A new theory that has been popping up among football fans is that Brentford, Brighton, and Bournemouth are the Premier League’s “Bermuda Triangle”.
The theory is that these three south-adjacent coastal English teams are a big threat to the big teams in the Premier League. Just as it is believed that ships and airplanes vanish in the Bermuda Triangle, points of the big teams drop just like that when they face these three.
The meme has surfaced after Brentford defeated Chelsea 3–0 and Brighton beat Arsenal 3–0 in the Premier League matches on 18th September and 19th September, respectively. Brentford was also able to hammer the Spurs 3-0 on 22nd August.
Bournemouth has also quite established themselves as a promising team; last season, they finished 6th in the points table and qualified for the UEFA Europa League, though they lost to Liverpool 1-0 on 20th September; they still gave a good performance.
In the Premier League, out of five matches, Brentford was able to secure a win in two matches, and the other three were draws; they are currently in 4th position in the Premier League.
Brighton won three out of five matches, and of the remaining two, one was a draw, and they lost one against Chelsea by a narrow margin of 3-4; they are currently in 3rd position.
Bournemouth has not yet secured a win; out of the five matches, they have lost two matches, and the remaining matches were draws. They are still hopeful of a win, as they have managed to drop some points from other clubs. At present, they are in 17th position.
Since the 2022-23 season, the three clubs have caused a significant drop in points for the Big 6(Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur).
Brighton took 69 points from the Big 6, Brentford 49 points and Bournemouth 46 points. None of these three clubs possess the massive transfer budgets or elite possession of players of the traditional “Big Six,” yet they consistently give them quite a scare. Though these three B’s have not won a Premier League title, they still play a major role in deciding the title champion.
Fans all over the internet have been discussing this trend of the three teams calling them the cartel, the three B’s, the Bermuda Triangle, etc. It is also because of how they defeat the big teams and distribute those points to other smaller teams.
Fans have been in particular support of these teams, no matter how small their team budget is, but they manage to fight with resilience against the superior teams, this what makes them popular as well as well respected.
The success of these teams is because of their strategic and smart player signings. They do not sign the best, most expensive players out there due to their limited budget and focus on players who have potential and have room for improvement. Ahead of the 2025/26 season, the three clubs earned a combined £485m from player sales.
While some clubs find it hard to digest when they lose their best player to other teams, these clubs do not view it as a crisis; instead, they reinvent, develop and reinvest in young talents. They have also invested a good amount in their training facilities.
Their ability to anticipate changes and adapt to them is their defining feature, as they not only recruit for the team they have, but also for the team they will have.
For them, recruitment becomes culture. Bournemouth owner Bill Foley completed his takeover in 2022, with his multi-club model designed to create connections between recruitment networks and player development.
This methodology is very much in contrast to how the big clubs recruit their players. They do not sign young, unknown players, as they have the assets to afford experienced, talented players who can give them a quick impact.
Premier League fans are excited to see how much the model of these clubs is going to succeed and how the Big 6 is going to succeed against these teams and prevent their points from dropping.
Right after the three-week international break, all three teams have their matches on 10th October. Brentford will be facing Aston Villa, Bournemouth will face Chelsea, and Brighton will face Sunderland.
