After my recent article about managers at struggling teams, I thought I’d go one step further and focus upon teams that have recently been relegated, and study how they’ve fared since relegation.

In each section, I will study the 3 teams relegated each season, starting from 2013-14. The sections are (with teams relegated):

2013-14 season: Norwich, Fulham, Cardiff 2014-15: Hull, Burnley, QPR 2015-16: Newcastle, Aston Villa, (Norwich) 2016-17: Middlesbrough, Sunderland, (Hull)

I am not going to talk about teams twice, so please read the first time they were relegated to get a full description.

2013-14 season: Norwich (18th) , Fulham (19th) , Cardiff (20th)

The chart above shows the progression of the league positions of the teams relegated, since 2013-14. I have highlighted the current season being studied in red vertical lines. I will be using these sort of graphs throughout the article.

During the 2013-14 season, there were two teams that stayed in the relegation spots for the majority of the second half of the season. One of these teams was Fulham. Fulham had three managers that season: Martin Jol until December, who was sacked and replaced by Rene Meulensteen, who had been head coach under Jol. In February, after only 75 days in charge, Meulensteen was relieved of his duties, with the club in 20th place. With 12 games remaining, Felix Magath was appointed as manager. Magath picked up 4 points from his first 6 matches in charge, and the club was relegated in May.

The other team to occupy a relegation spot during the second half of the season was Cardiff. This was Cardiff’s first Premier League season in 51 years. ‘The Bluebirds’ were infamously playing in red kits, due to owner Vincent Tan’s ambition to expand the club’s appeal in international markets. Their first home game ended in 3-2 victory over reigning champions Manchester City, with goals from Aron Gunnarsson and Frazier Campbell (twice). Unfortunately, this probably was the peak point of the season; it was a steady decline for the rest of the season. An important ‘6-pointer’ game against 20th-placed Sunderland ended in 4-0 defeat in April. A 3-0 defeat to Newcastle in May ensured their relegation.

Popular manager Malky Mackay, who had overseen the promotion to the Premier League, was fired in December 2013, with the club in 19th. Mackay had publicly stated he wanted further funds for the upcoming January transfer window, which upset Tan, who declared no money would be made available. Mackay was sacked 2 games later, and replaced by Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, who won his first game in charge against Newcastle United. Unfortunately, a poor run of form afterwards led Cardiff to relegation, and Solksjaer departed in September of the next Championship season.

Norwich had spent the majority of the season outside of the relegation zone. It was their 3rd season back in the Premier League, and were initially managed by Chris Hughton. Hughton had become increasingly unpopular during the season, as the side inched closer to the relegation zone. A memorable match in April saw Norwich lose 0-1 to West Brom, causing angry scenes in Carrow Road after the game, with Norwich fans calling for Hughton’s resignation. John Ruddy had an angry altercation with a Norwich fan in the stands during the protests. Chris Hughton was sacked after this performance, and replaced by Neil Adams. Norwich’s relegation was all but complete before the final game of the season, who required West Brom to lose and to make a 17-goal swing in the final game of the season against Arsenal. They lost 2-0.

So what has happened to these teams since relegation? The chart shows the progress of the team since that season. Notably, Norwich only spent one season, 2014-15, back in the Championship, before promoted back to the Premier League. In this Championship season, Adams had resigned on 5th January, with Norwich in 7th in the table, and replaced with Alex Neil. Neil gained 17 wins from the remaining 25 games that season, and ensured promotion via play-offs. They beat Ipswich in the semi-fonal, and then Middlesbrough in the final, to ensure they played the 2015-16 season back in the Premier League. Norwich spent most of this season outside the relegation zone, but their relegation was confirmed in May, their second relegation from the Premier League in 3 seasons. The season after, Norwich were in play-off contention consistently throughout the 2016-17 season, until a 5-game winless run toward the end of season left promotion via play-off impossible, as 6th placed Sheffield United opened up a 9-point gap. Neil Adam’s contract was promptly terminated in March, and replaced with Alan Irvine on a temporary basis. They eventually finished in 8th place. For the current 2017-18 season, with Daniel Farke as the new head coach, Norwich are 12th at the time of writing.

Cardiff had a mediocre season in 2014-15, following their relegation. In their first season back in the championship, Solksjaer left the club in September, with the club in 17th. He was replaced by Russel Slade. They eventually finished in 11th place. The following 2015-16 season was more exciting for Cardiff fans, with Russel Slade’s team chasing a crucial play-off place throughout the season, ultimately ending in 8th place. After the season, Slade was named the club’s head of football, with Paul Trollope becoming new head coach. For 2016-17, Cardiff struggled, and spent the majority of the season hovering around the relegation zone. Paul Trollope was sacked in October 2016, with the club in 23rd. He was replaced with Neil Warnock. Warnock guided Cardiff back to a respectable 12th position. For the current 2017-18 season, the Bluebirds are flying high, currently in 2nd position in the table under Warnock.

