English Football Promotions and Relegations, 2024-25 Season

Which English soccer teams have been promoted and relegated after the 2024-25 season? Who’s in the Football League playoffs? Which Premier League teams will make it into Europe?

We’re going to track everything here until it’s all said and done. But first, some quick background.

Updated June 3, 2025, with everything all set!

Click here to skip the review and see the season’s results.

Quick Review: How Does Promotion and Relegation Work in English Soccer?

At the end of each season, the top three teams in each league go up a league for the next season, and the bottom three drop down a league. And there are a lot of leagues up and down the so-called pyramid of English football. There are some variables on this, like playoffs being involved to settle some promotions, plus the question of where the top teams in the top league get “promoted to.”

We’ll get to those, but here’s a complete explanation of how promotion and relegation work in England:

English Football League Playoffs

Yes, English soccer has playoffs — not to determine champions, but to determine some promotion spots. For example, in the Championship, the second-tier league just below the Premier League, the top two finishers automatically go up, then numbers 3 through 6 battle it out for the third spot. The final of that mini tournament, played at Wembley Stadium, is often called the “richest game in world football,” as the winner gets a share of the Premier League TV money.

Here’s more about the English football playoffs.

Premier League Teams “Getting into Europe”?

Since the Premier League is the top league in England, where do its top teams go “up” to? The answer is European competitions — and the same is true for leagues all over the continent, like Germany’s Bundesliga, Spain’s La Liga and Italy’s Serie A.

This is what is meant by the phrase “getting into Europe,” or getting into “the European places” at the top of the Premier League. In England, it basically breaks down like this:

• Spots 1-5: UEFA Champions League. If one of these teams also wins either this season’s Champions League or Europa League, they qualify that way, and the next-highest team in the Premier League gets in.
• Spot 6 + FA Cup winner: UEFA Europa League. If the FA Cup winner also finishes in the top six, this spot goes to whoever finishes 7th in the Premier League.
• League Cup Winner: UEFA Europa Conference League — unless that team also finishes in the European places, in which case #8 goes. If this and the above happens, #8 goes to Europa and #9 goes to Conference!

Here’s more about getting into Europe.

English Football Promotions and Relegations, 2024-25 Season

Note: This is all now final.

Premier League: European Places

These are all now final.

Champions League:

• Liverpool
• Arsenal
• Manchester City
• Chelsea
• Newcastle
• Tottenham as the Europa League Winner.

Europa League:

• Crystal Palace, winners of the FA Cup.
• Aston Villa, who finished 6th.

Europa Conference League:

• Nottingham Forest, who finished 7th and take the place of Newcastle, who won the League Cup but made the Champions League.

Here’s the final Premier League table from the BBC.

From the Premier League down to the Championship

• Southampton
• Leicester City
• Ipswich Town

From the Championship up to the Premier League

• Leeds
• Burnley
• Sunderland via the playoffs

From the Championship down to League One

• Cardiff City
• Plymouth Argyle
• Luton Town

Here’s the Championship table from the BBC.

From League One up to the Championship:

Top two automatically, spots 3-6 in the playoffs for third spot.

• Birmingham City
• Wrexham
• Charlton Athletic via the playoffs

From League One down to League Two:

• Cambridge United
• Shrewsbury Town
• Bristol Rovers
• Crawley Town

Here’s the League One table.

From League Two up to League One:

Top three automatically, spots 4-7 in the playoffs for third spot.

• Port Vale
• Doncaster Rovers
• Bradford City
• Wimbledon via the playoffs

From League Two down to the National League:

• Carlisle United
• Morecambe

Here is the League Two table.

From the National League up to the Football League Two

Champions automatically, spots 2-7 into the playoffs for spot 2

• Barnet
• Oldham Athletic via the playoffs.