When it comes to proclaiming the best season ever for a Premier League club, there’s some room for debate. In 2018 Manchester City set a record for points, wins and goals, but is it better than Manchester United’s treble-winning team in 1999? And does either compare to Arsenal’s Invincibles in 2003-04?
When it comes to the worst Premier League season of all time, the answer is quite simple: Derby County in 2007-08.
The Rams of Derby County are not a club without history. They won the English top flight twice in the 70s and have an FA Cup title to their name. But in 2007-08 Derby County was the worst team in Premier League history.
That season was the year of Cristiano Ronaldo at the top of the Premier League, the Portuguese star scoring 31 times to win the Golden Boot as Manchester United won the league. At the bottom of the table, Derby County never came close to fending off relegation, becoming the first club to ever be relegated by March.
The records of futility set by the Rams during this season may never be broken. The records set include:
Fewest points: 11
Fewest wins: One
Most consecutive matches without a win: 32
Fewest goals scored: 20
Most goals conceded in a 38-match season: 89
Worst goal difference: minus-69
Derby County finished 25 points away from safety that season; the lone win came in September against Newcastle United. Three players (Ronaldo, Fernando Torres and Emmanuel Adebayor, who scored two hat tricks against the Rams) each scored more than the entire Derby County squad.
The Rams have yet to return to the Premier League since the abysmal 2008 season ended, though they have yet to be relegated from the Championship.
We may never see a team worse than Derby County.
