At the Stadium of Light, the Sunderland players emerged for the club’s first Premier League game in eight years to see a huge tifo of Crusader John Lambton slaying the worm of local folklore.
At Elland Road two days later, Leeds United’s Championship winners were met with a banner reading: ‘Premier League, have you missed us?’.
At Turf Moor, on another opening day, Burnley’s new starting XI walked out to Ennio Morricone’s The Ecstasy of Gold.
And all three won.
All three clubs promoted to the Premier League won their first home game. All three fanbases were given a reason to believe.
The victories were noted far beyond each stadium. The displays, the music, the overall atmospheres may have helped Sunderland overcome West Ham United, Leeds defeat Everton, and Burnley put two past Sunderland inside packed and buoyant grounds, but they were absorbed by others. Premier League chairman Richard Masters, for example, was there in person at the Stadium of Light to witness lift-off.
As many observed, last season it was not until October that one of the three promoted clubs won a league game. The previous season, it was not until the last day of September. So there was a wider sense of relief alongside specific celebrations. Masters is not allowed to express preferences, of course, but deep down, he and all at the Premier League must know this season’s promoted clubs matter in a way they have not before.
Sunderland’s tifo against West Ham (Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images)
The experience of the previous two seasons, when all six promoted clubs were immediately relegated, a couple with miserable points totals — 16 for Sheffield United in 2023-24, 12 for Southampton in 2024-25 — eat into the Premier League’s claim to be the most competitive league in the world.
Sporting tension is a necessity and commercial credibility takes a hit when the third-bottom club finishes 13 points adrift of fourth-bottom, as happened last season with Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur. A lot of television rights are sold on the basis of competitive suspense.
But as the division’s new ‘middle class’, epitomised by Brentford, Brighton & Hove Albion, Bournemouth and Crystal Palace, re-arm themselves with huge Premier League sums each season, on top of clubs already buttressed by European money, vulnerability to promoted challengers declines. The gap everyone used to speak about between the Premier League and the Championship is now an insufficient description. It is a gulf.
The implications of a third consecutive season with the promoted three relegated are serious. It would then be a ‘trend’ and a damaging one for the Premier League as a product. An absence of jeopardy is anti-competitive, and a closed shop is a hard sell.
As Gary Neville said on Sky’s Monday Night Football when assessing the Leeds-Everton result: “It may be because we’re just sick of seeing the same things happening every year — we might just want it to happen — but we need, the game needs, the Premier League needs, the Championship needs, a club that comes up to stay up.”
Leeds manager Daniel Farke has taken to calling the task “breaking the curse”; when Burnley manager Scott Parker addressed the season as a whole, he mentioned “Premier League clubs established for five, six, seven years have had the investment and the funds over the course of them to slowly improve. A team coming up from the Championship is trying to chase that down”.
An executive at one of those promoted clubs — speaking anonymously to protect relationships — said: “I’m solely concerned with my club, but as a football supporter, jeopardy is important.”
Over the first three games of the season, The Athletic has been to Sunderland, Burnley and Leeds to gauge how the three promoted clubs are coping, to see if they are, as they are often asked, ‘Premier League-ready’.
Lukas Nmecha celebrates scoring Leeds’ winner against Everton (George Wood/Getty Images)
Saturday night, Leeds, and as a sold-out Elland Road empties onto the wet streets of West Yorkshire following a 0-0 draw with Newcastle United, Farke is using a phrase that frequently peppers his press conferences. “Happy days.”
The result means that after three games back in the Premier League, Leeds have four points and two clean sheets. Farke said he was “pretty happy” with that, and others of a Leeds opinion were, too. Leeds have beaten Everton, lost at Arsenal, and drawn with Newcastle United. “We have shown we are competitive,” Farke said.
Before Everton, he had spoken of 38 points as a theoretical aim for any promoted club. “We know this average, one point per game. It’s in the back of our minds.” On Saturday night, a smiling employee said, “Four points and we’ve played two Champions League clubs.”
Against Newcastle, Leeds were combative. Newcastle were without Alexander Isak, of course, as well as Joelinton and Anthony Gordon, while new £65million ($87m) signing from Stuttgart Nick Woltemade was watching from the directors’ box. But then Leeds were without captain Ethan Ampadu and creative spark Ao Tanaka.
Leeds rarely hinted at scoring, but they defended with discipline. Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s introduction on 70 minutes brought some attacking purpose and the audible early groan from the Don Revie Stand at new goalkeeper Lucas Perri’s wayward kicking was replaced by appreciation on the final whistle. When the league table finally settled at 9pm on Sunday night, it showed Leeds 12th. They will accept that.
