Coventry, Ipswich and Hull can all avoid dreaded Premier League relegation curse – here’s why

Winning promotion to the Premier League is hugely impressive – but avoiding the drop is a whole new ball game.

The three sides who rise up from the Championship and into the top flight are typically the favourites to be relegated just months later in what is a clear example of the gulf in quality between the divisions.

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Recent history has shown that escaping relegation at the first time of asking is incredibly difficult to achieve.

Just two of the past ten seasons have seen all three promoted teams secure their Premier League survival for the following campaigns.

Newcastle United, Brighton and Huddersfield Town did so during the 2017/18 Premier League, with Fulham, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest following suit in 2022/23.

Luton Town, Burnley and Sheffield United all went down a year after coming up in 2023/24 and, just 12 months later, Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton did the same.

When Premier League football returns on Friday, it will be Coventry City, Ipswich and Hull City who begin to fight against a finish in the dreaded bottom three.

However, whilst the odds will be stacked against them, they can all head into the new season with confidence in staying up.

End-of-exile and Lampard charms at Coventry

A quarter of a century has passed since Coventry last played Premier League football as they finished 19th in the 2000/01 season.

They even went as far down as League Two, English football’s fourth tier, before climbing up back into the Championship and winning the 2025/26 title with 95 points, 28 wins and 97 goals scored.

Club captain Matt Grimes recently claimed they are ‘back where they belong’ and while their trip to holders Arsenal, live on talkSPORT, is a ‘baptism of fire’, they will be ready for what lies ahead this season.

Coventry will have a whole new generation of fans set to watch their club play in the Premier League for the first time ever.

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Couple them with the supporters who have longed for their return to the top flight, and the squad has more than enough motivation to go against the grain and avoid relegation.

The permanent signing of Carl Rushworth from Brighton has come as a massive boost, as well as the return of Gustavo Hamer and record arrival Caleb Yirenkyi from FC Nordsjaelland for around £25.7million.

Whilst Haji Wright, Jack Rudoni and Milan van Ewijk all shone last season and have remained at the club, credit must also be given to manager Frank Lampard.

He earned promotion in his first full campaign at the club and was rewarded for his efforts with a new long-term contract in June.

Lampard is back in Premier League management after spells with his beloved Chelsea and Everton, who he steered them to safety at the end of the 2021/22 campaign.

Coventry not only have an English football legend in the dugout but a manager who has experience in dodging the drop, which will bode well for them in a few months’ time.

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Ipswich are back and better-equipped

A 19th-place finish in 2024/25 saw Ipswich learned just how hard it is to solidify a Premier League spot so soon after promotion.

They are back after just one season away having been the runners-up in the Championship, but embark on their latest top division journey with a new face at the helm.

Gary O’Neil has replaced Kieran McKenna as manager after a spell at Strasbourg in an appointment that looks to have been made for the purpose of stability.

Both Bournemouth and Wolves have survived relegation from the Premier League under O’Neil, although he was surprisingly dismissed from the former just weeks after.

The former Portsmouth and Middlesbrough midfielder achieved the feats against the odds, and will be confident of replicating his success at Ipswich.

Summer spending at Portman Road has surpassed the £150m mark, with Emersonn and Julio Enciso joining in deals worth around £26.5m and £26m respectively.

Issa Diop and Sasa Lukic have joined from Fulham as a duo that know how to compete in the bottom half of the Premier League, as well as Abdul Fatawu and Florentino Luis.

Daizen Maeda is another shrewd addition to the squad following five seasons at Celtic where he won as many Scottish Premiership titles and scored 79 goals in 212 appearances, with a further 38 assists.

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Big signings and benchmarks for Hull

Out of all the sides to have come up, Hull are the likely favourites to return to the Championship next summer.

Similar to Coventry, they are back in the Premier League after a long time away – nine years after they were relegated by finishing 18th to yo-yo back into the second division.

Hull also went down into League One for a season and now back in the big time after winning the Spygate-hit play-off final against Middlesbrough despite finishing sixth.

Oli McBurnie netted the late winner at Wembley to earn another spell in the Premier League, where he scored 13 goals for Sheffield United from 2019 to 2024.

Sergej Jakirovic, who has won league titles in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, was front and centre of their impressive promotion and been given the backing of co-owner Acun Ilicali.

Hull have broken their transfer record on two occasions this summer – goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis was signed from Olympiacos for £20m amid reported interest from Aston Villa, Brighton and Leeds.

Then Nobel Mendy, who has reached two Conference League finals in his career as a defender with Real Betis and Rayo Vallecano, joined in a deal from the latter that was reportedly worth £22m.

Both have arrived with respective international experience for Greece and Senegal, and Lucas Herrington has signed from Colorado Rapids after playing in defence for Australia at the World Cup.

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Hull’s chances of staying up are slim, but the same would have been said for Sunderland and Leeds upon their Premier League returns.

Sunderland in particular managed to finish seventh and qualify for the Europa League, making them a prime example of what can really be achieved by newly-promoted sides regardless of their challenges.

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