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

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.

		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
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.

		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
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.

		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
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).

		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
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.

		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
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.

		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
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.

		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
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'.

		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
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.

		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
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.

		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
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