Fulham had a poor 2014-15 season following their relegation. Magath left the club with Fulham 24th (bottom) of the table, but survived the embarrassment of double-relegation under new manager Kit Symons, who guided them to a17th place finish. The following 2015-16 season followed a similar pattern; Symons was sacked in November after a 5-2 defeat to Birmingham City. After a period of temporary managers, Slavisa Jokanovic was appointed in December with the club in 18th. Fulham eventually finished 20th. For 2016-17, Fulham were chasing a play-off position, and entered the top 6 after 43 games of the season, and secured a play-off position in their final game of the season against Sheffield Wednesday. They were promptly knocked out in the semi-final against Reading, losing 2-1 on aggregate. For the current 2017-18 season, Fulham are 12th, still under Jokanovic.

2. 2014-15 season: Hull (18th), Burnley (19th), QPR (20th)

As shown in the graph, Burnley and QPR had just ben promoted to the Premier League for 2014-15 season, only to end up being relegated after one season. It was Hull’s 2nd Premier League season since their last promotion.

The three relegated teams all had various stints outside the relegation zone during the 2014-15 season. Hull City were 10th after 9 games played, with manager Steve Bruce in charge. Unfortunately, there was a steady decline towards relegation for the rest of the season. To counteract a poor league performance, Hull fans were entertained by a brief Europa League appearance, due to being FA Cup finalists the season before (losing to Portsmouth in the final). They beat Slovakian team AS Trencin in the Qualifying Third Round over two legs, but failed to reach the group stage when knocked out in the play-off round by Belgian team KSC Lokeren.

Sean Dyche had guided Burnley to promotion from the Championship during 2013-14, by finishing 2nd and securing automatic promotion. However, he finished 19th position in 2014-15, with relegation confirmed with 2 games to spare. Similarly, Harry Redknapp had guided QPR to promotion during 2013-14, via play-off victories against Wigan and Derby. Redknapp was sacked in February of the 2014-15 season, with the club in 19th. He was replaced by Chris Ramsey, who could not improve their position, with QPR ending in 20th.

So how have the teams fared since relegation from 2014-15? You’ll notice two teams ‘bounced back’ to the Premier League straight away. The first of these is Hull City. Still under Steve Bruce, they ended in 4th position in 2015-16, which could have been seen as a slightly disappointing position, due to having several stints in 1st place throughout the season. In the play-off semi-final, they won 3-0 in the away 1st leg against Derby. It is possible complacency led to a poor home performance in the 2nd leg, as Derby scored twice. However, Hull withstood relentless pressure to keep the score 0-2, which set up a play-off final against Sheffield Wednesday. They won promotion after a 72nd minute Diame goal. Whilst a great achievement to ‘bounce back’ straight away, the following 2016-17 season was always going to be difficult for Hull, especially considering popular manager Bruce announced his resignation in the summer, even though he had just secured his 2nd promotion as Hull manager. He resigned due to frustration at the lack of transfer activity that summer, as well as his ever-souring relationship with vice-chairman Ehab Allam. Mike Phelan was appointed caretaker manager for the start of the 2016-17 season, and won ‘Manager of the Month’ for August, with Hull in the top 4. He was appointed full-time manager in October, after Hull had slid to 16th. Phelan was sacked in January, with Hull in 18th. Marco Silva was appointed several days later, and won 4 out his first 4 home games. Unfortunately, despite a spell out of the relegation zone, Hull ended 18th, and Marco Silva promptly resigned in May. For the current 2017-18 season, Hull have not looked like ‘bouncing back’ like they did in 2015-16; Leonid Slutsky was appointed manager after Marco Silva, and recently parted company in December this year, when Hull were 20th in the Championship. They are currently 19th under recently-appointed Nigel Adkins.

The other team to ‘bounce-back’ after their initial relegation in 2014-15 was Burnley. They spent most of the 2015-16 Championship season in play-off positions, and entered the automatic positions in February. For the rest of the season, Burnley and Middlesbrough alternated between the top two spots, with Burnley eventually ending the season as champions. For the 2016-17 season, Burnley (under Dyche) fared better than Hull in the Premier League, avoiding the relegation zone completely (apart from the 1st game). After 36 games, they were 8 points clear of safety, and eventually ended 16th. This was the first time Burnley had survived a Premier League season, and means that Burnley are the only team of the initial 3 to be still in the Premier League. More than that, they’ve had an extraordinary start to the season, currently in a Europa League spot (at the time of writing article).

