Southampton could be a matter of days from having their descent to the Championship confirmed, but what are the current earliest Premier League relegations in history?
The 2024-25 Premier League season is in its final straight, with the last international break of the season over and the end of the campaign in sight.
While many clubs still have ambitions to chase and potentially achieve, Southampton find themselves in a position where restoring some dignity is probably about the best they can hope for.
Having won just nine points from 29 matches, they are in danger of being remembered as one of the worst teams in Premier League history, if not the absolute worst.
With the bottom three falling well away from the rest of field, Southampton’s descent to the Championship could be confirmed very soon. But what are the earliest Premier League relegations?
Here, we have the answers, first by date and then by games remaining…
Earliest Premier League Relegations by Date
Derby County: 2007-08 Season, 29 MarchHuddersfield Town: 2018-19 Season, 30 MarchFulham: 2018-19 Season, 2 AprilLeicester City: 2001-02 Season, 6 AprilPortsmouth: 2009-10 Season, 10 AprilSunderland: 2002-03 Season, 12 AprilLeicester City: 1994-95 Season, 13 AprilIpswich Town: 1994-95 Season, 14 AprilSunderland: 2005-06 Season, 14 April
Derby County2007-08 Season, 29 March
This feels like a fitting place to start, doesn’t it? Statistically the worst team in Premier League history (in terms of their measly points total of 11), Derby also hold the record for earliest relegation by date.
The Derby team of 2007-08 continue to be the low bar against which every bad Premier League team is measured against. And although Sheffield United of 2023-24 and Southampton of 2024-25 stunk the place out somewhat, no team compares to Derby in 2007-08 (yet).
Their relegation was confirmed on 29 March 2008 after a 2-2 draw with Fulham and Birmingham City’s 3-1 win over Manchester City, by which point they were 26 games without a win. It made the Rams the first top-flight club to be relegated as early as March since Sheffield United in 1975-76.
Huddersfield Town2018-19 Season, 30 March
A 2-0 loss at Crystal Palace on 30 March 2019 officially sent Huddersfield down in 2018-19, though their return to the Championship had long been on the cards – and that’s putting it kindly.
After earning a couple of wins in November, Huddersfield embarked on a run of a single victory and 16 defeats in 18 matches leading up to that ultimately decisive defeat at Selhurst Park.
A couple of draws to end the season did little to prevent them posting what at the time was the third-worst points total in Premier League history (16).
Fulham2018-19 Season, 2 April
You wouldn’t think it to look at the table in retrospect, but Fulham were relegated in 2018-19 just three days later than Huddersfield.
The Cottagers were hammered 4-1 on the day their relegation was confirmed, before enjoying a run of three successive league wins. It was too little, too late, though those victories did ensure their points total of 26 at the end of the season was somewhat less galling.
So, despite following up Huddersfield’s relegation so quickly, Fulham ended up finishing 10 points better off.
We’re not hugely convinced that was a great consolation at the time, though.
Leicester City2001-02 Season, 6 April
The 2001-02 season was a tumultuous one for Leicester. They went through as many as four managers over the course of the campaign and had their relegation confirmed in early April after a 1-0 loss to Manchester United.
A winless run of nearly four months from the start of December proved costly, though they went unbeaten across their final four games of the campaign, making their points total look at little more respectable at 28.
Nevertheless, it was a bitterly disappointing end to the club’s time at Filbert Street, even if they did win their final game there against Tottenham Hotspur.
Portsmouth2009-10 Season, 10 April
Granted, this one probably needs an asterisk. Portsmouth were deducted nine points in March 2010 for entering administration, and while that didn’t officially confirm their relegation, it might as well have.
Even if they were given those nine points back, they’d have still finished bottom with 28. They were also in last place from Matchday 2 all the way through until the end of the season.
However, relegation wouldn’t have been confirmed anywhere near as early as 10 April considering 17th-placed West Ham only finished five points (35) clear of the other relegated clubs, Burnley and Hull City.
Earliest Premier League Relegations by Games Remaining
Ipswich Town: 1994-95 Season, Six Games RemainingDerby County: 2007-08 Season, Six Games RemainingHuddersfield Town: 2018-19 Season, Six Games RemainingSheffield United: 2020-21 Season, Six Games RemainingLeicester City: 1994-95 Season, Five Games RemainingSunderland: 2002-03 Season, Five Games RemainingSunderland: 2005-06 Season, Five Games RemainingPortsmouth: 2009-10 Season, Five Games RemainingFulham: 2018-19 Season, Five Games Remaining
Ipswich TownSix Games Remaining, 1994-95 Season
Well, we’ll start with a couple of quick caveats here: 1994-95 was a 42-game season, and four teams were relegated. So, going down with six games to go then wasn’t quite as dismal as it would be in a 38-game campaign.
But still, Ipswich’s three-year stay in the Premier League ended abruptly in 1995 as they failed to recover from a terrible start to the season that saw them lose 11 of their first 15 games.
It was also the same season that they suffered a 9-0 humiliation at the hands of Manchester United at Old Trafford, which remains the joint-biggest win in Premier League history.
Derby CountySix Games Remaining, 2007-08 Season
There isn’t a lot more to say about the Derby County of 2007-08… although we have just thought of a way of further highlighting how bad they were.
Given Ipswich in 1994-95 went down at the end of a 42-game season, Derby of course became the first Premier League side to be relegated with as many as six games remaining in a 38-game season.
Huddersfield TownSix Games Remaining, 2018-19 Season
Huddersfield were fortunate to get a second consecutive season in the Premier League after their 2017 promotion, considering they scored just 28 goals in 2017-18 – that equalled a recorded for the fewest goals by a non-relegated team.
There probably hasn’t been a more obvious sufferer of Second Season Syndrome than Huddersfield in 2018-19, and it surprised no one to see them go down with a good chunk of the campaign to go.
Sheffield UnitedSix Games Remaining, 2020-21 Season
Sheffield United were appalling in 2023-24, but they still didn’t get relegated with as many games still to play as they did in 2020-21, when there were still six left.
The Blades had actually earned admirers the season before when finishing ninth in the Premier League, which was the fourth-highest finish by a promoted team since the turn of the century.
But they spent the entirety of 2020-21 in the bottom three and ultimately finished 16 points adrift of safety.
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