Premier League: Brentford and Swansea City will play in the final of the English Championship play-offs in 2021.
The two teams came in third and fourth place in the Championship table. In the semifinals, Brentford beat Bournemouth 3-2 on aggregate, and Swansea beat Barnsley 2-1.
Norwich City and Watford have already earned automatic spots in the Premier League next season, and the final will decide who will join them.
No matter who gets into the top flight, it will be hard for any club to make it through their first season in the top division of English football.
Before the Championship final on May 29, 2021, let’s look at the five teams that did the worst after being promoted to the Premier League.
1. Derby County (2007-08)
Points: 11, Goal difference: -69
In the 2007-08 season, Derby County won the Championship play-off final against West Brom and moved to the Premier League.
The fewer people talk about Derby’s terrible season, the better. The Rams had the fewest points of any team in Premier League history. They only scored 20 goals and gave up 89 goals.
In the whole league season, they only won one game. Billy Davies took over as manager in 2006 but was fired in November.
Paul Jewell replaced him, but Jewell could do nothing to stop Derby from becoming the worst team in Premier League history.
2. Sunderland (2005/06)
Points: 15, Goal difference: -43
Sunderland, which had just been promoted, had a terrible start to the 2005-06 season: they lost their first five games.
Mick McCarthy led the Black Cats back to the Premier League in his second year as manager. Sunderland got better by adding Anthony Le Tallec, Jon Stead, and Kelvin Davis to their team.
But it was hard for the club to stay in the Premier League again because they got off to a bad start and spent almost the whole season in the relegation zone.
Sunderland was so bad that they ended up 15 points behind West Brom, who finished 19th. Only three of the Black Cats’ games were wins for the whole season.
3. Watford (1999/00)
Points: 24, Goal difference: -42
Even though the late great Graham Taylor led Watford to back-to-back promotions in his second stint with the club, the Premier League turned out to be a different proposition.
The Hornets added to their team by getting Heidar Helguson, an Icelandic striker, from Lillestrom, and Nordin Wooter, a Dutch midfielder, from Real Zaragoza. They did this in the hopes that the two foreign stars would help them keep up with the demands of the top division. But the two of them could only score 10 goals all season.
Watford got off to a good start in the new season. In August, the team won two games in a row against Liverpool and Bradford, thanks to a tight defense. In September, they were even able to beat Chelsea.
From there, though, things only got worse.
Taylor’s team only won three more games that season, giving them the lowest number of points ever in a Premier League season at the time.
4. West Bromwich Albion (2002/03)
Points: 26, Goal difference: -36
West Brom’s first season in the Premier League was 2002-03, also their first season in the top division since 1985-86.
Under Gary Megson, no one thought the Baggies would light up the top division, but no one also thought they would do as badly as they did.
Megson added Lee Hughes and Jason Koumas to his team in the summer by getting them from Coventry and Tranmere, respectively. However, it was clear that the team lacked Premier League experience.
They came in 19th place and had to go back to the Championship.
5. Fulham (2018/19)
Points: 26, Goal difference: -47
West Brom’s first season in the Premier League was 2002-03, also their first season in the top division since 1985-86.
Under Gary Megson, no one thought the Baggies would light up the top division, but no one also thought they would do as badly as they did.
Megson added Lee Hughes and Jason Koumas to his team in the summer by getting them from Coventry and Tranmere, respectively. However, it was clear that the team lacked Premier League experience.
They came in 19th place and had to go back to the Championship.
Contact Us