How much will Europe affect Sunderland's second season?

[Getty Images] The belief that promoted sides that stayed up in their first season are often relegated in their second is a popular one, with the phrase 'second-season syndrome' regularly thrown about. But is it as common as people think? Last season Sunderland and Leeds United became the 53rd and 54th promoted sides to survive in the Premier League. Of the previous 52, only 11 were relegated the following season (21%). The vast majority of promoted teams that stay up do not suffer from second-season syndrome. However, there is precedent for a promoted side that had a first season as good as Sunderland's to be relegated in their second. In fact, the best promoted side in the 38-game era of the Premier League did just that. George Burley's Ipswich Town ended the 2000-01 campaign fifth with 66 points - the highest finish and most points any promoted side has achieved in a 38-game season. But with European football to contend with, they dropped 13 places and took 30 fewer points the next season as they were relegated in 18th place, with Sunderland the beneficiaries as they finished just one place above them. Overall, four of the previous 20 promoted sides (20%) that finished in the top half in their first season suffered relegation in their second, with the most recent example being Sheffield United five years ago. [BBC] Sunderland will be playing in Europe this season for the first time in 53 years, with at least eight games in the Europa League on top of their usual domestic commitments. They are the 10th promoted side in Premier League history to qualify for Europe and just the fifth to do so through their league position, with the others qualifying via cup competitions or fair play. Despite their squads arguably being the least-prepared to handle the extra fixtures, five of the previous nine teams achieved another top-half finish and just two were relegated - Ipswich in the early 2000s and Hull City in the mid-2010s. Sunderland will be hoping to follow the example of the most recent promoted side to qualify for Europe - Wolves in 2019. Despite playing 17 games as they reached the Europa League quarter-finals in 2019-20, they still had enough in the tank to finish seventh in the league again. There are definitely the ingredients for Sunderland to have a difficult second season, but given how well-run they have been in their recent rise from League One to Europe, many fans will have faith they will continue to thrive. Read the full article here [BBC]