Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Wolves may not have been ‘first on Match of the Day’ material, but it did ensure we’d be kicking off in August as a Premier League club.
In the summer, survival was the main aim, with anything more being a bonus. With 35 games played, we haven’t been lower than 13th at any point, and we’ve spent a lot of that time in and around the top half. This campaign has blown many expectations out of the water, with fears last summer perhaps being that we’d be making a swift return to the Championship.
Fast forward to May 2026, and we’ve got the job done with three games to spare, we’re one point from the top half and four points off the top six. The job done by everyone on and off the pitch at this club over recent years has been phenomenal, and we’ve ticked off possibly one of the hardest things to do in modern football – get to the Premier League and stay there.
There have been some rough days this season, but anyone who was shocked by these either didn’t follow us in League One or came into this season at the height of naivety. Even after a brilliant start, we knew that we’d get some bad days at the office; in fairness, even the most optimistic of fans would have thought we’d have many more throughout the season than we have.
The 3-0 losses away at the two best teams in the league almost feel standard, while only the 5-0 drubbing at home to Nottingham Forest was the real ‘what the hell has happened there?’ result this season. We’ve put in very good displays in a lot of games this season and, most importantly, rarely looked out of our depth.
Expectations have risen during the season, which is inevitable after a strong start. This seems to have been a hindrance, with each dropped point being met with a full-blown autopsy on social media. It’s possible to say we’ve had a fantastic season (we have) and also say that some performances haven’t been great (this is also true).
These things happen, and this urge to blow every disappointing result out of all proportion and start questioning the attitude and ability of Regis Le Bris and some of the players has been draining at times this year. The time to take stock and look ahead to next season will come, but that time isn’t now.
We’ve got 47 points from 35 games, our joint third highest ever Premier League points total, with a top half finish and 50 points firmly in our own hands. This group has given us some superb memories this season and have battled to make sure it’ll be one to remember. While there is plenty to improve on, of course, there is, we’re a team back in the top flight for the first time in nearly a decade, just enjoy it.
Getting bogged down in the semantics of things and looking ahead and fretting over what might happen between now and the start of the next season won’t do anybody any good.
SAFC is in a great place right now, and this may not last forever, so let’s just enjoy the ride of a club that has set itself up to look up rather than down right now.
