As Sunderland and Sheffield United prepare for Saturday’s Championship play-off final, the promise of Premier League promotion may come with more risk than reward.
While a top-flight place offers financial windfalls, recent trends suggest the dream can quickly unravel.
For the second year running, all three sides promoted from the Championship have suffered immediate relegation from the Premier League—an occurrence that had only happened once before, during the 1997/98 season.
The widening gulf between the top two divisions is evident in the performances and points accumulated by relegated teams.
Last season, Luton, Burnley, and Sheffield United were demoted with a combined total of 66 points—the lowest ever recorded in a 38-game Premier League season. This season’s trio of Leicester, Ipswich, and Southampton are set to do even worse, with just 59 points between them ahead of the final round of fixtures.
Those three clubs have collectively managed only two victories in 2025 against teams ranked in the top 17 of the table.
Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna, who had led the club through consecutive promotions before enduring a punishing Premier League campaign, acknowledged the growing disparity.
“The gap is significant,” he said. “When the same 17 clubs benefit from two years of Premier League revenue and infrastructure, it becomes harder for any new side to compete.”
Financially, even the lowest-placed Premier League team doesn’t lose out.
Sheffield United, despite finishing bottom last season, still collected £110 million from the league’s broadcasting and commercial income.
With parachute payments—designed to soften the financial blow of relegation—added in, a single season in the Premier League can exceed £200 million in total value.
However, these parachute payments have raised alarms within the English Football League (EFL). Critics argue they create an uneven playing field in the Championship, favouring clubs recently relegated from the top flight.
Should Sheffield United join Leeds and Burnley in earning promotion this season, six of the last nine promoted clubs would have returned to the Premier League at the first attempt.
EFL chairman Rick Parry voiced concern about the effect of parachute payments on the Championship’s competitive balance. “Their impact on the league’s sustainability and fairness is troubling,” he said.
With an independent football regulator set to be introduced, there is potential for these payments to be abolished.
Yet, that move might unintentionally deepen the chasm between the divisions, as newly promoted clubs struggle to invest adequately to compete at the top level.
Originally intended to bridge the financial gap, parachute payments have not prevented newly promoted sides from finding life in the Premier League increasingly unforgiving.
Even long-established top-flight clubs such as Manchester United and Tottenham are teetering near the drop zone, sitting in 16th and 17th place, respectively.
Leicester City manager Ruud van Nistelrooy reflected on the challenge: “The longer clubs remain in the Premier League, the stronger they become. If the same 17 clubs stay up, they’ll keep investing and improving. The gap just continues to grow.”
