North-east reunited: It’s just 9/4 for Magpies and Sunderland to join Boro in 2022/23 Championship
- Graeme Bailey
- 3 December 2021
The north-east faces a first season without Premier League representation, while Boro, Newcastle and Sunderland could be reunited for the first time since 2008.
North-east soccer is going through a tough time, with the region likely to be without Premier League representation for the first time in 2022/23.
As it stands, the three senior clubs - Newcastle United, Middlesbrough and Sunderland - are spread over three divisions, the Premier League, Championship and League One.
Newcastle's new manager Eddie Howe has yet to turn things around, which means for the first time in their Premier League lives they are without a win before December.
It is now 5/2 that they remain winless for the remainder of the year and 200/1 for them not to win a league game this season.
The Magpies are second favourites to be relegated behind Norwich who held them to a draw at St James' Park in midweek. They are now 8/15 to be relegated with Planet Sport Bet, which is nearly a 70% probability.
And with Middlesbrough 14/1 to be promoted from the second tier, the prospect of either of them being in the Premier League next season is a distant one - it is odds-on at 8/15 that they will both be in the Championship.
For optimists, it is 33/1 for them both to produce turnarounds in the second half of the season and be playing top-flight soccer next season.
Far more likely is that all three teams are in the same division in 2022/23 for the first time since 2008 when Middlesbrough and Sunderland were relegated from the Premier League. It is just 9/4 with Betfair for the trio to be in the Championship in 2022.
And just so Hartlepool fans don't feel left out, there is still an outside chance of Graeme Lee's side giving the north-east's soccer fans something to celebrate this term. Pools are 11/1 with Planet Sport Bet to clinch promotion from League Two.
