West Brom, Newcastle and Blackpool: newcomers remain on remarkable survival course

By Brian Sears 4 November 2010 Back in September after five game had been played in this Premier League season, sportingintelligence analysis showed Newcastle, Blackpool and West Brom had made the best starts, collectively, of any group of top-flight newcomers since 1992. With double the number of games played, the upstart trio have continued to buck expectations and they remain on course - tentatively - to become only second “full trio” to stay up in the same season after promotion from the Championship. The only other time it happened was in 2001-02, when Bolton, Blackburn and Fulham all stayed up. Back then after 10 games, Bolton had 15 points, Blackburn 13 and Fulham 11, for a total of 39. In the current season, West Brom in sixth place have 15 points after 10 games, Newcastle have 14 in seventh, and Blackpool have 13 in ninth, for a total of 42. A separate article today looks at West Brom’s hopes of re-entering the top four this weekend, if they can continue their “bogey” hold over Manchester City. Only on two other occasions in the 18-year history of the Premier League have the promoted clubs at this stage gained more than 42 points collectively. In the inaugural season, 1992-93, promoted Blackburn (21), Middlesbrough (15) and Ipswich (13) had gained 49 points, although Boro still went down. In 2000-01, promoted Charlton (15 points), Ipswich (15) and Manchester City (14) had won 44 points, although City still went down. . More stories mentioning West Brom More stories mentioning Newcastle More stories mentioning Blackpool More Brian Sears Sportingintelligence home page .

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