By: Matthew Polyak

On March 29th, 2008, English soccer team Derby County, also known as the Rams, was officially relegated from the Premier League—with a total of 11 points. Not only do The Rams hold the record for the least number of points in a Premier League season, but they also hold the record for being relegated the earliest in a Premier League season since the league’s inaugural season back in 1992-93. 

However, these were not the only records broken by Derby during the 2007-08 season. They also hold records for: 

• Fewest wins in a season: 1

• Most consecutive matches without a win: 32 

• Joint-most defeats in a season: 29 

• Joint-fewest goals in a season: 20 

• Most goals conceded in a 38-game season: 89 

• Worst goal difference in a season: -69 

Quite the record breakers—but for the wrong reasons. To begin with, Derby’s season started with them outside the relegation zone for 2 games, following a 2-2 draw to Portsmouth and a narrow 1-0 defeat to Manchester City. Unfortunately for them, their next three games saw them concede 12 goals—keeping them still winless. 

Derby would then play out a humiliating 6-0 defeat to Liverpool in early September 2007. However, The Rams would receive their only win of the season against Newcastle, 1-0. The goal wasn’t even caught on television, as replays of a previous highlight overlayed the goal.  

Following more defeats, fans began to turn against the chairman, Peter Gadsby. Gadsby would eventually step down on October  29th, 2007—one day after a 2-0 defeat against Everton. Adam Pearson, formerly of Hull City AFC, replaced him. 

Team manager Billy Davies began to come under fire. Following a  2-0 defeat to Chelsea, Davies criticized the board for a lack of  investment being put into the squad. Now outspoken, Davies was relieved of his duties. Many believe that he knew The Rams had no chance to survive in the Premier League, which would cause him to try to leave the club to not have a relegation on his managerial resume. 

Former Wigan Athletic manager Paul Jewell replaced Davies as manager. Team performances looked to have improved during the first couple of games, but their results didn’t. Jewell’s first match was a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Sunderland AFC. By January 2008, The Rams were bottom of the table, following a  2-1 defeat to Blackburn Rovers in late December 2007. Many at the club had already accepted the proposition of relegation. 

In January, Derby signed numerous players in an attempt to salvage anything from the season. These included Robbie Savage, Laurent Robert, Emanuel Villa, and Danny Mills. 

Then-player Robbie Savage wrote in his autobiography: 

“It was soul-destroying, because we knew we were going to lose… Players hid because the crowd would start to have a go at them, me included. You didn’t want to anything that might go wrong and attract even more stick.”  

The results never really improved. February saw Derby lose 6-1 to Chelsea. Jewell had already begun to admit that they were on a  one-way ticket to the second division: 

“[The Chelsea game was] the worst performance I’ve ever seen from a so-called Premier League team…We’re becoming a laughing stock. We were disgraceful. We were embarrassing.”  

One could imagine that the stresses of the Premier League are enough to weigh on someone emotionally, especially if the club is having their worst top-flight run in history. However, things would get worse for Jewell—as some ‘very personal and intimate videos from home’ were made public and plastered on the front pages of the media. 

Nothing was going right for Jewell and Derby, and the inevitable was confirmed in March following a 2-2 draw with Fulham. Derby  County were relegated from the Premier League. As I mentioned earlier, Derby concluded the 2007-08 season with 11 points, 29 defeats, and a goal difference of -69. They were the first team in 108 years to go a season winning only one game in England. The season concluded with a 4-0 loss to Reading FC. 

Since 2008’s relegation, Derby County has never made it back to the Premier League—currently sitting in League One (third division) in England. They have been hit with points deductions,  horrible owners, and even violated numerous English Football League financial rules. 

The significance behind this is that currently as of February 28th, 2024, Sheffield United sits bottom of the table with 13 points and with a goal difference of -44. They have already conceded 66 goals and are on course to break the record of most goals conceded—which of course, is currently held by Derby. 

While Sheffield United are technically better off than Derby were, this current team could be in the running for one of the worst Premier League teams of all time. Of course, only time will tell.  As of now, however, it will be very difficult to beat Derby County’s disastrous 2007-08 season. 

Sources: 

• premierleague.com 
• theanalyst.com 
• fbref.com 
• independent.co.uk 
• skysports.com 
• theathletic.com 
• dcfc.co.uk 
• sufc.co.uk 
• theoffsiderulepodcast.com