The step-up between the Championship and the Premier League is often a big one and many clubs don’t fair too well despite excelling in the lower leagues. However, sometimes there are teams who do exactly the opposite of what’s expected of them (Leicester City, case in point) and go on to shock the Premier League.
However, when statistics show that nearly half of the teams that qualify for the Premier League are immediately relegated the very next season, it certainly says something about the level of the Premier League.
Easily one of the toughest leagues to play football in, only twice have all three promoted teams survived their first season in the Premier League, in over 23 years.
Sometimes a team manages to go beyond the expectations and perform exceedingly well in the top half. Here are five such teams.
#5 Reading 2006-2007
Reading won the Championship after leading for most of the season, walking over other contenders and going on to win an incredible 106 points in the process. So it didn’t come as much of a surprise when they ended the season in eighth in the Premier League, behind Everton and Bolton, one point off a UEFA Cup spot (now known as the Europa League), despite critics who predicted that The Royals wouldn’t survive the season.
They started the season well, winning three of their first five games, losing to Aston Villa and Wigan Athletic. However, things went downhill from there as they went on a four-game losing run, which would eventually cost them at the end of the season.
Financial backing meant that Reading was not in the business of letting their best players leave, and this further helped their success in the league.
However, things were not to be and despite finishing one point and one place off a UEFA Cup place, the club slipped to the relegation zone and getting relegated on the last day of the season.
#4 Sunderland 1999-2000
The Black Cats’ second season in the Premier League was far more successful than their first stint, which was during the 1996-1997 season where they finished 18th and were sent back to the First division. They went on to win the First Division title, winning the league by a massive margin of 18 points and returned to the Premier League.
However, this time around, they had manager Peter Reid in charge, and striker Kevin Philips up front, and the Black Cats went on to shock fans and critics alike.
They spent half of the season fighting in the top half of the table, beating Tottenham and Chelsea despite the Blues beating them in the first game of the season. However, a series of draws and losses changed what would have been Champions League football for the very first time and the Black Cats finished seven points of fifth placed, Chelsea.
On a positive note for Sunderland, stars who faltered the last time they were in the Premier League, shone this around. Kevin Philips won the Premier League and the European Golden Shoe, but Sunderland missed out on a sixth position finish on goal difference only.
#3 Blackburn Rovers 1992-1993
Newly promoted and playing top flight English football for the first time in 26 years, Blackburn Rovers were one of the first teams to be promoted to the newly formed Premier League. They had just won the play-off final against Leicester City and were about to start something special that would end three years later with the Premier League title in their hands.
With Kenny Daglish at the helm and backed by chairman Jack Walker, they broke the English transfer record by signing Southampton striker Alan Shearer, for €3.5 million. However, despite injury curtailing Shearer’s season, the English international still made 21 appearances, scoring 16 league goals in the process, which proved vital towards the end of the season.
But Rovers fell short in January with two losses against Manchester City and Coventry City, by one goal, which proved fatal in the end and they missed a UEFA Cup spot by just one point. However, the very next season they finished second before going on to win the title during the 1994-1995 season, beating Manchester United by a point.
#2 Newcastle United 1993-1994
Newcastle United walked into the Premier League with the laurel of the First Division champions hanging around their necks and then proceeded to break the bank by signing ten players, including former Toons player Peter Beardsley from Everton. His return, partnering with youngster Andy Cole led to the duo scoring 55 league goals between them, with Beardsley chipping in with 21 goals, which would prove to be the defining point for Newcastle.
They started the season badly, losing their first two games against Tottenham and Coventry City before going on an eight-game run without a single loss which propelled them to the top half of the table. However, with Kevin Keegan at the helm, the Toons managed to break past fifth spot and ended the season six points ahead of Arsenal, but seven points behind Blackburn Rovers.
That season saw the Toons nicknamed ‘The Entertainers’ as they played a brand of attacking football, that was unbeknownst to them and they notched up 82 league goals at the end of the season, higher than champions Manchester United and runners-up Blackburn Rovers.
#1 Ipswich Town 2000-2001
For over three seasons, Ipswich Town they crashed out in the playoffs in as many years, and entering the 99-00 season, nobody gave them a chance. However, the club somehow reached the final, where they went on to beat Barnsley in an exciting affair, and qualified for the Premier League for the first time.
Unlike most sides who reach the Premier League, the club was comparatively more conservative in their spending and instead allowed youth players to rise up from the academy.
They started the season badly, as many had predicted, with the club winning just one out of their first five games, till they beat Leeds United. That was the moment that changed the course of the season for the Tractor Boys and they went fifteen games without a loss, spending a lot of the season after that in the top half of the table.
As the season went on, Ipswich Town surprised fans and critics alike, as their manner of play became more deadly and aggressive after each match, and by November, Ipswich Town was sitting third on the table.
The Blues eventually finished the season third, despite a few stumbles along the way and were 14 points behind champions Manchester United and manager George Burnley won the Manager of the year award. In the history of the Premiership, no newly promoted team has ever been as successful as that Ipswich side, during their incredible season.
