Sports
Are Sheffield United the worst Premier League team ever? This is what the numbers say
Ninety-four teams have been relegated from the English top flight from the 1992-93 season onwards, but only a special handful make it into the dismal pantheon that is The Worst Premier League Teams Of All Time.
It’s a collection that will soon include 2023-24 Sheffield United. Their season reached a new low on Monday night, with a 6-0 defeat by Arsenal that saw them become the first club in English league history to lose three consecutive home games by a margin of five or more goals. And let’s not forget their campaign also includes an 8-0 home defeat by Newcastle. Tell me a sad story in four words or less: The Bramall Lane scoreboard.
But Sheffield United are not alone in experiencing league-table ghastliness. Name and season combinations like Swindon Town in 1993-94, Derby County in 2007-08, Queens Park Rangers in 2012-13, Huddersfield Town in 2018-19 and just the word ‘Sunderland’ dredge up memories of terrible teams, woeful managers, awful defeats and broken fanbases. Reaching the Premier League can be the greatest feeling of all. Departing it can be humiliating.
Working out who have actually been the worst team is a difficult task. Football didn’t start in 1992, but that year is a long time ago now and the sport is constantly evolving. Is it fair to compare a workmanlike Swindon team still getting used to the backpass law with a Sheffield United side who are clearly not very good, but who have still been able to spend many millions of pounds on the likes of Cameron Archer and Gustavo Hamer?
Maybe not, but let’s try anyway.
Points won
Points are the ultimate currency in a relegation battle, so if you have the record low total, like Derby in 2007-08, then a lot of people are going to be looking in your direction when the worst-team discourse kicks off. Eleven is how many players you should end a match with, not how many points you should end a season with.
Derby finished 2007-08 having not won any of their final 32 games, with manager Paul Jewell — who replaced Billy Davies, architect of Derby’s only win that season — collecting just five points in 24 matches. At the point of the season Sheffield United are at right now, Derby had nine points. Will Chris Wilder’s team add more than two in their 11 fixtures between now and the end of the campaign? You have to suspect they will.
Derby manager Paul Jewell in March 2008 (Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
Are there any mitigating factors for Derby, though? Well, a glance at the other end of the table reminds you that 2007-08 was in the middle of one of the strongest periods of the Premier League era. We are deep into the time of the ‘Big Four’ here, with Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea all making the semi-finals of the Champions League, and the latter two contesting the final. Derby clearly weren’t ready to compete in the top flight that season, but they did pick one of the most difficult times to make an entrance. Still, 11 points.
Sunderland should not avoid censure here, recording not one but two sub-20-point campaigns. Nineteen in a dire 2002-03 seemed bad enough, only for them to return three seasons later and pick up four fewer. They ended a three-manager 2002-03 season with a run of 15 consecutive defeats and then lost their first five in 2005-06 to extend it to 20 top-flight defeats in a row, a record that may never be beaten. And in a turn of events scientists have deemed ‘unlikely’, Sunderland led the Premier League for home defeats between 2002-03 and 2005-06, despite not being in the division for half of those four seasons.
Huddersfield’s turgid relegation in 2018-19 saw them win just 16 points, but was that really a surprise for a team who managed to climb from the third tier to the Premier League without ever recording a positive goal difference in their five seasons in the Championship, winning promotion to the top flight via two penalty shootouts and with one goal — an own-goal — scored in the three play-off ties?
Man City have now won more PL games in the last 58 days than Huddersfield did in two seasons
— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) March 2, 2021
Finally, Aston Villa’s total of 17 points in 2015-16 often gets overlooked due to Leicester City’s antics at the other end of the table, but it was a truly dismal effort.
This was a Premier League ever-present club who had been challenging for Champions League qualification a few years before, but who in this campaign went through three managers (the classic Tim Sherwood to Remi Garde to Eric Black succession plan), lost 11 games in the spring and even went two games without winning a corner in February.
Villa led in matches for only 243 minutes during 2015-16 — the length of Star Wars movies A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back combined (which is possibly a more entertaining use of your time) – but unlike Sunderland and Sheffield United, they have since returned to the top flight in style, so that counts in their favour at least.
Goals conceded
You have to admire Swindon’s commitment to round numbers. With one game of 1993-94 remaining, the Wiltshire side had conceded 95 times. No top-flight side had let in 100 goals since Ipswich Town 30 years earlier, so everyone knew what they had to do. Leeds United turned up at the County Ground and promptly won 5-0, Swindon had their century and everyone moved on with their lives.
