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Yo-yo or further down to go: How relegated clubs fare in the Championship

Can Norwich, Watford and Everton, Burnley or Leeds expect to bounce back to the Premier League at the first attempt?

Fulham were the bookmakers' tips to head the Championship table even before the 2021/22 campaign kicked off.

But is it really as simple as picking out one of the three relegated clubs when it comes to selecting the title winner?

Parachute payments, Premier League experience and the ability to attract big names mean the relegated clubs are well placed to bounce straight back. But for every Fulham success story, there has been a Sunderland.

Here, Planet Sport takes a look at how the relegated teams have fared in their first season back in the Championship, going back to 2011/12.

Season 2021/22

Fulham, West Brom and Sheffield United dropped down from the Premier League and all three were fancied to go back up at the first attempt.
For Fulham, the appointment of Marco Silva proved a masterstroke, with the Cottagers winning the title on the back of a record-breaking season from Aleksandar Mitrovic. The Serbian striker scored 43 goals - more than the entire Hull City team.
Sheffield United recovered from a slow start to make the play-offs, but now under the guidance of Paul Heckingbottom who replaced Slavisa Jokanovic in November.

West Brom's managerial change did not work out quite as well, however. Fifth when Valerien Ismael was given the boot, they eventually finished tenth under Steve Bruce.

    Pld W D L F A GD Pts
1 FULHAM 46 27 9 10 106 43 63 90
2 AFC Bournemouth 46 25 13 8 74 39 35 88
3 Huddersfield Town 46 23 13 10 64 47 17 82
4 Nottingham Forest 46 23 11 12 73 40 33 80
5 SHEFFIELD UTD 46 21 12 13 63 45 18 75
6 Luton Town 46 21 12 13 63 55 8 75
7 Middlesbrough 46 20 10 16 59 50 9 70
8 Blackburn Rovers 46 19 12 15 59 50 9 69
9 Millwall 46 18 15 13 53 45 8 69
10 WEST BROM 46 18 13 15 52 45 7 67
11 Queens Park Rangers 46 19 9 18 60 59 1 66
12 Coventry City 46 17 13 16 60 59 1 64
13 Preston North End 46 16 16 14 52 56 -4 64
14 Stoke City 46 17 11 18 57 52 5 62
15 Swansea City 46 16 13 17 58 68 -10 61
16 Blackpool 46 16 12 18 54 58 -4 60
17 Bristol City 46 15 10 21 62 77 -15 55
18 Cardiff City 46 15 8 23 50 68 -18 53
19 Hull City 46 14 9 23 41 54 -13 51
20 Birmingham City 46 11 14 21 50 75 -25 47
21 Reading 46 13 8 25 54 87 -33 41
22 Peterborough 46 9 10 27 43 87 -44 37
23 Derby County 46 14 13 19 45 53 -8 34
24 Barnsley 46 6 12 28 33 73 -40 30

Season 2020/21

Rewarded for sticking with Daniel Farke and keeping the bulk of their squad, Norwich City ran away with the title.

Watford, meanwhile, sacked Vladimir Ivic when in fifth place before Xisco Munoz took over in December and guided them to the runners-up spot.

Second in mid-December, Bournemouth slipped to sixth after a run of one win in eight, leading to the dismissal of Jason Tindall.

Jonathan Woodgate led them into the play-offs but a 3-2 aggregate defeat to Brentford meant another season of Championship soccer for the Cherries.

