How Many Teams Are Relegated From the Premier League?
Every season, the three teams that finish in 18th, 19th and 20th place are relegated from the Premier League to the Championship.
These teams are replaced by the two teams who finish in 1st and 2nd place in the Championship as well as the play off winner from the four sides who finish in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th.
Table of Contents
What is Relegation in Football?
Relegation in football is when a team finishes in one of the lowest positions in the league table and is then subsequently “relegated” to the division below for the following season.
Here are some examples of relegations in the English football pyramid:
| Division Relegated From | New Division |
| Premier League | Championship |
| Championship | League 1 |
| League 1 | League 2 |
| League 2 | National League |
Current Relegation System in the Premier League
How Many Teams Are Relegated Each Season?
There are three teams relegated from the Premier League each season, these are the teams that finish in 18th, 19th and 20th place.
Tie-breaking Procedures
If the two teams in 17th and 18th place in the Premier League are tied on total points at the end of the season, tie-breaking procedures will come into place to decide which team is relegated.
The Premier League’s tie-breaking procedures are conducted in the following order:
- Goal difference
- Goals scored
- Points won in head-to-head meetings
- Away goals in head-to-head meetings
If the two teams are somehow identical on all of the above tiebreakers, a playoff match will be arranged to take place at a neutral ground by the Premier League board. The winner of this match would then remain in the Premier League, with the loser being relegated to the Championship.
Impact of Being Relegated From the Premier League
Less Commercial Revenue
If you’re one of the teams that gets relegated from the Premier League, it’s significantly harder to attract interest from big sponsors. Sponsors often include “relegation clauses” in their contracts with Premier League clubs to ensure that they will no longer represent that club after they have been relegated.
This means that the relegated club will receive a lot less commercial revenue in the following season. The Premier League is called the topflight for a reason, and it’s understandable why sponsors don’t want to pay lots of money to teams that aren’t playing on the biggest stages.
Less TV Broadcasting Revenue
Teams that are relegated from the Premier League will also receive less broadcasting revenue. Significantly more Premier League matches are shown on TV channels in comparison to the Championship, so clubs will receive less money across a season because of this.
Premier League TV deals involve substantial amounts of money. For example, in the 2021/22 season, Manchester City earned over £146 billion in TV broadcasting money with bottom side Norwich earning £94 million. Without this kind of income, football teams can struggle in the Championship.
Smaller Crowds
Following a relegation from the Premier League, it’s highly likely that a club will attract smaller crowds at their home and away matches during the following season. When a team is promoted, a significant amount of hype is placed around that team, and this attracts bigger crowds.
Only true fans will want to watch their team week in week out following a relegation, so unfortunately, sides will lose ticket revenue from fans who no longer want to attend and support the team.
High Wage Bill
It’s likely that a team that has been relegated from the Premier League will adopt a high wage bill from any Premier League signings they have made during their time in the topflight. If they have signed players on long term contracts, it could be hard to move them on.
In order to remain within Financial Fair Play (FFP), teams have to be careful with their net spend across a season. If their wage bill is high, and they’re bringing in less money through less commercial and TV revenue as well as having smaller crowds, it can be hard for teams to operate within these limits.
Long Term Administration
There have been several examples of clubs who have been relegated from the Premier League, and have been threatened with administration on numerous occasions soon after. A great example of this is Portsmouth.
Pompey were FA Cup winners in 2008, and suffered relegation from the Premier League in 2010. This resulted in a further drop into League One in 2012. They went into administration twice in three seasons due to persistent financial problems during this period.
A Different Approach to Recruitment
Being relegated from the Premier League means that clubs have to adopt a different approach to recruitment. They can no longer spend large sums of money on players, offering long contracts on handsome wages. Instead, they’ll have to be tactical with the way that they recruit new players and sell current players, in order to abide by FFP rules.
Loss of Prestige and Reputation
If you’re one of the three teams relegated from the Premier League, you’re also at threat of losing your prestige and reputation within the football world. Like in any sport, teams and players are judged on their success, so relegation threatens to tarnish any reputation that a club has built.
Parachute Payments
Teams that are relegated from the Premier League are given parachute payments, to help them financially in the following seasons.
If a team is only playing in the Premier League for one season before getting relegated, they’ll receive parachute payments over the following two years. This is different to teams that have been playing in the Premier League longer than a season, who receive parachute payments over the following three years.
During the first year, each relegated team will receive 55% of the amount that each Premier League team would collect under an equal share of broadcasting revenue. This is then reduced to 45% in the second year and 20% the year after that.
Relegation in the MLS
Comparing relegation in the Premier League to the MLS is interesting, because a relegation system doesn’t exist in America. The MLS operates as a closed league, which stays the same every single season, unless any club goes bust or another club is founded.
Having no relegation system means that the culture around football is significantly different in both England and America. Teams fighting for survival will have so much to play for in England, meanwhile a team who is at the bottom of the MLS has nothing to worry about except for their personal pride.
It’s hard for fans from other countries to understand why most American Sports operate this way.
Conclusion
Being relegated from the Premier League can be really tough for football clubs. They’ll receive significantly less money, have less interest in them, and potentially face long term administration. This is a risk that everybody takes, though, as the benefits outweigh the negatives when playing in the Premier League.
How many teams are relegated from the Premier League? With three teams facing these realities every single season, who will it be this year?
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Teams Have Never Been Relegated From the Premier League?
Since the Premier League began in 1992, six teams have never been relegated from the Premier League – Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.
Has One of the Big Six Ever Been Relegated?
Yes, the only “big six” team to be relegated from the Premier League is Manchester City. They were relegated in 2001.
Which Team Has Been Relegated From the Premier League the Most?
Since the Premier League started in 1992, Norwich have been relegated from the division the most. In fact, they’ve been relegated 6 times from the Premier League.
