Once a outcome almost no one would have imagined, a Premier League club falling straight through to League One has become a recurring feature of English football, and the story of Burnley's slide shows why. Four such double drops in fourteen seasons suggest a pattern rooted less in bad luck than in the uneven economics of the game, where money left behind by top-flight failure can prop up a club for a time while poor choices quietly compound. The Independent Football Regulator's proposal to pay Championship clubs by league position is an attempt to soften that imbalance, though whether it arri
Is the Premier League Double Drop Becoming More Common? Burnley Face the Same Fate
Football is not played purely on balance sheets.
Mark
Four double drops in 14 seasons. Why does that matter beyond Burnley?
Mimi
Because it used to be unthinkable. Only Swindon went down twice in a row in the Premier League's first 20 years, and that was a quirk of rebalancing the divisions.
Mark
So what do the clubs have in common?
Mimi
Turmoil. Wolves burned through four managers, Sunderland won 13 of 84 league games, and Leicester took a six-point deduction for breaching financial rules.
Luke
Careful, though. Those are three different failures. Luton were described as much more responsibly run, so there isn't one cause here.
Mimi
Fair. McAnuff points to squad mismanagement at Luton and Leicester, but he doesn't think it will continue as a trend.
Luke
And that's one pundit's opinion, set against the article's own count that it has become far more common.
Mark
Then where do parachute payments fit?
Mimi
Burnley got £48m on top of £71.7m revenue, while Lincoln expect about £5.5m. Yet Lincoln won 4-1.
Luke
Which shows money doesn't decide everything. The IFR figure is real, though: parachute clubs were over four times likelier to be promoted.
Mark
Would merit payments change that?
Luke
Nobody knows yet. Kogan says the gap will shrink significantly, but the article itself says it depends on how much, and McAnuff expects the advantage to stay large.
Le Pouls
- Burnley fans watched their side lose 4-1 at Lincoln City, and the head coach's exit was all but inevitable.
- Burnley sit in the Championship relegation zone, facing a possible third consecutive double drop in three years.
- Parachute payments of £48m in year one give relegated clubs a financial edge that the regulator says distorts the league.
- The IFR proposes merit-based payments to shrink the gap, but the change is not yet in place and Burnley's season is running now.
- Leicester, sitting 11th in League One with the club for sale, show how far a double drop can leave a club from its former place.
Once a outcome almost no one would have imagined, a Premier League club falling straight through to League One has become a recurring feature of English football, and the story of Burnley's slide shows why. Four such double drops in fourteen seasons suggest a pattern rooted less in bad luck than in the uneven economics of the game, where money left behind by top-flight failure can prop up a club for a time while poor choices quietly compound. The Independent Football Regulator's proposal to pay Championship clubs by league position is an attempt to soften that imbalance, though whether it arrives in time for Burnley remains an open question.
On the Saturday before this piece was published, 1,450 Burnley supporters travelled to Lincoln City and watched their side lose 4-1 to a club that had been in non-league football a decade earlier. Head coach Nicky Hayen was unlikely to survive the result. Burnley now sit in the Championship relegation zone under new boss Fabio Celestini, with the prospect of becoming the third club in three years to fall from the Premier League to League One in consecutive seasons.
That prospect was once almost unthinkable. In the Premier League's first twenty seasons a double drop happened only once, and that case came from a rebalancing of divisions rather than failure on the pitch. Wolves in 2011-12 marked the first true example. Since then the fall has happened four times in fourteen seasons, and Luton and Leicester followed in successive years. Each story has its own turmoil: managerial churn and poor signings at Wolves, a record-low win tally at Sunderland, and a points deduction for breaching profit rules at Leicester, now 11th in League One with the club up for sale.
Some see no lasting trend. Jobi McAnuff blames squad mismanagement, with Luton's players unwilling to adjust after relegation and Leicester keeping players who did not want to be there. Burnley's own troubles run deeper into money. Once a classic yo-yo club, they were bought through a leveraged buyout and carried the highest debt in the Championship, while Lincoln operate on a fraction of their revenue. Yet on the pitch the smaller club has been moving the other way.
The Independent Football Regulator has pointed to parachute payments as the root of the imbalance, and proposed paying Championship clubs by final league position instead of equally. Its chair expects parachute money to fall and the wider league to grow more competitive. Parachute clubs have been over four times as likely to win promotion, so the change would narrow a real advantage. Burnley may still survive on the strength of their parachute money, but the question of whether they avoid a third straight double drop is now the one to watch.
