Premier League relegation: Was the bottom three the worst ever?

Luton Town will join Burnley and Sheffield United in the Championship next season after their relegation from the Premier League was confirmed on the final day – the three combining to set a record low points total.

The Hatters’ 4-2 defeat by Fulham saw them finish six points behind Nottingham Forest, who beat Burnley 2-1.

That means all three of last season’s promoted clubs have suffered immediate relegation to the second tier for only the second time in Premier League history.

Rob Edwards’ side won plenty of fans with their gutsy displays throughout the campaign, but the hard facts are that the three teams that ultimately went down weren’t good enough.

While Luton were left on the brink of relegation after defeat at West Ham last weekend, Burnley’s fate was sealed after losing at Tottenham.

Sheffield United, eight points off the bottom of the table, learned their fate in April and returned to the Championship after conceding a record 104 Premier League goals.

“The gap is getting wider,” former Brighton striker Glenn Murray told Final Score.

On the three promoted clubs going straight back down, he added: “The Premier League is such a dominant league and I think it will happen more and more often.”

The combined points tally of the three teams is the lowest cumulative total achieved by the three relegated clubs in a Premier League season.

That figure was 76, which Cardiff City, Fulham and Huddersfield all finished in 2018-19, but the latter three this season have taken 10 fewer points.

To avoid a similar fate, it will be down to 2015-16 Premier League winners Leicester City, Ipswich Town and the play-off winners – either Leeds United or Southampton, both recent top teams.

“I think Leicester could buck the trend next year,” Murray said.

“Obviously they still have a very strong team coming off the championship.”

Nottingham Forest were always expected to survive the final day due to their vastly superior goal difference, which left Luton demanding results to go in their favor on Sunday, alongside an unlikely 12-goal turnaround in their favour.

Forest’s final tally of 32 points set a competition record for the fewest points total by a team to avoid relegation – two short of the 34 that proved enough for West Brom to stay up in 2004-05.

Luton’s final day also saw them record the lowest total of points for a side finishing 18th in the Premier League, two points behind Fulham’s 28 in 2020-21.

A significant reason why the three relegated clubs fail to pick up more points can be explained in another record-breaking statistic.

The combined most goals conceded by three relegated teams in a Premier League season was 237 in 2011-12.

Luton, Burnley and Sheffield United have surpassed that with more games to spare

They have conceded 267 times in their combined 114 matches, with Sheffield United accounting for 104 of those goals, taking Swindon’s long-standing record of 100 set in 1993-94.