The Worst Football Teams In The World

The football season has come to a close, and it is now time where fans can look back on the success (or disappointment) of the season, and see how far their teams have come, and what their next season could look like.

Of course, not all fans have seen much success from their season, and will be relieved that the football is finished for the summer.

There has been some poor teams in the history of Football, and with the season finished, now represents a good time to look at some of the worst sides in history, and how they got into the state they did, with the fans left wondering "how did it end up like this?"

So, what clubs hold the unwanted record of being the worst side in the history of their nation?

Premier League- Derby County 2007/08- 11 points

After watching the Premier League this season, you wouldn't have been surprised to see any of the bottom three take this record, as Ipswich, Leicester and Southampton certainly gave this Derby side a run for their money when it came down to who is the worst.

Southampton are officially clear of Derby County's lowest Premier League points record, which remains intact from 2007/08 📊 pic.twitter.com/h6FgWfeZEt

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 10, 2025

Southampton really took it to the wire this season, and it looked certain that the South Coast Strugglers were going to break the lowest points record. However, just in the nick of time, the Saints were able to snatch a draw against Manchester City, which gave them the all important point to separate themselves from the illusive eleven points Derby achieved in the 2007/08 season.

Derby were promoted to the Premier League after a win in the playoffs, and manager Billy Davies had ten new summer signings to gel into the squad ahead of their Premier League campaign.

Unfortunately for him, he was sacked in November after just one win, and it only got worse from there. Paul Jewell took over the side, and couldn't rectify the situation, with Derby going on a record of 32 games without a win, and were relegated in March 2008, the earliest ever for a Premier League side.

Derby of course ended the season bottom of the table, with a 24 point gap to 19th place Birmingham City. They achieved one win all season, with eight other draws amounting to their eleven points.

ON THIS DAY 2008: Derby County became the first Premier League team to be Relegated in March finishing the season on the Lowest ever point total #DCFC pic.twitter.com/TOyjKQCJNd

— FootballAwaydays (@Awaydays23) March 29, 2024

Ligue 1- Toulouse 2019/20- 13 points

Toulouse have been a Ligue 1 side since 2022, and have steadily progressed higher up the top flight in those three years. They even showed promise in the Europa League, beating Liverpool in the group stages.

However, prior to their progress, Toulouse had spent two years in Ligue 2, which was perhaps deemed unfair when looking at the circumstances.

In the 2019 season, COVID hit the world, with a major outbreak of the virus causing sporting events to be shutdown, and France was no different.

The pandemic was growing, with countries across the world being forced into Lockdown, meaning that the Ligue 1 season wasn't possible to continue with French President Edouard Phillipe suspended all sport events in attempt to contain the spread of the virus.

Therefore, the Ligue 1 season was cut short after 28 games, and Toulouse sat bottom of the table with just 13 points.

At first, Toulouse looked like they would get away with their poor form, as the French Footballing authorities ruled that relegation would be suspended due to the season being cut short, however this was later overruled, and Toulouse were made a Ligue 2 club.

You could see it as unfair, but the side were on just 13 points from 28 games, with a 10 point gap to 19th place Amiens. They had only picked up three wins from their season, so perhaps relegation was likely anyway.

It is unfair to see Toulouse on this list, considering they only played 28 games, and they could have finished with a much higher points tally if they played out their season, especially when you consider that the second worst ever French side were Lens in 1988.

Lens finished one point higher than Toulouse did, with 14 points from their full 38 game season. So maybe it is more fair for Lens to take the title of the worst ever French side, considering they had a whole season under their belt.

Bundesliga- Tasmania Berlin 1965/66 season- eight points

You have to go back all the way to the sixties to find the worst team in Bundesliga history, and there is far more beneath the surface as to how a team called Tasmania Berlin found themselves even competing in the Bundesliga.

In the 1960s, Germany was a place with strong political influence, and Berlin was an important place, although it was separated from West Germany by a wall and East German territory, Berlin was needed to keep relationships with the rest of civilization.

German authorities had decided that to keep Berlin integrated, it was vital they had a team in the Bundesliga at all times, and Hertha Berlin were seen as the perfect side to maintain that.

However, Hertha Berlin were caught doing some dodgy dealing, secretly paying players high amounts to convince them to join their club over more appealing options. Berlin was a place of serious conflict, so it isn't a big surprise that they needed to secretly pay players to move to them.

The Bundesliga caught on, and they immediately suspended Hertha's professional license, and were no longer able to compete in the top flight. However, it was vital that a team from Berlin stay as part of the Bundesliga, and authorities were scrambling to find a replacement for Hertha.

The Berlin regional division was immediately turned to, but with league winners, Tennis Borussia Berlin had already failed in their bid of promotion to the Bundesliga through the promotion rounds, and second place Spandauer SV refused promotion, probably as they realised what would happen if an amateur side was to play in the best league in Germany.

Third place Tasmania Berlin gladly stepped up however, with just two weeks before the season started, not giving them lots of time to prepare.

Despite winning their opening game of the season, Tasmania went on to win one other time, and picked up another four draws.

At the time, only two points were awarded for a win, meaning in today's new point system, Tasmania would have finished on ten points, which still gives them the lowest ever points tally recorded in a Bundesliga season.

Perhaps again this wasn't their fault, considering they were only in the league for political reasons, and they were far out of their depth, competing in the best league in Germany after a third place finish in a regional amateur league.

Meet Tasmania Berlin, the worst team in Bundesliga history...

...so far.
#S04 pic.twitter.com/S8blfOJy9T

— DW Sports (@dw_sports) January 7, 2021

La Liga- Sporting Gijon 1997/98- 13 points

The worst team in La Liga history would go to Sporting Gijon, who recorded just thirteen points in their league season.

They currently play their football in the second division of Spain, playing at the El Milinion stadium, the oldest professional ground in history.

The 97/98 season was the 22nd consecutive season in the top flight. The club narrowly avoided relegation the year before, and manager Miguel Montes was sacked after just four games into the season, before his replacement Antonio Maceda was sacked after the 15th game in the league, and his replacement was Jose Manuel Diaz Novoa, who picked up one win before resigning after the 31st game in the season, with Jose Antonio Redondo leading the team to the end of the season, picking up a win along the way.

It was a terrible season, with countless managers at the helm of the club, and Gijon were relegated in March with the lowest ever points tally in La Liga history.

Funnily enough, the club were so embarrassed after this season that their player of the season award was given to the supporters.

Serie A- Lecce 1993/94- 11 points

Lecce hold the unwanted record of the worst ever Serie A team in history. The side finished on eleven points in 1994, and were relegated from the Serie A, and then relegated the following year from the Serie B.

After their back-to-back relegations, Lecce then bounced back with consecutive promotions from the Serie C to the Serie A, recitfying their record breaking season in the Serie A years before.

Technically, Juventus could be labelled the worst team, as they were relegated on zero points from the Serie A in 2006 for the match fixing scandal. Juventus however did win plenty of games in their season, and relegation was handed to them due to bigger issues behind the scenes, rather than on pitch performance like Lecce.

Lecce now play in the Serie A, and just about avoided relegation this season by a 17th place finish on 34 points.

Football has given us some tremendous teams in the past, who we have thoroughly enjoyed watching before.

Unfortunately though, for some fans, football has struggled to bring joy at times, with their clubs putting in dreadful performances week after week, resulting in being laughed out of the league.

Luckily this season however, no clubs took the unwanted achievement of the lowest points tally in their leagues, although Southampton did tread dangerously close.

With this being said, how long will it be before we see these low point records be broken, or will these clubs have these horrendous records hang over their heads for years to come?