  PldWDLGFGAGDPts
1 NORWICH CITY 46 29 10 7 75 36 +39 97
2 WATFORD 46 27 10 9 63 30 +33 91
3 Brentford 46 24 15 7 79 42 +37 87
4 Swansea City 46 23 11 12 56 39 +17 80
5 Barnsley 46 23 9 14 58 50 +8 78
6 BOURNEMOUTH 46 22 11 13 73 46 +27 77
7 Reading 46 19 13 14 62 54 +8 70
8 Cardiff City 46 18 14 14 66 49 +17 68
9 Queens Park Rangers 46 19 11 16 57 55 +2 68
10 Middlesbrough 46 18 10 18 55 53 +2 64
11 Millwall 46 15 17 14 47 52 −5 62
12 Luton Town 46 17 11 18 41 52 −11 62
13 Preston North End 46 18 7 21 49 56 −7 61
14 Stoke City 46 15 15 16 50 52 −2 60
15 Blackburn Rovers 46 15 12 19 65 54 +11 57
16 Coventry City 46 14 13 19 49 61 −12 55
17 Nottingham Forest 46 12 16 18 37 45 −8 52
18 Birmingham City 46 13 13 20 37 61 −24 52
19 Bristol City 46 15 6 25 46 68 −22 51
20 Huddersfield Town 46 12 13 21 50 71 −21 49
21 Derby County 46 11 11 24 36 58 −22 44
22 Wycombe Wanderers 46 11 10 25 39 69 −30 43
23 Rotherham United 46 11 9 26 44 60 −16 42
24 Sheffield Wednesday 46 12 11 23 40 61 −21 41

Season 2019/20

After suffering second-season syndrome in the Premier League, Huddersfield were only just able to arrest their slide, finishing 18th, three points above the drop zone.

Fulham were in the thick of the promotion race until the final day before having to settle for a play-off place.

They then went on to beat Brentford in the final to regain their top-flight status having edged out another relegated team, Cardiff City, in the semi-final.

  PldWDLGFGAGDPts
1 Leeds United 46 28 9 9 77 35 +42 93
2 West Bromwich Albion 46 22 17 7 77 45 +32 83
3 Brentford 46 24 9 13 80 38 +42 81
4 FULHAM 46 23 12 11 64 48 +16 81
5 CARDIFF CITY 46 19 16 11 68 58 +10 73
6 Swansea City 46 18 16 12 62 53 +9 70
7 Nottingham Forest 46 18 16 12 58 50 +8 70
8 Millwall 46 17 17 12 57 51 +6 68
9 Preston North End 46 18 12 16 59 54 +5 66
10 Derby County 46 17 13 16 62 64 −2 64
11 Blackburn Rovers 46 17 12 17 66 63 +3 63
12 Bristol City 46 17 12 17 60 65 −5 63
13 Queens Park Rangers 46 16 10 20 67 76 −9 58
14 Reading 46 15 11 20 59 58 +1 56
15 Stoke City 46 16 8 22 62 68 −6 56
16 Sheffield Wednesday 46 15 11 20 58 66 −8 56
17 Middlesbrough 46 13 14 19 48 61 −13 53
18 HUDDERSFIELD TOWN 46 13 12 21 52 70 −18 51
19 Luton Town 46 14 9 23 54 82 −28 51
20 Birmingham City 46 12 14 20 54 75 −21 50
21 Barnsley 46 12 13 21 49 69 −20 49
22 Charlton Athletic 46 12 12 22 50 65 −15 48
23 Wigan Athletic 46 15 14 17 57 56 +1 47
24 Hull City 46 12 9 25 57 87 −30 45

Season 2018/19

West Brom caretaker-manager Darren Moore was given the job permanently but failed to last the season, with James Shan guiding them to the play-offs where they lost to near-neighbours Aston Villa.

Much was expected of Swansea City and Stoke.

However, after kicking off with back-to-back wins, Swansea finished 10th, while Stoke drew a record 22 games - nine of them 0-0 - on their way to 16th place.

