 2000. In Kosovo, a national league also exists, although not recognised by UEFA or FIFA (and therefore not included in the list below). In all, three clubs - Red Star Belgrade, Partizan Belgrade and Dinamo Zagreb - play at the highest level since the creation of socialist Yugoslavia. And Hajduk Split have never relegated since they first played in the championship of the now long gone Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.〔 But many more teams never relegated from their current national championships. In still many other instances, new top-tier leagues were created to replace existing national championships. In England, seven teams have been present in every season of the Premier League, which was founded in 1992. None of them however had an uninterrupted run in the preceding First Division. In Scotland, only Celtic and Aberdeen have never experienced relegation since 1890 and 1905, respectively.〔 But in 2013, the Scottish Premiership replaced the Scottish Premier League, which itself was created just fifteen years before. Thus, a great number of teams can claim to have never been relegated from these particular competitions. Similarly, Cliftonville, Glentoran and Linfield have the unique distinction of having played at the top flight in Northern Ireland for 125 years,〔 but five more teams have been present in every season of the NIFL Premiership, which was only established in 2008.〔 There are however leagues that have been running for a long time. Not surprising, fewer clubs manage to stay on top the longer a competition runs. The Spanish Primera División was born in 1929, and only Athletic Bilbao, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid have been present ever since. The same year the Italian Serie A became a round-robin tournament, and only Inter Milan has continuously played at the highest level from that moment forward - even doing so since their formation in 1908. And finally, no team that plays in the Swiss Super League – established in 1897 – has not been relegated at one point in their history.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「List of unrelegated association football clubs」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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