It is getting towards that time of the year where the sides currently in the bottom three are getting desperate for points, as they look to avoided that dreaded drop.
It is already looking inevitable for Aston Villa, but we could also see established top-flight clubs such as Newcastle and Sunderland join them in the Championship.
The worry for those teams will be that it is no guarantee that they will return to the top-flight, recent seasons have seen many established Premier League teams lose their top-flight status and instead of returning, have found it extremely difficult to even mount a push for promotion.
Our resident punters here in the Tavern have compiled a list of FIVE relegated Premier League clubs who won’t be returning anytime soon….
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PRESS THE IMAGE BELOW TO SEE THE FIVE CLUBS!
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Portsmouth
Portsmouth were the first Premier League side to go into administration and it was no surprise when they were finally relegated in 2010.
Given their financial problems, they weren’t really expected to return straight away but Pompey fans also wouldn’t have foreseen where they currently are.
After further relegations from the Championship in 2012, and League One in 2013, they now ply their trade in the fourth tier of English football.
At least this season they are well placed for a potential return to League One by currently sitting in the play-off places, and consistently drawing impressive crowds – but on the whole, it has been a bleak last few years down at Fratton Park.
Wigan Athletic
Perennial Premier League strugglers, they finally succumbed to the Championship in 2013, the same year that they were FA Cup winners.
It was a fairytale story when they were promoted to the top-flight for the first time in 2005 and they did brilliantly to remain there for eight years, but like many before them, the next time they moved division was downwards when they were relegated to League One at the end of last season.
Long-serving chairman Dave Whelan made way for his 23-year-old grandson but the Latics are in a good position for an immediate return to the Championship.
Leeds United
It has now been 12 long years since Leeds were relegated from the top-flight.
At the time, it was particularly hard to take for their fans who had been enjoying a Champions League semi-final only three years earlier.
Many expected them to return straight away but financial problems meant that that would not happen.
Three years later in 2007 after entering administration, they were relegated to League One.
Despite a 15-point deduction at the start of that season, they qualified for the play-offs but were beaten.
They finally returned to the Championship in 2010 but now under the guidance of controversial owner Massimo Cellino, and going through managers like nothing, it is difficult to see a return to the top-flight any time soon.
Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers were an established Premier League side but they lost their status in 2012 when they suffered relegation.
But right now, in hundreds of million pounds worth of debt and with no manager in place, they look certain for relegation to League One at the end of this season.
Many fans are disillusioned at how things went so badly wrong but in reality they perhaps overspent during their Premier League days and they are now paying the price for that.
A recent takeover offers some hope for the future but for now, a Premier League return seems some way off.
Charlton Athletic
During the days of Alan Curbishley in the early 2000’s the Addicks were a stable Premier League club.
The departure of Curbishley in 2006 set in motion a turn of events that saw the club relegated at the end of the next season.
Only two years later, instead of returning to the top-flight they fell through the Championship trap-door and found themselves in League One.
After a play-off defeat in their first season, they won the League One title in some style in 2012 to return to the Championship.
Since then, though, they haven’t pushed on and this season they are again in real danger of a return to League One with thousands of fans protesting at the running of the club which they feel has contributed to their latest demise.
