When it comes to the Premier League, it’s a stage where giants battle for supremacy, where even the smallest victory is celebrated with enthusiasm, and where sometimes things go catastrophically wrong.
For every champion who lifts the trophy, there are those who tumble into the relegation abyss, forever remembered for their struggles rather than their triumphs.
In this article, we’ll journey through the grim yet fascinating underworld of the Premier League‘s worst performers, focusing on seven clubs with the lowest points totals in the competition’s history.
Buckle up, because this isn’t a tale of glory. It’s a story of despair.
1. Derby County (2007-08): 11 Points
Derby County’s 2007-08 campaign was so bad, it’s become the footballing equivalent of a horror story whispered in locker rooms. “Remember Derby 07-08?” is a phrase no fan ever wants to hear associated with their club.
Derby’s season started with hope, doesn’t it always? They’d just secured promotion after beating West Bromwich Albion in the Championship play-off final, but the euphoria quickly soured.
Their opening match, a 2-2 draw with Portsmouth, hinted that maybe, just maybe, they’d be okay.
But that flicker of optimism was quickly snuffed out. By September 17, they’d scraped together a lone win—a 1-0 victory over Newcastle United, courtesy of Kenny Miller, whose goal wasn’t even captured live on TV because the cameras were busy showing a replay.
From there, the season descended into farce.
By November, manager Billy Davies was gone, and Paul Jewell arrived to try and salvage something, anything, from the wreckage.
But even with new signings in January – including seasoned pros like Robbie Savage and Alan Stubbs, their fate was sealed.
They became the first team relegated in the Premier League that season, managing a pitiful 11 points in total, with a record-low 20 goals scored and 29 defeats.
By the time the final whistle blew on their miserable campaign, Derby had gone 32 games without a win, and their goal difference was a mediocre -69.
To this day, no team has managed to “beat” Derby’s tally of 11 points. That, in itself, might just be their legacy.
2. Sunderland (2005-06): 15 Points
Sunderland’s flirtation with footballing disaster wasn’t a one-off event; they managed it twice in three years. But it was their 2005-06 season that truly cemented their place in the archive of Premier League failure.
After getting promoted in 2005, Sunderland were full of hope. Unfortunately, hope doesn’t keep you in the Premier League. The season began with five consecutive defeats, extending their top-flight losing streak to a record 20 games.
Things briefly looked up when they grabbed five points from three games in October, but that glimmer quickly faded as they embarked on another soul-destroying run of nine consecutive losses.
By December, Sunderland fans had witnessed one win in 32 Premier League games, a stretch that’s enough to make any supporter question their life choices.
With three wins all season and a total of 15 points, the Black Cats tumbled back into the Championship. No player scored more than three goals all season, and their 29 defeats equalled Derby’s record for most losses in a 38-game campaign.
Sometimes, it’s hard to know whether to laugh or cry.
3. Sheffield United (2023-24): 16 Points
Sheffield United’s 2023-24 campaign was a car crash in slow motion. The Blades had managed a miraculous promotion the previous season, but life back in the Premier League was anything but forgiving.
The team spent a total of five matchdays outside the relegation zone, before plunging into the bottom three by Matchday 6, where they remained for the rest of the season.
By the time Paul Heckingbottom was shown the door in December, Sheffield United had won just one game and collected a meagre five points from 14 matches.
Chris Wilder had famously led the Blades to a top-half finish in 2019-20, but this was not a Hollywood comeback story.
Despite Wilder’s efforts, Sheffield United continued to leak goals at a historic rate. They conceded a staggering 104 goals, an all-time Premier League record, and finished with a goal difference of -69, eerily mirroring Derby County’s 2007-08 calamity.
Two more wins, including one against fellow relegation-strugglers Luton Town, couldn’t save them from finishing bottom of the table with 16 points.
If there was a silver lining, it was that, unlike some teams on this list, Sheffield United’s fans are used to the yo-yo of promotion and relegation. But still, 2023-24 will go down as a season they’d rather forget.
4. Huddersfield Town (2018-19): 16 Points
If ever there was a team destined to struggle in the Premier League, it was Huddersfield Town.
Their first season in the top flight, 2017-18, was a miracle of sorts—they defied expectations by staying up despite scoring only 28 goals, the fewest by any non-relegated team in Premier League history.
But the second season? It was a car crash waiting to happen.
Huddersfield managed just three wins all season, two of which came against Wolves, bizarrely enough. They scored only 22 goals and were officially relegated in March, after suffering 28 defeats. Second-season syndrome hit them hard, and they could only muster 16 points.
If not for a couple of late-season draws against Manchester United and Southampton, they would’ve finished with 14 points, which is just about as bad as it gets.
For Huddersfield, it was a brutal reality check that while they may have flirted with Premier League status, they were never built to stay there.
5. Aston Villa (2015-16): 17 Points
While Leicester City was rewriting history books with their fairy tale Premier League triumph in 2015-16, Aston Villa was busy writing a tragic one.
Villa’s fall from grace had been in the post for years. Once a Premier League staple, and even European champions in 1982, the club had been in steady decline, finishing 17th the previous season.
They entered the 2015-16 campaign with Tim Sherwood at the helm, but by November he was out, replaced by Rémi Garde, who would only last until March.
The managerial merry-go-round was a symptom of a club in freefall.
Villa ended the season with just three wins and 17 points, scoring only 27 goals. For fans of the club, it wasn’t just the defeats that hurt—it was the sheer listlessness of the performances. They went two games without even winning a corner in February, for crying out loud.
Villa’s relegation was confirmed with weeks to spare, and the three seasons they spent in the Championship before clawing their way back to the Premier League felt like an eternity for a club with such a rich history.
6. Sunderland (2002-03): 19 Points
And here we are again with Sunderland.
You’d think they’d learn their lesson after their first catastrophic Premier League season, but nope, they were back at it again in 2002-03. If there’s a book called “How to Get Relegated in Style,” Sunderland must’ve read it cover to cover.
The Black Cats began the season under Peter Reid, who had guided them to two seventh-place finishes just a couple of years earlier. But the wheels had come off by 2002, and Reid was sacked in October.
His replacement? Howard Wilkinson, who, despite being the last English manager to win the top flight (with Leeds in 1992), couldn’t stop Sunderland’s slide.
Wilkinson lasted until March before Mick McCarthy took over. By then, the writing was on the wall. Sunderland lost their final 15 games of the season—a Premier League record—and finished with a pitiful 19 points.
In one match, a 3-1 loss to Charlton, they even managed the dubious feat of scoring all four goals, with three of them being own goals. You can’t make this stuff up.
7. Portsmouth (2009-10): 19 Points
Portsmouth’s 2009-10 campaign was a lesson in what happens when financial mismanagement collides with football. Just two years after lifting the FA Cup and playing in Europe, the club was in chaos both on and off the pitch.
By March 2010, Portsmouth had been docked nine points for entering administration, effectively sealing their relegation.
But even without the points deduction, they were already doomed, having won just seven matches all season.
Despite the turmoil, Portsmouth’s fans stuck with the team, and they even managed to reach the FA Cup final, losing to Chelsea.
However, their league form was a disaster. They finished with 19 points (28 without the penalty), and their financial woes would see them tumble down to League Two in the years to come.
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