For many EFL-supporting fans across the nation, the idea of their team playing in the Premier League is one that many dream to experience. Despite this, the reality of being part of the richest football league in the world tends to differ from the illusion every EFL fan is sold as they challenge for promotion, usually resulting in a season of misery and despair. But why is this the case?

The Success Stories

Whilst recent years have been a wretched time for promoted sides in the Premier League, there have been instances where clubs have become established sides within the division.

Brentford FC

Brentford’s Premier League debut was sealed with a Play-Off Final win against Swansea City in 2021, a 2-0 victory on the day with Ivan Toney and Emiliano Marcondes scoring. Heading into the 21/22 season under an inexperienced manager at the top level in Thomas Frank, many had Brentford as one of the favourites to return to the Championship at the first attempt.

However, after securing 46 points, they ended up in 13th position, 11 points clear of the drop. Since then, mid-table finishes have become a regular occurrence for The Bees, very impressive for a club many would argue is punching well above their weight.

Players like Bryan Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa, Ivan Toney and David Raya all cemented themselves part of Brentford history before being offloaded for healthy sums of money. Despite these players all leaving, replacing the calibre of player is not an issue for the club as the recruitment at The Bees is second to none. Bringing in players such as Jordan Henderson, Mikkel Damsgaard and Kevin Schade has helped keep Brentford afloat in the Premier League, even despite the huge departure of manager Thomas Frank in the summer.

Brighton & Hove Albion

Brighton’s stint in the top tier stretches back even further compared to Brentford. After automatic promotion in the 16/17 season under Chris Hughton, the club were preparing for their first taste of Premier League football. What followed was 4 seasons of near misses at the bottom of the Premier League table, with the club not finishing above 15th place in this time period.

However, under Graham Potter and Roberto De Zerbi things were starting to improve for the south coast side as their squad started to come to grips with the demands of Premier League football. A surprise 6th place finish in the 22/23 season saw Brighton achieve European football for the first time in history, firmly securing their status as an established side in England’s top division.

The Seagulls have been known for being a club that sells and the consensus amongst fans of the division is that not many do it better than them when it comes to offloading players. Securing a whopping £115 million for the departure of Moises Caicedo as well as fees in excess of £50 million for Joao Pedro, Marc Cucurella and Ben White shows that the club have a clear policy when it comes to letting their star players go.

Brighton’s scouting network is also among some of the best in the country with replacements for the previously listed players embedding in perfectly. A prime example is Carlos Baleba, who is the next player linked with a big money move away from the club after replacing Moises Caicedo’s position in the team.

The Financial Problem

It’s no secret that survival within the Premier League is becoming harder year upon year, given the amount of money that gets pumped into the division. Every club within the league receives over £100 million for just being part of the league through commercial, broadcast and international payments.

In the 24/25 season, Liverpool won the league and had 30/38 games televised on domestic television meaning they received £174.9 million (BBC Sport). In contrast, Southampton secured just £109.2 million (BBC Sport) from the same companies. Whilst understandably a larger pool of people will tune into the so called “Big 6” clubs therefore meaning more of their games are televised, there is already a financial gap between them and the newly promoted sides before the domestic money is even taken into account.

Therefore it did not come as much of a shock to anyone that when Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton were promoted into the Premier League in the 23/24 season, that they were the favourites to be relegated. Amounting just 12 wins between them over the entire season as well as a combined 79 defeats saw all 3 clubs return to the Championship in dismal fashion.

However, many would argue that this is through no fault of their own as the remaining 17 clubs in the Premier League would have earned hundreds of millions of pounds through previous seasons of them competing in the division that it is almost impossible for them to compete.

Whilst it’s not the “Big 6” sides that promoted clubs are often challenging, the remaining teams in the lower echelons of the table will have been receiving regular payments of millions of pounds for a sustained period of time, making it very difficult once again for promoted sides to shift the norm that has been created.

On The Pitch

Everybody knows that football throws up curveballs from time to time with shock results a regular occurrence throughout the entire pyramid. Despite this, promoted sides must do this over a 38-game seasons which provides a huge level of challenge.

The elite sides in the division don’t just have a great starting 11, they have a squad capable of reaching high levels of performance with established players in both England and Europe’s top leagues often keeping the bench warm due to the quality the rest of the team possesses. Even the slight disadvantage of fixture congestion that European football provides isn’t enough to bridge the gap between sides because of some managers being able to put out 2 different starting XI’s and having minimal changes in terms of calibre of player.

For promoted sides coming up, this just isn’t feasible. Often a side assembled of championship proven players will be what most managers will find themselves with at the beginning of the transfer window, with many sides taking a different approach to try and stop the rot.

For example, take Sunderland this year who have spent a staggering £155 million on 14 new players to add to their completely rejuvenated squad. Bringing in a mix of both experienced players at this level, such as Granit Xhaka, as well as some talent for the future in Chemsdine Talbi has put Sunderland in a good position after 10 games this season as they sit in 4th position – remarkable considering the recent history of newly promoted sides.

Whilst many may think Sunderland have cracked the code by spending that much money on several new players, the season before saw Ipswich Town spend up to £130 million, but unfortunately for them it did not have the same desired impact. The Tractor Boys took a different approach, signing the top performing players in the Championship and hoping to embed them into the Premier League. Many argued that Ipswich had already accepted their fate of relegation based off their transfer activity and that they were preparing for life back in the Championship the season after. A worrying assumption by many that sparked huge debate over what was the point in promotion to the richest league in the world?

Why This Also Creates A Problem For The Championship

When clubs are relegated from the top division into the Championship, they receive parachute payments from the Premier League which can total up to £80 million across 3 years as an attempt to “soften the blow”.

However, for teams that have never experienced a taste of the Premier League, these payments do not apply to them, creating a divide within the division. A Championship side without parachute payments often make around £11 million a year in prize money – 8x less than a club with payments.

This then creates the same problem the Premier League experiences, albeit on a slightly smaller scale but with the same impact on the clubs competing. Sides who have been recently relegated out of the Premier League, tend to be favourites to go secure promotion the following season.

This is where the term ” yo-yo club” came into existence for matters such as these. Burnley in the 21/22 season were relegated out of the Premier League after a 6 year stay in the division. The following year they stormed the Championship and returned to the top-flight before – you guessed it – heading back down again. After securing 2nd place last season and securing yet another promotion, The Clarets hope for a superior campaign where they hope to avoid the inevitable.

With other clubs such as Norwich City, Southampton and Leicester City falling under this category, it is creating a huge problem with the integrity of both divisions.

With rising interest in the Premier League and talk of games even being moved abroad, it does not look like this problem is going to slow down anytime soon. Many will try and find an alternative way to become an established side in the top-flight after promotion, but the task is not going to get any easier without drastic changes being enforced.