10 Teams with the Most Relegations in Premier League History [Ranked]

Summary

The Premier League is known to be the hardest and most competitive domestic division in the world.

Many teams who suffer relegation are likely to do so on multiple ocassions.

These 10 teams have been sent back down to the Championship more times than any other.

The most watched. The most lucrative. The most competitive. Those are all ways you can describe the Premier League. The top tier of English football has become the pinnacle of domestic competition, largely due to its rebranding from the First Division in 1992 and the commercial benefits that followed.

With the money being brought in comes better players and, for some, greater opportunities. However, it has also created a divide that is very difficult to bridge for teams in the bottom half of the table who are purely fighting for survival. This is why, more often than not, you see the same clubs dropping to the Championship on multiple occasions—some even becoming classic yo-yo clubs, bouncing between the top two tiers.

However, these ten clubs know better than most what the indignity of Premier League relegation truly feels like.

10Bolton Wanderers

Three relegations

The first two teams on this list are somewhat unfortunate as they are here based purely on alphabetical order. In total, eight teams have been relegated from the top flight on three occasions, with Southampton the most recent to join that collective. However, it is Bolton Wanderers who have been handed the first spot on this list.

Last appearing in the top flight over a decade ago, financial troubles have seen the Trotters drop all the way down to League Two in the years that have followed. The ship is now somewhat steadier, though Championship football is still a little way off as they look to climb back to where they once were.

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9Birmingham City

Three relegations

It’s three relegations too for Birmingham City, who have not been in the Premier League since the 2010/11 season. However, what makes that fact all the more incredible is that they have featured in European competitions more recently than they have in the English top flight.

In the same season he watched his side get relegated, Alex McLeish guided the Blues to one of the most unlikely victories in the League Cup final against Arsenal. Obafemi Martins’ fortuitous goal not only handed the Midlands outfit the trophy, but also saw them qualify for the following campaign’s Europa League. Not many can say that. In fact, only Wigan Athletic can in the Premier League era aside from Birmingham, having done the same with the FA Cup just two seasons later.

8Watford

Four relegations

Moving onto the first of four teams who have felt the wrath of Premier League relegations four times. Watford have been a club that has so often remained in and around the top two tiers of the English pyramid, but their last stint in the Premier League came in the 2021/22 season.

The managerial merry-go-round at Vicarage Road appears to have finally caught up with the Hornets, who are now firmly in the Championship mid-table. In the Premier League era, they have managed a highest finish of 11th, but their four seasons of turmoil (1999/2000, 2006/2007, 2019/20, 2021/22) are enough for them to be considered one of the division’s least successful sides.

7Sunderland

Four relegations

Sometimes the masters of the great escape, but more often than not the catalysts of their own downfall. Sunderland have rarely been a side to challenge the top half of the Premier League table and for a couple of years, they seemed to find themselves destined to go down before somehow pulling their way out of it.

Aside from two seventh-placed finishes under Peter Reid where Kevin Phillips was banging in the goals, the bottom half of the table is where the Black Cats have resided. In fact, in their longest stretch in the Premier League (10 seasons), they only finished in the top half once. With a record like that, it can be no surprise that they have found themselves falling into the drop zone so frequently.

GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: Sunderland has the second-worst points total in Premier League history (15, 2005/06).

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6Sheffield United

Four relegations

The 2023/2024 season brought disappointment to Bramall Lane, as not even the return of Chris Wilder could inspire Sheffield United to safety. It was not an unfamiliar scene for fans, as it marked the fourth time they had witnessed the Blades be condemned to relegation.

Their first drop came in the second-ever Premier League season. It would take them 12 more years to return to the top flight, but in the four seasons they have had there since, three of them have led to relegation back to the Championship. The one year that didn’t end in relegation almost led to a run into Europe, but the pandemic derailed any momentum the club had in the 2019/20 term.

5Middlesbrough

Four relegations

Once a mainstay in the Premier League, Middlesbrough have only managed to make their way back into the top flight once since dropping down to the Championship in 2009 – and even that was for just one season. Prior to that, however, they had been part of the standings in 14 of the first 17 seasons. When they did drop down, it took just two seasons to return the first time and one to do so the second.

During their time in the Premier League, they reached four domestic cup finals and even a UEFA Cup final in 2006, winning just one – with the likes of Juninho and Gareth Southgate leading them to League Cup glory in 2004.

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4Burnley

Four relegations

For a period, Burnley were the one Premier League side that others really didn’t want to face. Their style of football wasn’t always pretty, particularly under Sean Dyche, but it was most certainly effective – especially in keeping them in the top flight whilst working with a smaller budget and, on paper, a weaker squad than their rivals.

The last side that the Clarets brought back to the top flight didn’t have that same identity. Vincent Kompany had transformed them into a side that prioritised attractive football, which worked well in the Championship. Against the elite sides, though, Burnley just couldn’t keep up, which saw them fall through the trap door for a fourth time.

3Leicester City

Five relegations

There was no bigger shock achievement in football history than Leicester City managing to win the Premier League title during the 2015/16 campaign. The Foxes had never been a team challenging the summit of English football, and they had flirted with the drop zone the season before their unimaginable success.

What was nearly as shocking, though, was when they were relegated in the 2022/23 season. At that point, the King Power outfit were established in the top half of the table and were consistently fighting for the top European places. In the same way that their sudden league victory managed to change their long-term fortunes for the better, their relegation in 2023 has now had the same effect in the opposite direction. They will now return to the Championship for a fifth time, becoming the latest yo-yo club.

2West Bromwich Albion

Five relegations

Eclipsing Burnley and Co into second place with five relegations, is West Bromwich Albion. As is the case with several other names on this list, the Baggies very rarely competed in the top half of the Premier League, and were always a safe bet when considering who might face the drop.

While they at least lay claim to one of the greatest escapes in Premier League relegation history, they have not been able to repeat that since. And when push comes to shove, they are often shoved down to the second division.

1Norwich

Six relegations

When Delia Smith asked fans ‘where are you?’, they should’ve answered by saying that they have stuck with the Canaries through thick and thin – with the thin being the most Premier League relegations in history. It’s a crown that no club would want, but one that has been bestowed upon the Norfolk-based side.

While it is no longer the case, there was a period where Norwich seemed to be stuck in this middle ground of being too good for the Championship and not good enough for the Premier League. Naturally, it created this vortex where they would just bounce up and down season by season, with any approach for staying in the Premier League ultimately falling flat.