The relegation dog fight
The relegation battle was one of the most dramatic in English history. 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 Albion on the bottom,
Southampton and
Crystal Palace one point clear, and
Norwich City in the last safe spot and two points from the bottom. For the first time since the advent of the current Premier League in 1992-1993, no club was assured of relegation going into the final day. The final matchday was publicised 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 defeating
Portsmouth at home 2-0. Norwich, the only side to have their fate completely in their own hands, lost 6-0 at
Fulham and went down. Southampton lost 2-1 at home to
Manchester United. Palace, away to
Charlton, were leading 2-1 in the second half and eight minutes from safety, but the Addicks'
Jonathan Fortune equalised to consign the Eagles to The Championship. Thus, West Brom stayed up, and changed history, becoming the first club in Premiership history to avoid relegation after being bottom of the table at Christmas.
At the end of 90 minutes in all 4 matches, Sky cameras focused on West Brom's ground,
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 joined in the celebrations and party atmosphere—as through losing 2-0 to West Brom, they had 'helped' relegate arch-rivals Southampton. Also, 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 points tally.
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Going down...
18th place in the final Premiership table went to Crystal Palace, who drew 2-2 with Charlton Athletic on the final day of the season after being eight minutes away from safety. This made way for West Bromwich Albion's Premiership survival. 19th place went to Norwich City, whose fate was confirmed by a 6-0 hammering at Fulham on the final day—a result which underlined the frailty of their defence, which had leaked 77 goals in 38 Premiership games. Bottom place went to Southampton, who lost 2-1 at home to Manchester United and were relegated after 27 years in the top flight.