Ranking the worst teams in Championship history as Sheffield Wednesday break record | OneFootball

The Championship is rightly recognised as one of the most competitive leagues in Europe, but the league has been home to some truly woeful sides over the years.

Whether it’s down to problems behind the scenes, bad coaching or lack of infrastructure, there are plenty of reasons why a side can plummet down the second tier.

Using points-per-game, we’ve ranked the seven worst teams in Championship history.

1. Sheffield Wednesday 2025-26 (0.33 PPG)

After losing the Steel City Derby, Wednesday’s relegation to League One was confirmed over the weekend.

It’s the earliest that a team has ever been relegated from the Championship, with Henrik Pedersen’s side still having 13 matches to play.

From the summer, relegation seemed inevitable for the club as former owner Dejphon Chansiri had plunged the club into chaos.

As a result, they’ve been deducted a total of 18 points for breaches of payment obligations and entering administration.

Even without the point deduction, the club would currently be 23 points adrift of safety and almost certainly relegated to League One.

Having averaged just 0.33 PPG all season, it’s likely that they will end the campaign on negative points.

2. Rotherham United 2016-17 (0.5 PPG)

Prior to Sheffield Wednesday this season, Rotherham United held the record as the worst Championship team of all time.

The Millers only racked up 23 points during the 2016-17 campaign, averaging a miserable 0.5 PPG.

Neil Warnock had managed to keep them in the Championship during the season prior, but the club fell apart after he left over the summer.

The club were ultimately relegated in April 2017, with seven matches still remaining.

3. Blackpool 2014-15 (0.56 PPG)

When Blackpool began their pre-season preparations in 2014, the club only had seven senior players registered.

They eventually bundled a squad together, but were nowhere near the standard required, as they only won four matches all season.

During this period, the fans were protesting against the Oyston family and it’s no wonder that the campaign ended in relegation.

At the time, their points record of 26 was a record for the Championship, but it’s since been surpassed by Rotherham and Sheffield Wednesday.

4. Rotherham United 2023-24 (0.59 PPG)

After a solid finish in 19th in 2022-23, Rotherham fans were quietly optimistic heading into the 2023-24 campaign.

However, it quickly became apparent that Matt Taylor’s side were nowhere near the standard of last season.

Losing key players like Chiedozie Ogbene and Ben Wiles hampered the Millers from the off as they were only able to collect 27 points in total.

5. Rotherham United 2004-05 (0.63 PPG)

The second tier of English football was rebranded as the Championship in 2004 and Rotherham were the first team to be relegated under the new name.

In total, they only won five of their 46 league matches and finished 21 points adrift of safety come the end of the season.

Since 2004, Rotherham have been relegated from the Championship on five separate occasions, which is the most of any club during that period.

6. Barnsley 2021-22 (0.65 PPG)

Given that Barnsley finished in the play-offs during 2020-21, their relegation in 2021-22 came as a shock to people at the time.

Unfortunately, Barnsley lost the spine of the squad that finished fifth during the prior season, along with manager Valerien Ismael, who left to join West Brom.

It resulted in a car crash campaign for The Tykes as they only collected 30 points throughout the season, 48 fewer than they’d managed in the season prior.

Since being relegated in 2022, Barnsley have remained in League One, despite going close to promotion on a couple of occasions.

7. Ipswich Town 2018-19 (0.67 PPG)

Ipswich have come a hell of a long way since 2019.

The club overhauled their squad during the summer of 2018, signing 14 new players along with appointing Shrewsbury Town boss Paul Hurst.

Unfortunately, the rebuild was a total disaster and the Tractor Boys looked doomed from the off, only winning one of their first 21 league matches.

They were ultimately relegated with just 31 points to their name, at an average of 0.67 PPG.