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Manchester United - 1974

Hard though it is to believe, United were relegated in 1974 after accumulating just 32 points and finishing 2nd bottom, 5 points from safety.

Legend has it that it was United great Denis Law's goal for Man City that condemned them to the drop, although this is untrue. They would have been relegated even if they'd drawn at City.

The following season they stormed to the Division 2 title to make an immediate return.

Tottenham Hotspur - 1977

Spurs relegation from the top-flight after a 27-year spell was a surprise to many, especially as the club had players of the calibre of Pat Jennings, Steve Perryman and Ralph Coates.

However, defensive frailties haunted a team that conceded 72 goals that season - including 5 against Man City, and 8 against Derby.

They finished 2nd from bottom, but bounced back at the first time on asking.

Chelsea - 1988

Chelsea had finished 6th twice in the previous three seasons and with a team boasting the likes of Kerry Dixon and Pat Nevin were again expected to challenge for the top six.

But a poor second half of the season saw them slide towards the relegation zone. They finished 18th, which would have meant safety in a normal year, but due to the system in operation for this season only, they had to participate in the play-offs.

Having beaten Blackburn convincingly in the semi, the Blues faced Middlesbrough in a two-legged final, and lost 2-1 on aggregate.

They following season the Blues accumulated a record 99 points in winning the Division 2 title.

Nottingham Forest - 1993

Brian Clough's managerial career saw him achieve League and European glory with two of English football's less fashionable clubs, Derby and Nottingham Forest.

Sadly, the great man's final season in management ended in disappointing fashion as a team featuring the likes of Roy Keane and Stuart Pearce finished bottom of the Premier League.

Manchester City - 1996

A comedy of errors - unless you're a City fan!

Alan Ball's men went into their final match level on points with Southampton and Coventry, but with an inferior goal difference. City were up against Liverpool and after fighting back from a two-goal deficit, they sat back and held out for a draw, having received information - incorrect as it turned out - that their rivals were losing.

In the event all three teams drew, and City were relegated on goal difference.

Two years later they suffered the indignity of dropping into the third tier for the first time in their history.

Middlesbrough - 1997

A Middlesbrough side featuring they likes of Fabrizio Ravanelli, Juninho and Emerson looked too good to go down. And they would have survived, but for a controversial three point penalty by the Premier League.

Boro, were punished for failing to fulfill a fixture against Blackburn due to the number of their being sidelined through illness. Had they played the gave - even if they'd lost - they would have stayed up.

Compounding their misery were defeats in both the FA Cup and League Cup finals.

Blackburn Rovers - 1999

Just four years after they were Premier League champions, and a year after they finished in the top 6, Blackburn Rovers were relegated from the top-flight.

High profile signings Martin Dahlin and Kevin Davies failed to fire, and once team captain Tim Sherwood left for Tottenham the team slid inexorably towards the trap-door.

A change of management from Roy Hodgson to Brian Kidd didn't help either, as Rovers were relegated.

Sheffield Wednesday - 2000

Sheffield Wednesday were a solid Premier League side throughout the nineties. They finishing 7th on 3 occasions, won the League Cup, and reached another League Cup and an FA Cup final.

In 2000, they had promising young manager Danny Wilson in charge, and with an expensively assembled squad were expected to do well.

But a nightmare of a season followed during which they finished with just 31 points and were relegated.

Low points included a 8-0 thrashing by Newcastle.

West Ham United - 2003

Forty points is generally considered the benchmark for survival, but in 2003 West Ham ended on 42 points and were still relegated.

Bad luck you may say, but when you consider that this team contained the likes of David James, Joe Cole, Paolo Di Canio, Freddie Kanoute, Michael Carrick, and Jermain Defoe they should have been nowhere near the drop-zone in the first place.

Leeds United - 2004

Leeds had been Champions League semi-finalists just three years before, but in a stark warning about the perils of unsustainable spending, they dropped out of the top-flight in 2003/2004, having accumulated just 33 points.

Worse was to follow, as the club went into financial melt-down and dropped into League One for the first time in their history.

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