Founded in 1992, the Premier League has absolutely transformed the landscape of football not just in England but across the world.
A profound force for both good and bad, in our eyes, no-one can argue that the league has been a roaring success in terms of finances and interest, becoming the most watched competition in world sport. On the other hand, ticket prices have now excluded a large chunk of football fans, the match-day experience has become increasingly sanitised and the gap between the top six clubs and the rest is as pronounced as ever.
Today we are answering requests for us to look at the first seven teams relegated from the division, and what their fate has looked like since then. Since three teams are relegated from the Premier League each season, this seven will consist of every team relegated in the division’s first two seasons and the last placed side from the 1994-95 campaign.
Here are the first 7 teams relegated from the Premier League: Where are they now?
7. Nottingham Forest – Championship
The first team to be relegated from the Premier League was hard to watch even for those who didn’t support Nottingham Forest. In his final season in charge of the club, Brian Clough’s 18-year reign at the City Ground ended in heartbreak. Clough had taken Forest from Second Division strugglers in 1975, to First Division champions by 1978. In 1979 and 1980, he took them to the summit of the European game, winning consecutive European Cup titles.
It was an extraordinary achievement, and one which will most likely never be replicated, but Clough had real difficulties moving into the 1990’s. Football had changed, his health appeared to be deteriorating and the loss of Peter Taylor hit hard.
Forest finished in last place, 9 points from safety, and the shining light of their season Roy Keane soon departed for Manchester United. Clough retired, but Stan Collymore’s goals inspired Forest to bounce back immediately the following season. The Trees were relegated once more in 1997, promoted again in ‘98, but relegated once more in ‘99. Since that final relegation on the turn of the millenium, Forest haven’t tasted top flight football again, even spending three seasons in League One. They are fighting for a play-off spot in the Championship right now.
6. Middlesbrough – Championship
Stewart Downing of Middlesbrough (C) celebrates scoring his sides second goal with his Middlesbrough team mates during the Premier League match between Middlesbrough and AFC Bournemouth at…
The second team relegated from the Premier League in the 1992-93 campaign, Middlesbrough are also battling it out for promotion from the Championship right now. Current boss Tony Pulis has had Boro up near the top of the table all season, and although I haven’t been overly impressed by them when I’ve seen them this term, you imagine that they’ll have the legs and the consistency to stick around near the top of the table once the going gets tough.
Since that relegation in 1993, Boro have spent 12 seasons in the second tier and 14 in the Premier League, finishing 7th in 2005 and reaching the UEFA Cup final in 2006, a period that was so impressive it saw Steve McClaren get the England job.
Despite that success, the club’s immediate past is rather less impressive. Just one of those 14 seasons in the Premier League came in the last 10 years, and it saw the club go down with a whimper, their toothlessness in front of goal seeing a return of just 5 wins, 13 draws and 20 defeats.
5. Crystal Palace – Premier League
Our first entrants who are still in the Premier League, Crystal Palace were the final team to be relegated from the division in the 1992-93 season, finishing level on points with Oldham Athletic but facing the drop by virtue of their inferior goal difference. After an utterly dreadful first four months of the season, which no manager would survive in the modern era, Steve Coppell’s men won all five of their games in December.
It was to provide them with false hope, however, as they proceeded to lose all four games they played in January. In the end, it was an incredibly close-run thing, but results such as their 5-0 defeat to Liverpool and 4-0 defeat to Wimbledon left them with a goal difference which couldn’t be relied on.
The Eagles have spent most of their time since then playing in the second tier, having had two promotions which were met immediately by relegation from the division prior to their most recent promotion in 2013. Since then, the club has found some stability, but they are heavily reliant on Wilfried Zaha these days. Roy Hodgson guided the club to a highly creditable 11th placed finish in the league last season, but they’ve won just two of their first 12 as I speak, and look set for a relegation scrap this term.
4. Swindon Town – League Two
Matt Taylor of Swindon Town celebrates after scoring his sides goal during the Sky Bet League Two match between Swindon Town and Northampton Town at the Energy Check County Ground on…
It seems like a long time since Swindon Town were in the Premier League, and that’s because it is, over a quarter of a century in fact. Having been promoted to the Premier League in the 1992-93 season via the play-offs, Swindon’s success was built heavily on the talents of Glenn Hoddle, both as a player and as a manager.
