Top 10 Relegated Teams

jonjoward1998
Jan 6
7 min read

Getting relegated is never a nice feeling for any player because they're no longer a Premier League player when it happens and it's what every team is desperate to avoid.

When any team gets relegated, you immediately think that they've been terrible because they've gone down and haven't been good enough over the course of a season.

But there have been over the years a number of teams who have been relegated but have had good players on paper and when you look that those teams, you begin to ask yourself; How on earth did they get relegated with those players?

It just proves that no team is too good to go down no matter how many good players a team has or how good that team is on their day.

The teams on the list all had very good players on paper and were on their day good teams. But they all ended up relegated despite the personnel they had.

Now here is the list:

Newcastle - 2008/09

West Ham - 2002/03

Birmingham - 2010/11

Bournemouth - 2019/20

Watford - 2019/20

Burnley - 2021/22

Leicester - 2022/23

Wigan - 2012/13

Blackburn - 1998/99

Leeds - 2003/04

Burnley - 2021/22

This Burnley team had established themselves as a Premier League side in the seasons prior to their relegation in 2022 which was their sixth straight season and during their six year spell, they finished in midtable twice and even qualified for Europe in the 2017/18 season.

But by the time they got relegated, it felt like it was coming as they finished 17th the season before and the team were ageing and brought in very few players during the transfer window.

I still think they could've stayed up though as they had good enough players like Nick Pope, James Tarkowski, Ben Mee, Dwight McNeil and Chris Wood, who left for Newcastle half way through the season.

Sean Dyche was sacked with a chunk of the season still left to play which was a suprise as he was arguably the best man to keep them up after doing so in the previous seasons.

Caretaker Mike Jackson did give them hope during his short spell in charge, but the Clarets went down by finishing 18th with 35 points, three points behind 17th placed Leeds.

Wigan - 2012/13

This Wigan team won the FA Cup under Roberto Martinez and I think they focused more on winning the FA Cup than they did on preserving their Premier League status.

Their relegation however was coming as they spent the previous two seasons fighting to avoid relegation only to be saved by a great escape on both occasions.

But it wasn't to be third time lucky for the Latics in 2013 as they went down with a game to spare off the back of winning the FA Cup where they beat Man City in the final.

They did lose key players on their way to relegation like Charles N'Zogbia and Hugo Rodallega, who had left for Fulham hat very season.

But there were still some good players in their squad like Arouna Kone, James McCarthy, Ali Al Habsi and Callum McManaman.

Bournemouth - 2019/20

Bournemouth had established themselves as a Premier League side in the seasons prior to their relegation in 2020 under the brilliant management of Eddie Howe.

The majority of their squad were with them in League 1 several years prior and they went on such a journey which came to an end in 2020.

A lot of their players did become Premier League players during their spell in the top flight including Callum Wilson and Ryan Fraser who were arguably the main two who had developed into the Premier League players.

They actually started the seasons quite well as they were in and around the top 10 during the autumn. But poor form around and after Christmas saw them drop down the table and later relegated.

Their relegation was arguably coming as they were slowly declining and conceded over 60 goals in each of their five seasons in the Premier League.

It's remarkable that they stayed in the Premier League as long as they did with the squad they had.

Birmingham - 2010/11

This Birmingham team won the League Cup when they beat Arsenal in the final after which their season tailed off as they either celebrated their League Cup too much or simply just switched off for the rest of the season.

They were 14th prior to their League Cup but won just two of their following 12 games after that and finished 18th and just a point from safety.

They finished 9th the season before in their first season back in the Premier League and this season was one where they became a victim of the second season syndrome despite winning the League Cup.

They definitely had enough good players to stay in the league as they had the likes of Ben Foster, who was brilliant during his season long loan from Man United, Sebastian Larsson, a brilliant passer of the ball and set piece specialist, Craig Gardner, big Nikola Zigic up top and the veteran Kevin Phillips.

Watford - 2019/20

Watford had established themselves as a Premier League team in the seasons prior to their relegation in 2020 as they finished midtable in all but one of their five seasons during this particular spell despite their chopping and changing of manager.

But in 2020, they were a mess as they went through three different permanent managers in Javi Gracia, ex-boss Quique Sanchez Flores and Nigel Pearson.

