Six newly promoted clubs across Europe to follow this season
On 6 August 2026, six clubs promoted into their national top divisions prepared to begin the new campaign in Europe, drawn from Spain, Germany, France, Turkey, Poland and the Swiss/Liechtenstein crossover.
Dépor’s return to La Liga ends an absence that began in 2018; the Galician club were once part of a Spanish “big four”, finished in the top three on nine occasions between 1993 and 2004 and won the title in 1999. After a run to the 2004 Champions League semi-finals that ended against José Mourinho’s Porto, Deportivo slipped into mid-table before falling to the regional third tier in 2020 and spent four years climbing back to the second division. The club advanced from 15th in 2024-25 to secure automatic promotion last season and have shown ambition in the transfer market, signing Mallorca goalkeeper Leo Román and veteran striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Other long-term Spanish absentees returning include Segunda champions Racing Santander, back after 15 years, and Málaga, who also fell out of the top flight in 2018 and spent a single season in the third tier in 2023-24.
In Germany, Schalke sealed the 2. Bundesliga title to end a campaign spent largely outside the top flight — they have been in the second division for four of the last five seasons. Runners-up Elversberg, by contrast, are a small-town story: the Saarland club come from a town whose population would fit inside the Veltins Arena four times over and have climbed from the regional leagues in 2021-22. Horst Steffen presided over that rapid rise before being lured to Werder Bremen last summer; after Steffen’s nine-month spell at Bremen, Elversberg continued under Vincent Wagner, recruited from Hoffenheim’s second team. The club are expanding their stadium across the season to meet the 15,000-capacity threshold as they adapt to the top level.
France’s promoted clubs arrive amid investor activity in Ligue 1: Troyes have joined City Football Group’s network of partner clubs, with fellow partner Lommel entering Belgium’s top tier this season, while Ligue 1 already counts outfits backed by billionaires and corporate groups such as Paris FC’s investors and BlueCo-owned Strasbourg. Le Mans, whose stadium sits inside the Circuit de la Sarthe, were taken over last August by the Brazilian consortium OutField, which brought Novak Djokovic, Thibaut Courtois and F1 drivers Felipe Massa and Kevin Magnussen to the party. Le Mans — nicknamed Les Mucistes — intend a youth-focused strategy, reopening the academy and prioritising potential over large transfer outlays.
Amed SK (Amedspor) will make their Turkish Süper Lig debut after a rise from the country’s lower divisions; the club is based in Diyarbakir, a Kurdish-majority city described in the report as closer to Iraq and Syria than Istanbul. The team added the Kurdish name Amed in 2014 and has become a focal point for Kurdish identity, a profile that has attracted both a new fanbase and hostility: opponents’ supporters have subjected Amedspor fans to abuse, intimidation and physical attacks, and the Turkish FA banned the club’s fans from away matches until 2020. The report notes lingering security questions around a top-flight presence, and that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — who has refused to acknowledge Diyarbakir’s Kurdish name — raised eyebrows on social media by congratulating Amedspor on their historic promotion.
Poland’s return of traditional club Wisla Krakow accompanies the debut of Wieczysta Krakow in the Ekstraklasa. Wisla, founded 120 years ago and winners of 14 league titles, were ever-present in Poland’s top division until 2022 and spent the subsequent four seasons outside the elite, winning their fifth Polish Cup in 2024 as a second-tier team. With former player Jakub Blaszczykowski as a minority investor, Wisla have focused on analytics and academy players and marked their return with a 2-1 win over Katowice amid a red-and-white pyro display from supporters. The Krakow derby with Cracovia — the “Holy War” — returns to the top flight, while Wieczysta will ground-share with Wisla for their Ekstraklasa debut because their home stadium does not meet league requirements.
Switzerland’s newly promoted sides provide a varied picture: Thun, who won the Swiss title on their return to the top flight last season, are not expected to face a repeat challenge from all promoted teams. Vaduz, based in the capital of Liechtenstein, are permitted to play in the Swiss top division but are ineligible to win the Swiss title or claim a European place that would otherwise belong to a Swiss club; instead FCV will compete in the Conference League as winners of Liechtenstein’s cup while attempting to establish themselves in the Swiss top tier. The report records that Vaduz secured promotion on the final day when leaders Aarau surrendered a 2-0 lead at home to Yverdon, and that Vaduz suffered two defeats in their first two league games this term, a sequence the piece says makes a Thun-style title tilt unlikely, "which will be a relief for Young Boys, Basel and Swiss league administrators alike."
Early fixtures and the opening weeks will test each promoted side: Elversberg’s stadium expansion and squad adaptation will coincide with a daunting opening programme, with their first two visitors set to be Leverkusen and Bayern Munich, while other promoted clubs enter top divisions after ownership changes, high-profile signings or long rebuilding projects.