Has a Premier League champion ever been relegated? How Leicester joined Blackburn with unwanted record

2023-05-28
2 min read
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Leicester City will be playing in the EFL Championship in 2023/24 after their relegation was confirmed on a dramatic final day of the 2022/23 Premier League campaign.

The Foxes, who were Premier League champions in 2015/16, were edged out by rivals Everton, as they join Leeds United and Southampton in being relegated.

Manager Brendan Rodgers was eventually replaced by Dean Smith in mid-April, but the former Aston Villa head coach was unable to turn the tide, as he won just two games.

The Sporting News looks at how Leicester joined an unwanted list in English football history.

MORE: How Leicester went from Premier League champs to relegation

Has a Premier League champion ever been relegated?

Leicester have become just the second team in Premier League history to be relegated to the second-tier Championship.

Blackburn Rovers won the 1994/95 Premier League campaign with a squad that featured the likes of Alan Shearer, Graeme Le Saux and Henning Berg. However, the club were relegated in the 1998/99 season following a turbulent few years in the top division.

Leicester have already been relegated three times from the Premier League, most recently in 2004.

Other English champions relegated

Although Blackburn are the only champions to be relegated in the Premier League era, other winners of the English top-flight have also been relegated to the second division.

Nottingham Forest won the league title in 1978, but were relegated in the inaugural season of the Premier League in 1992/93. Aston Villa and Leeds United also join Forest on the list, with the latter being relegated in 2004.