West Bromwich Albion managed to retain their Premiership status despite being at the bottom of the table on Christmas Day. This marked the first time in the history of the Premiership that a club has done so. Since then, three other teams have matched this feat: Sunderland in 2013–14, Leicester City in 2014–15, and Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2022–23, although they secured survival before the final day.
Final day
Albion fans invade the Hawthorns pitch following their team's escape from relegation.
For the first time since the inaugural Premiership season in 1992–93, no team was assured of relegation going into the final round of matches. In each of the last three weekends of the season, the team that was bottom of the table at the start of the weekend finished it outside the drop zone. The final round of the season on 15 May started with West Bromwich at the bottom, Southampton and Crystal Palace one point clear and Norwich City in the last safe spot and two points from the bottom. Even worse, only one would survive the drop.[3][4] The final matchday was publicized by Sky Sports as "Survival Sunday", with accompanying promotional material advertising the last matchday like a title fight or epic movie blockbuster.
West Brom, who had been bottom of the table and eight points from safety at Christmas, did their part by beating Portsmouth at home 2–0.[5] Norwich, the only side to have their fate completely in their own hands, needed a first away victory of the season at Craven Cottage against Fulham to secure their top-flight status and relegate everyone else irrespective of their results. Instead, they were thrashed 6–0 and went down.[6] Southampton, despite leading early on, lost 2–1 at home to Manchester United and were relegated.[7] At The Valley, Crystal Palace led Charlton Athletic 2–1 in the 71st minute, but Jonathan Fortune equalised for Charlton with eight minutes left to send them down.[8] As a result, West Brom stayed up, and made history by becoming the first club in Premiership history to avoid relegation after being bottom of the table at Christmas.[9]
After all four matches ended, cameras focused on the Hawthorns, as confirmation of other results began to filter through. Once the realisation dawned on the players and fans that survival had been achieved, a mass pitch invasion was sparked, with huge celebrations. The Portsmouth fans in the away end of the ground also celebrated despite their defeat as, through losing, they had "helped" relegate arch-rivals Southampton. The defeat itself mattered little to Portsmouth, as they would be unable to improve on their 16th position due to 15th-placed Blackburn Rovers' greater goal difference.
Source: [10] Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored. (R) Relegated
Players
First-team squad
Squad at end of season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
^Moore was born in Birmingham, England, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally and made his international debut for Jamaica in 1999.
^Johnson was born in Bristol, England, but also qualified to represent Wales internationally and made his international debut for Wales in 1998.
^Earnshaw was born in Mufulira, Zambia, but was raised in Wales and made his international debut for Wales in May 2002.
^Dobie was born in Workington, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and made his international debut for Scotland in May 2002.
^Haas was born in Vienna, Austria, but also qualified to represent Switzerland internationally and made his international debut for Switzerland in 1996.
