Southampton’s Premier League fate was sealed after its latest loss to Tottenham Hotspur, making the Saints the first team to be relegated with seven games still on the calendar.
Previously, Ipswich and Derby County shared the unfortunate record for earliest relegation confirmation, both bowing out with six games remaining in the 1994/95 and 2007/08 seasons, respectively.
Spurs’ Brennan Johnson hit the net twice before half-time, while Lucas Bergvall’s potential first top-flight goal was disallowed for offside after a lengthy VAR review, marking Southampton’s 25th season defeat.
A last-minute consolation goal from Matheus Fernandes led to ironic cheers of “We are staying up” from the away fans, but the mood turned sombre as Johnson’s late penalty incident, converted by substitute Mathys Tel, rubber-stamped their drop.
With the specter of another grim milestone looming – the lowest points total in a Premier League campaign – Saints boss Ivan Juric is determined to steer clear of surpassing Derby’s 11-point haul from 2007/08. Ahead of Wednesday’s clash with Crystal Palace, Juric expressed his resolve to the press: “I don’t want it to be that we are the worst team in the history of Premier League.”
Despite the grim statistics, Saints’ relegation isn’t the earliest in Premier League history, sharing the joint-fourth spot with Derby’s March 29 exit, Huddersfield’s March 30 drop in 2018/19, Fulham’s April 2 farewell the same year, and Leicester City’s 2001/02 departure on April 6, aligning them with Southampton.
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Skipper Jan Bednarek said: “”Let’s be honest, today is just official but we knew for a few weeks that relegation was coming. It was just a matter of time. Next season we will be in the Championship and it is the beginning of something new. We have to build something good around the club.
“We can’t change the past, the only thing we can do in the last seven games is to enjoy being in the Premier League. We have to improve as players and as a club. Hopefully we are going to build something great.”
The other newly-promoted sides, Ipswich and Leicester City, are also teetering on the brink of a Championship return after Wolves secured a crucial victory at Portman Road on Saturday, widening the survival gap to a daunting 12 points.
Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna didn’t mince words post-match on Saturday, acknowledging the tough road ahead: “I think it’s certainly more than likely on the balance of probabilities.
“Not that I don’t think we can’t finish the season strongly, but Wolves are a strong side and the chance of them losing all their games is really low. The likelihood is we’ll fall short of our ultimate dream.”
