Only four clubs have managed it, but Bryan Robson’s West Brom side of 2004/05 were the first to survive relegation, having been bottom at Christmas. Rob Earnshaw played a significant role in this historic feat, contributing 11 league goals in 18 starts for the beleaguered Baggies.
“I still don’t know how we pulled it off!” admits Earnshaw, 20 years on speaking to FourFourTwo. “The manager who signed me, Gary Megson, was sacked halfway through a difficult season.
“Nobody had ever stayed up after being rock-bottom at Christmas, but that motivated us. We had nothing to lose.”
Survival Sunday
For the first time since the inaugural Premier League season in 1992–93, no team was assured of relegation going into the final day of the 2004/05 season. West Brom kicked off their game at home to Portsmouth (who were on 39 points but safe from relegation themselves) rock bottom.
Southampton and Crystal Palace were one point ahead of them with Norwich City in the last safe spot, two points from the bottom. Only one would stay up on what Sky Sports branded: ‘Survival Sunday'.
West Brom at one stage had been eight points adrift from safety. But they did their part by beating Portsmouth 2–0. Norwich were the only side to have their fate completely in their own hands.
They required a first away victory of the season at Craven Cottage vs Fulham which would relegate everyone else in the process. Instead, they were thrashed 6–0 and went down.
Southampton, despite leading early on, lost 2–1 at home to Manchester United and were relegated. Meanwhile, at The Valley, Crystal Palace led Charlton Athletic 2–1 in the 71st minute, but Jonathan Fortune equalised for Charlton with eight minutes left and the Saints dropped.
West Brom survived and made history by becoming the first club in Premier League history to avoid relegation after being bottom of the table at Christmas. As all four fixtures ended Sky’s cameras focused on the Hawthorns.
A traditional last-day-of-the-season pitch invasion was underway with Portsmouth fans in the away end joining in celebrations as through losing, they had helped relegate arch-rivals Southampton. Reflecting on the season two decades on, Earnshaw pinpoints a mid-season bonding trip to America as the moment the tide turned for West Brom.
“During a 10-day break without a game, Bryan Robson took us to Florida to get away from it all, which was refreshing. We got together as a team and bonded.
“From then on, results changed. We earned a draw at Old Trafford in our penultimate game and beat Portsmouth at home on the final day. It was a miracle. We had no right to do it, but we really believed in ourselves and showed that we could.”
Twenty seasons later Southampton are the latest club to have been bottom of the table at Christmas. Stats site Opta forecasts their chances of being relegated at 97.8%. In the 19 seasons since West Brom first managed it, only three clubs have managed the great escape.
