Clubs who play in another country's league

The proposed European Super League may have crashed and burned – but there were already a number of multinational leagues around the world…

For various reasons, each of the sides you’re about to see come up against, for the most part, opposition from outside their homeland.

Let’s get straight into it, shall we?

Formed following a local game between railway clerks from Newcastle and mill workers from Dunbar, Scotland, Berwick Rangers have spent well over 100 years in the Scottish league system.

Based two-and-a-half miles south of the border in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, they played in the Scottish top flight between 1979 and 1981.

Cardiff City were founded in 1899 and have spent the vast majority of their existence as members of the English Football League.

The first Welsh winners of the FA Cup – beating Arsenal in the 1927 final – the Bluebirds have had multiple top-flight spells, only missing out on the 1923/24 First Division title on goal average to Huddersfield.

CF Montreal (that’s Club de Foot Montreal, in honour of the city’s French heritage) aren’t the only Canadian side plying their trade in MLS – but that is an overwhelmingly American-majority league, administered by the United States Soccer Federation.

Canada has its own professional top division – the Canadian Premier League – but CF Montreal (formerly the Montreal Impact) have been MLS members since 2012.

Andorra’s premier club, FC Andorra play not in the tiny Pyrenean principality but in Spain – where they belong to the Catalan Football Federation.

Els Tricolors were bought by Barcelona legend Gerard Pique in December 2018, and they reached the Spanish second tier for the very first time three-and-a-half years later.

Hailing from the picturesque village of Balzers in Liechtenstein, FC Balzers are affiliated to the Swiss Football Association.

Liechtenstein, an Alpine nation of barely 40,000 people, does not have its own league system – but it does have a cup, which Balzers got their hands on 11 times between 1964 and 1997.

Given that it’s an exclave of Germany surrounded by Switzerland, it makes sense that Busingen’s local club play their league football in the latter country.

For the first few years of their existence, FC Busingen’s ground boasted one of the more bizarre features we’ve come across: a nut tree in the penalty area!

Somewhat confusingly, North Mitrovica in Kosovo is home to an FK Trepca and a KF Trepca – both of whom claim the history of the original club which splintered in 1989 amid the oppression of Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian population, which forced Albanian players to leave.

KF Trepca joined the Kosovar pyramid, while FK Trepca continued playing in the Serbian league system – where they remained even after Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 (which Serbia did not recognise).

Liechtenstein’s most successful club by far, capital city-based FC Vaduz made history in 2022 by becoming the first side from their nation to qualify for a UEFA competition – securing a place in the group stage of the inaugural Conference League.

Swiss second-tier champions on multiple occasions, Vaduz won their 50th Liechtenstein Football Cup in 2024.

Formerly Merthyr Tydfil – the name of the South Wales town they represent – Merthyr Town are among the clutch of Welsh clubs who play in the English pyramid.

In 1992, under their old guise, they came relatively close to making it to the Football League, finishing fourth in the Conference (nowadays the National League).

One of two sovereign states in Europe without a UEFA or FIFA-affiliated national team (the other being Vatican City), Monaco’s football flag is carried by AS Monaco – one of the most successful clubs in… France.

Champions League runners-up in 2004, Monaco play their home games at the scenic Stade Louis II.

Ok, Welsh clubs in England are going to be a bit of a theme here, and Newport County are our latest example.

Founded in 1912 and re-formed in 1989 following bankruptcy, Newport famously reached the quarter-finals of the 1980/81 Cup Winners’ Cup – having gained entry to the competition as Welsh Cup winners, despite playing in the Football League at the time.

Wales second-most successful outfit after arch-rivals Cardiff, Swansea City joined England’s Southern League upon their 1912 formation as Swansea Town (Swansea didn’t gain city status until 1969).

The first Welsh side to win the League Cup – doing so one year after their centenary – the Swans achieved their best league finish of sixth in the First Division in 1982.

Another Canadian side who are well-established in MLS, Toronto FC joined the league as an expansion franchise in 2007 and won their first title 10 years later.

In 2018, the Reds reached the final of the CONCACAF Champions League for the first time, only losing to Guadalajara of Mexico on penalties.

Just like their fellow Berwick-upon-Tweed-based Rangers – whose Shielfield Park ground they began sharing for the 2023/24 season – Tweedmouth Rangers play their league football over the border in Scotland.

Formed in 2010, they joined the East of Scotland Football League in 2016 – having previously been members of the North Northumberland League.

The original Vancouver Whitecaps were part of the old NASL and boasted international stars such as Alan Ball and Terry Yorath; the current iteration of the club joined the NASL’s successor, MLS, for the 2011 campaign.

In 2012, the Whitecaps became the first Canadian team to qualify for the end-of-season MLS Cup playoffs.

Wrexham are the oldest professional football club in Wales and the third-oldest in the world – behind Notts County and Stoke City.

They’ve plied their trade across the border in England since 1905, with headline-making moments including knocking reigning First Division champions Arsenal out of the 1991/92 FA Cup – as a Fourth Division side – and their big-money 2020 takeover by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.