The Five WORST Starts To A Season In Premier League History
As we close in on the start of the Premier League season, we have decided to look at some of the worst starts clubs have made to a campaign over the past three decades.
There are various circumstances that lead to a poor start. Newly promoted sides who have not invested in improving their squads is usually the main culprit, but a change in manager and poor morale have also been major contributing factors.
It isn’t easy to regain momentum once you’ve had such a disastrous beginning to a campaign, so winless runs tend to mount up and teams appear all but condemned to relegation.
Press the next page as we list five of the worst starts clubs have made to a Premier League season.
Swindon Town
The Robins’ one and only season in the Premier League came in 1993, and it was an unmitigated disaster. They had a goal difference of -12 after losing their first four games.
Things didn’t get much better as the campaign went on. It took them 16 matches to get their first win, and they ended the season having conceded three figures.
QPR
Swansea beat the London club 5-0 on the opening day of the 2012/13 season and they only managed to get their first win in their 17th match of the campaign.
It is quite surprising then that QPR actually managed to get 25 points. Of course, that wasn’t enough to avoid relegation and they finished bottom of the table.
Sunderland
Despite finishing the 2005/06 season on a record low 15 points (at the time), the Black Cats actually got their first victory of the campaign in their sixth game against Middlesbrough.
Unfortunately for the Wearsiders, they had lost their first five fixtures and would go on to win just two more matches before their relegation was confirmed.
Sheffield United
It took the Blades a record eighteen matches to pick up their first three points last season, and that was quite astonishing considering how well they had performed the year before by finishing ninth.
The Yorkshire club did recover slightly in the second half of the campaign, but they finished on 23 points; 16 points off safety.
Derby County
The Rams broke Sunderland’s lowest points total in the 2007/08 campaign, finishing the season on 11 points. In terms of their start, it wasn’t quite as bad as Sheffield United, QPR or Swindon, as they won their first match in their sixth league match.
However, their victory against Newcastle United was their only one of the season, and they went on to lose 25 of the 32 remaining matches, finishing adrift at the bottom of the league.
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