  PldWDLGFGAGDPts
1 Norwich City  46 27 13 6 93 57 +36 94
2 Sheffield United 46 26 11 9 78 41 +37 89
3 Leeds United 46 25 8 13 73 50 +23 83
4 WEST BROMWICH ALBION 46 23 11 12 87 62 +25 80
5 Aston Villa 46 20 16 10 82 61 +21 76
6 Derby County 46 20 14 12 69 54 +15 74
7 Middlesbrough 46 20 13 13 49 41 +8 73
8 Bristol City 46 19 13 14 59 53 +6 70
9 Nottingham Forest 46 17 15 14 61 54 +7 66
10 SWANSEA CITY 46 18 11 17 65 62 +3 65
11 Brentford 46 17 13 16 73 59 +14 64
12 Sheffield Wednesday 46 16 16 14 60 62 −2 64
13 Hull City 46 17 11 18 66 68 −2 62
14 Preston North End 46 16 13 17 67 67 0 61
15 Blackburn Rovers 46 16 12 18 64 69 −5 60
16 STOKE CITY 46 11 22 13 45 52 −7 55
17 Birmingham City 46 14 19 13 64 58 +6 52
18 Wigan Athletic 46 13 13 20 51 64 −13 52
19 Queens Park Rangers 46 14 9 23 53 71 −18 51
20 Reading 46 10 17 19 49 66 −17 47
21 Millwall 46 10 14 22 48 64 −16 44
22 Rotherham United 46 8 16 22 52 83 −31 40
23 Bolton Wanderers 46 8 8 30 29 78 −49 32
24 Ipswich Town 46 5 16 25 36 77 −41 31

Season 2017/18

Tony Pulis took over from Garry Monk midway through the season and lifted Middlesbrough into the play-offs where they were edged out by Aston Villa.

Hull City flirted with relegation for most of the season before Nigel Adkins, who had replaced Leonid Slutsky in December, oversaw a strong March and April to lift them clear of the drop zone.

Sunderland, however, just kept on falling, first under Simon Grayson and then Chris Coleman.

Still it made for great viewing in the first series of Sunderland 'Til I Die (unless you're a Sunderland supporter, of course).

  PldWDLGFGAGDPts
1 Wolverhampton Wanderers 46 30 9 7 82 39 +43 99
2 Cardiff City 46 27 9 10 69 39 +30 90
3 Fulham 46 25 13 8 79 46 +33 88
4 Aston Villa 46 24 11 11 72 42 +30 83
5 MIDDLESBROUGH 46 22 10 14 67 45 +22 76
6 Derby County 46 20 15 11 70 48 +22 75
7 Preston North End 46 19 16 11 57 46 +11 73
8 Millwall 46 19 15 12 56 45 +11 72
9 Brentford 46 18 15 13 62 52 +10 69
10 Sheffield United 46 20 9 17 62 55 +7 69
11 Bristol City 46 17 16 13 67 58 +9 67
12 Ipswich Town 46 17 9 20 57 60 −3 60
13 Leeds United 46 17 9 20 59 64 −5 60
14 Norwich City 46 15 15 16 49 60 −11 60
15 Sheffield Wednesday 46 14 15 17 59 60 −1 57
16 Queens Park Rangers 46 15 11 20 58 70 −12 56
17 Nottingham Forest 46 15 8 23 51 65 −14 53
18 HULL CITY 46 11 16 19 70 70 0 49
19 Birmingham City 46 13 7 26 38 68 −30 46
20 Reading 46 10 14 22 48 70 −22 44
21 Bolton Wanderers 46 10 13 23 39 74 −35 43
22 Barnsley 46 9 14 23 48 72 −24 41
23 Burton Albion 46 10 11 25 38 81 −43 41
24 SUNDERLAND 46 7 16 23 52 80 −28 37

Season 2016/17

Two successive defeats to kick off the campaign didn't augur well for Newcastle United. However, they bounced back in superb fashion under Rafa Benitez, seeing off a strong challenge from Brighton to win the league.

Top in mid-October, Norwich City then went on to lose eight of their next ten games. Alex Neil survived until March but was replaced by Alan Irvine. And despite scoring 22 goals in their last six games they could only finish eighth.

After just one win from his first 11 matches Roberto Martinez made way at Aston Villa to be replaced by Steve Bruce.

Five successive defeats in January and February threatened to suck them back into the relegation fight but Villa then won seven of their next eight and went on to finish 13th.

