Newcastle, Sunderland, Burnley – what happened next for the best-ever Championship teams
There will be special attention paid to Burnley next season after they sealed promotion in style, becoming just the sixth team in history to go up with over 100 points.
But how did the other Championship centurions fare after going up to the Premier League? We’ve taken a look back at every side to reach the 100-point mark in the second tier.
With apologies to Kevin Keegan’s Man City of 2001-02, Chelsea’s 1988-89 side and Nuno Espirito Santo’s 2017-18 Wolves – all of whom narrowly miss out after hitting the 99-point mark.
Burnley, 2022-23 – 101
Vincent Kompany’s Clarets became the latest members of the 100 club after absolutely romping their way back to the Premier League.
Questions were asked of whether the former Manchester City captain had the experience to get Burnley out of the second tier, and whether his Guardiola-influenced possession-focused style would be too ambitious of a gear change.
Any such fears were allayed on the opening weekend when Kompany’s side produced an eye-catching 1-0 win at Huddersfield on the opening weekend. They subsequently failed to win the next four but swiftly found their groove and went on a relentless run that effectively wrapped up promotion by March.
Watch this space for what happens next. But we can’t wait to watch them next season.
Fulham, 2000-01 – 101
Mohamed Al-Fayed bankrolled an ambitious project at Craven Cottage at the turn of the millennium. Jean Tigana’s side made short work of going up, having built up a 10-point lead by Christmas and promotion by Easter.
A young Louis Saha fired in the goals for an exciting Fulham team that year, with 32 in all competitions, and they finished a comfortable 13th in their first year back – and they went on to stick around for 13 successive Premier League seasons.
#Fulham celebrate the division one league championship and promotion to Premier League in 2001. pic.twitter.com/thymlpdRWe
— 00s Football (@00sFootball_) February 15, 2015
Leicester City, 2013-14 – 102
Football League stalwarts like Kevin Phillips, Anthony Knockaert, David Nugent and Gary Taylor-Fletcher were moved on by the time Claudio Ranieri succeeded Nigel Pearson, but you can look at Leicester’s 102-point Championship side and see the seeds of that miraculous title-winning side.
Foxes legends Kasper Schmeichel, Wes Morgan, Danny Drinkwater, Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy all featured in that Championship-topping surprise – in hindsight, it’s no surprise they reached such a lofty points tally.
The only question is how on earth they needed the greatest of great escapes in their first season back. They won just four of their first 29 matches that year before winning seven of the last nine.
Newcastle United, 2009-10 – 102
Newcastle have only spent three seasons outside of the top flight in the Premier League era, but in each of those they had a lovely time topping the second tier.
Kevin Keegan’s 96-point side of 1992-93 holds special memories for many, but Chris Hughton’s side surprisingly bettered that tally in 2009-10.
A 6-1 pre-season friendly defeat at Leyton Orient put the pressure on Hughton and suggested that the Magpies might be in for a long old season, but they made short work of bouncing straight back up.
Hughton was sacked midway through Newcastle’s 2010-11 campaign and replaced by Alan Pardew, who guided Newcastle to a comfortable 12th-place finish. The following season Pardew’s Newcastle only narrowly missed out on Champions League qualification.
Sunderland, 1998-99 – 105
Up until last season, Sunderland either tended to suffer play-off woe or go up with a canter.
And the season after penalty heartbreak at Wembley, Micky Gray and all that, they went up to the Premier League at a canter.
Peter Reid’s Black Cats ended up 18 points clear of second-place Bradford City, with legendary strike partnership Kevin Phillips and Niall Quinn notching a combined 46 goals.
That proved to be a successful formula in the Premier League, with Phillips claiming the European Golden Boot with 30 league goals as Sunderland finished 7th in the 1999-00 season.
READ: Kevin Phillips: No English striker will match my European Golden Boot
Reading, 2005-06 – 106
A very proud record in that particular corner of Berkshire, this season the Royals ensured that their 106-point tally would remain unbeaten after drawing with Kompany’s table-toppers in April.
Steve Coppell’s memorable team actually started that season inauspiciously with a 2-1 home defeat to Plymouth Argyle, but from there they were absolutely relentless.
They only lost another match all season and broke the back of promotion with a 10-match winning streak in November and December. Reading kept that momentum going and finished 8th in the Premier League the following year.
We've 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 got the record.
We know it's not the most important thing this season. And taking care of future is more important right now than revelling in our history.
But our gutsy performance and draw with Burnley means our 1️⃣0️⃣6️⃣ can't be surpassed for another season! pic.twitter.com/OgnVDP7whp
— Reading FC (@ReadingFC) April 15, 2023
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