How Newly Promoted Teams Can Escape the Premier League Relegation Trap

Over the past few years, the Premier League has started to feel like a revolving door, as teams achieve their dreams of competing in England's top tier, only to be sent back down to the Championship shortly after. It's a cycle that sees clubs rise to the elite, only to be replaced by the same wave the year after.

Once known as the "Big Six," the Premier League is now quickly expanding to a "Big 17," with this season being no different. Southampton, Leicester, and Ipswich all look likely to return to the Championship, with Southampton's fate already sealed with a record seven games still to play.

So, how can this cycle be broken? How can newly promoted teams not only survive in the Premier League but actually thrive and stay in the top flight?

If anything summed up how bad the bottom three of the Premier League are… pic.twitter.com/SPmH3OG1h9

— Tactically Matt (@TacticallyMatt) February 23, 2025

Splashing The Cash

Of course, when it comes to how a club can rise to the Premier League and stay there, splashing the cash is often the first thing that comes to mind. And in recent years, we've seen numerous clubs use this method with varying degrees of success.

Take Wolves, for example. After their promotion in 2019, they spent over £80m and finished 10th in their first season, an impressive result that set them up for consistent Premier League stability. Then, in 2020, Leeds United spent nearly £100m in their bid to establish themselves in the top flight, and they managed to stay in the league for a few years. That same year, Aston Villa spent over £130m after being promoted, and now, just a few years later, they're playing in the Champions League.

🚨 Premier League clubs Transfer Spending 24/25.

Liverpool bottom 🤯 pic.twitter.com/i04UrXdV8k

— Anfield Sector (@AnfieldSector) February 4, 2025

However, in more recent seasons, this method of heavy spending has begun to show cracks. Last summer, Southampton spent over £120m, yet they find themselves rock bottom of the table and heading towards becoming the worst Premier League side in history. Similarly, Ipswich splashed over £150m in an attempt to compete with the rest, yet they're also set to be relegated straight back to the Championship.

While spending fortunes can certainly help a newly promoted team secure their place in the Premier League as we've seen in the last five years or so, it’s far from a guaranteed formula for success. The reality is that throwing money at the problem doesn’t always work out, and for some clubs, it’s not even an option.

With the increasing importance of financial fair play and sustainability rules, many returning Premier League sides face significant restrictions on how much they can spend. This was a major issue for Leicester City this season.

Finding The Right Striker

It often comes back to that classic old saying: if you don't score goals, you don't win football matches. As cliché as it sounds, it's painfully true - especially in the Premier League.

Just take a look at last season. Sheffield United's top scorer, Oli McBurnie, finished with just six goals. Burnley’s leading marksman, Jacob Bruun Larsen, also managed only six. Fast forward to this season, and it’s a similar story - Southampton’s top scorer is Paul Onuachu with just four goals, and for Leicester, it's a 38-year-old Jamie Vardy with seven. Those numbers just don’t cut it in a league where fine margins decide everything.

Yes, finding a reliable striker who can score consistently in the toughest league in the world is incredibly difficult - especially for newly promoted sides with limited resources. But it’s such an important piece of the puzzle if you want any chance of survival. Goals win games.

Making Your Home Ground A Fortress

All three promoted sides this season have managed a combined total of just 21 points at home, a figure that, even on its own, would still leave them nine points from safety. It’s was familiar story last season, the three teams that went down recorded just eight home wins between them.

In contrast, it's strong home form that continues to keep clubs like Everton in the Premier League year after year, even when things aren’t clicking elsewhere. It's what helped Nottingham Forest beat the odds and survive when many had written them off. The fans can quite often become the 12th man and if the teams coming up next season can learn from that, they’ll give themselves a real fighting chance of survival.

Rebuilding Fortress Goodison. 🏰

Our home form under the gaffer ranks high among Europe's top five leagues. ⛔️ pic.twitter.com/NodOzotAhQ

— Everton (@Everton) May 15, 2024

What Can Be Done Next Year?

Ultimately, as much as we love the romantic underdog stories, it does come down to money. Staying in the Premier League, even just for one season, can be absolutely transformative for a club. The injection of Premier League TV money alone gives clubs a full year’s worth of top-flight income to invest in improving the squad, infrastructure, and long-term stability.

But even that financial boost isn’t a guarantee of survival. A bit of luck and timing plays its part too. The reality is that the so-called "top 17" are getting richer every year. With the Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) limiting clubs to a maximum loss of £105 million over three years, smaller clubs, who don’t generate anywhere near the commercial or matchday revenue of the bigger sides, are fighting an uphill battle.

It means that unless a newly promoted club can survive at least two seasons, they’re constantly stuck playing catch-up. One season of Premier League riches helps, sure - but it’s that second season that really allows clubs to build something sustainable and start to actually compete rather than just survive.

"Leicester have successfully argued that they were in the Championship when they were alleged to have breached Premier League rules" 🔵

Jamie Weir takes a look at how Leicester won their PSR appeal 👇 pic.twitter.com/f4Fn2JDaIP

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) September 4, 2024