Well I think this is pretty much it from TLFG for this season.
There isn't a lot on this week but it's all well worth watching and there are tickets available for pretty much everything so it should be a good few days.
With the Premier League and EFL and pretty much everything else now over, I thought I'd quickly round up what the campaign has been like for London clubs.
The big story of course was Arsenal finally winning the Premier League. It was touch and go but they finally got over the line to the relief of millions of fans around the world. It could get even better if they beat PSG in Saturday's Champions League Final. I've always had a soft spot for the Gunners and actually had the kit and nominally supported them until I was eight and got taken to watch QPR - what might have been!
Shorn of their manager and several star players, Brentford were among the favourites for relegation but ended up finishing second in the London rankings! Just missing out on a place in Europe, ninth was still a huge achievement for one of the top flight's smallest clubs.
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| The World Sevens takes place at Brentford from Thursday |
A mark of how poor a season London's big clubs had was shown by the 10th-place finish achieved by Chelsea. Bowing out in the last 16 of the Champions League, they almost salvaged their year by making it to the FA Cup Final but lost to Manchester City.
Fellow west Londoners Fulham had a satisfactory season finishing 11th but they suffered a Fifth Round upset at home to Southampton ruining their chances of a good run in the FA Cup.
After winning last season's FA Cup and the Community Shield at the beginning of this campaign, a 15th-place finish for Crystal Palace is a bit disappointing. However, they've made it to this week's UEFA Conference League Final against Rayo Vallecano so there could be another great ending.
One of the biggest stories of the Premier League season has been the relegation battle between Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United. It went to the final day and it was Spurs who came out on top and now the Hammers will return to the Championship for the first time since 2012.
That's two 17th places in a row for Tottenham and new boss Roberto De Zerbi has urged the board to spend big or it could all go wrong again next season. As for the Hammers, things look bleak. There's likely to be a management change and numerous players will have to go to balance the books. Several fans on phone-ins have predicted another struggle and wouldn't rule out the possibility of their club 'doing a Leicester' and going down to League One.
Millwall were London's top ranked EFL club after finishing third in the Championship. Sadly the play-offs were too much for them and Hull City knocked them out before seeing off Middlesbrough at Wembley in the final.
Since coming down from the Premier League in 2015, QPR have only finished in the top half twice. This year's 15th was the same as last season and although they got up among the top six at times during the season, they couldn't maintain the consistency required to challenge and fell away.
Watford burned through another four managers as they finished a point behind the R's in 16th - there's really not much more to say!
There was a return to the second tier for Charlton Athletic and they survived. It was looking a bit dicey at one point but a win in their penultimate game made sure.
In League One it was a season of huge struggle for AFC Wimbledon and Leyton Orient but they both just kept their heads above water as they finished 19th and 20th.
One of the stories of the season was Bromley winning the League Two title during only their second year in the EFL. Pipping MK Dons by a point, they lost only seven of their 46 games on their way to promotion.
In north London, Barnet made a solid return to the EFL with an eighth-place finish which saw them miss a play-off place by just two points - a fine effort.
Staying in that part of the world, Boreham Wood ended 2025/26 as TLFG's highest ranked non-league club. Finishing fifth in the National League, they made the play-off final but heartbreakingly lost on penalties after blowing a 2-0 lead in normal time. They did, however, beat West Ham United U21s on penalties to win the National League Cup.
Wealdstone also suffered Wembley penalty woe in the FA Trophy Final losing to Southend United after a 0-0 draw.
In the sixth tier, Hornchurch also made headlines by finishing second in the National League South and beating Torquay United 3-2 after extra time in a dramatic play-off final. It means the Urchins will now get to play fifth tier football for the first time in their history.
An amazing fourth promotion in six years was delivered by Walton & Hersham as they won the seventh tier Southern League Premier South - a full eight points clear of Farnham Town who also went up.
There was also silverware for Wingate & Finchley who beat Ramsgate 1-0 in the Isthmian League Cup Final.
In the eighth tier, there were promotions for AFC Whyteleafe and Hanworth Villa who both came through play-offs in their respective divisions of the Isthmian League.
Below that, Ashford Town (Middlesex), Buckhurst Hill, Cobham and Haringey Borough all enjoyed promotion from the ninth tier and Cockfosters also made it to the FA Vase Final at Wembley but lost on penalties to AFC Stoneham after a 0-0 draw. Haringey also won the SSML Premier Division Cup to complete a memorable double.
There was also promotion joy in the 10th tier for AFC Greenwich Borough, Bedfont, Clapton CFC and Everett Rovers.
Tooting Bec picked up the SCEFL Division 1 Cup after beating Lordswood on penalties.
There were also county cup wins for AFC Greenwich Borough, Bedfont, QPR U21, Southall and Uxbridge.
In the women's game, Chelsea came third as they finally saw their dominance of the WSL come to an end - Manchester City won the title and Arsenal finished as runners-up. The Blues did win the Women's League Cup though, beating Manchester United 2-0 in the final.
With the WSL expanding next season, Tier 2 sides Charlton Athletic and Crystal Palace claimed two of the three promotion spots on offer. This means seven of the 14 clubs in the top flight next season will be based in London.
Watford finished just a point ahead of Plymouth Argyle to win the title in Tier 3 so will return to WSL2 after just one season away.
In Tier 4, Fulham won their second consecutive promotion after going unbeaten in their 22-game season.
After finishing runners-up to Fulham last season, Dartford edged ahead of Saltdean United and Brentford to win their Tier 5 division this time and move up to the FAWNL.
Down in Tier 6 both Bromley and Hammersmith won promotion whilst Leyton Orient with their incredibly strong side predictably destroyed everyone in Tier 7 to move up a level.
So that's pretty much it - before the season wraps, I'm looking forward to a day at the World Sevens on Thursday and that will probably be me for the season.
I hope you've had a fun time watching football in London in 2025/26 and hopefully I'll be back at the start of July for pre-season.
Before I go, remember it's also the London Football Book Market on Saturday - hosted by Stanchion Books at Brixton Library it looks well worth a visit.
Have a great summer everyone!
THE WEEK AHEAD
This week's highlights include the Unity Cup, World Sevens and the Women's FA Cup Final.
As always, please make sure you check with clubs before you travel just in case a game has been called off or the venue or kick-off time has changed - this is highly possible for some of the lower non-league clubs. Also, please let me know if anything is wrong or missing.
Has this blog been helpful? Donate to TLFG's coffee-drinking fund here
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