Amid former Sunderland striker Ross Stewart’s relegation with Southampton, supporters have been debating whether Premier League promotion is a worthwhile endeavor.
Only in modern football would supporters even debate whether promotion to the Premier League promised land is genuinely worth the effort.
Sunderland are in contention for promotion from the Championship this season with Regis Le Bris’ side sat firmly in fourth place and looking destined to finish in the second tier play-offs.
Above them in the top flight, each of last season’s promoted sides; Leicester, Ipswich Town and Southampton look destined for instant demotion back to the second tier, with the Saints’ mathematically confirmed at the weekend, despite their influxes funding following their promotions.
With former Sunderland ace Ross Stewart suffering relegation with Southampton back into the Championship, Sunderland fans have been divided over whether Premier League promotion is a thankless task given the gulf in class evident this season.
Fans debate promotion after Ross Stewart’s Southampton blow
Former Sunderland striker Stewart has played just 138 minutes of Premier League football for Southampton this season as the Scot continues to be blighted by injury woes.
After Stewart made the Southampton switch in September 2023, the 40-goal ex-Sunderland star has made just 10 appearances for the Saints with injuries plaguing his progression and sidelining him for almost a year.
Rock-bottom Southampton’s relegation was confirmed, only 11 months after red flags were flown under the Wembley arches, and Sunderland supporters fear the same fate could happen to them this season.
One Sunderland fan said: “Honestly as a Sunderland fan there’s a part of me who’d sooner not get promoted if this is what’s in store.” as a fellow fan agreed: “I’ve never been overly enthused about promotion on a personal level (I understand the need for it though). Seeing the 3 promoted sides being utterly hapless and miles out of their depth does absolutely nothing to change that. What depressing seasons for all 3.”
Another added: “I feel exactly the same. The bottom of the Premiership makes very sobering reading. It’s not just 18-20, but their aggregate number of wins and points.”
As another agreed: “And as much as I like our squad of players, there are very few capable of making the step-up, particularly so soon.”
With 18th-placed Ipswich still 12 points adrift of safety, another Sunderland fan said: “Embarrassing the gulf between the Premier League and the Championship. Winning the Championship and being this bad makes a mockery of any sort of competition in the top tier. It’s not the big 6 anymore, it’s the big 17.”
How would Regis Le Bris’ side fare in the Premier League
There are mitigating factors to the trio’s top flight demotion which wouldn’t affect Sunderland if they were to be promoted this season. Leicester and Southampton have endured managerial changes this term and Ipswich have struggled with their rise from League One to the Premier League in instant succession.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 18 |  IpswichIpswich | 31 | 4 | 8 | 19 | 31 | 65 | -34 | 20 |
| 19 |  LeicesterLeicester | 31 | 4 | 5 | 22 | 25 | 70 | -45 | 17 |
| 20 |  SouthamptonSouthampton | 31 | 2 | 4 | 25 | 23 | 74 | -51 | 10 |
Despite the gulf in quality between the league’s growing every season, there are green shoots regarding the Black Cats’ merit of not repeating Southampton’s feat this term. If the Black Cats earn promotion, Roma loanee Enzo Le Fee becomes a Sunderland player permanently, which automatically makes them much more of a threat to any Premier League defence.
Le Bris’ side are also very difficult to beat and break down, conceding less than a goal per game on average this season and yielding the Championship’s fourth-highest goals per game record concurrently.
With Le Bris’ side averaging less than 50% possession this term (48%) it also indicates that the Black Cats would not fall into the trap that particularly Russell Martin’s side did – before his Saints sacking – of religiously trying to play out from the back and thus shipping so many unnecessary goals as a result. 74 this term with seven games to go for the South Coast outfit.
Premier League and European royalty tracking the likes of Chris Rigg, Jobe Bellingham and Dan Neil this term, with that in itself is a vote of confidence from footballing elite that those Black Cats star can make that monumental step up.