Playing in the Premier League is the pinnacle for most clubs in English football, with the riches and rewards that come with it often setting up a team for many a year. Earning promotion to the top-flight is extremely hard work, whether that be through automatic promotion or via the Championship play-offs, but one thing that is for sure, is that staying in the league, is that much harder.
In both the 2023/2024 season, and the 2024/2025 Premier League campaigns, all three promoted sides went straight back down to the Championship at the first time of asking. Indeed, in the case of this year's relegated trio - Southampton, Leicester City and Ipswich Town - it has not been particularly close either, with the Saints only narrowly avoiding the fate of becoming the worst team in Premier League history by surpassing Derby County's wretched record of 11 points.
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Prize Money for Premier League Promotion (2024/2025)
Promotion to the Premier League is the goal for all teams in the leagues below it, but how much money do Championship sides stand to get for going up?
Despite that, Southampton, and the other two relegated sides will fancy themselves in terms of coming straight back up, especially given the benefits of the parachute payments system and the general quality of the squad they will have built up compared to the rest of the Championship. However, from time to time, there are occasions where that doesn't prove to be the case, and instead of battling for promotion, they find themselves sliding all the way down the table and into virtual free-fall.
That is the fate that Luton Town met in the 2024/2025 season, whereby just a year after playing Premier League football, their relegation to League One was confirmed. But the Hatters aren't the only side to have suffered that ignominy. Below is a list of every team to have been relegated back-to-back from the Premier League all the way to the third tier of English football.
EPL_Premier League Prize Money
Premier League Predicted Prize Money (2024/25)
Every team competing in the Premier League earns a staggering amount of money, even if they finish 20th.
Swindon Town
Swindon Town's Micky Hazard competing for ball with Roy Keane.
Swindon Town's stay in the Premier League was short and sweet, with their 1993/1994 campaign being their first and only taste of top-flight action since English football's biggest league enjoyed its revamp in 1992. At a time when there were 22 teams in the division, Swindon finished rock-bottom, and created records that they desperately would have wanted to forget. They won just five league games all season, and conceded 100 goals in the process - indeed, it was only until Sheffield United did it again a year ago that a team had conceded a century of goals in the Premier League.
But if their campaign in the top-flight was bad enough, then their performances in the then First Division was even worse. After a reasonable start to the season in 1994/1995, a run of five defeats in six games saw them tumble down the table and result in the sacking of John Gorman. Steve McMahon would take over the reins, but despite leading the club to the semi-finals of the League Cup, it was all doom and gloom in the league, with the side finishing 21st and suffering relegation, becoming the first team in English football history to be relegated consecutively from the Premier League.
Wolves
Mick McCarthy Terry Connor
It took almost 20 years for another Premier League club to join Swindon Town in suffering back-to-back relegations. Wolves were into their season of top-flight football come the 2011/2012 campaign, but had only just narrowly avoided the drop the previous year, staying up by a single point on the final day. Mick McCarthy began the year taking charge of Wolves for the sixth successive campaign, but poor form and performances on the pitch led to his sacking in February 2012. The club opted to turn to assistant manager Terry Connor, but that didn't change things - all in all, Wolves ended up winning just one of their final 24 games to finish rock bottom of the Premier League.
The following season saw veteran manager Stalke Solbakken in the dugout for Wolves' return to the Championship, but the Norwegian couldn't fare much better than his predecessors. He would be sacked from the club while they were 18th, and would also be on the touch-line for Wolves' exit from the FA Cup to then non-league side Luton Town. Dean Saunders came in, but couldn't turn the ship around, and Wolves limped badly to the finish line and would go down again.
Sunderland
Everton boss David Moyes watching on from the touchline
Now fighting back after years of under-achievement, Sunderland were once an established Premier League team in the mid-2000s and 2010s. Indeed, entering into the 2016/2017 campaign, the Black Cats were embarking on their 10th successive season of Premier League football, but after a couple of years of treading water, they finally succumbed to relegation. David Moyes was the man in the dugout as Sunderland ended up finishing bottom of the table, but the Scot would be replaced by Simon Grayson for their first season back in the Championship.
But in a rather tumultuous year, Sunderland would see four different managers take to the dugout, as off-the-pitch troubles seemed to make their way onto the pitch too. In the end, they would finish in 24th, and the backdrop of the season would form the basis behind the Netflix documentary Sunderland Til I Die.
Luton Town celebrate promotion
Championship Play-Off Final Prize Money
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Luton Town
Luton Town celebrate promotion
Luton Town became the most recent team to suffer back-to-back relegations from the Premier League after dropping down to the third tier of English football following their demise in the 2024/2025 campaign. Arguably the neutral's team when they made it to the top-flight in the 2023/2024 season, Luton and their small but iconic ground brought an incredible vibe that contrasted beautifully with the glitz and glamour of some of the Premier League's heavyweights. The Hatters performed well in certain games too, putting up real fights against the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal - it was only a Declan Rice last-minute winner that stopped them from getting a point against the Gunners at home.
But after going down to the Championship, Luton went into freefall, and despite the attraction of a new ground, they simply could not stop themselves from spiralling out of control. Neither long-term boss Rob Edwards or his replacement Matt Bloomfield could reignite a charge to stave off relegation, and they will now be playing League One football in the 2025/2026 season.