Despite losing 1-3 at home against Bournemouth, Norwich City became the first Championship team to secure their promotion to the Premier League. Thanks to favourable results elsewhere, with all the nearest rivals dropping points, the team from Norfolk can begin planning ahead for next season.
The last time Norwich City arrived in the Premier League, apparently ready to ruffle a few feathers during the 2019-20 campaign, their stay amongst the English football elite was brief to say the least. After 38 games, the Canaries had won just five games, drawn six, and lost 26, sending them nosediving back into the Championship.
As if getting a seat at the top table wasn’t hard enough, surviving the habitual scrap for points is eternally difficult for newly promoted teams. We need only look at the latest Premier League relegation odds for evidence. Of the three teams promoted from the Championship last season, two are mired in the thick of a relegation battle.
Those three teams included Leeds United as the EFL Championship winners, led by Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa and comfortably safe in the Premier League table. West Bromwich Albion clinched the second automatic promotion spot, yet they have struggled mightily upon returning to the Premier League, as have Fulham, who ascended via the play-offs.
After guiding West Brom back to the Premier League, finishing second and clinching automatic promotion from the EFL Championship, manager Slaven Bilic was fired in December 2020 with his team struggling. In walked “Big” Sam Allardyce with fans hoping he could produce a minor miracle, yet aside from sporadic victories, the Baggies are adrift of safety and running out of games.
Fulham are still fighting the good fight, even beating reigning Premier League champions Liverpool at Anfield in March, although that was followed by four consecutive defeats. Drawing 1-1 away at Arsenal ended that run, yet it also highlights their frustrations. The Cottagers were winning 0-1 deep into stoppage time before the Gunners equalised with the last kick of the game.
Compared to the wealthiest clubs in the Premier League, the newly promoted sides obviously don’t have the same kind of spending power, underlining the huge economic gulf. While not uncommon for the smaller clubs to splash out on big signings, many tend to keep a tighter grip on their finances, planning for the possible eventuality they could go back down.
When they arrived in the Premier League after an impressive 2018-19 EFL Championship campaign, fans at Norwich City were hoping the owners would bolster the squad with important new additions. However, the club took a more frugal approach and that arguably proved costly in the end. The Canaries played valiantly, yet simply didn’t have enough strength and quality in the squad.
This time the club will need to reflect on that all too brief Premier League visit. If the owners expect the Canaries to be singing cheerfully amongst the English football elite, hands must be dipped into pockets and money spent on quality reinforcements. Maybe this time, by being a little more extravagant in the transfer market, Carrow Road will get to host Premier League games for a little while longer.