List of association football clubs playing in the league of another country

This is a list of association football clubs playing in the league of another country i.e. a country other than the one where they are based.

Premise

Conditions for competing in a "foreign" league, as well as in a continental/confederational competition, are set case-by-case by FIFA, the international association football federation, as well as the respective continental confederations and national football associations involved.

Clubs that are located in defunct nations that merged with others, or new nations separated from others, or which stopped competing in a nation's league system because their localation was transferred to another nation, are not included in this article.

United Kingdom

As a result of the history of football in the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom has four FIFA member countries instead of one. Therefore, clubs that play outside what would be regarded as their 'home country' are included.

Wales

Cardiff City reached the FA Cup final in 2008, prompting the English FA to change the rules to allow Welsh clubs to represent England in UEFA competitions should they qualify to do so.

Then Swansea City won the 2012–13 Football League Cup, and are the first Wales-based club to qualify through the English system.

Merthyr Town F.C. is under the jurisdiction of the Football Association of Wales for disciplinary and administration purposes. Cardiff City, Swansea City, Wrexham and Newport County previously had the same governance until an arrangement was made with the English FA for the 2011–12 season onwards which sees Welsh clubs playing in the top four divisions of English football under the governance of the English FA.

Chester FC's Deva Stadium is located almost entirely in Wales. However, the club is still listed as based in England.

Crown Dependencies

The Guernsey Football Association, Jersey Football Association and the Isle of Man Football Association have no international recognition; they have county status within the English Football Association.

Table of clubs

Continental Europe

Kosovo

→  : Kosovar in Serbia
Kosovo is still only a partially recognised state and the government of Serbia still claims the territory as its own.

Due to Serbian refusal of Kosovo institutions, Serbs in North Kosovo act independently in sport. For example, the Football First League of North Kosovo was primarily formed of Serbian clubs from four of North Kosovo's municipalities. Both governments agreed upon creating a Community of Serb Municipalities.

In 2016, Kosovo became the 55th member of UEFA, and therefore Football Federation of Kosovo's Football Superleague of Kosovo became a recognised independent league.

From 2010 to 2015, the Football First League of North Kosovo was the top football regional league in North Kosovo, ranked fifth in the Serbian league system. The league was formed primarily of Serbian football clubs that come from four of North Kosovo's municipalities such as Leposavić, Zvečan, Zubin Potok and Northern Kosovska Mitrovica.

The league was formed in protest to the establishment of the Kosovo Super League by the Republic of Kosovo; the Serbian clubs from North Kosovo refuse to enter the Republic of Kosovo's institutions as per the Assembly of the Community of Municipalities of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija.

• FK Ibar Leposavić
• FK Kopaonik Lešak
• FK Moša Banje
• FK Rudar Kosovska Mitrovica
• FK Zvečan
• FK Radnik Prilužje (until 2013)
• FK Sočanica (until 2014)

There are two other clubs from North Kosovo, which compete in different leagues:

• FK Mokra Gora plays in the national Serbian League West
• FK Trepča play in the Morava Zone League

Ukraine

() →  : Ukrainian in Russia

• FC SKChF Sevastopol (reconstituted based on FC Sevastopol)
• FC TSK Simferopol (reconstituted based on SC Tavriya Simferopol)
• FC Zhemchuzhina Yalta (revived based on same club that was disqualified from Ukrainian competitions)

The three clubs are from Crimea, a territory recognized by Ukraine and a majority of countries as part of Ukraine, but have been under effective Russian control as the Republic of Crimea since the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation.

FC Sevastopol and SC Tavriya Simferopol last played in the 2013–14 Ukrainian Premier League, and were dissolved after the completion of the season. The three clubs were reformed as football organizations of the Russian Federation and joined the Russian Professional Football League starting from the 2014–15 season, after approval from the Russian Football Union.

The inclusion of Crimean clubs in Russian competitions have not been approved by either FIFA or UEFA, and the Football Federation of Ukraine have lodged a complaint.

On 22 August 2014 UEFA decided "that any football matches played by Crimean clubs organised under the auspices of the Russian Football Union will not be recognised by UEFA until further notice", and on 4 December 2014, decided to prohibit Crimean clubs to play in competitions organised by the Russian Football Union as from 1 January 2015 and for the region to be considered as a "special zone" for football purposes until further notice.

Africa

Americas

Many North American sports leagues are made up of teams from different countries—three of the four largest professional leagues have teams representing cities on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border. The same is true for soccer leagues. Although foreign clubs can and do participate in leagues based in the United States, no such team is eligible to participate in the U.S. Open Cup, which is only open to teams affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer).

Previously, Canadian teams playing in Major League Soccer (MLS) were not eligible to qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League through the MLS regular season or playoffs; their only method of qualification was through the Canadian Championship, the cup competition run by the Canadian Soccer Association. However, starting from the 2023 MLS season, Canadian teams can qualify for the expanded 2024 CONCACAF Champions League through the MLS regular season or playoffs, or through the Leagues Cup, a competition run by MLS and Liga MX.

Those teams that do participate in U.S. leagues also participate in various competitions under their local federations to gain entry into the Champions League and the now defunct CONCACAF League.

Asia and Oceania

Satellite teams in Singapore

Besides DPMM FC, a number of "foreign" teams have also played in the S.League. These clubs, while playing their home games in Singapore, are satellite teams of foreign clubs:

As of 2016, only Albirex Niigata Singapore FC play in the S.League. The foreign teams are not allowed to represent Singapore in AFC club competitions such as the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup.

In recent years, foreign clubs from other countries have also been invited to participate in the Singapore Cup.

References