Swindon concede a league goal in 1993-94. Ninety-nine alternatives to this photo are available (Tony Marshall/EMPICS via Getty Images)
And after the Premier League reduced its schedule by four games to 38 from 1995-96, many concluded that we’d never see a three-figure goals-against column again. They teach defending now, you know.
But that was until this Sheffield United side turned up. (Aptly, one of Swindon’s reserve goalkeepers in 1993-94 was called Jon Sheffield — he conceded seven goals in the two games he played.)
0-8 – This was Sheffield United’s largest ever defeat in their league history in their 4,988th game. It is the first time that the Blades have conceded eight goals in a league game since their 3-10 defeat to Middlesbrough in November 1933. Drubbing. pic.twitter.com/OU0kqJ3Fcv
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 24, 2023
If their 8-0 home defeat against Newcastle in September was a warning sign, then Sheffield United’s current run of defeats at Bramall Lane (5-0 to both Villa and Brighton & Hove Albion and 6-0 to Arsenal) is the vision of a team spiralling their way towards the record books.
Conceding 2.67 goals per 90 minutes is comfortably the highest rate ever seen in the Premier League era, making Swindon 1993-94 look like a lesson in catenaccio in comparison.
GO DEEPER
How Italy won Euro 1968: Catenaccio, a coin toss and a goal worthy of any final
It also means that — as it stands – Sheffield United are on course to concede 101 goals this season. From deepest Wiltshire to South Yorkshire, it’s news that will stun the nation if it happens.
Burnley 2023-24’s appearance in the above chart is telling, too.
The Premier League’s current bottom three are conceding at a record rate and the overall figure of 3.25 goals per game scored this season is the highest seen in the English top flight since the early 1960s. Perhaps that makes Sheffield United unlucky to turn up in the Premier League at this point with this team, but then it might make Burnley — who, let’s not forget, are level on points with this Sheffield United side — extremely fortunate. Vincent Kompany and, um, company are also embroiled in a mess of a campaign, but they might get away relatively lightly by sneaking along behind the team with substantially more egg on their shorts.
Plug Swindon’s or Derby’s goals conceded numbers into a season like this one and you might expect them to concede another 15-20 goals, but football doesn’t work like that and, more importantly, neither does remembering football’s worst teams. If Sheffield United reach three figures for goals-against this season, that is what will get shouted across pub tables and concourses for decades to come. And rightly so.
Erling Haaland has now scored as many PL goals as Derby in 2007-08 but in 24 fewer games
— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) December 28, 2022
And the worst team are…
Raw numbers will only get you so far. There have been plenty of strugglers in the past 32 years who might not have the outright numbers of a Derby or a Sunderland or a Swindon, but who should still be recognised for services to ineptitude.
Norwich City, for example, who from 2018-19 to 2021-22 finished top of the Championship, bottom of the Premier League, top of the Championship again and bottom of the Premier League once more. Among relegation experts, their 2019-20 outfit are viewed as the inferior side, clocking up 27 defeats before being relegated, including losing all nine games in the hot, post-lockdown summer of Project Restart. That said, the 2021-22 Norwich team had only scored eight goals by Christmas, so wasn’t a classic XI by any means.
Then there’s Queens Park Rangers in 2012-13, managed initially by Mark Hughes before being guided through the January transfer window and beyond by Harry Redknapp. It took them 17 games to finally win before ending the season with two points from the final nine games and a Christopher Samba they didn’t need.
That winless QPR run to start the season is no longer a Premier League record, if you were wondering. It was ‘beaten’ by our old friends Sheffield United in 2020-21, who had two points from 17 games before finally picking up their first three points in the January(!) against Newcastle. Not that it sparked a revival — they went down with six games still to play, another (joint) Premier League record.
Derby 07-08 Sheff Utd 20-21
🤝
beat newcastle at home— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) January 12, 2021
And here’s the crux of the worst-team narrative: does what Sunderland did in the mid-2000s and Sheffield United are in the process of doing — that is, piece together two utterly terrible Premier League campaigns in the space of three years — trump Derby’s one 11-point season? Yes, it’s increasingly apparent that no side will ever go as low as 11 points again, but Derby at least have had the sense to never return.
Sheffield United’s dejected players against Arsenal on Monday (SportImage/Getty Images )
There’s something deeply unsatisfying about a team performing abjectly, then coming back soon after and doing exactly the same thing again. It feels like a waste of a season. It feels like you’ve been cheated out of variety.
