Have Tottenham ever been relegated? Spurs' Premier League status under threat as Igor Tudor struggles

Tottenham Hotspur supporters arrived at Craven Cottage on the first weekend of March hoping to see the first league victory since Boxing Day. Instead they watched their side slump to a 2-1 defeat against Fulham, the club’s 13th loss in 28 league fixtures and the 10th consecutive match without a win. The result leaves Spurs on 29 points from 26 games, only four clear of the relegation zone and intensifying questions over interim head coach Igor Tudor’s ability to steer the team to safety.

The north Londoners dismissed Thomas Frank on 11 February after a damaging home reverse to Newcastle United, turning to Croatian Tudor to arrest the slide. While the prospect of Tottenham actually dropping into the Championship remains statistically improbable, the mere possibility is jarring for a club Forbes ranked as the ninth most valuable in world football earlier this year.

Historical context offers some reassurance. Since the Premier League’s inception in 1992, Spurs have never been relegated from the top flight. Their last descent came in 1977 under Keith Burkinshaw, when they finished bottom of the old First Division and were immediately promoted the following season. Further back, a 1935 relegation consigned the club to the second tier until they claimed the Division Two title in 1950. Apart from those two campaigns, Tottenham have spent every season since 1950 among the elite.

Even during the Premier League era, Spurs have flirted with danger only once. The 2024/25 season—Ange Postecoglou’s final campaign—saw the club finish 17th on 38 points, a single place above the drop zone. Yet they were never realistically in jeopardy and ended the year lifting the Europa League trophy with a 1-0 victory over Manchester United in Bilbao, their first major silverware in 17 years.

This time the margins feel tighter. West Ham United, currently 18th, trail Tottenham by just four points and have lost only once in their last five league outings. With Wolves and Burnley seemingly adrift, the final relegation berth could hinge on a head-to-head scramble between the Hammers, Nottingham Forest and Spurs themselves.

Fixtures offer both peril and promise. After consecutive defeats to Arsenal and Fulham, Tottenham host Crystal Palace before travelling to Liverpool three days before the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie against Atlético Madrid. Yet from mid-March onward, the schedule eases: only two of their remaining 10 matches are against traditional “big-six” opposition—Liverpool on 15 March and Chelsea on 17 May. Six of those games come against sides currently in the bottom half, including fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest, Wolves and Leeds United.

Whether that run proves enough may depend on how quickly Tudor can galvanise a squad that has looked bereft of confidence since the turn of the year. Spurs’ technical qualities remain: they are one of 16 teams still alive in Europe’s premier competition and boast a squad valued north of £600 million. Yet Premier League points, not prestige, are the currency of survival, and until the losing streak ends, talk of relegation will continue to stalk the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

For a club that contested the 2019 Champions League final and prides itself on top-four ambition, even discussing the drop feels surreal. But as March begins, the numbers are stark: 16th place, 29 points, four above the abyss. The history books show Tottenham have escaped this predicament before. They may have to do it again.