Obviously the hiatus of the World Cup – an upstart competition less than a hundred years old – needs to be endured before proper football starts again in three months’ time. But it isn’t too early to start considering the prospects for the 2026/27 season.
Being at the nerdy end of the football spectrum, I always take an interest in the geographical spread of the clubs in the top division of English football. The figures for 2026/27 are rather tidy:
Lancashire (as was) – 4
Tyne and Wear – 2
Yorkshire – 2
Midlands and East Anglia – 4
London – 6
South Coast – 2
From a historical perspective, one of the most interesting facts to note is the decline of the north-west as a football powerhouse over recent decades.
The figures given at this website are stark:
External Link/Members OnlyOver the history of top-division football, the five once-great Lancashire B’s have played in the top division the following number of times:
Bolton – 73
Blackburn – 72
Burnley - 61
Blackpool – 28
Bury – 22
Now all are in the doldrums, Bolton’s promotion to the Championship being about as exciting as it gets. Meanwhile, the five northern B’s have been replaced by three southern B’s (Brentford, Bournemouth and Brighton).
So which teams will be relegated at the end of the 2026/27 season? At the moment the bookies have all three promoted teams odds-on to go straight back down – and there isn't an obvious candidate for relegation among the teams already in the Premier League.
But Sunderland and Leeds surprised us in 2025/26, so who knows?
