The unpredictability is what makes football great, you may think you do, but you never really know what's going to happen. Here, we at Football FanCast will break down 10 of the most shocking relegations in football history.
10 Villarreal 2011/12
Entering the 2011/12 season as a Champions League team, Villarreal finished fourth in a stacked La Liga the season before. They had a fantastic squad boasting formidable players like Marcos Senna, Mateo Mussachio, Nilmar, Diego Lopez, Giuseppe Rossi, and Borja Valero. Santi Cazorla and Joan Capdevila were both sold in the summer, but it shouldn't have made such a difference.
Their Champions League journey proved challenging as Villarreal ended up at the bottom of their group, failing to secure a single point in that season's 'group of death' facing off against opponents Bayern Munich, Napoli, and Manchester City. This lacklustre performance spilled over into La Liga, where Villarreal struggled throughout the season. With 15 defeats and only nine wins, they accumulated 41 points. Surprisingly, only the bottom-placed Racing Santander had fewer victories.
It so nearly wasn't so bad. In a nail-biting conclusion to the season, Villarreal narrowly missed avoiding relegation, finishing just one point behind 17th-placed Granada. The dramatic twist came in the form of an 88th-minute goal from Atletico Madrid’s Falcao on the final day, sealing Villarreal's fate.
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ByAlex Roberts 9 Schalke 2020/21
Before their relegation in 2020/21, FC Schalke 04 were one of Germany's biggest teams, routinely finishing in the Champions League spots and progressing fairly well through Europe's biggest tournament. Fast forward to the 2021/22 season, and the club found itself embarking on its first 2. Bundesliga campaign in over three decades.
The descent was not immediate, with Schalke finishing 14th and 12th in the seasons preceding their relegation. Nevertheless, the idea of Schalke dropping into the second tier seemed unthinkable. Now, they're at the wrong end of the league table and could face being relegated yet again.
This marked only the fourth occasion that Schalke experienced relegation from the top flight, and the team underwent a tumultuous period with five different managers taking the helm. Dimitrios Grammozis, David Wagner, Manuel Baum, Huub Stevens and Christian Gross all attempted, without success, to reverse Schalke's fortunes.
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Sead Kolasinac and Shkodran Mustafi were brought in during the season, but their efforts proved futile. Ultimately, Schalke concluded the season with a mere 16 points from 34 games, trailing 17 points behind the relegation play-off spot and managing only three wins throughout the campaign.
8 Deportivo La Coruna 2010/11
After their surprise La Liga win in 1999/2000, beating out the likes of Barcelona and Valencia, Deportivo La Coruna became one of Spain's best sides, featuring regularly in the Champions League and at the latter stages of domestic competition. The fairytale wouldn't last though, and in 2010/11 they were relegated.
The years prior saw them grappling in mid-table, securing finishes ranging from seventh to 13th, including a 10th-place position in 2009/10. As time marched on, they found themselves on the brink of relegation.
In their 40th season in La Liga, Deportivo underwent a significant transformation, losing many of their key players. Despite winning 10 times in La Liga and amassing 43 points, they, like several others on this list, fell just one point short of safety. The final weekend of the season saw Deportivo slipping into the bottom three, marking a stark contrast to their earlier glory days.
7 Leeds United 2003/04
While this wasn't a huge shock at the time, the rapid decline of Leeds United is perhaps the most surprising element.
After narrowly avoiding relegation in the preceding campaign, Leeds faced another challenging season as the financial crisis at Elland Road pushed the club's debts past the £100 million mark. The consequential sale of key players persisted, adding to the team's struggles. Manager Peter Reid was dismissed on November 10, with Leeds having gathered only 8 points from their first 12 games. In his place, former player, coach and manager Eddie Gray took over on a temporary basis.
Initially, Gray's tenure brought about improved results, lifting Leeds out of the relegation zone by the end of 2003. However, a dismal stretch of seven consecutive defeats after the turn of the year left them stranded at the bottom of the table, extinguishing any realistic hope of Premier League survival.
Despite some better performances late in the season that allowed them to climb off the bottom, a definitive blow came with a 4–1 defeat at Bolton on May 2 to all but confirm their relegation. Shortly thereafter, Gray departed from the club for good, making way for Kevin Blackwell, who had previously served as Reid's assistant and was tasked with the challenging mission of steering Leeds away from a second successive relegation.
Leeds United wouldn't be back in the Premier League until 2020/21.
6 Sampdoria 2010/11
Another former league champion faced the bitter taste of relegation, as Sampdoria, winners of Serie A in 1990/91, had already experienced a drop from the top flight in 1998/99. After making a return in 2003/04, Sampdoria found stability in Serie A, consistently finishing no lower than 13th and securing five top-half finishes in the subsequent seven seasons.
It's always weird when a club goes from playing European football to relegation in the space of a season. In the 2010/11 season, Sampdoria, having clinched a fourth-place finish in Serie A the previous year, entered the qualifying rounds of the Champions League and also participated in Europa League football.
