Every football league around the world has built-in mini-leagues. These are usually made up of the title challengers, the European spot chasers, the midtable teams and, of course, the teams in the relegation battle.
However, every so often, an unexpected club gets pulled into the relegation spots and ends up suffering relegation to the second tier. Here are just some of those teams that have suffered a shock relegation:
West Ham (Season 2002/03)
The Hammers suffered what may have been the most unlucky relegations of all time in season 2002/03. Despite reaching 41 points, the club from the English capital suffered relegation to the second tier.
Since the Premier League started in 1992, no other club has ever won 40 points in a season and suffered relegation, which is why the 40-point total is considered the benchmark for survival.
The relegation was a massive shock, as the Irons had finished seventh place in the league table in the previous top-flight campaign. Their squad also contained a host of England players, including David James, Trevor Sinclair, Joe Cole, Jermain Defoe, Glen Johnson and Michael Carrick.
Some are still questioning to this date how the Hammers managed to get themselves into such a mess in that campaign.
Newcastle United (Season 2008/09)
A few seasons before, Newcastle had finished in fifth place in the Premier League table. The Magpies had had some mediocre seasons before the 2008/09 campaign. Still, not many believed the north east team would suffer relegation, as it was assumed that United had enough quality within their ranks to beat the drop, even heading relatively late into the top-flight season.
Newcastle’s sale of James Milner and Turkey international star Emre in the summer of 2008 did not bode well for the Magpies’ campaign.
An unsettled campaign was not helped by the fact that the club had three permanent managers, in the shape of Kevin Keegan, Joe Kinnear, and Alan Shearer, as well as two separate spells for Chris Hughton as caretaker manager.
The relegation was made even worse by the fact that Newcastle hero Alan Shearer had taken charge of the team from April until the end of the season. A 1-0 defeat against Aston Villa on the last day of the season sealed the Magpies’ fate.
Like West Ham before them, Newcastle had many quality players, which made their relegation even more difficult to understand. For example, Newcastle had Michael Owen, Obafemi Martins, and Mark Viduka as forward options, although they could never rely on them to remain fit and firing.
In the end, the lack of goals and managerial mayhem was bound to land Newcastle in trouble. In their case, it landed them in the English second tier.
Queens Park Rangers (Season 2012/13)
The Hoops 2012/13 season is now used as a cautionary tale for club owners or chairmen who feel that just splashing cash on transfer fees and wages is an easy way to success. Then, QPR majority shareholder Tony Fernandes found this out the hard way during the campaign.
The club spent heavily in the summer, bringing in Jose Bosingwa, Park Ji-Sung, and Julio Cesar, who had all played at the highest level of the game. Esteban Granero, Robert Green, Ryan Nelson, and Fabio da Silva also arrived at the club. On paper, the squad looked decent, if expensive.
Unfortunately, football isn’t played on paper, and the Hoops campaign failed to get going. QPR won just four of their 38 Premier League games during the campaign, picking up a measly 25 points in the season.
High-profile Brazilian international goalkeeper Julio Cesar kept just six clean sheets in the English top-flight. He was just one of several handsomely paid players who underperformed in the campaign.
Unfortunately for the club from the English capital, not only did they get relegated from the Premier League, but they also had to deal with the financial repercussions of their summer transfer activity.
Many of the summer arrivals were on bumper contracts. When Rangers went down, the club struggled to sell them, as no other club was prepared to give the players the same massive wage package. The club took a long time to recover from the financial mess that their eventful summer caused.
Leicester City (Season 2022/23)
The Foxes seemed like unlikely relegation candidates in season 2022/23. They had finished in the Premier League top-half in five of the six seasons running up to the campaign.
They were once again expected to be gunning for at least a top-half finish in the campaign. In truth, the Midlands outfit struggled at both ends of the pitch, which is always a recipe for disaster.
In the summer of 2022, the Foxes lost experienced goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel and star centre-back Wesley Fofana. This had a significant effect on their defensive displays, as the Midlands outfit ended the season with the joint-worst goals conceded in the top flight.
However, at the other end of the pitch, Jamie Vardy, Patson Daka and Kelechi Iheanacho scored a combined total of just 11 goals all season.
Even with the other issues, the Midlands outfit still had the likes of Youri Tielemans, Harvey Barnes, and James Maddison to call upon. Unfortunately for the Foxes, a combination of injury issues and a loss of form from the trio also contributed to their unexpected demise.
They suffered relegation on the last day of the campaign courtesy of relegation rivals Everton recording a 1-0 home win against Bournemouth.