  PldWDLGFGAGDPts
1 NEWCASTLE UNITED 46 29 7 10 85 40 +45 94
2 Brighton & Hove Albion 46 28 9 9 74 40 +34 93
3 Reading 46 26 7 13 68 64 +4 85
4 Sheffield Wednesday 46 24 9 13 60 45 +15 81
5 Huddersfield Town 46 25 6 15 56 58 −2 81
6 Fulham 46 22 14 10 85 57 +28 80
7 Leeds United 46 22 9 15 61 47 +14 75
8 NORWICH CITY 46 20 10 16 85 69 +16 70
9 Derby County 46 18 13 15 54 50 +4 67
10 Brentford 46 18 10 18 75 65 +10 64
11 Preston North End 46 16 14 16 64 63 +1 62
12 Cardiff City 46 17 11 18 60 61 −1 62
13 ASTON VILLA 46 16 14 16 47 48 −1 62
14 Barnsley 46 15 13 18 64 67 −3 58
15 Wolverhampton Wanderers 46 16 10 20 54 58 −4 58
16 Ipswich Town 46 13 16 17 48 58 −10 55
17 Bristol City 46 15 9 22 60 66 −6 54
18 Queens Park Rangers 46 15 8 23 52 66 −14 53
19 Birmingham City 46 13 14 19 45 64 −19 53
20 Burton Albion 46 13 13 20 49 63 −14 52
21 Nottingham Forest 46 14 9 23 62 72 −10 51
22 Blackburn Rovers 46 12 15 19 53 65 −12 51
23 Wigan Athletic 46 10 12 24 40 57 −17 42
24 Rotherham United 46 5 8 33 40 98 −58 23

Season 2015/16

Burnley and Hull City bounced back at the first attempt with both clubs rewarded for retaining faith in their managers.

Sean Dyche guided the Clarets to the title, while Steve Bruce's Hull needed a play-off final victory over Sheffield Wednesday to regain their top-flight status.

QPR, meanwhile, started the season under Chris Ramsey and finished it under Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink with a spell under caretaker- manager Neil Warnock in November.

Despite the upheaval they bounced along in mid-table for most of the campaign, eventually finishing 12th.

  PldWDLGFGAGDPts
1 BURNLEY 46 26 15 5 72 35 +37 93
2 Middlesbrough 46 26 11 9 63 31 +32 89
3 Brighton & Hove Albion 46 24 17 5 72 42 +30 89
4 HULL CITY 46 24 11 11 69 35 +34 83
5 Derby County 46 21 15 10 66 43 +23 78
6 Sheffield Wednesday 46 19 17 10 66 45 +21 74
7 Ipswich Town 46 18 15 13 53 51 +2 69
8 Cardiff City 46 17 17 12 56 51 +5 68
9 Brentford 46 19 8 19 72 67 +5 65
10 Birmingham City 46 16 15 15 53 49 +4 63
11 Preston North End 46 15 17 14 45 45 0 62
12 QUEENS PARK RANGERS 46 14 18 14 54 54 0 60
13 Leeds United 46 14 17 15 50 58 −8 59
14 Wolverhampton Wanderers 46 14 16 16 53 58 −5 58
15 Blackburn Rovers 46 13 16 17 46 46 0 55
16 Nottingham Forest 46 13 16 17 43 47 −4 55
17 Reading 46 13 13 20 52 59 −7 52
18 Bristol City 46 13 13 20 54 71 −17 52
19 Huddersfield Town 46 13 12 21 59 70 −11 51
20 Fulham 46 12 15 19 66 79 −13 51
21 Rotherham United 46 13 10 23 53 71 −18 49
22 Charlton Athletic 46 9 13 24 40 80 −40 40
23 Milton Keynes Dons 46 9 12 25 39 69 −30 39
24 Bolton Wanderers 46 5 15 26 41 81 −40 30

Season 2014/15

Norwich made it back to the Premier League at the first attempt. However, not before Neil Adams had lost his job, with Alex Neil coming in to replace him in January with the Canaries in seventh.

A Wembley win over Middlesbrough sealed their return.

Successive September defeats put paid to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's time at Cardiff City, with Russell Slade appointed the following month and seeing the Bluebirds to a comfortable mid-table finish.

Seven defeats from their first eight games put paid to Felix Magath's tenure at Fulham.

An upturn in form under Kit Symons lifted the Cottagers to 13th but another poor run of form had them just glad to keep their heads above water in 17th.