So here’s the deal.
If Sheffield United continue to concede at their current rate and they break Swindon’s goals-against record, then add that to the 29 defeats of 2020-21 and whatever points total they manage in the next couple of months and announce it: the Premier League’s new worst-ever team.
Derby County of 2007-08, your redemption is finally here. Maybe.
(Top photos: Getty Images)
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
With the largest World Cup field in the history of the tournament, 32 of the 48 teams will be fighting for a spot in the knockout stage.
66.6% of nations will advance out of the group stage this summer, which is a massive upgrade from 50% in past World Cups. Because of this, sportsbooks have adjusted with less favorable odds.
Prior to the start of the tournament, Spain, Argentina, Brazil, England, and Germany entered with the strongest odds to advance from the group stage, supported by recent major-tournament success and talent-rich rosters.
All five nations are heavily favored at -10000 to advance to the knockout round.
The Spaniards are the defending European Champions while the Argentinians are looking to win back-to-back titles. Germany has not made it out of the group stage in the last two World Cups, but has always been a perennial contender— having won four titles in its history. And then of course there’s Brazil, which has more titles than any country with five.
Now, after the conclusion of the first day of the World Cup, Mexico has joined the group at the top. El Tri has surged to -10000 to advance to the knockout stage after initially being just -1400. Mexico’s huge leap up the oddsboard is a direct result of its dominating 2-0 win over South Africa.
With that in mind, let’s dive into the odds for each team to advance to the knockout stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup as of June 12.
This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.
Odds to Advance to Knockout Stage
Spain: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
Argentina: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
Brazil: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
England: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
Mexico: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
Germany: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
Portugal: -5000 (bet $10 to win $10.20 total)
France: -5000 (bet $10 to win $10.20 total)
Belgium:-3500 (bet $10 to win $10.29 total)
South Korea: -2500 (bet $10 to win $10.40 total)
Switzerland: -1800 (bet $10 to win $10.56 total)
Netherlands: -1400 (bet $10 to win $10.71 total)
Morocco: -1000 (bet $10 to win $11 total)
Colombia: -1000 (bet $10 to win $11 total)
Uruguay: -1000 (bet $10 to win $11 total)
Canada: -1000 (bet $10 to win $11 total)
Ecuador: -900 (bet $10 to win $11.11 total)
Norway: -900 (bet $10 to win $11.11 total)
United States: -750 (bet $10 to win $11.33 total)
The U.S. men’s national team is currently -750 to advance from Group D (Photo by Omar Vega/USSF/Getty Images).
Croatia: -500 (bet $10 to win $12 total)
Austria: -500 (bet $10 to win $12 total)
Türkiye: -500 (bet $10 to win $12 total)
Ivory Coast: -500 (bet $10 to win $12 total)
Japan: -500 (bet $10 to win $12 total)
Egypt: -340 (bet $10 to win $12.94 total)
Algeria: -310 (bet $10 to win $13.23 total)
Scotland: -310 (bet $10 to win $13.23 total)
Senegal: -230 (bet $10 to win $14.35 total)
Sweden: -230 (bet $10 to win $1435 total)
Bosnia and Herzegovina: -220 (bet $10 to win $14.55 total)
Paraguay: -205 (bet $10 to win $14.88 total)
Iran: -200 (bet $10 to win $15 total)
Czechia: -165 (bet $10 to win $16.06 total)
Ghana: -140 (bet $10 to win $17.14 total)
Australia: -110 (bet $10 to win $19.09 total)
DR Congo: +100 (bet $10 to win $20 total)
Raúl Jiménez helped propel Mexico to a 2-0 win over South Africa in the opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup (Photo by Yair Gonzalez/Jam Media/Getty Images).
Saudi Arabia: +105 (bet $10 to win $20.50 total)
Tunisia: +140 (bet $10 to win $24 total)
New Zealand: +150 (bet $10 to win $25 total)
Uzbekistan: +180 (bet $10 to win $28 total)
Cape Verde: +200 (bet $10 to win $30 total)
Panama: +200 (bet $10 to win $30 total)
Qatar: +275 (bet $10 to win $37.50 total)
South Africa: +320 (bet $10 to win $42 total)
Jordan +350 (bet $10 to win $45 total)
Iraq: +450 (bet $10 to win $55 total)
Haiti: +800 (bet $10 to win $90 total)
Curaçao: +1000 (bet $10 to win $110 total)
Cameron Brink said she’d appreciate some grace. She really would.
