A yo-yo club is a sporting side that is regularly promoted and relegated. The phrase is most typically used in association football in the United Kingdom, especially in reference to promotion to and relegation from the Premier League.
The name is derived from the toy yo-yo which goes up and down a string. In Germany the equivalent term is Fahrstuhlmannschaft and in Spain equipo ascensor, both literally meaning "lift team" or "elevator team". In the Netherlands the term is heen-en-weer club (to-and-fro club).
In England the phrase has been used to describe, among others, Birmingham City, Leicester City, Crystal Palace, Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Nottingham Forest and West Bromwich Albion.
West Brom have been the archetypal yo-yo club throughout the first decade of the twenty-first century, during which time they have been promoted four times and relegated three times. This is seen by many to be a direct result of the policies espoused by the club's chairman Jeremy Peace, who has refused to allow the club to spend beyond its means and has insisted on sound financial management. This has tended to leave the club at a disadvantage in the Premier League, when other similarly-sized clubs have tended to spend beyond their means, but strongly placed in Second Division (The Championship) due to the parachute payments received on relegation from the Premier League.
Read more about Yo-yo Club: Germany, Ghana, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Turkey, Argentina, Brazil
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