On the Saturday before this piece was published, 1,450 Burnley supporters travelled to Lincoln City and watched their side lose 4-1 to a club that was in non-league football a decade ago. Head coach Nicky Hayen was never likely to survive it. Burnley now sit in the Championship relegation zone, with Fabio Celestini installed as boss and Diego Lopez appointed chief football officer, and with the prospect of becoming the third club in three years to fall from the Premier League to League One in consecutive seasons.
The path was once almost unheard of. Leicester were playing Liverpool in the Premier League and, within 15 months, were facing Notts County, Burton Albion and MK Dons in League One. In the Premier League's first 20 seasons, a double drop happened only once, to Swindon Town, and even that came with special circumstances: they finished fourth from bottom of the second tier in 1994-95 but went down anyway because the divisions were being rebalanced to cut the top flight to 20 teams. Wolves, relegated in 2011-12, can be considered the first true case. Since then it has happened four times in 14 seasons, or three times in nine if you count from Sunderland's drop, and Luton and Leicester followed in back-to-back years.
The stories behind them share turmoil. Wolves, who also suffered a treble drop to the bottom tier in the 1980s, went through four managers and made a run of poor signings. Sunderland became the only club to finish bottom of both divisions, winning 13 of 84 league games; they had spent ten seasons in the top flight but reached the 40-point mark only three times. Leicester's fall came from boardroom decisions, with a six-point deduction for breaching profit and sustainability rules leaving them 23rd in the Championship, five points short of safety. Sunderland needed four years to get back to the Championship. Russell Martin's Leicester are 11th in League One with the club up for sale, so a quick return looks unlikely.
Former Watford and Reading midfielder Jobi McAnuff, now an EFL pundit, does not see a lasting trend. He blames mismanagement of the playing squad in both recent cases: Luton players who felt entitled to stay in the Premier League and did not readjust, and Leicester keeping too many who did not want to be there and were not equipped for a relegation fight. Luton, though, were far more responsibly run than the other double-drop clubs. Work continues on a 25,000-capacity stadium at Power Court, due for the start of 2028-29. Their 2024-25 relegation was decided on goal difference against Hull City, who were promoted the following season.
Burnley's own position is shaped by money. Once the archetypal yo-yo club, relegated from or promoted to the top division in each of the past five seasons, they were bought in a leveraged buyout by Alan Pace's ALK Capital in 2020. Their 2024-25 accounts, the year they went up, showed £142m in loans, the highest debt in the Championship. This week they set an English league record for the longest run without a home win; when Portsmouth visit on Saturday, it will be 378 days since their last victory at Turf Moor.
The financial gap with Lincoln is vast. Burnley's 2024-25 revenue was £71.7m against Lincoln's £7.81m, and Burnley then received £48m in parachute payments while Lincoln can expect about £5.5m in solidarity funding. Yet the results on the pitch have gone the other way.
That gap is the focus of the Independent Football Regulator's State of the Game report, published earlier this month. It said a new financial deal between the Premier League and the EFL must reduce the distortive impact of parachute payments on Championship incentives. The proposed answer is merit payments by final league position, mirroring Premier League prize money; at present every Championship club receives the same. IFR chair David Kogan said parachute money would fall while money going into the Championship would rise vastly, shrinking the gap and making the league much more competitive. Parachute payments are £48m in year one and £39m in year two.
The current advantage is stark. The IFR found parachute clubs were more than four times as likely to be promoted. In 2024-25, four such clubs were almost 27 points better off and filled the top three places, with Luton the exception, relegated. McAnuff expects the edge to stay significant even after a reduction. Burnley may still escape, with their parachute money outweighing poor decisions, but the double drop has become far more common. How far the IFR's changes close the gap, and whether Burnley avoid a third straight double drop, are the things to watch.
Citations marquantes
The delta between parachute payment clubs and non-parachute payment clubs is going to significantly reduce, which makes the Championship a much more competitive league.— David Kogan, IFR chair
Luton and Leicester's double drops were, in his view, down to mismanagement of the playing squad, and he does not see it continuing as a trend.— Jobi McAnuff, EFL pundit
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