The Worst Ever Premier League Teams by Points

At this stage of the season, we think it’s safe to say that Huddersfield Town and Fulham are resigned to relegation. The duo have struggled badly this season and have amassed just 14 and 17 points respectively, and games are running out. Any number of teams could join them from Cardiff currently 18th with 28 points, right up to Crystal Palace in 14th with 33. By the law of averages, we predict that Huddersfield will end the season rock bottom with 17 points, while Fulham should finish above them on 21 points.

Neither team will hold the record of the worst ever Premier League points tally – we’ll run through that list later – but it’s fair to say it’s not been a successful season for either club. A quick look on Paddy Power (premier league relegation odds) shows that Cardiff (2/5) are the favourites to join Fulham and Huddersfield in the Championship next season, while Burnley can’t be discounted at 5/2.

But who are the worst teams ever to grace the Premier League? Here we will take a look at four of the worst.

4. Sunderland (2002-03) – 19 points

If you thought that this season for Sunderland was bad, just wait until you look further down the list. In fairness to the Black Cats, their season didn’t start too badly with one win (1-0 at Leeds United) and two draws (one of which was against Manchester United at the Stadium of Light) in their opening four games, which saw them sit in midtable. But then the slump came. In both September and November/December, they lost three consecutive games and their losing streak worsened in January 2003 – when they lost their final 15 games of the season. Two of those losses came against fellow relegated sides West Ham (2-0) and West Bromwich Albion (2-1). Before Peter Reid was sacked in October, he had amassed eight points; Howard Wilkinson fared slightly better with 11; while Mick McCarthy didn’t win a single game and surprisingly remained manager the following season.

3. Aston Villa (2015-16) – 17 points

They may have made the FA Cup final the previous year, but Villa’s struggles were more than evident and their worst fears were compounded at the end of the 2015/16 season. It was their first relegation since 1991/92, when it was still called the First Division. Tim Sherwood was the man behind the previous campaign’s Great Escape but he saw his managerial ties cut in October after a run of six defeats and one win from their first 10 games. Unfortunately for Villa, they didn’t recover from losing the likes of Christian Benteke and Fabian Delph in the transfer window and numerous managerial appointments throughout the season cost them dear. Rémi Garde took over from Sherwood but could only win two games (against Crystal Palace and Norwich City) and left at the end of March with Villa sitting bottom of the table. Eric Black then joined on an interim basis and following an away loss to Manchester United on 16 April 2016, Villa were relegated. Black lost six of his seven games in charge at the end of that season.

2. Sunderland (2005-06) – 15 points

The second time the Black Cats feature on this list. They ended their last campaign in the Premier League with 15 defeats and on their return to the top-flight in 2005-06, extended that by a further five. It looked good for the Mackems when Mick McCarthy got them promoted with an incredible 94 points; however, a lack of money spent in the transfer windows and one home win (with a further two on the road) consigned their fate. In fairness to McCarthy, the majority of defeats were narrow, but were still losses nonetheless. Kevin Ball was made caretaker in March until the end of the season – but with five points from the final 10 games, could not do enough to keep Sunderland up. With just 15 points recorded, the Mackems held the record for the worst ever points total, but for the next team…

1. Derby County (2007-08) – 11 points

Not only do Derby County have the unenviable record of being the Premier League’s worst ever team with 11 points, but they were the first team in the Premier League era to be relegated in March, with six games remaining. In their first six games, they only managed one win and a draw, shipping 15 goals in the process. And that is as good as it got for the Rams. Thumping defeats were commonplace on the road: a 6-0 demolition at Anfield, 5-0 at the Emirates, 6-1 at Stamford Bridge; but even at home, the floodgates regularly opened with West Ham scoring five, Aston Villa and Arsenal netting six and Reading notching four goals. Even a change of manager wasn’t enough, with Billy Davies relieved of his duties and Paul Jewell appointed Rams boss in November 2007. Jewell had done quite the Houdini act before, keeping both Bradford City (2000) and Wigan Athletic (2007) up on the last day of the season. But even he couldn’t manage the feat this time around – amassing five draws and 19 defeats, with the final draw against Fulham consigning the Rams to life in the Championship again. They’ve yet to return to England’s top-flight.

Other teams worth mentioning

Watford (1999-2000) – 24 points

Sunderland (2016-17) – 24 points

Wolves (2011-12) – 25 points

QPR (2012-13) – 25 points