Carlisle, United Kingdom

As the smallest city in England to have hosted a top-flight football team, Carlisle is a remote outpost with a persistent bureaucratic headache. The club has spent 76 years in the Football League, but has slipped between the divisions, enduring back-to-back relegations as recently as the 2024-25 season. Winters are long and cold, while the city's isolated position means a constant struggle with red tape when trying to recruit players from afar. Yet for the stalwart supporters who pack the 18,202-capacity Brunton Park, this is a football-mad community that takes pride in punching above its weight - a place where only the truly committed should consider a move.