Sampdoria managed to win just three of their final 22 games from the start of 2011, a run marked by 15 defeats. Despite a promising start where they lost only three times in the opening 16 games, Sampdoria ultimately finished five points behind 17th-placed Lecce, sealing their fate in the lower tier of Italian football.
5 Manchester United 1973/74
The 1973–74 season marked a significant downturn for Manchester United as they faced relegation for the first time since 1938. Under manager Tommy Docherty, appointed the previous December, United struggled despite a brief return of George Best, who played his last game for the club on New Year's Day.
Docherty appointed goalkeeper Alex Stepney as the penalty taker, and although Stepney became the club's joint-top scorer after converting two penalties, United's overall performance was disappointing. The team's late-season run of victories raised hopes of survival, but defeats to Manchester City and Stoke City sealed their fate.
The decisive blow came when former United player Denis Law scored for Manchester City, contributing to United's 21st-place finish. Although erroneously believed by some to be "relegated" by City, it was Birmingham City's win and West Ham United's draw that confirmed United's fate.
Despite relegation, Docherty retained his position, and the club aimed to regain First Division status promptly. The season saw significant changes, including Best's departure and Docherty's unconventional decisions, highlighting a challenging period in Manchester United's history.
4 Fiorentina 2001/02
This relegation was so bad, the club effectively ceased to exist. The economic turmoil exacerbated their challenges, with the sale of playmaker Rui Costa failing to alleviate financial woes. As the season unfolded, the absence of Rui Costa and key goalkeeper Francesco Toldo exposed the vulnerabilities of the Fiorentina squad, particularly after striker Enrico Chiesa suffered a cruciate ligament rupture in the fifth league game.
The ageing defence struggled against opponents' strikers, and off-field issues took a toll on well-known players like Domenico Morfeo and Nuno Gomes. Not even the addition of rising star Adriano, on loan from Inter and scoring six goals, could salvage the team's fortunes.
Manager Roberto Mancini faced the axe, later reviving his managerial career at Lazio. The club's relegation and subsequent bankruptcy filing in the summer led to a rebirth as Florentia Viola in Serie C2. Virtually all players, except veteran Angelo Di Livio, departed, leaving the club in a state of upheaval and uncertainty.
3 Corinthians 2007
Corinthians fans ended 2007 heartbroken when they faced relegation from the Brazilian top flight in 2007. A four-time Brazilian champion and global titleholder in 2000 (with an additional triumph in 2012), the notion of Corinthians competing in the second tier seemed unthinkable, yet it became a stark reality.
The 2007 season brought a multitude of off-field challenges for Corinthians, with notable controversies surrounding Kia Joorabchian, linked to the club through former president Alberto Dualib, and his company. The financial struggles significantly impacted on-field performance, leading to a surprising outcome: relegation. Corinthians ended the season with a record of ten wins, 14 draws, and 14 defeats, earning them a place among the four teams demoted from the top flight.
2 Atletico Madrid 1999/00
The 1999/00 La Liga season was wild. A historic upheaval unfolded in La Liga as three of Spain's most prominent football clubs, Deportivo La Coruña, Atlético Madrid, and Sevilla, were relegated, marking the end of the century in a stunning way.
Atlético Madrid, despite reaching the Copa del Rey final, suffered relegation. This season notably stands as the last time neither Barcelona nor Real Madrid secured any domestic silverware.
Under managers Claudio Ranieri and Radomir Antić, Atletico won just nine games and finished as runners-up in the Copa del Rey, succumbing to Valencia. Striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, a significant signing from Leeds United, experienced relegation but impressed individually, finishing second in the Pichichi race with 24 goals.
Despite relegation, Atlético would bounce back after two seasons in the second tier, later becoming a dominant force in Spanish football under manager Diego Simeone.
1 Juventus 2005/06
Ah yes, the Calciopoli, scandal. It unfolded in 2006, implicating various clubs, executives, and football bodies, but Juventus were the most heavily punished. The scandal involved intercepted calls revealing relations between club executives and referee organizations, accusing them of influencing referee selections during the 2004/05 and 2005/06 seasons. Juventus, Fiorentina, Lazio, AC Milan, and Reggina were among the implicated clubs.
In July 2006, Juventus was stripped of the 2004/05 Serie A title, relegated to Serie B, and their 05/06 title was later awarded to Inter. Despite being popularly known as a match-fixing scandal, no evidence of match-fixing violations was found in the intercepted calls.
A subsequent investigation, Calciopoli bis, implicated more clubs, including Inter Milan, but no trial occurred due to the statute of limitations. Juventus, while absolved from match-fixing, faced damage claims and sought restoration of the 2005 Scudetto, which were rejected.
Juventus returned to Serie A after winning the 2006/07 Serie B championship, and went on to embark on a dominant era with nine consecutive league titles between 2011 and 2020.