Meanwhile, QPR did not have the success of the other two relegated teams in the first season back in the Championship. Chris Ramsey was sacked in November in the 2015-16 season, after a poor start which left QPR in 13th place in the Championship. Neil Warnock was caretaker manager for a month, until Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink became permanent manager in December 2015, with the club in 12th. Hasselbaink couldn’t push QPR towards the play-off positions, instead hovering around mid-table for the rest of the season, with QPR ending 12th. QPR had another mediocre season for 2016-17. Hasslebaink was sacked in November 2016, with QPR in 17th place. Hasslebaink was replaced with Ian Holloway, his 2nd spell in charge of QPR. They again hovered around lower mid-table, with Holloway guiding QPR to a 18th place finish. For the current 2017-18 season, QPR are again not near the play-off positions, with QPR’s recent 2-1 victory away at Birmingham was their first victory in 17 away games. They are 18th at the time of writing the article.

3. 2015-16 season: Newcastle (18th), (Norwich 19th), Aston Villa (20th)

This is Norwich’s second relegation, so please look at the 2013-14 section of this article to get a full description of Norwich since 2013-14.

Newcastle United have had a topsy-turvy time in the Premier League in the last few years. Under Alan Pardew, Newcastle finished 10th in 2013-14, even though they were in a top 6 place at the start of the season. In 2014-15, again they had a brief spell in the top 6 in the middle of the season. Pardew left to manage Crystal Palace in December 2014, leaving Newcastle in 10th. John Carver was placed in charge until the end of the season, and it’s around this time that a treacherous descent down the table begun. Newcastle lost all 8 games between 4th March and 2nd May (12 in 17 games under John Carver). After a 1-1 draw against West Brom, Newcastle were 17th, 2 points clear of Hull in 18th, with two games remaining. They lost 2-1 to QPR, but a Hull loss meant no position change. A final game 2-0 victory against West Ham, with goals from Sissoko and Gutierrez, ensured survival, but the warning signs were there for the following 2015-16 season. Steve McClaren replaced John Carver before the season. Newcastle were in a relegation battle right from the start, occupying a relegation place throughout most of the season. McClaren was sacked in March with the club in 19th, to be replaced by Rafael Benitez. Benitez could not save Newcastle in the remaining 10 games. He did guide Newcastle to an unbeaten run in the final 6 games, but they still finished 18th. In the cruellest of ironies, rival Sunderland ensured Newcastle’s relegation with a 3-0 victory over Everton in May.

Now let’s look at Aston Villa. Villa had been sliding towards relegation in 2013-14 under Paul Lambert, but eventually finished in 15th. It was a similar story for the next season. After 6 games of the 2014-15 season, they were 6th, but an eventual slow decline down the table begun. Lambert was sacked in February, with the club in 16th. He was replaced by Tim Sherwood, who lost his first 3 Premier League games in charge. Regardless, Villa’s safety was secured during a 6-1 loss to Southampton (memorable for Sadio Mane scoring the fastest hat-trick in Premier League history), as fellow strugglers Hull lost. The 2015-16 season was their 28th consecutive season in the top-flight of English football. Sherwood was sacked in October, with the club in 19th. He was replaced by Remi Garde (after an interim stint by Kevin MacDonald). Garde left the club in March, with Villa in 20th. Eric Black took temporary charge until the end of the season. Villa were confirmed relegated in April, after a 1-0 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford.

So what has happened to these clubs since relegation? Newcastle ‘bounced back’ straight away. Under Rafael Benitez, Newcastle had a great season, occupying an automatic position for the majority of the season. They clinched top spot on the final game of the 2016-17 season, overtaking Brighton, who had failed to beat Aston Villa. In the current 2017-18 season, Newcastle under Benitez had a great start, being 4th after 5 games place. Since then, there’s been a slow descent down the table, and an expected relegation battle for the rest of the season. They are currently 18th after 18 games played.

Aston Villa, meanwhile, were not challenging for promotion in their first Championship season for 29 years. Roberto di Matteo had replaced Tim Sherwood before the 2016-17 season, but got off to a poor start in the Championship. Di Matteo was sacked in October, with Villa in 19th. He was replaced by Steve Bruce, who guided Villa away from a 2nd relegation in two seasons, to a final position of 12th. As for the current 2017-18 season, a poor start left Aston Villa in 17th after 7 games. However, a great run of results for Villa under Bruce has put Villa firmly in the play-off positions, with Villa 5th after 22 games.

