Soccer teams in England

In England, the game of soccer is known as football, as in most parts of the world, and it is organized into four professional leagues at the apex of a pyramid of semi-professional and amateur leagues. There are 92 professional teams and innumerable semi-pro and amateur sides. The four professional leagues comprise the Premier League (20 teams), the Championship, League One and League Two (24 teams each). Below League Two, the Conference league provides a stepping-stone for semi-pro sides to gain promotion to the professional leagues.

English soccer teams typically call themselves a "football club" (F.C.).

Premier League teams

• Arsenal F.C.

• Bournemouth A.F.C.

• Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.

• Burnley F.C.

• Chelsea F.C.

• Crystal Palace F.C.

• Everton F.C.

• Huddersfield Town A.F.C.

• Leicester City F.C.

• Liverpool F.C.

• Manchester City F.C.

• Manchester United F.C.

• Newcastle United F.C.

• Southampton F.C.

• Stoke City F.C.

• Swansea City A.F.C.

• Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

• Watford F.C.

• West Bromwich Albion F.C.

• West Ham United F.C.

Championship teams

• Aston Villa F.C.

• Barnsley FC

• Birmingham City F.C.

• Bolton Wanderers F.C.

• Brentford F.C.

• Bristol City FC

• Burton Albion F.C.

• Cardiff City FC

• Derby County FC Their nickname is The Rams, after the symbol for the county of Derbyshire and also the club. One of the founder members of the League. Their current home ground is Pride Park, but they previously played at the Baseball Ground. Derby County was relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2007-08 season. Official site

• Fulham F.C.

• Hull City A.F.C

• Ipswich Town FC

• Leeds United F.C. Based in the northern city of Leeds, play at Elland Road stadium. Their traditional strip is white shirts and shorts. Leeds has long been one of the strongest sides in England, but financial mismanagement of the club in the early years of this decade, reflected in sporting performance, has brought it to its current lowly situation

• Middlesbrough F.C.

• Millwall FC

• Norwich City FC

• Nottingham Forest FC

• Preston North End FC One of the founder members of the League.

• Queens Park Rangers FC

• Reading F.C.

• Sheffield United FC

• Sheffield Wednesday FC

• Sunderland A.F.C.

• Wolverhampton Wanderers FC One of the founder members of the League.

League One teams

• Blackburn Rovers F.C.

• Blackpool FC

• Bradford City A.F.C.

• Bristol Rovers FC

• Bury F.C.

• Charlton Athletic FC

• Doncaster Rovers FC

• Fleetwood Town F.C.

• Gillingham F.C.

• Milton Keynes Dons F.C.

• Northampton Town FC

• Oldham Athletic FC

• Oxford United F.C.

• Peterborough United FC

• Plymouth Argyle FC

• Portsmouth F.C.

• Rochdale A.F.C.

• Rotherham United F.C.

• Scunthorpe United FC

• Shrewsbury Town F.C.

• Southend United F.C.

• Walsall F.C.

• Wigan Athletic F.C.

• Wimbledon A.F.C.

Further information

• The Football League: http://www.football-league.co.uk/page/Home/0,,10794,00.html