What goes up, must come down. Well, for most teams, anyway. We run through the clubs to have suffered the most relegations from the Premier League.
Since the Premier League’s formation in 1992, just seven clubs have never suffered relegation. Six of those – Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool, Everton and Chelsea – have been constants in the top division over this period. Brighton are a new addition to the list, but that’s because they were promoted to the Premier League in 2017-18 and have not been relegated since.
But for every Arsenal there is a Norwich City. For every Manchester United, there’s a West Bromwich Albion.
So, which teams have been relegated from the Premier League the most often? Let’s go through the list.
Clubs With the Most Relegations From the Premier League (Since 1992)
6 – Norwich City5 – West Bromwich Albion, Leicester City4 – Burnley, Middlesbrough, Sheffield United, Sunderland, Watford3 – Birmingham City, Bolton Wanderers, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Hull City, Nottingham Forest, Queens Park Rangers, Southampton2 – Blackburn Rovers, Cardiff City, Charlton Athletic, Derby County, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Manchester City, Newcastle United, Reading, West Ham United, Wolverhampton Wanderers1 – Aston Villa, Barnsley, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Bradford City, Coventry City, Huddersfield Town, Oldham Athletic, Portsmouth, Sheffield Wednesday, Stoke City, Swansea City, Swindon Town, Wigan Athletic, Wimbledon, Luton Town
It’s easy to see why Norwich City have become the definition of a yo-yo club in recent years. With six relegations in total, they’ve been relegated from the Premier League on more occasions than any other club. Logically, they also hold the joint record for the most promotions to the Premier League.
Their most recent relegation came in 2021-22, when they finished bottom in their first season after getting promoted as Championship winners in 2020-21. In fact, on the three most recent occasions they’ve been promoted to the Premier League, they’ve been relegated in their first season back in the top flight.
West Brom are one of two teams to have been relegated five times from the Premier League. A period of top-flight permanence between 2010-11 and 2016-17 has been bookended by more chaotic years. Promoted to the Premier League for the first time in 2002-03, West Brom were relegated in their first season, before bouncing up and down again in 2005-05 and 2008-09. Their most recent relegation came in 2020-21 and they’ve been in the Championship ever since.
Leicester City joined them on five after suffering relegation again in 2024-25 with five games remaining, also losing their Premier League status in 1994-95, 2001-02, 2003-04 and 2022-23.
After dropping from the top flight in 2023-24, Burnley and Sheffield United find themselves at four total Premier League relegations.
Southampton suffered the earliest relegation in Premier League history in 2024-25, dropping to the Championship with seven games left to play. That was their third relegation from the Premier League, after previous drops to the second tier in 2004-05 and 2022-23.
Leicester (5) and Blackburn Rovers (2) are the only teams who’ve been relegated while also winning the Premier League (in different seasons, of course).
Clubs With the Most Relegations From the English Top Flight (All-Time)
13 – Leicester City12 – Birmingham City11 – West Bromwich Albion10 – Bolton Wanderers, Manchester City9 – Burnley, Middlesbrough, Norwich City, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Sunderland8 – Derby County7 – Leeds United, Nottingham Forest, Stoke City, Wolverhampton Wanderers6 – Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Newcastle United, Notts County, Preston North End, West Ham United5 – Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Cardiff City, Fulham, Manchester United, Queens Park Rangers, Watford
Of course, English football didn’t begin in 1992 with the introduction of the Premier League.
Overall in top-flight history, Leicester City now hold the unwanted record of being relegated most often (13). Birmingham City are second (12) and were most recently in the Premier League in 2010-11, and their 13-year spell in the Championship came to an end in 2023-24 with them suffering relegation to League One, though they secured promotion straight back in 2024-25.
It might be a surprise to see Manchester City high up on this list. Despite their recent success, the Citizens have been relegated from the English top flight on 10 occasions.
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