Brentford, Brighton, Bournemouth - how the PL's 'Bermuda Triangle' defies odds — SkimNews
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Brighton, Brentford, and Bournemouth have avoided relegation since their respective Premier League returns, with Bournemouth finishing sixth last season and qualifying for the Europa League.
- Brighton lead all Premier League clubs in points taken from the 'Big 6' since 2022/23, with only Aston Villa, Newcastle, and Nottingham Forest — all with greater spending power — outperforming Brentford and Bournemouth against the elite.
- The three clubs generated a combined £485m in player sales ahead of the 2025/26 season, reinvesting proceeds into squads and training facilities, then finished sixth, eighth, and ninth.
- Bournemouth had already identified 20-year-old winger Raya from Vasco da Gama as Antoine Semenyo's replacement before Semenyo's January move to Manchester City became the club's record sale.
- Brentford promoted set-piece coach Keith Andrews to manager after he worked under Thomas Frank for 12 months, continuing the succession approach the club also used when Frank replaced Dean Smith in 2018.
- Marco Rose was appointed as Andoni Iraola's Bournemouth successor in April, before the season had finished, after Iraola told the club well in advance he would leave when his contract expired.
Why it matters: The three Bs' combined £485m in player sales funded squad and training-facility investments that delivered finishes of sixth, eighth, and ninth in 2025/26. Their results demonstrate that a development-first, succession-planning model can sustainably compete with the Big 6's financial advantage — and the Big 6's preference for ready-made signings over unproven youth creates the structural gap these clubs exploit.
Ask SkimNews
