Most clubs have endured seasons to forget, campaigns that start off badly then continue to slide into calamity and chaos.
These dishonourable years are typically hidden from sight and never openly talked about again. A skeleton in the closet.
Lowest Points In A Single Premier League Season:
-
Derby County (2007/07) – 11 points
-
Sunderland (2005/06) – 15 points
-
Sheffield United (2023/24) – 16 points
-
Huddersfield Town (2018/19) – 16 points
-
Aston Villa (2015/16) – 17 points
-
Sunderland (2002/03) – 19 points
In rare circumstances however a club is not afforded the luxury of forgetting, of pretending it all never happened.
History books get involved. Records are broken. So bad was their season that these unfortunate clubs are forever destined to be associated with the very worst versions of themselves.
Such is the way with these five famous institutions, clubs who have won silverware and boast proud histories but who also have to own the fact that once upon a time they suffered a public and humiliating collapse in the Premier League.
Not to put too fine a point on it, boy did they stink the place up.
Sunderland (2002/03) – 19 points
Anyone who has seen the Netflix documentary Sunderland ‘Til I Die, that ran for three seasons, will know that when things go awry on Wearside it tends to go horribly, terribly pear-shaped.
This is not a club that believes in half-measures.
Which brings us to January 2003, with the Mackems third from bottom but still within reach of safety.
There was after all 16 games remaining and under Howard Wilkinson – Sunderland’s second manager of the campaign, after Peter Reid was jettisoned that autumn – buds of recovery were in evidence. A draw here. A home win over Liverpool there.
It had been a traumatising few months for sure, but now the football odds were in their favour with worst teams around them.
Only then the Wearsiders proceeded to lose every one of those 16 games, scoring only five times into the bargain. That’s a goal every 288 minutes from January 18th to May 11th.
Mick McCarthy came in towards the end but the rot was already set and their fate sealed.
Aston Villa (2015/16) – 17 points
They say it’s darkest just before the dawn and that rings true when Villa are viewed through a decade-long prism.
In 2014/15, the Villans just about escaped the drop, back-to-back wins at home in May keeping them up by a whisker.
Even so, it was clear there were some serious systemic issues at Villa Park, with poor recruitment resulting in a misfiring forward line and a porous defence.
Additionally, Tim Sherwood was in charge and when he is the answer, you have to wonder just how much time has been spent pondering the question.
And so, somewhat inevitably Villa tumbled the following season, and quite spectacularly so, burning their way through four managers – two of whom were caretakers – and managing just three victories all campaign.
A single point accrued from early February on suggests the entire squad had one eye on the exit door that summer.
Yet just look at them now. Playing Champions League football under one of the most respected coaches in Europe. Let’s hope the fans are enjoying every minute of this dawn because it’s thoroughly deserved.
Huddersfield Town (2018/19) – 16 points
Having come up in 2017, the Terriers confounded the Premier League odds by keeping their place at the top table for a second year.
It was widely expected they would enjoy a singular season in the sun, one that saw them valiant and brave, but ultimately outclassed.
As it was, Huddersfield finished 16th, two spots above the drop-zone.
A revisiting of that table however reveals that the Yorkshire side got lucky, certainly as regards to having four teams beneath them really struggle. None of the bottom three managed to muster 34 points, a rarity indeed.
Southampton in 17th posted 36 points, a figure that would see them relegated most seasons.
Huddersfield spent the vast majority of their year between 11th and 16th yet ended with a minus 30 goal difference.
It was that kind of season. An oddity.
That summer the Premier League got rid of their glitches and reset but Huddersfield did not. Furthermore, the novelty factor had lessened meaning what was so recently exciting was now a grind.
Rooted to the bottom of the table from Boxing Day onwards, not even late-in-the-season draws could save them. They departed valiant, brave but ultimately outclassed.
Sheffield United (2023/24) – 16 points
It took the Blades until November to secure their opening win and with just a single point picked up across their first ten fixtures it really looked like they were on course to smash every unwanted record under the sun.
That miserable initial implosion included an eight-goal hammering at home to Newcastle and multi-goal thrashings became a norm as United flailed on a weekly basis. Remarkably they conceded three-plus goals on 17 occasions.
At least the re-introduction of Chris Wilder in the hot seat around the turn of the year led to a slight new manager bounce, with Villa and the Hammers held and Brentford narrowly beaten.
That was sufficient to ensure only two records were broken come May, though they are substantial ones.
No team has ever conceded as many goals in the Premier League era (104) while their minus 69 goal difference is the joint-worst ever posted.
Sunderland (2005/06) – 15 points
To their immense credit, the Mackems responded well to their atrocious campaign in 2002/03, finishing third in the Championship twelve months later – but losing in the Play-Offs – before topping the second tier the following year.
Across this period of revival Mick McCarthy had concentrated on changing the culture within the club, bringing in a plethora of honest, hard-working fare, perhaps limited in ability, but players who put the team first.
Think Dean Whitehead in midfield. Daryl Murphy up front.
This wasn’t a side that was going to overly trouble the top ten but they absolutely had enough about them to survive.
Yet astonishingly, at this precise juncture, with a curtain raiser against Charlton awaiting, the Sunderland of 2006 turned to the Sunderland of 2003 and said, ‘Hold my beer’.
Five opening losses set the tone, with a further 24 to follow. Their first home win occurred in May.
The leading goal-scorer merit was shared between four players in this season of utter woe. All bagged three.
Derby County (2007/07) – 11 points
From a distance of nearly twenty years there is little to explain Derby’s sustained horror-show, a season that has gone down in infamy.
We’ve all seen clubs implode, their star striker going on strike while there is clear disharmony within the squad. There is no evidence of that here.
Similarly, we’ve all grimaced as a newly promoted club embarks on an erratic summer spending spree.
The Rams’ recruitment however was sensible, bringing in Robert Earnshaw and Kenny Miller for greater firepower, and Andy Griffin for his experience.
Perhaps, bluntly and simply, Derby just weren’t very good.
Whatever the reason, it amounted to a hard watch, even for neutrals, with just a single win all campaign and that sandwiched in between a 6-0 and 5-0 loss.
A change of manager didn’t help, nor did some wild business in January that smacked of desperation.
By late March they were down with even the salvaging of pride hopelessly beyond them. In their concluding five fixtures, Derby shipped in 21 goals.
*Credit for the main photo belongs to Adobe*