Sparks fans should give her some, because where else is she going to get it?
Certainly not from WNBA refs. Not from opponents with more to play for than ever. Certainly not from the game itself; basketball moves fast, and a bummer can become a bust in a blink.
But Brink, 24, is not on the brink of bust territory, no. Block that thought. Technically, it’s Year 3, but after a torn ACL derailed her as a rookie two summers ago, it’s practically like Year 2 for the former Stanford star. And by design, the WNBA is testing her confidence, her decision-making and her patience as she tries to reestablish herself as one of the WNBA’s best young players.
So, grace.
The recognizable 6-foot-4 forward — she’s the long-blond-haired hooper in the New Balance ads — was the No. 2 overall pick in 2024.
Now she’s her team’s No. 3 option in the post. She’s coming off the bench behind Nneka Ogwumike and Dearica Hamby for the Sparks, who are a modest 6-6 after wins this week over the expansion Portland Fire and the struggling Seattle Storm.
Against the Fire, Brink scored two points and picked up four fouls in nine minutes. Then she went to Seattle and had 15 points in 18 minutes but was pulled with more than five minutes left in the fourth quarter after getting her third, fourth and fifth fouls in 86 seconds. (WNBA players get six fouls before being disqualified.)
For the season, Brink has been called for 49 fouls in 208 minutes. A foul about every four minutes!
They’re silly fouls and they’re phantom calls. Egregious and ticky-tack. Costly and common. A real fouled-up buffet. She sets screens that get scrutinized as if by the most vigilant TSA agent. And sometimes, yes, she’s doing the accidental tripping. Other times, the officials are.
Her reputation precedes her, so everyone gets a superstar’s whistle when being defended by Brink. Opponents bake it into their game plans.
That can’t continue.
All that fouling is hindering Brink’s development because it’s robbing her of important in-game reps — which she needs, foremost, to figure out how to stop fouling.
Sparks forward Cameron Brink, left, blocks the shot of the Tempo’s Laura Juskaite during a game last month.
(Jeff Lewis / Associated Press)
“At the pro level,” said Tara VanDerveer, Brink’s coach at Stanford, “every young player always has a lot of work to do. And I saw her make a three. I see her block shots. She rebounds, she can handle the ball, she’s unselfish, she’s a terrific talent. But there’s always things players need to work on.”
We know what Brink’s thing is.
“She has to be disciplined,” VanDerveer said. “And if you want something so badly, if you want to be an All-Star someday or make the Olympic team, you’ve got to be dependable … and I think anyone can change, if it’s behavior they recognize is not in their best interests or not in their team’s best interests. It’s hard, but it’s something I think people can do.
“That’s what Cam is working on.”
And, VanDerveer added, “I’m really so excited that Nneka is there, because she will give her such great guidance and mentorship.”
And grace. Brink is getting that from Ogwumike — also a former Stanford star, the Sparks legend returned to L.A. this season after two seasons in Seattle — and her other teammates.
“I just do my best to lead by example,” Ogwumike, 35, said. “But then also let [Brink] know that she’s very capable, that she’s more than capable, which is exactly why she’s here with us and it’s exactly why we need her on this team.”
Sparks forward Cameron Brink, wearing a facemask, controls the ball while defended by Sun forward Raegan Beers.
(Joe Buglewicz / Getty Images)
But how long will Brink get grace from the Sparks in the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately business of basketball?
The foul trouble tells us why a win-now team wouldn’t trust her, why the Sparks would give meaningful minutes to two veteran post players ahead of her. Why they wouldn’t prioritize Brink’s development alongside winning as they strive to snap a previously unthinkable five-year playoff drought.
And what about fans? How patient will you all be with a player who was drafted immediately after Caitlin Clark and five spots in front of Angel Reese?
These days, that might depend on what the parlay calls for.
Or, preferably, whether you remember Brink’s first 15 WNBA games. All starts, all signs pointing to stardom. She showed up in 2024 throwing lavish block parties. Her 2.3 blocks per game were message-sending spikes, like what Lisa Leslie used to enthrall Sparks crowds with.
From the jump, she had guys coming to games at Crypto.com Arena wearing her No. 22 jersey and little girls arriving in groups with No. 22 painted on their cheeks and “I love Cam Brink” signs in hand.