Gracia was sacked just four games into the season following a poor start which was surprising not just because it was early in the season, but because of the job he did the season before in guiding the Hornets to their highest league finish and an FA Cup final.

Flores came back for a second spell only to last just over three months in charge during which he won just once before he was replaced by Pearson, who saw an up turn in form as he he guided them off the bottom and out of the bottom three before he too was sacked with just two games of the season to spare.

Despite the mess they were in behind the scenes, there was still more than enough quality in this Watford team to stay up as they had the likes of Ben Foster in goal, two midfield powerhouses in Abdoulaye Doucoure and Etienne Capoue, the exciting Gerard Deulofeu and captain Troy Deeney up top.

Leeds - 2003/04

Leeds' relegation in 2004 came as a surprise to a lot of people as it was only a few years before where they were in a Champions League semi final.

Soon began their plight down the Football League as financial problems led to them being forced to sell some of their key players including Rio Ferdinand and Robbie Keane in the seasons prior to their relegation.

But there was still enough quality in their squad to finish a lot higher than they did in 2004 with the likes of Mark Viduka, Ian Harte, Paul Robinson and David Batty in their ranks as well as young talents like Aaron Lennon and James Milner.

They finished 19th during their relegation season before dropping into League 1 a few seasons later after entering administration.

It took them 16 years to get back to the Premier League when Marcelo Bielsa ended their exile from the top flight in 2020.

Newcastle - 2008/09

Newcastle's first relegation season was a mess behind the scenes and marked the start of an era of toxicity under owner Mike Ashley.

Kevin Keegan was sacked early in the season due to disagreements with the board and was later replaced by Joe Kinnear who only lasted five months in charge mostly due to poor results.

Alan Shearer was drafted in to save their season with just a handful of games of the season left to play but he wasn't able to as he won just one of his eight games in charge and the Magpies were relegated.

There was enough good players in the Magpies' squad as they had the likes of Damien Duff, Kevin Nolan, Michael Owen, Obafemi Martins and Nicky Butt, who were all proven and quality Premier League players.

They had a more than good enough team to stay in the league and had the board made better decisions behind the scenes and run the club better, they might've stayed up because it was their decisions behind the scenes that played a part in the Magpies going down.

Blackburn - 1998/99

Blackburn were Premier League champions only four seasons prior to their relegation in 1999 and a few members of that title winning squad were still around in Chris Sutton, Jason Wilcox, Tim Flowers , Kevin Gallacher and Tim Sherwood, before he departed to Spurs midway through the season.

Their team also included the likes of Kevin Davies, Stephane Henchoz and young prospects David Dunn and Damien Duff.

They finished 6th the season before with Sutton scoring 18 times to win a share of the golden boot but in their relegation season, the goals massively dried up as Sutton scored just 3 times and the team netted the third lowest in the league with 38.

They finished 19th during their relegation season and given that they had a few players from their title winning season still around, they should've finished a lot higher.

West Ham - 2002/03

This West Ham side had many talented players in their squad yet somehow they still got relegated.

Joe Cole, Michael Carrick, Paolo Di Canio, Jermain Defoe and Trevor Sinclair were among the players in their ranks and when you look at that list of players, you ask yourself how they got relegated with that group of players.

They picked up 42 points that season which these days is more than enough to stay in the league and is the record number of points for a relegated team.

It's honestly a mystery that they went down with such a talented squad of players and with the amount of points they amassed.

Leicester - 2022/23

This Leicester team had to be my no.1 because they should not have got relegated with the quality of players they had.

James Maddison, Harvey Barnes, Youri Tielemans, Jamie Vardy and Jonny Evans were among the talented players they had in their squad and when you see that list of names, you just ask yourself how on earth did they get relegated that season.

They won the FA Cup two seasons prior and had established themselves as the biggest threat to the so-called big six by finishing 5th in back-to-back seasons in 2019/20 and 2020/21.

But the writing was on the wall in the summer as they lost captain Kasper Schmeichel who was a massive miss between the sticks and they brought in very few players.

They were an ageing squad at the time, but they still should've stayed up with the quality of players they had.

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