What shape are relegated sides in for Championship return?

Back so soon?

For the first time since 1997-98 all three teams promoted to the Premier League came straight back down last season.

Sheffield United, Burnley and Luton managed just 14 wins between them in a campaign where none of the three broke the 30-point mark.

But this is a new campaign and a new challenge – one they are all familiar with.

They will be buoyed by two of the teams who went down in 2022-23, Leicester Ciity and Southampton, bouncing back up at the first attempt last season.

BBC Sport takes a look at how they are shaping up before the new EFL campaign starts on Friday.

What happened? It was always going to be a tall order for Rob Edwards’ men after returning to the top flight following a 31-year absence, and so it proved.

They were the first of the promoted teams to record a victory last season, as they won 2-1 at Everton in their sixth game of the season.

Captain Tom Lockyer suffered a cardiac arrest, as he had done in the play-off final win over Coventry in May, in a game at Bournemouth in December that was subsequently abandoned. The Wales defender’s playing future remains uncertain.

The team rallied after losing their skipper and recorded successive wins against Newcastle and Sheffield United over Christmas to boost their chances of avoiding relegation.

Their hopes of another season in the top flight were also enhanced by the points deductions for Everton and Nottingham Forest for breaching profit and sustainability rules, with the Toffees ultimately deducted eight points and Forest four.

Luton managed an impressive 52 goals in their 38 matches – just five fewer than Manchester United – but could only make that count for six wins and ultimately finished six points adrift of 17th-placed Forest.

Who’s in charge? Perhaps befitting the uniqueness of the club, Luton have not only kept their manager, they have given the 41-year-old a new four-year deal.

Edwards is seen as the “perfect ambassador” for the club by chief executive Gary Sweet and, unlike at rivals Watford in 2022-23, the Welshman is likely to be given time even if they start this campaign slowly.

How’s the squad looking? Luton did not spend big last summer after promotion but did make some canny additions at good prices and they will look to them, plus the players integral to promotion in 2022-23, to help them challenge.

Former England midfielder Ross Barkley rejuvenated his career with the club after arriving on a free and he has moved on to Aston Villa for £5m.

The only notable arrival so far this summer has been ex-Brentford midfielder Shandon Baptiste as Edwards looks to go forward with a squad fairly similar to the one that got them promoted 15 months ago.

BBC 3CR Luton Town commentator Simon Oxley

Losing player of the season Ross Barkley was not a surprise, and fellow midfielder Sambi Lokonga was only on loan from Arsenal, so those departures were expected.

Much will depend on how many of those who, despite relegation, made a name for themselves last season stay at Kenilworth Road. The likes of Teden Mengi, Alfie Doughty, Tahith Chong and Elijah Adebayo have all been linked with moves elsewhere.

Boosted by the Premier League revenue there is no pressure to sell, and many fans will expect some spending.

A number of players are also yet to resume training following injuries which kept them out for lengthy spells last season. If everyone stays, and others get fit, they will have a squad more than capable of challenging for an immediate return.

That will turn the focus onto manager Edwards whose leadership impressed so many in the top flight. He knows the pressure will be on to get back there, despite Luton in many ways still punching above their weight.

What happened? The Clarets swept beside all before them in Vincent Kompany’s first season in charge as they stormed to the Championship title playing attractive, passing football.

The Belgian was keen to stick to his principles initially but that yielded just four points from their first 13 matches.

They hammered Sheffield United 5-0 at Turf Moor on 2 December for their first home win of the season but that was pretty much the only bright spot of the campaign.

A run of just one defeat in eight matches through March and April showed they could compete but they only won two of those games and relegation was confirmed on 11 May when they blew a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 at Tottenham.

Of their five league wins all season, three were against their fellow relegated sides.

Who’s in charge? Relegation clearly did not dent Kompany’s reputation all that much as he was appointed boss of German giants Bayern Munich.

A lengthy recruitment process led them to former Fulham and Bournemouth boss Scott Parker.

Parker led both of his previous English sides to promotion to the Premier League and the Clarets board, featuring former NFL player JJ Watt, will hope he can now make it three from three.

