For the last two seasons all three promoted clubs have fallen straight back down the Premier League trapdoor.
Luton Town, Burnley, Sheffield United, Leicester City, Ipswich and Southampton.
The promotion hopefuls fell with a six-point gap in 2023/24, then a eight-point gap in 2024/25.
Is a chasm forming that should have Leeds United, Burnley and Sunderland supporters' expectations tempered?
Yes they will Chris Flanagan
I feel like Geoff Shreeves interviewing Branislav Ivanovic here.
Well done, Branislav, youve just defeated Lionel Messis Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final and youre clearly delighted.
By the way, did you know youre suspended for the final? No? Oh
Like Geoff, looking at Branislavs heartbroken face in 2012, part of me wonders whether writing this was a good idea.
After the joys of May, this is not what fans of the three promoted sides want to hear right now and I sincerely hope Im wrong.
All three going back down again would be terrible for football.
But I fear the worst.
During the past two Premier League campaigns, no promoted side has picked up more than Lutons 26 points in 2023-24, miles off the 38 or 40 thats often been considered to be required for safety.
None of the six lost fewer than 24 matches.
When happy squads battle their way out of the Championship these days, instead of holding up a cliched Were going up! banner, they almost need one reading, A year of inevitable misery ahead well soon wonder whether this was worth it.
Daniel Farkes Leeds won the second tier last term, but so did Daniel Farkes Norwich in 2021 in the Premier League, he was sacked by November and they finished bottom.
Burnleys Scott Parker has secured promotion in each of his three seasons in the Championship, but has twice been relegated from the top flight with Fulham, then sacked by Bournemouth after losing 9-0 at Liverpool.
Sunderland got just 76 points no club has reached the Premier League with fewer since 2013.
The signs are ominous.
There is some good news, though if the three of them are back in the Championship with parachute payments, theyre going to love 2026-27.
No they won't Ed McCambridge
I dont want to go full Eminem at the end of 8 Mile, but I know everything Chris will have said against me.
The odds are massively stacked against Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland; theres a waxing gulf between the Premier League and the divisions below; the six most recent promoted sides were relegated straight back to the Championship; I do live in a trailer with my mom sorry, ignore that last one.
To convince myself as much as anything, though, heres why I believe they wont all go down.
Leeds amassed 100 points and scored 95 goals last term.
Only Fulham, in 2021-22, found the back of the net more often over the past five Championship seasons (thanks to cheat code Aleksandar Mitrovic) and guess what?
They stayed up.
Burnley also hit 100 points last season and, while not unstoppable going forward (they scored 69), they were an immovable object at the back, conceding just 16 times beating the previous Championship record by 14 keeping 30 clean sheets, and suffering only two defeats.
Some branded it boring, but Vincent Kompanys more expansive Clarets got torn apart on a weekly basis in the top flight two years ago exciting football doesnt always translate to success.
Lastly, few teams in English football have overcome adversity quite like play-off winners Sunderland, who boast a young, hungry team, as well as one of the most passionate fanbases in European football.
Another way to look at this is to suggest alternative candidates for relegation I feel a struggling Wolves shorn of their talisman Matheus Cunha could be in trouble, alongside Brentford, Everton and West Ham.
I only need one of them to tumble into the second tier, for me to be proven correct come the end of the season.
Dont let me down, lads
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