Christmas: a time for goodwill and peace for all men. However, also a hugely significant date on the footballing calendar – a day to take stock and evaluate your team’s season so far. Who will hit the euphoric number one spot in the table on Christmas Day and which sides will spend their festivities in the dreaded relegation zone?
Undoubtedly this is the dream time in the season for statisticians to throw in a ‘no side with so few points at Christmas have ever stayed up in Premier League history’. And while it may seem like a bleak midwinter for the Premier League’s bottom three, I am going to try to shine some festive hope by collating a few of the sides who defied their winter blues to pull off a great escape and avoid the drop.
West Bromwich Albion 2004-05
League position on Christmas Day: 20th (10 points)
Final league position: 17th (34 points)
Christmas Day 2004 was not a very merry one for the Baggies; Bryan Robson’s side propped up the Premier League table, five points adrift from safety. At that point, no side in Premier League history had ever survived having been bottom at Christmas. However, West Brom bucked the trend and produced unlikely fight-back to secure their Premier League status.
Robson’s side had given themselves a fighting chance of survival with a five-game unbeaten run over March and April that included wins against Charlton and Everton. Whilst that gave West Brom some much-needed points, they had slipped back to bottom of the table ahead of the final game of the season.
For the first time in Premier League history, no side had been relegated before the final day of the season. This led to an epic ‘Survival Sunday’ with West Brom, Crystal Palace, Southampton and Norwich City all fighting for survival. West Brom, however, were the only one of the four teams to win their game with a 2-0 win over Portsmouth courtesy of goals from Geoff Horsefield and Kieran Richardson.
After an anxious wait, news of Charlton’s late equaliser against Crystal Palace that sealed West Brom’s survival prompted pandemonium at the Hawthorns.
Portsmouth 2005-06
League position on Christmas Day: 18th (13 points)
Final league position: 17th (38 points)
Portsmouth, who were in the bottom three at Christmas, won just four of their opening 28 matches despite the return of former manager Harry Redknapp. Redknapp’s side were eight points from safety going into the final ten fixtures and their three-year tenure in the Premier League looked like it was coming to an end.
However, Pompey’s fortunes turned after Pedro Mendes scored a stoppage-time winner against Manchester City that ended a nine-game winless run and proved to be the catalyst for their survival push.
From that moment onwards, Portsmouth won their next two, beating West Ham and Fulham, scoring seven goals in the process. Wins against Middlesbrough, Sunderland, and Wigan, also, saw Harry Redknapp’s side secure safety with one game to go, with his side having claimed 20 points from a possible 27.
Having turned their form around to stay up, Portsmouth went onto win the FA Cup and enjoy a UEFA Cup campaign in 2008-09.
Wigan 2011-12
League position on Christmas Day: 18th (14 points)
Final league position: 15th (43 points)
An eight-game losing run between September and November resulted in the Latics being in the bottom three over the festive period.
Managed by Roberto Martinez, Wigan were only three points adrift from safety with nine matches remaining. However, the magnitude of their task lied within the quality of opponents that they had to face.
Having won just one of their previous 14 away matches, Wigan’s next three were at Liverpool, Chelsea, and Arsenal. Oh and they had to play league leaders Manchester United as well.
Wigan’s first-ever win at Anfield was followed up with a win over Stoke City before a cruel 2-1 defeat against Chelsea could have derailed their survival bid. In fact, it had the opposite effect and proved to be the spark Wigan needed to produce some incredible results.
Shaun Maloney’s strike against Manchester United gave Wigan a famous victory over the Red Devils as they moved out of the bottom three before securing another famous win over Arsenal.
Despite a defeat against Fulham, the Latics won their final three matches to avoid the drop and seal 15th place in the Premier League table
Sunderland 2013-14
League position on Christmas Day: 20th (10 points)
Final league position: 14th (41 points)
Another winter tale of gloom saw the Black Cats bottom of the table at Christmas in 2013. However, Sunderland became quite accustomed to spending time in the bottom three that season, spending an incredible total of 226 days in the relegation zone. However, similarly to West Brom, they seemed to peak at just the right time.
The season had got off to a rocky start with manager Paulo Di Canio being sacked as Sunderland embarked on an eight-game winless run to start their campaign. His replacement, Gus Poyet, failed to make an instant impact with Sunderland losing 4-0 to Swansea in his first match in charge.
Poyet did manage to steady the ship after that with Sunderland only losing once between mid-December and February, with this good run of from lifting them to 14th in the table. However, inconsistency was Sunderland’s biggest issue and after they had appeared to pull themselves to safety, they lost eight of their next nine matches.
With six games left, Poyet’s side were bottom of the table, seven points from safety, but a draw against Manchester City, followed with four wins, including away victories at Chelsea and Manchester United meant that their safety was secured with a 2-0 win over West Brom on the penultimate weekend of the season.
Sunderland finished the season comfortably in 14th position despite being only the second team after West Brom to survive having been bottom of the table at Christmas.
Leicester City 2014-15
League position on Christmas Day: 20th (10 points)
Final league position: 14th (38 points)
Leicester’s remarkable fairy-tale began in the 2014/15 season with one of the greatest escapes of all time. Leicester City had begun the season reasonably well, but a poor run of form meant that Nigel Pearson’s side were rock bottom of the table at Christmas with just ten points.
Despite a brief resurgence at the start of the New Year, a 4-3 defeat to Tottenham in mid-April meant that the Foxes remained bottom of the table and seven points from safety with just nine games left.
Leicester, however, weren’t about to be ostrich’s with their heads in the sand and a 2-1 home win over West Ham was the catalyst for a remarkable run of 22 points from 27 which saw them clinch survival with one game to spare.
Leicester ended the season in style, thrashing QPR 5-1 on the final day to celebrate their survival.
The Foxes’ great escape wasn’t enough to save Nigel Pearson’s job, however, as he was somewhat harshly sacked and replaced by Claudio Ranieri. Remind me, what happened after that?
Overview
So, whilst Newcastle, Norwich, and Burnley, will be facing a blue Christmas, over the years there is another evidence to suggest that there is still plenty left to play for. Their managers’ may not be rocking around the Christmas tree, but they will certainly be full of hope that their fortunes might change in the second half of the season.