How’s the squad looking? As with Luton there have been few major departures.

Goalkeeper Arijanet Muric wrestled the number one spot off England Under-21 international James Trafford by the end of the season but he has left for newly promoted Ipswich, with Vaclav Hladky making the opposite journey.

The Clarets spent a lot of money last summer and it will be down to many of the players recruited in the summer of 2023, including reported Manchester United target Sander Berge, to step up this time around.

Veteran striker Jay Rodriguez has signed on for another year and so has Iceland midfielder Johann Berg Gudmundsson after initially being released at the end of the season.

Former Burnley winger and Clarets summariser for BBC Radio Lancashire Glen Little

Following their relegation last season, I strongly fancied Burnley to bounce straight back to the Premier League and I am not going to change my mind now.

Upon their return to the Championship, I thought they would be favourites to win the league, but that isn’t the case as Leeds are fancied to take top spot.

However, with a new manager in Scott Parker and some new signings, I’m sticking with Burnley.

So far the squad is pretty much the same with only Arijanet Muric and Charlie Taylor leaving and my only slight worry would be the centre-forward position.

Last time Burnley won the league, Nathan Tella was top scorer and I am unsure who’s going to replace those goals.

The squad is very strong, though, and you would be disappointed if it is not far too good for the Championship.

What happened? Three wins all season and a Premier League-record 104 goals conceded added up to an incredibly miserable campaign for the Blades.

They lost nine of their first 10 matches, including being stuffed 8-0 at home by Newcastle, and the 5-0 hammering at Burnley saw Paul Heckingbottom sacked and Chris Wilder return.

He led them to a home win over Brentford in his second game back but that was about as good as things got.

At one point they lost successive home games 5-0, 5-0 and 6-0 to Brighton, Aston Villa and Arsenal respectively and they ended the season with seven straight losses.

Who’s in charge? Wilder remains in the dug-out but it’s probably more about who is above him.

The Blades’ promotion under Heckingbottom was a minor miracle given the uncertainty at boardroom level and a takeover remains uncomplete, much to the annoyance of fans.

That lack of stability behind the scenes means they will start this season on minus two points after defaulting on payments to other clubs during the 2022-23 season.

Wilder has led his boyhood team to promotion to the Premier League before and, despite their problems, he’ll back himself to have them in the shake up at the top once again.

How’s the squad looking? It’s been a summer of change at Bramall Lane with defensive stalwarts Chris Basham and John Egan both leaving.

Elsewhere, striker Oli McBurnie has gone to Las Palmas, goalkeeper Wes Foderingham has joined West Ham, midfielder Ben Osborn has joined Derby and full-back Max Lowe is unlikely to get a great reception after joining cross-city rivals Sheffield Wednesday.

The biggest arrival in terms of fee is highly rated Peterborough defender Harrison Burrows, but the Blades have made some shrewd moves in the free transfer market.

Former Coventry pair Sam McCallum and Callum O’Hare have good pedigree at this level, as does ex-Leeds utility man Jamie Shackleton, while striker Kieffer Moore arrives after helping Ipswich win promotion last season and just about guarantees goals in the Championship.

Defenders Harry Souttar and Alfie Gilchrist joined on season-long loans from Leicester and Chelsea respectively this week.

BBC Radio Sheffield commentator Andy Giddings

Patience is vital for Sheffield United. The revamp is significant after their Premier League relegation and the protracted, proposed takeover of the club has led to transfer delays.

Even if the takeover happens in time in this transfer window, and the signs of that are said to be positive, it’s seemingly inevitable that Wilder’s squad will be under strength at the start of the season.

It’s also easy to think the January window will be just as significant as the current one, if not more so.

This then isn’t the ideal summer build up to a campaign where promotion will and should be the aim. More positively, Wilder has the know-how with four previous promotions on his CV – two with the Blades – and the squad already has several promotion winners in it, plus there are some great emerging young stars, first among them midfielder Oli Arblaster who looks a top talent.

There’s no reason to be dismissive of promotion talk with Sheffield United but it may be a season they have to grow into.