Middlesbrough started the trend in the first season of the Premiership by being relegated just 12 months after winning promotion, and at least one side have followed suit in each subsequent season.

That is the sobering fact for all City fans celebrating their side's success in winning the race for automatic promotion in a campaign which will never be forgotten in and around Bradford.

In fact, it seems to be commonly accepted (not least by the Huddersfield fans I have spoken to since City so gloriously won promotion) that, despite Bradford still celebrating a momentous achievement, the Bantams will be following Barnsley, Nottingham Forest, Swindon et al by being relegated at the first attempt.

It seems to be accepted by those who are supposedly in the know that Sunderland will adapt to life in the top flight while City and whoever triumphs at Wembley will be coming down.

The seasons which have followed the advent of the Premiership certainly suggest it will be a real battle for City in the 1999/2000 campaign.

At least one side has been relegated in each season just 12 months after winning promotion. The worst case of this came last season when all three of the promoted sides from the previous season - Bolton, Barnsley and Crystal Palace - went down.

However, if City do need any encouragement then they should look closely at the progress made by both Leicester and Derby in recent years.

Both these clubs were promoted in the 1995-96 season and, like champions Sunderland, were expected to be relegated at the first attempt.

The Wearsiders were relegated but Derby and Leicester achieved comfortable mid-table berths. Both are similar in size (or maybe even smaller in Derby's case) to Bradford, so why should the Bantams not emulate these two clubs by surviving in their first season before going on to establish themselves as a Premiership outfit?

City have found themselves in this scenario before, albeit in the First Division. After winning promotion via the play-offs, Chris Kamara's side were expected to struggle to establish themselves at a higher level.

A case of what chairman Geoffrey Richmond memorably described as 'financial indigestion' at the club meant City had to scratch around in the bargain basement for players but still managed to pull through and escape the drop.

Finance should not be a problem this summer so let's hope that City can go on and enjoy a fine season while proving all the pessimists wrong.

The teams that have been promoted since 91-92 and how they fared the following season:

1991-92 Ipswich (16th), Middlesbrough (RELEGATED), Blackburn (3rd)

1992-93 Newcastle (3rd), West Ham (13th), Swindon (RELEGATED)

1993-94 Crystal Palace (RELEGATED), Nottingham Forest (3rd), Leicester (RELEGATED)

1994-95 Middlesbrough (12th), Bolton (RELEGATED)

1995-96 Sunderland (RELEGATED), Derby (12th), Leicester (9th)

1996-97 Bolton (RELEGATED), Barnsley (RELEGATED), Crystal Palace (RELEGATED)

1997-98 Nottingham Forest (RELEGATED), Middlesbrough, Charlton

Richard Sutcliffe

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.