How Many Times Have All Promoted Teams Been Relegated Straight Back Down?

The English top-flight is one of the toughest leagues in the world. To get into it from the Championship is hard, but staying in the Premier League once you’ve made it up can be even harder. Gone are the days when a team could be promoted from the second tier and then go on and win the First Division at the first time of asking.

It certainly feels as though it has now become more common for teams to be promoted and then head straight back down again, but is that actually true? Relegation as a concept was introduced in the 1986-1987 season, so here’s a look at the teams that have been promoted and relegated:

It is a Modern Phenomenon For All 3 Promoted Teams to be Relegated

Looking at the table, you can see that only once prior to the start of the 2023-2024 Premier League season did all of the promoted teams get relegated straight back down at the end of the season. That was the 1997-1998 campaign, when Bolton Wanderers, Barnsley and Crystal Palace were promoted out of the First Division before heading straight back down again. Other than that, every season until the 2023-2024 one saw at least one of the teams remain in the English top-flight since relegation was introduced. The idea that all three are doomed to go back down is factually incorrect.

@connachahal How does a team almost always get promoted or relegated? #football #soccer #ConnaChahal #fyp #Luton ♬ sonido original – 𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗗𝗢♾

That doesn’t mean that they’re safe, of course. A quick look at the table shows that many of the teams that survived relegation would then be relegated a season or two later, so staying up isn’t a guarantee of any sort of long-term success. In fact, it’s significantly more likely that a team will be relegated again in the future than survive for any kind of meaningful period of time. Only teams like Newcastle United, which was bought by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia in order to be used as a sports-washing operation could be seen to have a guarantee of future success.

Why Has it Started Happening More Often?

The fact that the teams promoted at the start of the 2023-2024 season and the 2024-2025 campaign both went straight back down suggests that it has become tougher than ever for the teams to make it out of the Championship and maintain a Premier League presence. The obviously question becomes: why? The most obvious answer is that it is all to do with money. Teams in the English top-flight get to take advantage of the television money that comes in each year, seeing huge sums paid into their bank accounts to allow them to recruit players and ensure their long-term survival. Championship clubs, meanwhile, are always fighting to keep their heads above water.

They need to do something to close the gap for promoted teams so we’re no longer denied seeing Man Utd and Spurs relegated.

— Reeking of Joop (@robotcanary.bsky.social) April 27, 2025 at 5:22 PM

The fact that Parachute Payments exist makes it even harder for many of the Championship teams to ever dream about a promotion to the Premier League, given the fact that relegated teams are given money to ‘cope’ with their relegation and this allows them to keep the core of their squad together and go again. Even teams that do get relegated often head straight back up again within a season or two, with those that don’t being significantly more unusual than the ones that do. The trouble is, it is unlikely to change any time soon and so the cycle is more likely to continue.