  PldWDLGFGAGDPts
1 Bournemouth 46 26 12 8 98 45 +53 90
2 Watford 46 27 8 11 91 50 +41 89
3 NORWICH CITY 46 25 11 10 88 48 +40 86
4 Middlesbrough 46 25 10 11 68 37 +31 85
5 Brentford 46 23 9 14 78 59 +19 78
6 Ipswich Town 46 22 12 12 72 54 +18 78
7 Wolverhampton Wanderers 46 22 12 12 70 56 +14 78
8 Derby County 46 21 14 11 85 56 +29 77
9 Blackburn Rovers 46 17 16 13 66 59 +7 67
10 Birmingham City 46 16 15 15 54 64 −10 63
11 CARDIFF CITY 46 16 14 16 57 61 −4 62
12 Charlton Athletic 46 14 18 14 54 60 −6 60
13 Sheffield Wednesday 46 14 18 14 43 49 −6 60
14 Nottingham Forest 46 15 14 17 71 69 +2 59
15 Leeds United 46 15 11 20 50 61 −11 56
16 Huddersfield Town 46 13 16 17 58 75 −17 55
17 FULHAM 46 14 10 22 62 83 −21 52
18 Bolton Wanderers 46 13 12 21 54 67 −13 51
19 Reading 46 13 11 22 48 69 −21 50
20 Brighton & Hove Albion 46 10 17 19 44 54 −10 47
21 Rotherham United 46 11 16 19 46 67 −21 46
22 Millwall 46 9 14 23 42 76 −34 41
23 Wigan Athletic 46 9 12 25 39 64 −25 39
24 Blackpool 46 4 14 28 36 91 −55 26

Season 2013/14

A decent showing from the relegated clubs, with QPR and Wigan making the play-offs and Reading heartbreakingly missing out by a point after Brighton's last-minute winner in their final match of the season against Nottingham Forest.

QPR then went on to beat Wigan in the play-off semi-final before edging out Derby County 1-0 in the 'world's richest game'.

  PldWDLGFGAGDPts
1 Leicester City 46 31 9 6 83 43 +40 102
2 Burnley 46 26 15 5 72 37 +35 93
3 Derby County 46 25 10 11 84 52 +32 85
4 QUEENS PARK RANGERS 46 23 11 12 60 44 +16 80
5 WIGAN ATHLETIC 46 21 10 15 61 48 +13 73
6 Brighton & Hove Albion 46 19 15 12 55 40 +15 72
7 READING 46 19 14 13 70 56 +14 71
8 Blackburn Rovers 46 18 16 12 70 62 +8 70
9 Ipswich Town 46 18 14 14 60 54 +6 68
10 Bournemouth 46 18 12 16 67 66 +1 66
11 Nottingham Forest 46 16 17 13 67 64 +3 65
12 Middlesbrough 46 16 16 14 62 50 +12 64
13 Watford 46 15 15 16 74 64 +10 60
14 Bolton Wanderers 46 14 17 15 59 60 −1 59
15 Leeds United 46 16 9 21 59 67 −8 57
16 Sheffield Wednesday 46 13 14 19 63 65 −2 53
17 Huddersfield Town 46 14 11 21 58 65 −7 53
18 Charlton Athletic 46 13 12 21 41 61 −20 51
19 Millwall 46 11 15 20 46 74 −28 48
20 Blackpool 46 11 13 22 38 66 −28 46
21 Birmingham City 46 11 11 24 58 74 −16 44
22 Doncaster Rovers 46 11 11 24 39 70 −31 44
23 Barnsley 46 9 12 25 44 77 −33 39
24 Yeovil Town 46 8 13 25 44 75 −31 37

Season 2012/13

Another 90th-minute winner against Nottingham Forest, this time for Leicester City, meant agony on the last day for Bolton Wanderers who missed out on the play-offs on goal difference.

Blackburn went into the season having splashed out £8million on Jordan Rhodes.

Top of the league after seven matches they would slump to 22nd before finishing 17th.
Steve Kean resigned and both Henning Berg and Michael Appleton were sacked before Gary Bowyer saw the season out in charge.

