No Easy Ride For Promoted Sides At Old Trafford

Brighton and Hove Albion's visit to Old Trafford on Saturday marks Manchester United's 76th home Premier League fixture against a newly-promoted side.

The Reds currently hold a record of 59 wins and 11 draws against Premier League new boys, here, ManUtd.com takes a look at some of the teams to have made the daunting trip to the Theatre of Dreams as newly-promoted sides...

Promotion specialists
In the 26 Premier League seasons, five clubs have won promotion on four separate occasions – three of which are in the top-flight this season. Crystal Palace's second spell in the Premier League (following relegation in 1993 and promotion back in 1994) saw United use three substitutes in a match for the first time in 1994/95 and emerge 3-0 winners, while Leicester City earnt a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford the same year. West Brom, appearing in the Premier League for their fourth spell in 2010/11, held the Reds to a 2-2 draw after United had been 2-0 up at half-time courtesy of goals from Javier Hernandez and Nani. The other two clubs, Middlesbrough and Sunderland, both dropped into the Championship at the culmination of 2016/17.

Single trips to Old Trafford
Four clubs have spent a single season in the Premier League, all of which left M16 empty-handed. United showed Barnsley no mercy in 1997 - their first trip to Old Trafford in 59 years - as a first-half hat-trick from Andy Cole helped the Reds record a 7-0 demolition. Meanwhile, Swindon Town - who now sit in the fourth tier of English football - suffered a 4-2 defeat in 1993. Blackpool were on the end of the same result in 2011, as goals from Ji-sung Park, Anderson, Michael Owen and an Ian Evatt own-goal relegated the Tangerines and ensured we became champions. Cardiff City completed the set in 2014, when they were beaten 2-0 by a United side featuring Juan Mata on his debut.

Unbeaten runs 
It goes without saying that when newly-promoted teams come to the Theatre of Dreams, it's going to be one of their toughest games of the season. This is illustrated by the fact that between 2002 and 2015, 41 promoted clubs came to fortress Old Trafford and failed to come away with victory. Some stand-out results from that period include a 5-2 win over Crystal Palace in 2004, and a 5-0 win over Stoke City in 2008 which saw Cristiano Ronaldo bag his 100th goal in red. However, the run was eventually brought to an end in 2015 when Norwich City secured a hard-fought 2-1 win, their first win in M16 in 26 years. 

Returning faces
Several ex-Reds have returned to Old Trafford having earnt promotions as managers. Former United skipper Steve Bruce brought Birmingham City and Hull City to his old stomping ground after winning promotion, but unfortunately for him, both matches ended in wins for the hosts. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer also returned to the Theatre of Dreams as manager of Cardiff City in the aforementioned game in 2014, and most recently, Sir Alex Ferguson’s assistant manager, Mike Phelan, took his place in the dugout with newly promoted Hull and held Jose Mourinho’s side to a 0-0 draw last season. However, there has been some success for returning ex-Reds, as Bryan Robson oversaw a memorable 3-2 win for Middlesbrough in 1998.

The history speaks for itself
Since the Premier League began, there have been just five occasions when newly-promoted sides emerged as victors at Old Trafford, confirming what a difficult place it is to come. East Midlands clubs Nottingham Forest and Derby County both beat United at home in 1994 and 1997 respectively, while with Robson at the helm, Boro claimed the aforementioned 3-2 win in 1998. Bolton Wanderers also punched above their weight to earn a 2-1 win in 2001, and most recently, of course, the Canaries' battled to a 2-1 victory in 2015.