Top 10 One Season Wonders

jonjoward1998
4 days ago
6 min read

The definition of a one season wonder is pretty straightforward. It's a player who has just the one good season.

The Premier League has had many of them over the years and they're well remembered purely based on what they did during that one good season they had.

It is a shame that they delivered for just the one season because we would've liked to have seen them doing it in the seasons that followed after showing a good a player they were during that one season.

There are a number of reasons why they one only delivered for just the one season including injuries, their team maybe over relying on them and opponents maybe working out how to play against them.

The player maybe down tooling is another factor and there are a number of them who have after their one good season with their team not performing as well being one of the likely reasons.

The players in the list are a mixture of the factors as to why they delivered for just the one season.

Now here is the list:

Michu - 2012/13

Kalvin Phillips - 2020/21

Fabrizio Ravanelli - 1996/97

Charlie Austin - 2014/15

Dimitri Payet - 2015/16

Danny Drinkwater - 2015/16

Patrick Bamford - 2020/21

Aleksandar Mitrovic - 2022/23

Odion Ighalo - 2015/16

Roque Santa Cruz - 2007/08

Fabrizio Ravanelli

Ravanelli's one good season came in his one and only season at Middlesbrough where he scored 16 goals.

His Boro career got off to the perfect start as he netted a hat trick on his Premier League debut against Liverpool and in doing so became the first and only player to score a hat trick on their Premier League debut.

He was absolutely adored by the Boro fans during that season because of the goals he scored which unfortunately weren't enough to save Boro from relegation that season.

He later returned to the Premier League with Derby in 2001, but he wasn't as effective as he was at Boro as he scored just 9 goals and Derby were relegated.

Charlie Austin

Austin's one good season came when he was at QPR where he scored 18 goals and like Ravanelli, his goals weren't enough to save QPR from relegation.

He was the only player in that QPR side who came out of it with any credit because of the goals he scored and I remeber him even earning himself an England call up at the end of that season.

He later returned to the Premier League when he joined Southampton the season after QPR's relegation and he spent three and a half seasons there.

He did have one or two good patches of form when he was at Southampton, but he never replicated what he did at QPR because of injuries.

Odion Ighalo

Ighalo's one good season came with Watford the season after they won promotion in 2015 and he scored 15 times during that season as the Hornets finished 13th.

He formed an effective partnership with Troy Deeney that season which caused teams a number of problems with their link up play, Deeney's aerial ability and Igahlo's ability to run in behind.

The partnership he had with Deeney and the goals he scored were key to Watford finishing mid-table and staying out of a relegation battle that season.

He left Watford the following season for the Chinese Super League before returning to the Premier League with Man United a few seasons later as an emergency signing due to the injuries United had at the time.

He failed to score in the Premier League during his brief spell at United for whom he made just 12 appearances.

Patrick Bamford

Bamford's one good season came in Leeds's first season back in the Premier League for 16 years where he scored 17 goals as Leeds finished 9th.

He had his doubters heading into that season following some tough loan spells at Premier League clubs in the seasons before, but he went on and silenced them by scoring the goals he scored and becoming one of Leeds's most important players.

He wasn't able to replicate that form in the following seasons due to injuries and lack of fitness as he netted a combined total of 6 goals across the following two seasons before Leeds were relegated in 2023.

Aleksandar Mitrovic

Mitrovic for a while was one of those players who was considered to be too good for the Championship but unable to deliver in the Premier League.

He had a poor spell at Newcastle which didn't work out before two tough separate seasons at Fulham which lead in them being relegated.

But he finally proved himself at the third time of asking with Fulham as he scored 15 times in their first season back where they finished 10th.

He left Fulham for the Saudi Pro League the following season which I was disappointed with as I would've liked him to further prove himself as a Premier League striker.

Roque Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz's one good season was his debut season at Blackburn where he scored 19 goals as Rovers finished 7th.

He proved himself to be an all-round striker during that season with Rovers as he was good in the air, could score a variety of goals, could link up play and was skilful and agile.

But he wasn't able to replicate the form he showed during that season in his second season as he found the net just 4 times.

But he somehow still got himself a move to Man City which didn't work out as spent most of his time there on the bench.

Danny Drinkwater

Drinkwater was an integral of the Leicester side that defied the odds to win the Premier League in 2016 with that season being by far his only good season in the Premier League.

He formed a strong partnership with N'Golo Kante during that season which played a key role in the Foxes winning the title through Kante's endless energy and Drinkwater's ability to create from deep.

He played those balls over the top to Jamie Vardy many times throughout that season and it became key to how the Foxes played.

His career went downhill from that season onwards as he found himself out of favour at Chelsea, who he joined a couple seasons after winning the title at Leicester, before having some poor loan spells afterwards.

Kalvin Phillips

Phillips' one good season came during Leeds's first season back in the Premier League after a 16 year absence where he was an integral part of how they played that season under Marcelo Bielsa.

He was at the heart of everything that Leeds team did by dictating the flow of the game in midfield and acting almost as a quarter back by spraying passes everywhere.

He was key to how Leeds played under Bielsa and they weren't the same team without him as they missed his ability to dictate play when he wasn't in the team.

His form throughout that season made him an England regular and he went on to star for the national team at Euro 2020 on their way to reaching the final.

His career has gone downhill since that season due to injuries and lack of game time at Man City before having two poor loan spells at West ham and Ipswich.

Michu

I don't think anyone had heard of Michu when he joined Swansea for a bargain of just £2 million from Rayo Vallecano.

Well he certainly made himself known the moment the moment he arrived as he got off to a flying start before going on to score 18 league goals in his debut season as Swansea finished 9th.

That season was unfortunately the only one he delivered in during his short spell at Swansea as his second season was disrupted by injuries and his place in the team being taken by Wilfried Bony.

Dimitri Payet

Payet just had to be my no.1 because he was incredible during that first season he had at West Ham.

He was a player who was skilful, agile, could do anything with the ball at his feet and could come up with a moment of quality whenever his team needed it.

He scored some incredible goals from both open play and set pieces during his first season at West Ham and took them onto another level with his brilliance and quality.

His second season unfortunately wasn't anyway near as good as he couldn't rediscover the form he showed in his first season and ended up forcing his way out of the club.

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