And then the torn ACL cost her 25 games of her rookie season and another 25 last season, plus her spot on the United States’ Olympic 3×3 women’s basketball team in Paris in 2024.
She had to start over. Lost a lot of ground. But you see that masked woman stuck on the Sparks’ bench for all but 17 minutes per game?
You can’t miss her. She’s looking uncomfortable in protective facial gear that either hinders her breathing or her peripheral vision, her only options to protect the torn septum she suffered in a victory over the Las Vegas Aces last month.
She’s the one with the 6-8 wingspan who’s averaging 9.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks while shooting 52.1% from the field in her limited minutes.
She’s still Cameron Brink. Between fouls, she’s fluid and fast and covers more of the court than almost anyone in the WNBA, able to leap from defending guards to centers in a single bound.
“It’s just looking at every day as a new opportunity to learn and grow and not getting too bogged down when things don’t go exactly as you planned,” Brink told me. “Because more times than not, things are not going to go how you want them to. And that’s life. So I just want to be able to put my best effort out there every single night.
She knows what the Sparks need from her: “To perform, just come on the floor and compete.”
To prove she can stay on the floor to compete.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
When will Team USA lose in the 2026 FIFA World Cup? Or, will it not lose at all?
Let’s check out the odds for the Americans’ stage of elimination at FanDuel Sportsbook, as of June 11.
Team USA — Stage of elimination odds
Last 32: +170 (bet $10 to win $27 total)
Last 16: +220 (bet $10 to win $32 total)
Group stage: +500 (bet $10 to win $60 total)
Quarterfinals: +500 (bet $10 to win $60 total)
Semifinals: +1200 (bet $10 to win $130 total)
Runner-up: +2800 (bet $10 to win $290 total)
Outright winner: +6000 (bet $10 to win $610 total)
This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.
The outlook appears to be … ho-hum?
If the odds ring true, the Americans are expected to make it out of the group stage but fall in the first knockout stage game.
How would that result stack up against previous results? Well, at the 2022 World Cup, Team USA made it to the Round of 16, which was viewed as a stellar accomplishment.
The U.S. men’s national team currently has 60-1 odds to lift the 2026 FIFA World Cup trophy this summer (Photo by Omar Vega/USSF/Getty Images).
In 2018, the USA did not qualify for the World Cup, and in 2014 and 2010, the Americans also made it to the Round of 16. Their best result this century occurred in 2002, when the Americans made it all the way to the quarterfinals before being eliminated.
In 1998, Team USA lost in the group stage, in 1994, it fell in the Round of 16, and in 1990, it also fell in the group stage.
With the expanded World Cup format, 32 teams will advance to the knockout stage (out of 48), giving teams a much better chance of getting out of the group stage than in previous tournaments. In past years, only 50% of the field advanced to the knockout round, but now 66.6% of teams will move on.
With that being said, anything less than a knockout round appearance on home soil would be viewed as a major failure this summer for Team USA.
The second result on the oddsboard is the “Last 16,” meaning the USA would make it out of the group stage and win one knockout stage game, before falling in the second knockout stage game. The third result is that the Americans failed to make it out of the group stage, and the fourth is that they made it to the quarterfinals, meaning they won two knockout stage games.
Making the semis, losing in the championship game and winning the championship are the three results with the longest odds.
The U.S. begins its World Cup journey on Friday as the Stars and Stripes face Paraguay at Los Angeles Stadium. Getting off to a fast start in the group is crucial for the team’s World Cup dreams of making a deep run this summer.
-
Los Angeles, Ca1 hour agoMLB to screen Hollywood classic at drive-ins nationwide
-
Detroit, MI2 hours agoDetroit at Le Mans: Cadillac favorite, Ford poised for 2027
-
San Francisco, CA2 hours agoHudson Pacific lands SF’s biggest office lease in nearly a decade
-
Dallas, TX2 hours agoNFL Brazil tickets are available: Shop Cowboys vs. Ravens NFL Brazil tickets now
-
Miami, FL2 hours agoNorth Miami man accused of stabbing victim 7 times
-
Boston, MA2 hours agoEverything you need to know about Sail Boston 2026
-
Denver, CO2 hours ago
Broncos’ Jonathon Cooper arrested again on four charges, including harassment, violation of protection order
-
Seattle, WA2 hours agoRibbon-cutting marks completion of mixed-income condos in Seattle’s Phinney Ridge
