Second tier sides have been told to mirror the efforts of one club in the upcoming campaign, if they want to earn promotion to the Premier League.
The 2025/26 Championship campaign is poised to be a fiercely competitive season given the calibre of teams set to do battle for promotion.
Ipswich Town, Leicester, and Southampton are all fighting for an instant return to the Premier League following their relegations this season.
Hollywood-backed duo Birmingham City and Wrexham are battling for successive promotions after their outstanding seasons in League One.
Sheffield United, Coventry City, and Bristol City all failed to achieve promotion in the play-off campaign after Sunderland’s victory at Wembley.
Several second tier sides have their sights set on promotion next term, and one Championship expert has told the promotion-hunting pack which team to “take notes” from.
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
Championship expert tells teams to take notes from Sunderland
Sunderland were the anomaly amongst the three Championship sides who earned promotion to the Premier League this season.
Leeds and Burnley, who played in the top flight in recent seasons, were aided by the parachute payments with their recruitment to bolster their squads in search of promotion.
Club Expenditure in 24/25
Leeds £27m
Burnley £45.6m
Sunderland £9.9m
Expenditure of Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland compared, data as per transfermarkt.com
Sunderland, however, had to focus on bringing academy products through the ranks and clever recruitment for lesser fees, to secure top flight football.
As such, the Black Cats are the club that Championship sides should be trying to emulate, according to Ryan Dilks, co-host of the Second Tier podcast.
Dilks said: “Sunderland have been the big winners of this past season,
“Because in an era where most of the promotion places are taken up by newly-relegated sides from the Premier League, Sunderland have shown that if you’re smart with the way you go about things, and have a philosophy that you stick to, you can still get promoted.
“That’s a big lesson for all clubs in the Championship. Yes it takes a lot of work, but look at it now, Sunderland are reaping the rewards.
“You’re never going to outspend a team coming down from the Premier League, so you need to out-do them by being savvy, and that’s what Sunderland have done,
“That’s what Ipswich did, that’s what Luton did, that’s what Brentford did, it’s the only way teams in this modern-day Championship are going to get promoted now, everyone needs to take note, everyone needs to learn from what Sunderland have done.”
Sunderland are now reaping the rewards of years of hard work, with multiple factors leading to their Premier League achievement, that Championship outfits must follow.
Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The source of Sunderland’s success this season has been obvious with their homegrown talent, and combining that with the brilliant business trades of sporting director Kristjaan Speakman, they have set the example for non-parachute payment sides to follow in the second tier.
Sunderland’s captain (Dan Neil), man-of-the-match (Anthony Patterson), and game-winning goalscorer (Tommy Watson) from the play-off final win were all Academy of Light graduates.
Recruiting a head coach in the form of Manager of the Season candidate Regis Le Bris is also imperative to any potential for promotion.
Combining the power of an academy brimming with elite prospects, with outstanding business that encompasses trading up from a one-season flop to a £25m ace, is no easy feat, but is one that is an achievable avenue to go down for second tier sides not benefitting from parachute payments.
Next season offers Championship sides, not privy to the Premier League riches, an opportunity to prove that Sunderland can be the example, not the outlier.