Leicester City relegation would be 'significant matter' for the Premier League
The prospect of Leicester City falling back into the Championship alongside Ipswich and Southampton would be a “significant matter” for the Premier League to consider, the division’s chief football officer has said.
City currently sit in the bottom three alongside the Tractor Boys and the Saints, both of whom they were promoted alongside last May. If all three were to be relegated, it would be the second straight year in which the promoted clubs have gone straight back down.
While it would then only be the third time in the Premier League’s 33-year history that it had happened, a growing trend of promoted sides struggling is a cause for concern for the competitiveness of the Premier League. The gulf between the top and the bottom is growing, and last season Nottingham Forest stayed up on 32 points, the lowest tally of any surviving club.
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“That's a significant matter,” the Premier League’s chief football officer Tony Scholes told Sky Sports. “We keep a close eye on that. The quality of this league is just unbelievable. Clubs coming up out of the Championship into this league do find it incredibly difficult. We see that.
“Ipswich, for example, have invested a lot of money this year. Hopefully they're there, they've got a chance of staying up, but right now they're in a difficult position.
“It is difficult to break in. But no, it would not be good for the league if the three who are coming up went back down again year on year.”
As things stand, City are on 17 points after 24 games. That’s exactly the same record as they had 10 years ago when they were a newly-promoted club. However, back then, they were bottom of the table and four points from safety. Now, they’re 18th and just two points shy of escaping.
City’s defeats have been heavier this season too. Ten years ago, despite the same record of four wins, five draws and 15 defeats, City had a goal difference of -17. This season, it stands at -28.
