The worst starts to a season ever
Sheffield United made an historically bad start to the 2023/24 Premier League season
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Ah, the start of the new football season: a time for optimism and that sense that ‘this will be our year’.
Mark Hughes was sacked as QPR manager three months into the 2012/13 season
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32. QPR, 2012/13
QPR’s first top-flight stint of the 21st century came to a miserable end as they finished bottom of the Premier League table.
Mick McCarthy started the 2005/06 season in charge at Sunderland, who went on to set a new record-low Premier League points tally of 15
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31. Sunderland, 2005/06
Back in the big time two years after recording the lowest points total in Premier League history (19), Sunderland would have been determined to begin the 2005/06 campaign with a bang.
Marcelo Bielsa quit as Marseille manager one game into the 2015/16 campaign, claiming changes had been made to his contract
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30. Marseille, 2015/16
There’s never a dull moment with Marcelo Bielsa in charge, and so Marseille found when the ever-passionate Argentine led them into the 2015/16 Ligue 1 season.
Bournemouth were deducted points for going into administration
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29. Bournemouth, 2008/09
Several clubs found themselves in a right pickle at the start of the 2008/09 League Two season, with Luton being docked a whopping 30 points, and Rotherham and Bournemouth each 17.
Airbus UK Broughton were docked points for fielding ineligible players on two separate occasions during the 2022/23 season
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28. Airbus UK Broughton, 2022/23
They started out as the works team of the local aircraft factory, but Airbus UK Broughton failed to take off at the start of the 2022/23 Cymru Premier (that’s the Welsh top flight) season.
Sampdoria ended up finishing bottom of the 2022/23 Serie A table
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27. Sampdoria, 2022/23
Italian champions, Coppa Italia winners and European Cup finalists in the early 90s, Sampdoria found themselves in dire straits three decades later.
Brooks Mileson was reportedly severely in debt when he pulled his funding from Gretna in 2007
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26. Gretna, 2007/08
Italian champions, Coppa Italia winners and European Cup finalists in the early 90s, Sampdoria found themselves in dire straits three decades later.
Dover Athletic’s Crabble Athletic Ground
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25. Dover Athletic, 2021/22
Dover’s 2021/22 National League campaign wasn’t so much a case of a poor start but an entirely horrendous season: they didn’t win until late January, at the 25th time of asking, then had to wait another two-and-a-half months for their second (and final) victory.
After a similarly poor start followed by a post-Christmas upturn in 1991/92, Sheffield United manager Dave Bassett decided to have the 1992 Christmas party in August
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24. Sheffield United, 1990/91
Sheffield United took just four points from their opening 16 First Division games, failing to secure a win until their final home match of 1990.
Josef Hickersberger during his short tenure as Fortuna Dusseldorf manager
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23. Fortuna Dusseldorf, 1991/92
Fortuna Dusseldorf couldn’t have made a more miserable start to the Bundesliga season, losing six out of six and sacking boss Josef Hickersberger as a result.
Brechin City’s Glebe Park
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22. Brechin City, 2017/18
Playing in Scotland’s second tier for the first time in 11 years, Brechin found it tough going, picking up a mere four points from their first 20 games.
Frank de Boer lasted just four games as Crystal Palace boss, the fewest in Premier League history
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21. Crystal Palace, 2017/18
Ahead of the 2017/18 Premier League season, Crystal Palace replaced Sam Allardyce with new manager Frank de Boer in a bid to improve their playing style.
Chairman Ken Richardson was jailed for conspiracy to commit arson over the plot to burn down Doncaster’s Belle Vue ground (above)
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20. Doncaster Rovers, 1997/98
For Doncaster Rovers, the 1997/98 campaign began with a 20-game winless stretch and ended in relegation (and chairman Ken Richardson awaiting trial for hiring three men to set fire to the club’s Belle Vue ground).
Sporting director Renato Brun went nuclear and fired the entire Grenchen team
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19. FC Grenchen, 2014/15
Grenchen made an absolutely nightmarish start to the season in the Swiss fourth tier, a run of nine consecutive defeats culminating in a 10-0 drubbing by FC Luzern’s youth team.
Bolton began the 2019/20 season with no shirt sponsor and having to field mostly teenagers
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18. Bolton Wanderers, 2019/20
A famous old club in the English game, Bolton were founder members of the Football League back in 1888.
