Relegation Rejuvenation- How the Woes of Dropping Down A Division Can Save A Club

History has demonstrated more often than not that if a big club suffers a dramatic downfall, the chance to be battling promotion coupled with the opportunity to once again be the best, revives a club and creates an atmosphere directly parallel to that of the previous year...

Last year Ipswich Town suffered one of the most miserable seasons in their 140-year history. Having played in the top two divisions of English football since the early sixties, the Tractor Boys found themselves finishing rock bottom of the Championship, dropping down into League One. In front of an average of attendance of just 17,000, the East Anglian club was in disarray and the fans had clearly fell out of love with the club.

However, fast forward two months into the following campaign, Ipswich are top of the league, unbeaten, and the average attendance has improved by roughly 3,000. The disappointment of last year has been thrust to the back of fans minds and celebrations are back at Portman Road.

The club has been rejuvenated. The team managed a measly 5 wins from 46 games last season, a feat already bettered this time around. It is clear that any bad feeling around the club has been separated from the pitch and the team are in a healthy position to bounce straight back into the Championship, something that tends to bode well with clubs of their size.

In a similar manner to Ipswich, Wolverhampton Wanderers suffered relegation to the third tier for the first time since the 1980s in 2012/2013, yet bounced back immediately in 2013/2014. Leicester spent their first ever season in League One in 2008/2009, they found promotion within a single season. It was Norwich's first season in the third tier since the late 1950s in 2009/2010, they also achieved the same fate, rediscovering championship life after just one season below. The three teams mentioned went on to finish 7th, 5th, and 2nd respectively in the seasons following their promotion.

In each case the clubs faced their worst seasons for decades, if not ever, so how was it so possible to turn a relegated second tier team into promotion candidates for the Premier League in just two seasons, and can Ipswich replicate the dramatic turn in events?

One obvious factor in the upturn in a relegated teams form is the talent of the opponent. The gap between the Championship and League One has probably never been as big as it is now. The top end of the Championship features clubs spending over £10 million on players and squads boasting full internationals week in week out. To go from playing players of the calibre of say Ruben Neves or even the clinical nature of last year's top scorer Teemu Pukki, to taking on an Accrington Stanley squad punching way above their weight, demonstrates a distinctive distance in quality. If a club keeps around half their squad, they're likely to sit in a promising position to regain Championship status.

In addition, the size of a club and its fan base plays a significant role in rediscovering form. Whilst in a relegation campaign, attendance figures whittle down to the truest of fans and the atmosphere dims to a crowd expecting defeat. Fans are on players backs as pre-season expectations are unearthed as false and each game represents another taste of dissatisfaction.

When the next season comes around, hope and promise takes over the fair-weather fan. Attendance figures begin to sore back to their normal expectancy and the home ground can become a fortress for a club too big for the league.

This has been the case for the clubs previously mentioned who endured seasons in the third tier but has also occurred for huge teams who faced relegation from the Premier League. Newcastle in 2009/2010 and 2016/2017, or West Ham in 2011/2012 combined Premier League squads with huge attendances for the division leading to immediate promotions back to the topflight.

There are anomaly's, however. The bottom two divisions of the football league feature big clubs in the form of Portsmouth, Plymouth and Bradford. Sunderland are a huge club for this level of football, and whilst fans continue to voice discontent towards the manager Jack Ross, the black cats seem to be giving their Scottish gaffer a second season to deliver promotion in the North East. Big clubs like Leeds United and Nottingham Forest took three seasons to rediscover life in the Championship and found the challenges of League One just as hard as the rest of the division.

Another interesting point to dwell on is that whilst Forest and Leeds eventually gained promotion back to the second tier after numerous attempts, their counterparts in the form of Wolves, Leicester, and Norwich, who gained promotion instantly, have since gone on to feature in the topflight, whereas Forest and Leeds have failed time and time again in the Championship. The advantage of rebuilding a club rapidly and an immediate turnaround in form delivers forward momentum that allows a club to build the foundations of Premier League candidates.

There is a clear difference between clubs that immediately gain promotion from the third tier, examples of Wolves, Leicester, and Norwich, and clubs that take their time to achieve promotion, examples of Forest and Leeds. Wolves, Leicester, and Norwich were capable of adjusting to Championship football straight away thus challenging for promotion and ultimately finding it. Leeds and Forest, whilst they carried momentum from victorious League One seasons, failed to compete effectively and therefore still linger outside the topflight.

If history is anything to go by, the significance of this season for Ipswich Town couldn't be any greater. They're start to season has positioned them in the perfect place to regain Championship status. If this is the case, can the follow the footsteps of other teams who performed in the same manner? Will their relegation from the Championship prove to be a key season in the rejuvenation of Ipswich Town, as it has been for so many clubs before them?