Everton next? 6 relegated sides that were ‘too good to go down’

Everton approach the final run-in fighting to keep their Premier League status – and should they drop, they’d arguably be the biggest club to suffer relegation in nearly 50 years.

The Toffees are the English top-flight’s second longest-serving side, behind only Arsenal. They’ve been an ever-present throughout the modern Premier League era – and stretching way back beyond, all the way to 1954, following a three-year stint in the second tier.

Frank Lampard’s side have their fate in their own hands, though, and will fancy leapfrogging Leeds United or Burnley to secure survival – especially after recent 1-0 home wins against Manchester United and Chelsea, which were as impressive as they were vital.

Their current situation shows that they haven’t exactly been the most well-run club in recent years, but absolutely no one will have predicted Everton to be relegated at the start of the season. They firmly belong in the category of “too good to go down” – but that hasn’t saved several other big clubs from the drop in years gone by.

Here are six sides of the biggest shock relegations in English football history.

Newcastle weren’t one of the clubs in the Premier League when it was rebranded in 1992, but they were a mainstay for a decade and a half after Kevin Keegan led them to promotion in 1992-93.

In that time they finished in the top half more often than not, with a few memorable European campaigns and unforgettable back-to-back 2nd place finishes in 1995-96 and 1996-97.

They’d fallen since those lofty heights by the mid-noughties, especially after the retirement of all-time top scorer Alan Shearer, but come 2008 there was renewed hope that Keegan was to bring the good times back.

King Kev steadied the ship and led the Magpies