Ipswich Town: What can Town learn from Brentford in Premier League?
Author and Brentford fan Greville Waterman shares his thoughts….
Ipswich supporters doubtless looking forward to the new season – their first back in the promised land of the Premier League for 22 years – with a combination of fear and anticipation, can have taken no comfort in the identity of the three teams relegated back to the Championship at the end of last season.
Luton Town, Burnley and Sheffield United all participated in a deadly game of snakes and ladders which saw them promoted with hosannas in 2023 only to be relegated straight away with ignominy the following season.
You will be delighted to learn that this depressing statistic which seemingly highlights what appears to be a vast chasm in quality and finances between the Championship and the Premier League is a total anomaly as the last time all three promoted clubs were relegated the next season was way back in 1997/98 when Barnsley, Bolton and Crystal Palace failed to stay the course
Indeed, 57% of teams promoted from the Championship managed at least a second season in the top division and in a study conducted recently by the University of Leicester, at least one newly promoted team should expect to stay in the English Premier League for between two and five seasons 95% of the time.
Rather than accentuate the negatives, let us put a positive Brentford’s on things and explore how a promoted team such as Ipswich Town can maximise its chances of at least surviving – if not flourishing – next season.
I would suggest that you use the likes of Brighton and my own club, Brentford, as blueprints for how to establish yourself as a Premier League team – bearing in mind the caveat that it is a truism that bar the top eight who are literally in a league of their own, any one of the bottom 12 is always at potential risk of demotion – it is just how things are!
Let me reflect back on Brentford’s promotion and what they did to maximise their chances of surviving in the top flight.
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