Leicester City, Ipswich Town, and Southampton will all return to the EFL Championship after only one season in the Premier League. Their fates were already sealed as early as April because of their poor Premier League 2025 results, which led to them occupying the 18th, 19th, and 20th seeds in the English top-flight standings.
Relegation undoubtedly hurts these teams, especially financially, as they’re forced to sell or part ways with some of their key players because they cannot afford to pay them next season. Also, the EFL Championship is notoriously known as a bloodbath, with 24 teams competing for the Premier League berths.
Replacing them are Leeds United, Burnley, and Sunderland, with the Whites and Clarets dominating the EFL Championship with 100 points each. Meanwhile, the Black Cats secured their much-awaited promotion by winning the promotion play-off match against Sheffield United last weekend.
Continue reading below to learn more about how the Foxes, Tractor Boys, and Saints were relegated.
Leicester City
Leicester City have been condemned to an immediate return to the EFL Championship after an 18th-place finish for only 25 points. Their relegation was confirmed during a 1-0 loss against Liverpool last month.
The Foxes have been through a lot this season, which is an understatement. Steve Cooper took over when Enzo Maresca took the Chelsea job, but after a lackluster start, they quickly gave up on him. Leicester City eventually replaced him with Ruud van Nistelrooy, who did well in his interim head coaching stint at Manchester United, but the Dutchman didn’t do much better.
Ruud van Nistelrooy had a bright start with a 3-1 win over West Ham United and a 2-2 comeback draw against Brighton. However, after that, the Foxes only accumulated four points before that fateful loss against the Reds. Leicester City claimed seven more points since then, but it was all too late.
There was huge discontent in the locker room, as van Nistelrooy couldn’t get a tune out of his players in contrast with Maresca. He had a falling out with midfielder Harry Winks, who was dropped for refusing to agree to stay at the training ground one night a week. It also didn’t help them that starlet Abdul Fatawu picked up a season-ending knee injury last November.
The Foxes are in for a drastic rebuild this summer. They’re expected to sack van Nistelrooy and part ways with 11 key players, including Jamie Vardy, who’s arguably their greatest player ever.
Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town have been hit with a harsh reality check following their relegation from the Premier League. The Tractor Boys secured successive promotions from League One to the Premier League in recent years, but they finished 19th in the table with 22 points. Their fate was sealed by a 3-0 loss against Newcastle United last month, as the Magpies capitalized on Ben Johnson’s first-half red card.
Kieran McKenna did all he could to help Ipswich Town stave off relegation, but he just didn’t have enough weapons to keep up. Closing out games is the team’s main problem, as the Tractor Boys lost a league-high 27 points from winning positions this season, and they were also terrible at Portman Road. Only Southampton have picked up fewer points on home soil this term.
For a club that was in League One two years ago, staying in the English top-flight is a huge step, so the SBOTOP Premier League 2025 odds were already stacked against them. Ipswich Town needed to recruit reinforcements to bridge the gap. They spent £120 million and signed Jaden Philogene for £20 million last January, but they may be tempted to cash in on some of their key players since it hasn’t worked.
Liam Delap is the obvious sell candidate for Ipswich Town. The 22-year-old striker recorded 12 league goals and two assists this season and could net the club a minimum of £30 million because of the relegation release clause in his contract.
Southampton
Southampton became the first team in Premier League history to be relegated with as many as seven games in the season remaining. The Saints finished at the bottom of the table with only 12 points, and their fate was sealed by a 3-1 loss to Tottenham last April 6, their 25th league defeat.
The Saints cycled through different managers this season. They started with Russell Martin but eventually replaced him with Ivan Juric. Following the fateful defeat against Tottenham, Juric stepped down and was replaced by Simon Rusk on an interim basis. Most recently, the team hired Will Still, who has done a phenomenal job with Reims and RC Lens in Ligue 1.
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