England Portsmouth, Burnley and Hull City are confirmed as going down in the Premier League, but on the rise are two clubs who experienced the drop last term, Newcastle and West Bromwich.
Kevin Nolan and Andy Carroll were prolific for Newcastle taking them to an instant return to England’s top flight as well as the Championship title.
Battling it out for the third promotion spot will be several interesting candidates including Nottingham Forest, Cardiff City, Leicester City and Blackpool via the playoffs.
Spain While no club is officially down in La Liga just yet, Xerez look gone but the other spots are still quite open.
And with seven games still to play in the Segunda Division, there’s plenty of possible permutations but leaders Real Sociedad look a safe bet for promotion.
Levante and Cartagena (who are only 15 years old) currently occupy second and third spots respectively in the division, while Real Betis’ bid for an instant return has stuttered of late and they are slipping out of the race.
Italy Siena and Livorno have been relegated from Serie A, while Atalanta need a miracle to survive. With four games to play in Serie B, leaders Lecce look certain to come up.
Daniele Corvia has scored plenty this term for Lecce, while his partner in crime up front, Guido Marilungo, has hit a baker’s dozen but is on loan from Sampdoria and may not be there next season.
Behind Lecce, there’s a pack of willing clubs with the standouts probably Brescia and Cesena although Cittadella have put together a good recent run of form, while Torino aren’t far away.
Germany The weekend saw capital club Hertha BSC officially relegated, while there’s problems for woefully out-of-form pair FC Nurnberg and VfL Bochum. One, though, should face a playoff for survival.
In that playoff, they won’t face either Kaiserslautern or St Pauli who have both won automatic promotion to the Bundesliga. For former German champions Kaiserslautern it is a big return having been down since 2006.
Surprise packets Augsburg will be the side in the promotion/relegation playoff, with their weapon 2.Liga topscorer Michael Thurk.
France Le Mans, Boulogne and Grenoble appear to be heading down, while on the way up are Caen and Brest (who haven’t been in the top flight in almost 20 years), with the third spot not yet officially decided although Arles currently lead the race.
Netherlands The Dutch relegation/promotion system can be confusing but RKC Waalwijk are officially down to be replaced by Eerste Divisie champions De Graafschap. Battling it out in the playoffs will be Sparta Rotterdam and Willem II, while the promotion hopefuls include Cambuur and Excelsior.
Portugal Leixoes and Belenenses drop out and will likely be replaced by Beira Mar and Portimonense.
