Tottenham’s Premier League streak is perfect - but they have been relegated before

This may seem like unchartered territory for Tottenham Hotspurs who have tip toeing a dangerous line between salvation and descendance over the last few months. The north London club have been a staple in the Premier League, but they have experienced this sort of hardship before. It just has been a long, long while.

Not Spurs first relegation rodeo

The Premier League was founded in 1992 and since then Tottenham have been a top flight regular in English soccer. While it’s true they have never won the league during that time, it’s also true that they have never finished in the bottom three. Spurs have three more matches in the league campaign and are about as close as they have been in the last three decades to dropping down to the Championship.

While a potential drop to the second tier of English football would be a historic disaster, the club has been in this situation before. The last time Tottenham suffered a relegation was a half century ago. Under manager Keith Burkinshaw, the club failed to achieve salvation, finishing 22nd in the league and dropped to Division 2 where they spent just one year before earning promotion back to the top flight.

It was the fourth time the club went through a relegation, with the first coming in the 1914-15 season. They would have to wait four years to get back to the top division because of the first World War. There was no league soccer during those four years of war but the club earned promotion when league soccer returned following the end of the war.

Fifteen years without first league

The next two relegation experiences didn’t go as well. There was a two decade period in which Tottenham were kept out of the top division due to poor form and the second World War. In the 1927-28 season Spurs once again descended to the second division and they would stay there for five years. In 1933, they returned to the first division, but that would be a short lived trip. They dropped back down in 1935 and didn’t return again until 1950. In total it was a fifteen year gap without playing in the first division but just eight seasons considering World War II kept league soccer from being played from 1940 to 1946.

Tottenham is currently in 17th, and have three matches to fend off what would be a catastrophic relegation, starting with a Monday night match against Leeds United tonight. They end the season at Chelsea and against Everton, and will need to make sure they stay ahead of West Ham who are a point behind them with two matches to go. A win against Leeds would make things awfully complicated for the Hammers to comeback from in the final two rounds of the season.

The turnaround at Tottenham can be attributed to Robert De Zerbi, who was signed as the club’s permanent manager in early April, and since then he has lost a game, drawn one and won another two to claw Tottenham a point clear of the relegation zone. It’s been an ugly season in which the fans have turned on the board members of the club, but salvation will go a long way in mending relationships.

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