Eric the Half a Bee
02-08-19, 20:26
There's always a tendency to consider teams that have just been relegated for a swift return to the Premier League. Is that the case? Here's some stats.
Since the advent of the Premier League, 82 teams have suffered relegation (3 per season with 4 going down in 1994/95 when the division was reduced to 20 teams from 22). 3 of those sides went down last season and so haven't got any stats for their first season back in the Championship. That leaves 79 relegated teams to look at.
Out of those 79:
9 have won the Championship
7 finished 2nd
18 finished in the playoffs with 5 winning promotion through the playoffs.
That means 26.6% or 21 relegated sides have managed to go straight back up.
A further 24 sides finished in the top half, so 73.5% managed a top half finish.
3 of the remaining 21 sides were relegated a second time in succession (Swindon, Wolves and Sunderland).
If you split the 26 Premier League seasons referenced, it makes for interesting reading.
Over the first 13 seasons, 10 sides went straight back up. Over the second 13 seasons, 11 went straight back up.
Over the first 13 seasons, 12 sides finished in the bottom half. Over the second 13 seasons, 9 finished in the bottom half, although twice as many were relegated again.
It might be interesting to note that the last 2 Championship seasons have seen no relegated sides return to the top division and just 1 relegated side manage a top 6 spot. This has only happened once before since the formation of the PL (2004-2006). There's never been an occurrence of 3 seasons on the trot where relegated sides failed to win immediate promotion, so failure of all of last seasons relegatees to bounce straight back would be a first. The longest gap between relegated sides winning automatic promotion was 6 seasons, when Newcastle and West Brom went straight back up in 2009/10, then Burnley won the Championship in 2015/16, though 3 relegated sides went up through the playoffs in between.
Since the advent of the Premier League, 82 teams have suffered relegation (3 per season with 4 going down in 1994/95 when the division was reduced to 20 teams from 22). 3 of those sides went down last season and so haven't got any stats for their first season back in the Championship. That leaves 79 relegated teams to look at.
Out of those 79:
9 have won the Championship
7 finished 2nd
18 finished in the playoffs with 5 winning promotion through the playoffs.
That means 26.6% or 21 relegated sides have managed to go straight back up.
A further 24 sides finished in the top half, so 73.5% managed a top half finish.
3 of the remaining 21 sides were relegated a second time in succession (Swindon, Wolves and Sunderland).
If you split the 26 Premier League seasons referenced, it makes for interesting reading.
Over the first 13 seasons, 10 sides went straight back up. Over the second 13 seasons, 11 went straight back up.
Over the first 13 seasons, 12 sides finished in the bottom half. Over the second 13 seasons, 9 finished in the bottom half, although twice as many were relegated again.
It might be interesting to note that the last 2 Championship seasons have seen no relegated sides return to the top division and just 1 relegated side manage a top 6 spot. This has only happened once before since the formation of the PL (2004-2006). There's never been an occurrence of 3 seasons on the trot where relegated sides failed to win immediate promotion, so failure of all of last seasons relegatees to bounce straight back would be a first. The longest gap between relegated sides winning automatic promotion was 6 seasons, when Newcastle and West Brom went straight back up in 2009/10, then Burnley won the Championship in 2015/16, though 3 relegated sides went up through the playoffs in between.