The Premier League's Elite Relegated: Can Spurs Dethrone West Ham's Unwanted Crown?

The battle for survival has taken a peculiar twist at the wrong end of the Premier League table. Wolves and Burnley have already made their exit, but the final trapdoor spot remains bitterly contested—and whoever tumbles through it could claim a dubious distinction: being among the most accomplished failures ever to leave the top flight.

West Ham currently sit two points clear of Spurs, though both secured victories on Saturday. Behind them, Leeds and Nottingham Forest continue their resurgence, making it increasingly likely that the third-place finisher in this grim race will depart with a points tally that would normally guarantee safety.

Spurs have at least found some breathing room. A recent win has delivered four points from their last two outings—a haul that matches their entire return from the previous thirteen matches. Should they somehow engineer a sustained recovery, they might yet accumulate 40 points. Might being the operative word.

There's an admittedly remote but thoroughly amusing prospect lurking in the shadows: Newcastle, currently in freefall, haven't yet crossed the historical threshold that traditionally ensures Premier League survival. Their collapse could yet drag them into contention.

West Ham's current 36-point tally would have secured safety in any of the nine preceding seasons. Yet this campaign plays by different rules. Should the Hammers go down, they'd match the tenth-best points total ever recorded by a relegated team in the modern era. Spurs, meanwhile, need just one more victory to join that same hall of shame.

West Ham already holds the crown they'd rather not: official holders of the highest points total ever to suffer relegation in the 20-team Premier League era. Some trophy, that.

The Ten Greatest Relegated Teams

10) Charlton Athletic 1998/99 – 36 points

In their debut Premier League season, Charlton's eight wins and twelve draws proved insufficient, though their minus-15 goal difference represents the least damaging of any 36-point relegation. Wigan's 2012/13 campaign, which also netted 36 points plus an FA Cup triumph, arguably deserves consideration, but table tiebreakers favour the Addicks. West Ham would need to lose every remaining fixture to slip below this marker.

9) Newcastle United 2015/16 – 37 points

The 2015/16 season remains a fever dream of chaos, though Leicester's title triumph overshadows everything else. Newcastle's decline under Steve McClaren—who managed only six victories before March—seemed terminal until Rafa Benitez arrived and orchestrated a twelve-point unbeaten run across six matches. It wasn't enough to save them, but it was enough to keep them respectable. Aston Villa's catastrophic 17-point collapse that same year makes Newcastle's 37 points look almost dignified.

8) Manchester City 1995/96 – 38 points

City had survived the previous season in the 22-team format, but their first encounter with the 20-team structure proved fatal. A pair of 1-0 victories over Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa in the run-in offered genuine hope, and a 2-2 draw at Liverpool on the final day ought to have sufficed. Instead, Southampton and Coventry also picked up results, leaving all three level on points. City lost the lottery on goal difference.

7) Sheffield United 2006/07 – 38 points

The final day of 2006/07 delivered theatre and tragedy in equal measure. Sheffield United fell to Wigan by 2-1, finishing level on points but losing by one goal in the difference column. The cruelty ran deeper: Wigan's winner came from a David Unsworth penalty—the very player Sheffield United had released on a free transfer that January. To compound matters, West Ham's 1-0 victory over a Manchester United side that had already wrapped up the title pulled the Hammers clear, leaving the Blades stranded. The Blades' subsequent two relegations proved even more ignominious.

6) Blackpool 2010/11 – 39 points

Blackpool's sole Premier League campaign remains their first since 1971, and what a campaign it was. They hammered Wigan 4-0 on opening day before losing 6-0 to Arsenal in their second fixture—a season distilled into two matches. Their 55 goals matched fifth-placed Spurs' tally, but 78 conceded proved their undoing. A thrilling 4-2 defeat at Manchester United on the final day capped a rollercoaster ride that never quite reached safety, despite their entertaining approach.

5) Birmingham City 2010/11 – 39 points

Birmingham's yo-yo existence came to a definitive halt when they dropped by a single point, their sixth season in five to feature promotion or relegation. A League Cup triumph provided consolation, though their late-season collapse proved decisive. Sitting 14th in mid-April after a 2-0 win over Sunderland, they managed just one point from their final six games, undone by a Wolves side that finished above them by that solitary point.

4) Middlesbrough 1996/97 – 39 points

Middlesbrough's story carries an asterisk of cosmic unfairness. Bryan Robson's side won 42 points on the pitch and reached both cup finals, yet finished 19th. A postponed fixture against Blackburn just before Christmas—triggered by injuries and illness—proved catastrophic. With only twelve senior players available, including three goalkeepers, Boro eventually faced a three-point penalty for failing to fulfil the fixture. The eventual goalless draw cost them two points net, leaving them two adrift of Coventry on the final day. Had they simply played that match and lost as scheduled, they'd have survived.

3) Bolton 1998/99 – 40 points

The first team to tumble with 40 points, Bolton lost out to Everton solely on goal difference in a season when all three promoted sides went straight back down. This was no bloodless exit: Bolton fought hard but fell short. Notably, it marked perhaps the last time Spurs flirted with genuine relegation danger, dropping into the bottom three in December before Jurgen Klinsmann's nine-goal contribution in the run-in propelled them to safety with 44 points.

2) Sunderland 1996/97 – 40 points

Sunderland's misfortune was compounded by circumstance. Going down with 40 points while Middlesbrough—among seven teams bunched between 39 and 42 points—suffered a points deduction created a genuinely congested relegation scrap. Even bottom-placed Nottingham Forest weren't cast adrift, finishing with 34 points.

1) West Ham 2002/03 – 42 points

West Ham's 42 points remains the highest tally ever to result in relegation in the 20-team era. Remarkably, even 44 points wouldn't have saved them—Bolton's superior goal difference would have taken priority. The Hammers boasted genuine quality: David James, Michael Carrick, Trevor Sinclair, Joe Cole, Jermain Defoe, Paolo Di Canio, Fredi Kanoute and Les Ferdinand. Yet they spent much of the season anchored to the bottom, winning just four of their first 27 matches. A subsequent run of six victories, four draws and a single defeat in eleven games proved too little, too late. Whether through misfortune or underperformance, they remain the monarchs of this melancholy realm—for now.