Burnley
Blackburn Rovers
Coventry City
Derby County
Leeds United
Luton Town
Middlesbrough
Millwall
Norwich City
Portsmouth
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield United
QPR
Sheffield United and Sunderland are just days away from the biggest game of the season, with both sides preparing for the Championship play-off final at Wembley.
The Blades have found the play-offs a huge challenge in the past, but they proved their strength in the semi-final by easing past Bristol City in a 6-0 victory on aggregate.
It’s only been 12 months since Chris Wilder’s side’s most recent Premier League game, but after the disappointment of 2023/24, the South Yorkshire outfit will be keen to return to the division and start to put things right.
However, there will be questions of whether the top flight is truly what it is all set out to be with all three promoted sides from last season returning to the Championship for the new campaign for the second successive year.
Sheffield United fan hits out at the Premier League, he’s not heading to Wembley
With Ipswich Town relegated, supporters are excited for their Championship return in August, and the dream of going up to the Premier League looks to be dying out, including for Blades fans.
Despite the pure ecstasy and passion that comes with promotion, the reward itself may not prove to be all what it is made out to be, with just four of the last 10 play-off winners avoiding relegation back to the second tier.
One Sheffield United fanatic has spoken out against the top flight as a supporter of a club vying for a place in the league, and revealed he is not going to watch his team on Saturday.
“The last two Premier League campaigns of ours have pretty much broken me to be honest,” the Blades fan started. “Just the fact that we’ve not been competitive. We’ve been borderline embarrassing at times, we’ve been close to setting record low points totals.
“We’ve set the record for the number of goals conceded, and I’ve just not got the stomach to go down and spend a day in London, a couple of £100 for a game that I’ve got no real kind of interest in the outcome.
“I know that sounds strange, I’ve been a Blade for near enough 40 years, I’ve seen us be rubbish and I’ve seen us be good. But I’ve just got to the stage where the Premier League just doesn’t do it for me in the slightest.”
He concluded: “The prospect of a season, next season, with a points total in the mid-teens, it’s not there for me anymore.”
One supporter agreed with him: “He’ll get pelters for this but half his point is right. Most Utd fans couldn’t care less about the Prem. We know what it’s all about, and we don’t have enough for it! But that chance of seeing us possibly win, being there with friends and family, that’s the reason to go for me.”
Another wrote: “Agreed. Promotion is good for the club, the bank balance of the owners & players, but not so much the spectacle for the match day fans. Being the whipping boys every week & the prospect of VAR doesn’t do it for me either. The Premier League has advanced too far to bridge the gap.”
However, not all agreed with him, including one Coventry City fan: “Understandable but what he’s failing to account for is that if Sheff Utd don’t go up, they’ll begin to be overstretched financially. The likelihood is they’ll get progressively worse. Clubs like Coventry, Middlesbrough, West Brom, Norwich, Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland would love to be in that position.”
While one Blades supporter put: “So what exactly makes a season in the Championship enjoyable if your end goal isn’t promotion? Ultimately celebrating wins you don’t want.”
The Premier League is becoming a closed shop to those coming up from the Championship
There is a growing gap between the Premier League and Championship, with Bournemouth, Fulham and Nottingham Forest the most recent sides to stay in the division following promotion after they went up in 2022.
Supporters have a right to be frustrated, and at this moment in time there seems to be very limited opportunities offered to those who do make the move up to the top flight.
Despite a huge prize pot for winning the play-offs, teams often struggle in the Premier League and Sheffield United are just one of those victims in that battle.
Chris Wilder is protecting his own play-off record this weekend, but even he must have doubts over his team’s chances if they are to bounce straight back to the promised land, with investment needed throughout the squad.