He departed for Chelsea following the club’s surprise promotion to the Premier League, and what had seemed a tough task now seemed almost insurmountable. Hoddle was replaced by his assistant John Gorman, who stuck largely to the teams footballing principles, but they looked out of their depth.
In what was the club’s first season in the top flight of English football, they set a record for the most goals conceded, shipping a grand total of 100 in just 42 games. They won only five games all season, leaving them 13 points from safety and inevitably the first team to be relegated from the division in the 1993-94 season.
They were relegated once more the following season, then dropping into the third tier, and they’ve spent the majority of the last two decades flirting between League’s One and Two. Currently playing in League Two, the Robins are in the bottom half of the table right now, under the stewardship of former Leicester City Player of the Year Richie Wellens.
3. Oldham Athletic – League Two
Oldham Athletic survived by the skin of their teeth in the inaugural Premier League season, but their luck ran out a year later. Having looked like a decent bet to stay in the division going into April, they failed to win any of their last eight games, dashing any survival hopes they had. Although the league campaign was a poor one, the club reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup, where Manchester United needed a replay to finally end the club’s cup dreams.
They were relegated once more in 1997, which was followed by more than 20 years in the third tier of English football. That stay in League One finally came to an end last season, although not in the form of a promotion. Under the guidance of current Swindon boss Richie Wellens, the club was relegated from League One, and they now find themselves mid table in League Two.
Whilst Oldham have suffered stagnation and decline since their top flight relegation, their manager Joe Royle went on to enjoy success with both Everton and Manchester City, even winning the FA Cup with the Toffees the season after his Oldham relegation.
2. Sheffield United – Championship
John Fleck of Sheffield United celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Sky Bet Championship match between Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United at Hillsborough on September…
The final team relegated from the Premier League in the 1993-94 season was Sheffield United. Bringing an end to a four-year stay in the top flight, which had involved a 9th placed finish only two seasons earlier, the Blades finished one point behind both Southampton and Ipswich Town, consigning them to relegation.
In the 24 years since, the club has spent just one season in the Premier League, namely the controversial 2006-07 campaign. Managed by Neil Warnock at the time, the Blades went down on goal difference on that occasion, and you may recall that there was a fair degree of controversy surrounding Carlos Tevez’s move to West Ham. The Argentine had been instrumental in the Hammers late upturn in form, and both Wigan and Sheffield United were keen to take legal action in the hope of a possible points deduction. In the end, the Londoners were handed a £5.5 million fine, but the table remained as it had finished.
Between 2011 and 2017, the club have been closer to the bottom tier than the top one, spending six seasons in League One, before Chris Wilder finally guided them to promotion. Wilder can come across as a prickly character, but he has worked wonders at Bramall Lane. The club are now in as healthy a position as they have been for the last decade, and despite minimal spending, they are firmly in amongst the Championship’s promotion-chasing pack right now.
1. Ipswich Town – Championship
Rounding off our seven and the only team from the 1994-95 season to feature is Ipswich Town, and that means that Crystal Palace are the only team in this seven currently playing in the Premier League. What’s more, that’s a trend which continues if we were to expand this video further. Of the next nine new teams to be relegated after Ipswich, only Leicester City and Manchester City are now back in the Premier League.
Ipswich’s 1994-95 season was a really rather dreadful one. They lost 29 of their 42 games, scoring 39 goals and conceding 93. They finished the campaign with an overall points tally of just 27, they would have needed 22 points more to have stayed in the division. Perhaps the best indication of the Tractor Boys’ struggles is the fact that Claus Thomsen was their top scorer with 5 goals, and he was a centre-back.
The Suffolk-based outfit have had just two subsequent seasons in the Premier League, achieving a mightily impressive fifth placed finish in the 2000-01 season, which saw them qualify for the UEFA Cup, followed by perhaps the greatest case of second season syndrome in living memory, as they were relegated in 18th the following term.
Since then, and that’s a period of 16 years we’re talking about, the club has been playing its football in the second tier. They have finished as high as 3rd in 2004-05, and as low as 16th in 2016-17, but for the most part, it has been season upon season of mid table mediocrity.
That could be about to change this season though, and once again, not for the better. The Tractor Boys second tier status that they have maintained for so long appears to be severely under threat, as the team languishes at the foot of the Championship table, already 5 points from safety with the worst goal difference in the division.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
