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NEWS
Premier League Promotion
Premier League Promotion is estimated to be worth a staggering £90 million, according to a report by sports finance experts Deloitte...
That figure is an increase of 50% on the value of a promotion place since last season. Deloitte estimate that promoted clubs will benefit from at least £40 million in extra revenue through television rights, higher gate receipts and increased commercial income. And even if their first season ends in relegation they will receive parachute payments of around £48 million over the next four seasons.
This should be music to the ears of both West Bromwich Albion and Newcastle United. The two clubs were relegated after disappointing performances in the 08/9 season, but following a far more successful 09/10 season, both have now secured an immediate return to the top flight, with Newcastle crowned Champions and West Brom securing second place.
ANALYSIS OF PROMOTION
The two teams have dominated the Championship for the majority of the season, so we’ve looked at the level and style of their play during this campaign to see if the reason for their immediate return to the top table of the English game was achieved through maintaining a Premiership style of play.
PASS MASTERS
Both Newcastle and West Brom’s passing average per game was well above the Coca-Cola Championship average, and even went beyond this season’s Barclays Premier League average for passes made in a game (CCC average 265, FAPL average 303). Newcastle and West Brom respectively averaged 310 and 325 passes per game with success rates of 81.2% and 80.9% respectively. Again, out-passing teams in both the Premier League (78.6%) and Championship (74.9%).
When breaking down pass length both teams fall below the Championship average for long passes and above the average for medium passes, suggesting that the teams’ trends are closer to that of the Premier League than the Championship.
In contrast both teams played less forward passes and more backward passes when compared to the Championship average suggesting they are more comfortable in possession, which in turn allows them to be more selective in their choice of pass.
THE SEASON AHEAD
Whilst there are distinct differences in the average performance outputs from the Premier League and Championship, our analysis of the passing statistics for the 2009/10 season suggests that teams adopting a style more consistent with the Premier League have been more successful.
There is an obvious difference in the quality of opposition that Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion will face in the 2010/11 season but our analysis shows that their style of play allied with the effectiveness and direction of their passing should give both teams reason to feel confident for the season ahead. Especially when you take in to account the fact 17 of the last 30 newly promoted clubs have managed to remain in the top flight for at least one season.
“Thanks to you and all at Prozone in helping to make the 2009/10 campaign a successful one for us. Not only did we manage to achieve our goal of automatic promotion we also did it within the Club DNA/game style. Backed up by your stats I was interested to see that ourselves and Newcastle were not only the top two scorers in the division but also were top of the possession stats and both outperformed the average in the Premier League.”
Dan Ashworth, Sporting and Technical Director - WBA
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