Having previously suffered back-to-back relegations from the top flight, Wolverhampton Wanderers did it again.

Wolves, who had been as high as fifth 12 games in, sacked Stale Solbakken in January, while replacement Dean Saunders was removed three days after their relegation was confirmed.

  PldWDLGFGAGDPts
1 Cardiff City 46 25 12 9 72 45 +27 87
2 Hull City 46 24 7 15 61 52 +9 79
3 Watford 46 23 8 15 85 58 +27 77
4 Brighton & Hove Albion 46 19 18 9 69 43 +26 75
5 Crystal Palace 46 19 15 12 73 62 +11 72
6 Leicester City 46 19 11 16 71 48 +23 68
7 BOLTON WANDERERS 46 18 14 14 69 61 +8 68
8 Nottingham Forest 46 17 16 13 63 59 +4 67
9 Charlton Athletic 46 17 14 15 65 59 +6 65
10 Derby County 46 16 13 17 65 62 +3 61
11 Burnley 46 16 13 17 62 60 +2 61
12 Birmingham City 46 15 16 15 63 69 −6 61
13 Leeds United 46 17 10 19 57 66 −9 61
14 Ipswich Town 46 16 12 18 48 61 −13 60
15 Blackpool 46 14 17 15 62 63 −1 59
16 Middlesbrough 46 18 5 23 61 70 −9 59
17 BLACKBURN ROVERS 46 14 16 16 55 62 −7 58
18 Sheffield Wednesday 46 16 10 20 53 61 −8 58
19 Huddersfield Town 46 15 13 18 53 73 −20 58
20 Millwall 46 15 11 20 51 62 −11 56
21 Barnsley 46 14 13 19 56 70 −14 55
22 Peterborough United 46 15 9 22 66 75 −9 54
23 WOLVES 46 14 9 23 55 69 −14 51
24 Bristol City 46 11 8 27 59 84 −25 41

Season 2011/12

A full house of play-off finishes for the relegated trio in 2011/12.

With Reading's unexpected league win, West Ham were pushed into third, ten points clear of Birmingham.

Blackpool completed the relegated clubs and it was they who faced West Ham in the Championship play-off final at Wembley.

Ricardo Vaz Te was to prove the match-winner on the day for Sam Allardyce's side, popping up in the 87th minute to seal a 2-1 win and enshrine his name in West Ham folklore.

  PldWDLGFGAGDPts
1 Reading 46 27 8 11 69 41 +28 89
2 Southampton 46 26 10 10 85 46 +39 88
3 WEST HAM UNITED 46 24 14 8 81 48 +33 86
4 BIRMINGHAM CITY 46 20 16 10 78 51 +27 76
5 BLACKPOOL 46 20 15 11 79 59 +20 75
6 Cardiff City 46 19 18 9 66 53 +13 75
7 Middlesbrough 46 18 16 12 52 51 +1 70
8 Hull City 46 19 11 16 47 44 +3 68
9 Leicester City 46 18 12 16 66 55 +11 66
10 Brighton & Hove Albion 46 17 15 14 52 52 0 66
11 Watford 46 16 16 14 56 64 −8 64
12 Derby County 46 18 10 18 50 58 −8 64
13 Burnley 46 17 11 18 61 58 +3 62
14 Leeds United 46 17 10 19 65 68 −3 61
15 Ipswich Town 46 17 10 19 69 77 −8 61
16 Millwall 46 15 12 19 55 57 −2 57
17 Crystal Palace 46 13 17 16 46 51 −5 56
18 Peterborough United 46 13 11 22 67 77 −10 50
19 Nottingham Forest 46 14 8 24 48 63 −15 50
20 Bristol City 46 12 13 21 44 68 −24 49
21 Barnsley 46 13 9 24 49 74 −25 48
22 Portsmouth 46 13 11 22 50 59 −9 40
23 Coventry City 46 9 13 24 41 65 −24 40
24 Doncaster Rovers 46 8 12 26 43 80 −37 36

READ MORE: Which clubs have never featured in the play-offs and seven other play-off-related facts and figures

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