Yet Farke was still asked if, as his squad stood on Saturday, there was enough “to survive relegation?”.
Even hearing the word “relegation” was slightly jarring, but Farke will know better than anyone that his starting XI on Saturday evening contained no less than six players who started Leeds’ first game of last season in the Championship, a 3-3 draw with Portsmouth. Ampadu would have been a seventh. After spending the guts of £90m this summer, Leeds still have Championship characteristics and that they have scored once in their three games, a penalty, gnaws at some fans.
Farke applauds the fans after Leeds’ draw against Newcastle (Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
It is why Farke delivered what was described here as an “understated transfer ultimatum”. He understands a promising start can slip away.
Farke said attacking “quality” was the priority as the transfer window closed. Pre-game, while pointing out that Leeds were the team with the most set-piece goals in last season’s Championship, he had taken exception to the idea that Leeds are trying to overcome the gulf by recruiting physique. “I don’t like to make too much of this story that we are just signing giants,” he said.
“We have signed two centre-backs, and two centre-backs for the Premier League are not 5ft tall. We have signed a goalkeeper — that he should be a bit bigger than 4ft 7in is clear. We have signed two strikers, that they should have a proper appearance is also clear.”
Leeds did not look like an athletically inferior Championship side on Saturday and experienced Newcastle defender Fabian Schar said the visitors did not view Leeds as “just-promoted or whatever — they are in the Premier League and every team in the Premier League deserves to be there”.
Schar’s manager, Eddie Howe, said of the promoted clubs: “I think they will be competitive. I think all three clubs have recruited very well, which is the key.”
By Monday night, however, Leeds had not added attacking quality and the size of Farke’s squad remained the same.
The same could not be said of Sunderland, who were so busy on Monday with incomings and outgoings that they announced at 11pm there would be “no further announcements”.
In contrast to Leeds, Sunderland have opted for transformation rather than evolution. On Saturday against Brentford, Sunderland’s starting XI featured only three of those who began the Championship play-off final at Wembley 99 days earlier — Trai Hume, Enzo Le Fee, and Eliezer Mayenda. When former Chelsea and Aston Villa attacker Bertrand Traore joined from Ajax on Monday night, the Wearsiders had acquired 13 new first-team players and made Le Fee’s loan permanent. Net spend is approximately £130m and the wage bill has gone up like a mushroom cloud.
And Sunderland have six points. They are sixth in the embryonic table.
Masters was at Sunderland on the season’s opening Saturday (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Clearly, a boardroom decision was made that the squad that finished fourth in last season’s Championship — 24 points behind Leeds and Burnley — could not cope with the gulf. There has been an overhaul off the pitch as well, with Shad Forsythe the latest appointment. The American performance coach, formerly of Arsenal, has joined from Borussia Dortmund.
And two wins at the Stadium of Light over West Ham and Brentford have given the club what last season’s promoted three never had. Momentum.
On Tuesday, sporting director Kristjaan Speakman described the West Ham game as an “occasion” as much as a match. “It gives you a lot of confidence, a lot of motivation. Then you go to Burnley and they have their big day back, if you like, get an extra 10 per cent.”
Forging a cohesive unit from so many changes is Regis Le Bris’ challenge. The Frenchman is a realist. “Look, the gap between the Championship and the Premier League is massive,” he said before the season began. “We want to keep our identity, which is to be well-organised and pragmatic, not naive.”
He did not reference Southampton by name, but said Sunderland would not be playing out from the back against teams known for their pressing.
“Efficient” is a favourite Le Bris word and Sunderland defeated West Ham with 37 per cent possession. “We had three chances against West Ham and scored three goals. Ruthless,” said Hume. Of the gulf, he added: “It’s definitely quicker, people are a lot better on the ball and move it faster.”
Hume was speaking at Turf Moor. Sunderland have had disappointment between two euphoric home victories. Had Mayenda taken a third-minute opportunity from six yards, it could have been different. But new Burnley goalkeeper Martin Dubravka made a save and the team that kept 30 clean sheets in the Championship were on their way to a first in the Premier League.
Le Bris contemplates defeat at Burnley (Lewis Storey/Getty Images)
It came in between conceding three at Tottenham and three at Manchester United, so critics may sniff, but Burnley were in each of those contests and were drawing 2-2 at Old Trafford until stoppage time. Two seasons ago, their first three matches — all at Turf Moor — were lost by a combined score of 11-3. Admittedly, the opponents were Manchester City, Aston Villa and Spurs, but Burnley fans did not witness a home win until December, and that was against Sheffield United.
