The mood around Tottenham Hotspur has shifted from anxious concern to outright dread as the Premier League’s business end approaches, with the club teetering just above the relegation zone after a season many fans are already calling the worst in their storied history. Having not won a league match in over a quarter of the 2025-2026 campaign, Spurs find themselves in a predicament that’s both shocking and, according to some, entirely self-inflicted. Their most recent setback—a 3-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest—has left them just one place and one point clear of the drop, the closest they’ve come to relegation since their last descent in 1977.
How did it come to this for a club of such stature? Tottenham, the Europa League holders and the ninth-wealthiest football club in the world with revenue of €672.6 million (£581 million, $773 million) in 2024-25, are now facing a fate previously reserved for less financially secure clubs. Playing Champions League and Championship football in the same calendar year is, as one observer put it, “unprecedented for a club of Tottenham’s size.”
The roots of this crisis are tangled and deep. Some point to the lack of investment that followed the club’s expensive new stadium, while others cite the sacking of Mauricio Pochettino just months after a Champions League final appearance in 2019. More recent managerial missteps—starting with José Mourinho and culminating in Igor Tudor’s current, embattled tenure—have only compounded the chaos. Behind the scenes, the ousting of Daniel Levy by the Lewis family at the season’s start signaled instability at the very top. Injuries, too, have ravaged the squad, with key creative forces James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski sidelined all season by knee injuries, and only two ever-presents—Guglielmo Vicario and Mathys Tel—managing to avoid the treatment room until now. Even that streak is ending: Vicario is set for hernia surgery and Tel exited the Forest defeat with a muscular injury.
The numbers are stark. Tottenham have taken just 34 points from their last 40 Premier League games and only 13 from their last 22. They have failed to win 13 successive league matches for the first time since 1935. With just two home victories, only relegated Sheffield Wednesday have fared worse at home in English league football this season. Spurs have not won a match in 2026, and with no fixture until mid-April, their winless run threatens to stretch even further. The historical omens are grim: only three teams have endured longer winless streaks from the start of a calendar year—and all were relegated.
As if the injury crisis and form weren’t enough, discipline has also been an issue. Tottenham have collected four red cards this season, second only to Chelsea’s seven. The combination of poor performances, key absences, and costly suspensions has left fans and pundits alike struggling to see where the points needed for survival might come from.
Yet, amid the doom and gloom, a few glimmers of hope remain. Tottenham’s remaining fixtures are, on paper, less daunting than those of their relegation rivals. With matches against Brighton, Wolves, Leeds, and Everton between mid-April and late May, there are opportunities to secure the handful of points that could keep them afloat. According to Opta’s supercomputer, Spurs have a 23.33% chance of relegation as of March 22, 2026—far from a death sentence compared to West Ham’s 58.75% probability. Two wins, pushing their total to the 36-38 point range, might be enough to survive, especially given that only one of West Ham, Forest, Spurs, and Leeds will join Burnley and Wolves in the Championship next season.
The psychological toll is mounting. Former Premier League players who have endured relegation battles describe a suffocating sense of shame and scrutiny. Ashley Westwood, who was relegated with Aston Villa a decade ago, recalled, “It’s the embarrassment of: ‘You’ve taken this club down.’ That’s the hardest thing and that’ll always be in the records, that we got Aston Villa relegated, which is hurtful even to this day.” The pressure isn’t confined to the pitch—families, staff, and entire communities feel the strain. “You’re fighting for the chef’s career, you’re fighting for the kitman’s career. Relegation ruins everything,” Westwood said, highlighting the broader consequences of the drop.
Comparisons with other fallen giants abound. Aston Villa (2016), Newcastle United (2009), and Leeds United (2004) all suffered relegation after long top-flight runs. In each case, a toxic mix of managerial upheaval, financial mismanagement, and eroding confidence led to disaster. Eirik Bakke, a former Leeds midfielder, saw parallels with Spurs: “When you are at a big club and there are big expectations, the crowd goes against you a little bit (when results are poor) because they’re used to higher standards—and we feel that as players as well. At the end, it felt like we had everything to lose.”
For Tottenham, the specter of relegation is compounded by their financial might. There is, as one report noted, “no precedent in the modern era for a club of Tottenham’s size… slipping into England’s second tier.” The consequences, both sporting and economic, would be seismic. Yet, as history shows, no club is too big to go down if the rot sets in. Matthew Kilgallon, who was at Leeds during their 2004 collapse, warned, “That was the saying, wasn’t it? ‘Leeds United are too good to go down?’ But no confidence, losing, not sure what’s happening with your career… it spiraled and just got worse and worse.”
The atmosphere inside Tottenham’s dressing room is reportedly tense. The Athletic recently revealed that one unnamed Spurs player expressed little concern about relegation, confident he’ll secure a move elsewhere in the summer—a sentiment not uncommon in struggling squads, but one that can undermine collective spirit. “You get a sense of when you’re in there, lads start thinking, ‘If we go down, I’ll be alright, I’ll get out’—and that’s the biggest worry,” Westwood explained.
Managerial uncertainty and supporter unrest have only fueled the malaise. The revolving door of coaches, the disconnect with fans, and the sense of a sinking ship have all contributed to an environment where, as Newcastle’s Ryan Taylor put it, “you just can’t see the next win.” The burden is heavy, not just for the players on the pitch but for everyone connected to the club.
Looking ahead, Tottenham’s fate will be decided over the next two months, with key matches against direct rivals and a fanbase desperate to avoid a humiliating fall from grace. The outcome remains uncertain, but the sense of urgency is palpable. For now, all eyes are on mid-April, when Spurs resume their fight for Premier League survival. The stakes could hardly be higher.