Too good to go down? Seven most shocking Premier League relegations as Tottenham aim to avoid disastrous drop into the Championship

It might seem difficult to believe for those who began following the Premier League after the turn of the century, but Norwich City finished third in the competition's inaugural season as they built on promotion in 1986 to establish themselves in the top-flight. However, just two years after that memorable campaign that resulted in European qualification, the Canaries were on their way back to the second tier.

The thought of Norwich being relegated seemed far-fetched as 1994 became 1995 with John Deehan's side sat in seventh place at New Year. However, a collapse over the course of the second half of the season, which led to Deehan's resignation in April, saw them plummet down the table and finish 20th out of 22 teams. The sales of key forwards Chris Sutton and Mark Robins, as well as an injury to inspirational goalkeeper Bryan Gunn, were blamed, with supporters protesting against owner Robert Chase as Norwich disappeared through the trap door.

The 1996-97 season was one of great highs and lows for Middesbrough. They reached the final of both the FA Cup and League Cup (although they lost both Wembley showpieces), but endured a season to forget in the Premier League despite the presence of Brazilian midfield duo Juninho and Emerson as well as lethal Italian striker Fabrizio Ravanelli.

In fairness to Boro, while their league campaign was disappointing, they actually accrued enough points to finish solidly mid-table in 14th. However, a three-point deduction for failing to fulfil their December fixture against Blackburn Rovers due to a spate of players suffering from injuries and illnesses proved more than a little costly, as that led to them falling five places and suffering relegation on the final day of the campaign.

Heading into the 1998-99 campaign, Blackburn Rovers had finished inside the Premier League's top seven in five of the previous six seasons, including when they surprisingly won the title in 1995. However, they became the first team to win the Premier League and then suffer relegation from it despite kicking-off the campaign as some experts' outside tip to finish top of the tree once more.

Rovers won just two of their opening 15 league games of the season, leading to the sacking of Roy Hodgson as manager and appointment of Brian Kidd as his replacement. The former Manchester United coach only lost seven of his subsequent 23 matches in charge, but too many draws meant Blackburn could not lift themselves away from the bottom three and eventually had their relegation confirmed in the final week of the season.

West Ham had finished in the top half of the Premier League in four of the previous five seasons heading into 2002-03, and hopes were high that a squad containing the likes of David James, Jermain Defoe, Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and Paolo Di Canio could push for European qualification under Glenn Roeder. However, expectations soon needed to be lowered after the Irons won just three of their opening 24 games.

Sir Trevor Brooking gave the Hammers hope of survival after the club legend was forced to step in in the wake of Roeder falling ill in April, but they couldn't get the result they needed at Birmingham City on the final day of the season and saw their 10-year stay in the top-flight ended amid emotional scenes at St. Andrew's.

Leeds United reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2001, but it soon became clear that the big spending of chairman Peter Ridsdale had left the club in financial difficulties and thus a slide back down the table felt inevitable. How quickly Leeds fell, however, still came as a huge shock given the players they managed to retain.

Forwards Mark Viduka and Alan Smith had been the strike-force that led Leeds to those European heights three years earlier, future England No.1 Paul Robinson was a mainstay in goal and a teenage James Milner made waves, but neither Peter Reid or club legend Eddie Gray could find a consistent level of performance to lead the Elland Road outfit away from danger, and the 1992 champions of England slipped to the second tier with two games still to play.

The days of Newcastle playing in the Champions League during the early 2000s were firmly in the Magpies' rearview mirror by the time 2008-09 rolled around, but a squad containing Michael Owen, Damien Duff, Shay Given, Nicky Butt and Mark Viduka was still regarded as being competitive when the season began. However, things soon began to unravel when fan-favourite coach Kevin Keegan fell out with the Newcastle hierarchy over transfers and resigned in September 2008.

Caretaker boss Chris Hughton subsequently oversaw two disastrous runs of form that sandwiched Joe Kinnear taking charge for four-and-a-half months before he was forced to step down due to ill health. Newcastle icon Alan Shearer was eventually handed the managerial reins with eight matches to go, but his lack of coaching experience was horribly exposed as he won just one game on the way to the team from Tyneside being relegated.

Leicester City remarkably won the Premier League in 2016. Five years later, they won the FA Cup for the first time in their history while finishing fifth in the league for the second successive campaign under Brendan Rodgers. Foxes fans were getting used to European nights at the King Power Stadium, and while they could only dream of repeating their fairy-tale triumph under Claudio Ranieri, Leicester were establishing themselves as a force within English football.

And then, in 2023, almost out of nowhere, they were relegated. A lack of transfer activity heading into the campaign suggested all was not well behind the scenes, and Rodgers seemed to lose both hope and interest long before he was sacked in April. Regardless, a squad containing the likes of Youri Tielemans, Jamie Vardy, Harvey Barnes and James Maddison - who memorably called out a journalist for suggesting Leicester could be relegated two months before the end of the season - should have had enough to avoid the drop. They did not.