4. 2016-17 season: (Hull 18th), Middlesbrough (19th), Sunderland (20th)

I have already talked about Hull, please refer to the 2014-15 season.

Middlesbrough had spent the 3 seasons prior to the 2016-17 season in the Championship. In the 2013-14 season, Tony Mowbray was fired in October 2013 after a poor run of form, with the club in 16th. Aitor Karanka was the permanent manager employed in November, leaving his previous employer Real Madrid (as assistant manager to Jose Mourinho). His first game in charge was a 2-1 defeat to Leeds. The closest Karanka got to being in a play-off position was 9th after 26 games, 5 points behind 6th place. They eventually finished 12th. The following 2014-15 season was much exciting for Middlesbrough fans. They were comfortable in the play-off positions for the majority of the season, and actually entered 1st place after 30 games. After slipping out of the automatic positions, they were always playing catch-up to eventual champions Bournemouth and runners-up Watford, finally ending 4th. They won the play-off semi-final 5-1 on aggregate against Brentford, but lost the play-off final 2-0 in 2015 to Norwich. For 2015-16 season, again Middlesbrough were comfortably in the play-off positions, having several spells in and out of the automatic positions. In March 2016, Karanka had a brief, unexpected time away from the club, with assistant manager Steve Agnew being placed in charge, due to an argument in the training ground, and was apparently considering quitting the club. He eventually returned, and led Middlesbrough to promotion in 2nd place, behind Burnley. For the 2016-17 season back in the Premier League, Middlesbrough were praised for a solid defence, but a lack of goals was a major issue for them. They entered the relegation zone after 28 games, and Karanka was dismissed in March, with the club in 19th. He had also had disagreements with players, the fans and the board. Steve Agnew became caretaker manager, but could not improve their position, ending the season 19th, with their relegation confirmed after a 3-0 defeat to Chelsea on 8th May.

The 2016-17 season was Sunderland’s 10th consecutive season in the Premier League. However, as the graph shows, they had been flirting with relegation since 2013-14. Di Canio started was manager at the start of the season (having guided Sunderland to 17th the season before). However, after 5 games in charge, he was sacked. This, partnered with the 8 games the season before, meant he only managed 13 games in charge of Sunderland. He left Sunderland in 19th. It was reported that he had been fired due to an untenable position with the first-team squad, due to “brutal and vitriolic” criticism of the squad. Gus Poyet was appointed as permanent manager. They spent the majority of the 2013-14 season in the relegation zone. However, their safety was ensured just before the final game of the season, after a great run of results at the end of the season, eventually ending in 14th. For 2014-15, they spent most of the season outside the relegation zone, but the relegation battle was no less intense; Poyet was sacked in March with Sunderland in 17th, one point above the relegation zone. Dick Advocaat was appointed manager, and just about ensured survival yet again for Sunderland, ending the season in 16th, 3 points above the relegation zone. After this came the 2015-16 season. Dick Advocaat had signed a one-year contract during the summer, but resigned in October with Sunderland in 19th. Sam Allardyce was appointed, and after a season-long battle to bring Sunderland out of the relegation zone, Sunderland ensured safety with a game to spare, as a 3-0 victory against Everton confirming their safety, whilst simultaneously relegating Newcastle (as described above). Allardyce himself described it as his greatest achievement in his career. This leads us to the 2016-17 season. Allardyce had left Sunderland before the season begun, to begin a lengthy spell as manager of England. David Moyes was appointed soon after Allardyce left. Sunderland were in a relegation battle right from the beginning. After 21 games, they entered 20th, where they remained for the rest of the season. David Moyes promptly left after the season ended.

So how have these teams fared since relegation? Sunderland are struggling. Simon Grayson had been employed to replace David Moyes; he was sacked in October with Sunderland 22nd in the Championship. Chris Coleman was appointed 19th November, with club in 21st at the time of writing this article.

Middlesbrough have fared considerably better than Sunderland. Garry Monk replaced caretaker Steve Agnew in the summer, and are currently in 10th place. However, expectations are high of Monk to re-promote Middlesbrough, and there are question marks over whether he can clinch a play-off position.

Thank you for reading. If you find this article interesting, please read other articles that I have recently written on this website. Also follow me on twitter, @AFootballPanel, to keep up to date on all articles I produce.

(Editor note: I am not a fan of any of these teams, and have not necessarily paid full attention to their league positions in recent years. Whilst the statistics/league positions of this website are all correct, I have made an occasional assumption on how teams are faring merely based upon league position, which can at times be misleading. Feel free to correct me in the comment section)