ไทย
English
中國人
Rob Edwards maintained a positive outlook for months, briefly appearing to engineer one of football's most remarkable survival stories with Wolverhampton Wanderers around the new year. But following a dismal 3–0 loss to fellow relegation candidates Leeds United on Saturday, even the lifelong supporter's optimism had been completely exhausted.
"We don't want it to happen, but the writing is on the wall," he admitted. Tottenham Hotspur's late equalizer against Brighton & Hove Albion a few hours later gave Edwards a short-lived lifeline before West Ham United confirmed Wolves' relegation with a 0–0 draw against Crystal Palace on Monday night.
Given that the Old Gold outfit failed to win a single match across their opening 19 fixtures, accumulating just three points at the midpoint of a potentially record-breaking campaign, Edwards and his squad perhaps deserve some recognition for delaying the inevitable as long as they did.
Nonetheless, this still stands as one of the earliest relegations in Premier League history.
Earliest Relegations in Premier League History by Games Played
Team | Year | Games Remaining |
|---|---|---|
Southampton | 2024–25 | Seven |
Ipswich Town | 1994–95 | Six |
Derby County | 2007–08 | Six |
Huddersfield Town | 2018–19 | Six |
Sheffield United | 2020–21 | Six |
Leicester City | 1994–95 | Five |
Sunderland | 2002–03 | Five |
Sunderland | 2005–06 | Five |
Portsmouth | 2009–10 | Five |
Fulham | 2018–19 | Five |
Wolverhampton Wanderers | 2025–26 | Five |
Data via Opta.
Since the start of the new year, Wolves have picked up 14 points from as many Premier League outings, a tally comfortably exceeding both Burnley and Tottenham Hotspur. However, this improvement in results arrived far too late to spark any miraculous turnaround.
Wolves have never previously been relegated with this many Premier League matches still to play. In fact, only five clubs in the competition's history have been condemned to the drop with more of the season still ahead of them.
Southampton established a new low point for top-flight clubs just last season when they were consigned to the history books for all the wrong reasons, suffering relegation after only 31 matches. The Saints' downfall stemmed from a string of errors, both in recruitment and on the field. The disjointed group of players Ivan Jurić inherited were not only technically deficient but also mentally fragile in the view of the shrewd Croatian.
The experienced Serie A manager criticised his squad's "naïvety," describing them as "innocent kids." At times, Jurić contended, they needed "to be more malicious, [and have] a little more evil to win the game."
Once they had etched that unwanted milestone of an early relegation, Southampton's only remaining ambition was to avoid falling below Derby County's all-time Premier League low of 11 points. Even the notoriously poor Rams side of 2007–08 survived until Gameweek 32. This current Wolves team have lasted just one week longer.
Remaining Relegation Battle
Wolves' relegation may be confirmed, but Burnley are barely clinging on themselves. The Clarets have managed just a single Premier League victory since October. Scott Parker's men were within 30 minutes of adding to that meagre return against Nottingham Forest on Sunday, only to "fall away," in the frustrated manager's own words.
"It's our job as players and as a manager to give the best version of ourselves. For 30 minutes we deserved to get booed and I deserved to get the abuse," Parker lamented. "It's not nice, it's hurtful and it's sad but that's the reality."
Burnley's reality will soon be life in the Championship, where they could remarkably be joined by Tottenham Hotspur. The reigning Europa League champions have collapsed even more dramatically than the Clarets, failing to win a single top-flight match throughout the whole of 2026. West Ham's draw against Palace has only further damaged Tottenham's hopes of avoiding the unthinkable, on the same weekend that saw Nottingham Forest and Leeds United both claim victories.