Every Premier League club handed huge blow after Sunderland win promotion back to the Premier League

All 19 other Premier League clubs have been handed a huge blow following Sunderland’s promotion to the top flight.

The Black Cats defeated Sheffield United 2-1 in Saturday’s Championship play-off final at Wembley to return to the Premier League for the first time since 2017.

Regis Le Bris’ side went 1-0 down in the first half through Tyrese Campbell, but goals from Eliezer Mayenda and Tommy Watson – who netted in the 95th minute – secured a memorable comeback.

For Sheffield United, their first attempt to return to the top flight after relegation under Chris Wilder has ended in failure.

The Blades will continue to receive parachute payments from the Premier League, which will give them a major advantage over most other Championship clubs before a ball is even kicked next season.

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire revealed on Saturday that United will receive a sum of £39 million for their second season back in the Championship.

Had they earned promotion back to the Premier League, those payments would have stopped, and they would have instead received around £90 million in domestic and international TV rights for the 2025/26 season.

In that scenario, the parachute payment money would have been kept by the Premier League and distributed among its clubs.

Therefore, each club would have received an additional sum of around £1.95 million.

They will receive that sum anyway due to Burnley’s promotion to the top flight, with the Clarets in the same position as Sheffield United having been relegated last term.

And champions Leeds would have earned around £17 million in parachute payments had they stayed down for their third season in the Championship, adding an extra £900,000 to the pot for Premier League clubs.

But Sunderland‘s promotion means that clubs will not get the full amount they might have hoped for – which could have made a key difference in transfer negotiations this summer.

The Black Cats’ eight-year stint outside the top flight means their parachute payments ended all the way back in 2020, when they were playing in League One.

The Wembley result caps off a remarkable 18 months for Sunderland, whose 2023/24 season fell apart after the polarising decision to sack Tony Mowbray and place interim manager Mike Dodds – who won just two of his 13 matches – in charge for the rest of the campaign.

But the arrival of former Lorient boss Le Bris in the summer kickstarted a new era for the North East club, and they sat in the top four places for almost the entirety of the season.

A run of five consecutive defeats at the end of the season – and a less than impressive pair of performances in the play-off semi-final win over Coventry – did concern Black Cats fans, but Sunderland made it count when it mattered most at Wembley.

A football finance expert has revealed the amount the winners of the Sky Bet Championship play-off final will receive.

Sunderland and Sheffield United will go head-to-head at Wembley Stadium at 03:01 pm with both knowing the financial impact a win could have on their respective clubs for years to come.

Leeds and Burnley have already secured promotion to the Premier League through their league positions.

And going up through the play-off route is arguably the most exciting or stressful way of gaining promotion, depending on who you support.

The match is often dubbed the ‘most valuable game in football’ due to the huge riches associated with the jump up to the Premier League.

But how much will the winners actually receive?

As reported by football finance expert Kieran Maguire, it’s not just the two play-off hopefuls that could benefit.

“It won’t just be the fans of Sunderland and Sheffield United with an interest in the Championship Playoff final today, Premier League clubs have a vested interest too,” Maguire explained.

“Under Premier League rules, clubs are entitled to three years of Parachute Payments when they are relegated to the Championship, although this is restricted to two years if they had previously been promoted and were immediately relegated

“The parachute payments are calculated as being 55%, 45% and 20% respectively of the equal share elements of the Premier League distribution to its member clubs. This works out as £48m, £39m and £17m for the relegated clubs over a three year period. If a relegated club is then immediately promoted, then the parachute payments it was due to receive are retained by the Premier League and given to its own clubs. Burnley and Leeds United have already been promoted to the Premier League which saves the Premier League £39m and £17m in 2025/26. If Sheffield United are promoted in the playoffs at the weekend this will be a further £39m.

“This could result in a total of £95 million coming back to the Premier League. Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton were relegated in 2024/25 having been promoted the previous season. This means that the Premier League will definitely not have to pay parachute payments in the third year, resulting in a further benefit to Premier League clubs of £51 million (3 x £17m). This could take the parachute payments benefit to existing PL clubs to £146 million.

“It’s the most valuable match in world football not just for the two clubs competing at Wembley, who can be £190m better off for winning.”

The Championship Play-Off final is famous for being the richest club game in English football and so it proved for one lucky punter this season.

Sunderland came back from a goal down to beat Sheffield United at Wembley on Saturday, upsetting the odds and returning to the Premier League after an eight-year absence that took them as low as the third tier.

The Blades took the lead through Tyrese Campbell’s brilliant breakaway goal in the middle of the first half and had a Harrison Burrows strike disallowed for offside shortly before half time.

Regis Le Bris led Sunderland to Wembley in his first season in English football but they limped into the play-offs in awful league form.

A dramatic winner against Coventry City in the semi-final set up a final against Chris Wilder’s Sheffield United and Sunderland thrived in the role of underdogs.

Eliezer Mayenda’s rocket into the top corner looked to have taken the game into extra time but there was another late sting in the tail of the Black Cats.

Tom Watson, a 19-year-old winger who was already on the way to the Premier League as a new signing for Brighton & Hove Albion, curled a pinpoint pea-roller into the bottom corner to drag his current teammates up with him.

And there was another stunning result for the brainy bet-maker, who picked out a genius double to turn a £5 stake into £1,630 at odds of 326/1.

Backing Watson to score the third goal of the final was quite a shout in its own right. The teenager from County Durham had two Championship goals to his name and was an unused substitute in both legs of the play-off semi-final against Coventry.

Tom Watson!! Great comeback by Sunderland !!

Once the trickier half of the gutsy double came in for the punter, the second part was a formality.

With the ball in the net, the mammoth pay-out relied on Watson collecting a yellow card. There aren’t too many situations when a 95th-minute winning goal in a Wembley play-off final won’t be immediately followed by a caution.

Watson could now line up against Sunderland in the Premier League next season.

But thousands of Mackems and one slightly wealthier punter will always consider him a topless legend.

Premier League clubs will receive a significant boost if Sheffield United beat Sunderland in the Championship play-off final.

The two former top flight clubs will take part in the ‘richest game in football’ on Saturday afternoon at Wembley.

Regis Le Bris’ Black Cats are looking to return to the Premier League for the first time since 2016, while a win for Chris Wilder’s Blades would see them immediately bounce back from relegation last season.

Each Premier League club receives around £90 million per season in domestic and international TV rights money and, with the gap between the top flight and the second tier becoming larger every season, the play-off final carries more importance than ever.

In normal circumstances, you would expect that very few Premier League clubs – barring Newcastle and Leeds, at least – would have any particular desire to see either club win over the other.

But due to a little-known rule, some clubs might be backing Sheffield United over Sunderland.

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has explained that, if the Blades do win, each of the 19 other Premier League clubs would be entitled to their share of a staggering £39 million windfall.

Each club relegated from the Premier League receives parachute payments for the next three seasons, with the amount reducing after each completed season.

If a club is immediately relegated from the top flight the season after promotion, meanwhile, they only receive two years of payments.

But in the event of a relegated club earning promotion back to the Premier League before the end of their parachute payments, the remaining amount is kept by the league itself.

It is then distributed among the remaining Premier League clubs.

With Sheffield United due to receive a £39 million instalment if they stay down, that money would effectively be declared void if they earn promotion at Wembley.

While the financial boost for each club would only equal £1.95 million, it could still prove to be valuable during the upcoming transfer window – especially in tough negotiations with other sides.

Sunderland have been promoted to the Premier League (Credit:Getty)

Enzo Le Fee’s loan deal will be made permanent (Credit:Getty)