There is an increasingly stark trend of teams going up to the Premier League coming straight back down, almost as if sides need a specialist in the Championship and another in the division above.
49ers Enterprises — the investment vehicle controlled
by the San Francisco 49ers and the majority stakeholder at Elland Road —
didn’t set out to run a Championship team. It sought a top-flight acquisition
but changed its plans after Leeds were relegated in 2023. Two seasons in
England’s second tier have been expensive, largely because Championship clubs
are money pits. In 2023-24 alone, Leeds lost £60million ($80m).
Promotion, though, means Premier League revenue, which in
turn creates big opportunities, just as it did when Leeds last went up in
2020. If recent briefings are accurate, the 49ers will press the button on the
long-overdue stadium development soon (see earlier story on progress). Leeds
have a long summer now in which to reorganise their squad, ready for the sharp
jump in levels.
The threat of relegation will be very real again. They
learned that lesson two years ago and the Premier League has been no less
forgiving since. But Leeds suit England’s top flight. I’m one of the people who
think the division is enhanced by their stimulatingl presence.
Thirty-five miles to the west of Leeds, another promotion
party broke out last night. Burnley are heading back up, too, driven by
their own owners from the United States. It’s taken them just one year to right
the wrong of relegation.
Burnley’s shareholders, among them ex-NFL star JJ Watt, were
probably more philosophical about the threat of time in the Championship when
they bought in.
Of course, it could be the team that comes up through the play offs that has the real struggle. If all three promoted teams are relegated (and I think that at the very least Leeds will stay up) pressure will grow to cut back the number of relegated teams to two.
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