Sunderland's successful return to the Premier League in the 2025-26 season has put them in the spotlight for the upcoming campaign, with concerns about "second-season syndrome" – the idea that newly promoted teams often face relegation in their second year. This belief, however, may not be as common as widely thought.
Last season, Sunderland, along with Leeds, became the 53rd and 54th promoted sides to successfully avoid relegation in their debut Premier League season. Historically, of the 52 promoted teams that survived their first season prior to this, only 11 were relegated in the subsequent season, representing 21% of cases. The majority of promoted teams that secure survival in their first year do not succumb to second-season struggles.
However, there is precedent for a promoted team experiencing a strong first season, similar to Sunderland's, only to be relegated the following year. The most successful promoted side in the Premier League's 38-game era, George Burley's Ipswich Town, experienced this fate. Ipswich finished the 2000-01 campaign in fifth place with 66 points, a record for a promoted team in a 38-game season. The subsequent season, with the added demands of European football, saw Ipswich drop 13 places and accumulate 30 fewer points, ultimately finishing 18th and being relegated. Sunderland, incidentally, finished just one place above them in that season.
Looking at promoted sides that finished in the top half during their first Premier League season, four out of the previous 20 (20%) were relegated in their second year. Sheffield United serves as the most recent example, facing relegation five years ago after a strong initial campaign.