Greuther Furth fans tried their best to change their side’s fortunes in 2021/22
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17. Greuther Furth, 2021/22
Playing in the German top flight for just the second time, Greuther Furth set a new record for the worst ever Bundesliga start by taking a solitary point from their first 14 outings.
Loughborough was home to Loughborough Athletic and Football Club from 1896 until their dissolution in 1900
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16. Loughborough, 1899/1900
Loughborough’s tally of eight points (back when a win was only worth two) in their final Second Division campaign is a Football League record that it’s hard to ever see being broken.
Ajax lost 4-0 at home to arch-rivals Feyenoord during their miserable start to the 2023/24 campaign – in a game which had to be abandoned due to fan violence and completed days later
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15. Ajax, 2023/24
They’re one of the most successful clubs in European football history, but even Ajax aren’t immune to a shocking start – as the Amsterdam giants found in 2023/24.
Norwich actually went on to win the 2009/10 League One title – by 2011/12, they were back in the Premier League!
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14. Norwich City, 2009/10
In 2009, Norwich hit their lowest point in half a century as they were relegated to the third tier of English football.
Ex-Italy international Dino Baggio was among the big names playing for Ancona in 2003/04
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13. Ancona, 2003/04
Surprisingly promoted from Serie B the previous season, Ancona tried to improve their Serie A survival chances by making no fewer than 18 new signings – including stars like Dino Baggio and Mario Jardel.
Cheltenham (in red) in action against Shrewsbury Town on the opening weekend of the 2023/24 League One season
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12. Cheltenham Town, 2023/24
Cheltenham made unwanted Football League history at the start of the 2023/24 League One season.
Chelsea ended up finishing 10th in the Premier League under interim boss Guus Hiddink, after Jose Mourinho was sacked in December
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11. Chelsea, 2015/16
Reigning Premier League champions Chelsea made a disastrous start to their title defence, losing nine of their first 16 fixtures.
Almeria didn’t win at home until their final game of the season, when they thrashed Cadiz 6-1
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10. Almeria, 2023/24
Having narrowly avoided relegation in 2022/23, Almeria would have hoped to kick on and cement their LaLiga status.
Manchester United lost 6-2 to Chelsea in their third game of the 1930/31 season
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9. Manchester United, 1930/31
Back in the early 1930s, Manchester United were far from the dominant force they would go on to become.
Benevento were playing in the Italian top flight for the very first time in 2017/18
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8. Benevento, 2017/18
Benevento’s maiden Serie A campaign was as good as over by December, after they started with a run of 14 consecutive defeats.
Maidstone played their home games at Dartford’s Watling Street while they were in the Football League
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7. Maidstone United, 1992/93
Maidstone never got up and running at the start of the 1992/93 Fourth Division season: quite literally.
Paul Heckingbottom was sacked in December, his results having included an 8-0 home loss to Newcastle
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6. Sheffield United, 2023/24
Having bounced back up at the first time of asking, Sheffield United were hoping to make it stick in the Premier League.
Ibis are based on the outskirts of the city of Recife
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5. Ibis
At the end of the 70s and start of the 80s, Brazilian lower-league outfit Ibis went three years and 11 months without tasting victory – a Guinness World Record.
Stuart Pearce after signing for Longford in 2016
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4. Longford, 2015/16
Desperate times call for desperate measures – and in January 2016, Longford turned to Stuart Pearce as their saviour.
Pescara began the 2016/17 season with Italian World Cup-winning defender Massimo Oddo in the dugout
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3. Pescara, 2016/17
Pescara won just once during the first half of the 2016/17 Serie A season – and that wasn’t even their doing: they were awarded the three points after their opponents, Sassuolo, fielded an ineligible player.
Fort William’s Claggan Park
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2. Fort William, 2017/18 & 2018/19
Based at the picturesque Claggan Park in the foothills of Ben Nevis, Britain’s highest peak, Fort William haven’t had much success in their history.
Bury fans directed their anger over the club’s plight at chairman Steve Dale
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1. Bury, 2019/20
Bury were on a high in the summer of 2019, having been promoted back to League One – then disaster struck.
Tom Hancock started freelancing for FourFourTwo in April 2019 and has also written for the Premier League and Opta Analyst, among others. He supports Wycombe Wanderers and has a soft spot for Wealdstone. A self-confessed statto, he has been known to watch football with a spreadsheet (or several) open…
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