Nothing elicits more tears in football than relegation. As if finishing at the bottom of the league was not humiliating enough, clubs are expected to drop a division and work their way back – in most cases without their star players who look elsewhere for employment.
The Premier League is no different and relegation nowadays hurts a lot more due to the loss of the millions of pounds guaranteed if you stay in the league. Although there are certain clubs that deserve to be relegated – either due to poor form or because they simply cannot compete – a few players over the years did not deserve what they got.
We look at five players whose performances proved they did not deserve to be relegated.
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5) Jermain Defoe: Sunderland (2016/17)
Jermain Defoe’s best years were probably at Tottenham Hotspur where he scored 91 goals across two separate stints at the north London club. Whether as a youngster or a veteran, the English striker was exciting to watch wherever he played and he scored some stunning goals.
When it looked like he was heading into early retirement with a move to Major League Soccer side Toronto FC, he realised he still had a few good years in him and returned to England to sign with Sunderland. The Black Cats have avoided relegation every year with a strong finish and his 15 goals last season saw them stay up for another year while their Tyne and Wear rivals Newcastle United went down.
However, there was no escaping relegation this season and no matter what David Moyes tried, they were destined to get relegated after a poor start of the season. The side have been in the bottom half of the table for ages and have spent a total of 21 weeks propping up the 19 teams above them.
Defoe, on his part, has scored 14 goals and even got an England call-up where he scored in the win over Lithuania. At 34, there is nothing more he can do on his own in a squad where the next best goalscorer is Victor Anichebe (3 goals).
This is a man who has scored more than 150 goals in the Premier League (157 – 7th highest of all time). It’s a sad end to his career at the Stadium of Light as he will surely leave in the summer.
4) Charlie Austin: Queens Park Rangers (2014/15)
Queens Park Rangers (QPR) are one of those teams that briefly pop their head up in the Premier League before quickly scurrying back to the safe confines of the Championship. Between 2010 and 2016, the London side have been promoted twice and relegated twice. And their last appearance in the top flight was back in the 2014/15 season.
To describe their season as a disaster would be an understatement. Of the 38 games played, QPR won only eight times and lost 24! With 30 points in all, they finished dead last and were relegated.
That squad managed by Harry Redknapp (until February) and later (Chris Ramsey) was absolutely shambolic save for striker Charlie Austin. A former bricklayer who found his way to stardom through non-league football and finally making it to the Premier League, Austin was a hard worker who deserved all the accolades that came his way.
With QPR, he scored 18 goals in the league that season – more than 40% of the team’s total. It was the fourth-highest in the league behind Sergio Aguero (26), Harry Kane (21) and Diego Costa (20). The next highest goalscorer at the club was Leroy Fer with six. Nobody else scored more than three – including Bobby Zamora who made 33 appearances.
Austin would spend half a season in the Championship before returning to the Premier League in the winter transfer window when Southampton signed him.
3) Juninho: Middlesbrough (1996/97)
In 1995, a 22-year-old attacking midfielder from Brazil who barely stood five-and-a-half feet tall shocked the world when he signed for Middlesbrough. Osvaldo Giroldo Junior (aka Juninho Paulista) had been a target for a number of clubs across Europe and it was the Teessiders who convinced him to sign the dotted line when they paid £4.75m for his services.
The fans loved him, the kids adored him and the pundits raved about him. Nicknamed The Little Fella, he did not let stardom get to his head and even played football with kids on the streets of the city when he had the chance.
In his first season, he managed to score twice. But it was his second season with the club that saw him develop into a major prospect for the Brazilian national team. In 36 league games, he scored 10 times – behind new signing Fabrizio Ravanelli’s 16 goals. Boro also reached the finals of the FA Cup and League Cup thanks to Juninho’s exploits, eventually losing both to Leicester City and Chelsea respectively.
However, a hastily postponed fixture without prior notice earlier in the season had seen Boro docked three points by the FA and it proved to be too costly as the club eventually finished 19th. If not for the punishment, Boro would have finished 16th.
A draw on the final day of the season confirmed their relegation and Juninho was inconsolable. He was a player who gave it his all for Boro and it endeared him to the fanbase who still consider him one of their greatest players as he returned for two more stints.
2) Paolo Di Canio: West Ham (2002/03)
When Paolo Di Canio signed for West Ham in January 1999, the jury was out on whether it was a wise move. While the Italian forward’s quality on the ball was never up for debate, it was his temper that was the major talking point. At the time, he was serving an 11-match ban for pushing a referee to the ground when he was sent off in a game for Sheffield Wednesday.
However, Harry Redknapp took a gamble that paid off as Di Canio turned things around. He was remembered not only for some memorable goals (remember that insane mid-air volley against Wimbledon?) but also for his sportsmanship (he once grabbed the ball with his hands instead of taking a shot when Everton goalkeeper Paul Gerrard lay injured in the box – an act that saw him get a standing ovation at Goodison Park).
But when Glenn Roeder took over as manager, Di Canio fell out with him and he did not play for the first team again. However, when Roeder had to be relieved of his duties due to a brain tumour, stand-in manager Trevor Brooking picked Di Canio and he got back to scoring goals as the Hammers looked to avoid relegation.
The Italian scored nine goals including a winner against Chelsea that almost saved the club from the drop. But he, too, was not sure it was going to be enough when pouring his heart out in an interview after the game, saying that the fans deserved to stay up.
The final day of the season saw him score an equaliser in a 2-2 draw with Birmingham that confirmed the club’s relegation. As a result, Di Canio was released and he signed for Charlton Athletic.
1) Mark Viduka: Leeds United (2003/04)
When Leeds United spent £6m to sign Mark Viduka, he was expected to team up with Harry Kewell and Michael Bridges but injuries to both players saw him pair up with Alan Smith up top. The partnership proved to be a fruitful one for the Australian forward who scored 17 league goals in his first season as The Whites finished fourth.
His most memorable performance came against Liverpool when he scored all four goals in a 4-3 win at Elland Road. Viduka was crucial to Leeds’ exploits in the league and he scored 22 goals in all competitions not once but twice with Leeds.
However, the club was mired in financial crisis with £80m in debts and it was the beginning of the end for the club in the Premier League. In his penultimate season with the club, Viduka’s goals made the difference between relegation and staying up as Peter Reid failed to make do with cheap replacements after letting top quality players leave for good money.
In the final season, Viduka was at it again – scoring crucial goals in the final months of the season to give the club a chance. But it was not enough and, in his final game, he scored the opening goal before getting sent off in what eventually became a 4-1 loss to Bolton Wanderers.
The result confirmed relegation and Viduka never played for Leeds again. He was sold soon after to Middlesbrough as Leeds’ financial troubles got worse.