Now they have one, and Parker spoke of the “belief” the win would give players and fans, a statement none of the three coaches at Ipswich Town, Leicester or Southampton could make last August. Long after the final whistle, the Park View pub on Harry Potts Way was buzzing.
There is no desire to criticise Vincent Kompany. Given his adherence to a particular style, though, “versatility” was a Burnley keyword this summer. As at Sunderland, pragmatism is an asset. As at Sunderland, there is “building out” — a new chief executive, James Holroyd, has arrived from Manchester United, chairman Alan Pace has an office at the training ground, and the season will be shown unfolding in short documentary clips on X. ‘Turf Moor Transformations’ was a club release about matchday changes to the stadium.
Burnley have spent around £100m — £23m on Chelsea’s Lesley Ugochukwu — and brought in approximately £35m. They have lost last season’s captain and leading goalscorer Josh Brownhill, but there is experience in the shape of Dubravka and Kyle Walker. Dubravka said that, before kick-off against Sunderland, Walker “and a few others stood up and made a great speech. You can tell everyone is determined to achieve something with this club, hungry, which is great”.
Once again, outsiders might say talking is easy, but there is no delusion. “We need to be comfortable being uncomfortable,” Parker said, and he has explained to his squad that there will be sequences when Burnley lose and lose. It’s Liverpool next after the international break — Isak maybe making his debut at Turf Moor. Then it’s Nottingham Forest, City and Villa before the next international break.
The fixture list has been kinder to Sunderland than Burnley or Leeds.
Burnley’s Jacob Bruun Larsen (left) and Quilindschy Hartman (right) talk with Walker (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)
But with 13 points and four wins between them, all three can take a measure of hope that they can at least push harder than the relegated clubs in the previous two seasons. After the first three games of last season, Ipswich, Leicester and Southampton had earned just two points. The season before, Luton Town, Burnley and Sheffield United had zero points. Over two seasons, it was 18 games with 16 defeats and two draws. The goals tallies were F14 A41.
So this is an improvement. Plus, it is significant, for now at least, that the likes of Brentford are one of those to have been beaten. Brentford defeated Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton home and away last season, giving them 18 points on the way to 56 and 10th place — 32 per cent of the Bees’ total points came from the bottom three.
West Ham collected 13 of their 43 points from the same three. It’s a platform for survival and another season of lucrative Premier League income.
There are four games in September and October until the second international break. After that, we will know more. But the promoted three have at least spared us an August-May procession.
This is important because, as Neville said on MNF, if three teams are again immediately relegated, “it’s worrying. Because we’re creating, basically, almost a fixed league by default. And we can’t have that”.
Reality says otherwise.
This is season one of the new £6.7billion four-year Premier League television contract and Masters said at its unveiling that the scale of the deal “underlines the strength of the Premier League and is testament to our clubs, players and managers who continue to deliver the world’s most competitive football in full stadiums, and to supporters, who create an unrivalled atmosphere every week”.
Hannibal Mejbri celebrates Josh Cullen’s goal against Sunderland (Matt McNulty/Getty Images)
Negotiations for the next deal are likely to begin around mid-2027. Should 17 of its clubs from 2023-24 be in place as season 2027-28 starts, those Premier League claims to be the pinnacle of English football’s unique and competitive pyramid will have lost persuasive force. Given the Premier League’s economic model, this is problematic.
One veteran of football and media coverage, speaking anonymously to protect relationships, said: “There is a very real danger that interest in the Premier League will decrease if it gets too predictable.
“A genuine relegation battle is very important to broadcasters — it’s a vital part of the season-long drama. The last few seasons have been pretty boring. You need one of the big, more established teams to be in danger. I think Everton (in 2023) were the last of those, but it now looks like the promoted teams just can’t cope. If the league loses that sense of jeopardy, it’s a huge problem.
“We need tension and risk. The games have got to matter.”
So far, Burnley, Leeds and Sunderland have made eight of nine games competitive — Arsenal’s 5-0 demolition of Leeds was different. With a transfer window closing, at times it’s been breathless, and Parker’s comment about goals and victories bringing “oxygen” at this altitude felt right.
Now, a short break, time to reflect and to get Premier League-ready again in September.
(Top photos: Tim Clayton, Ian MacNicol, Lewis Storey/Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)
