It has been a long time since Everton were not involved in England’s top-flight league, and after barely escaping the drop in 2021/22, the Toffees are once again in the relegation mix and the pressure is feeling greater with every weekend spent in the bottom places.
They are in the bottom three, and a 4-1 loss at home to Newcastle has left them as the club with the second-highest probability of going down, according to FiveThirtyEight.
The Toffees will play their final five matches in the month of May as manager Sean Dyche, who replaced Frank Lampard on January 30, leads the Toffees against Leicester City (away), Brighton (away), Man City (home), Wolves (away), and Bournemouth (home).
MORE: Updated Premier League table
Updated as of Sunday, April 30, 2023
Premier League table: The bottom nine
| Place | Team | PTS | GP | Goals | Goal Diff. |
Next game | Relegation probability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12. | Chelsea | 39 | 32 | 30 | -5 | @ ARS, May 2 | <1% |
| 13. | Bournemouth | 39 | 34 | 36 | -28 | vs. CHE, May 6 | <1% |
| 14. | Wolves | 37 | 34 | 29 | -21 | vs. AVL, May 6 | <1% |
| 15. | West Ham | 34 | 33 | 37 | -10 | @ MCI, May 3 | 1% |
| 16. | Leeds United | 30 | 34 | 43 | -24 | @ MCI, May 6 | 57% |
| 17. | Notts Forest | 30 | 34 | 30 | -32 | vs. SOU, May 8 | 54% |
| 18. | Leicester City | 29 | 33 | 44 | -13 | vs. EVE, May 1 | 24% |
| 19. | Everton | 28 | 33 | 25 | -25 | @ LEI, May 1 | 66% |
| 20. | Southampton | 24 | 34 | 28 | -32 | @ NOT, May 8 | 98% |
* = The bottom three teams are relegated to the second-tier Championship.
When were Everton last relegated?
Everton last suffered relegation in 1950-51, but the Toffees jumped back up a few years later, with a second-place finish in the 1953-54 Second Division earning them promotion to the top flight once again.
That makes Everton the second-longest tenured team in the English top flight, with only Arsenal maintaining its top-flight status longer. Arsenal have been a top-tier club in every season since the 1919-20 campaign.
Everton have been a top-flight club longer than Liverpool (since 1962-63), Manchester United (1975-76), Tottenham (1978-79), and Chelsea (1989-90).
How many times have Everton been relegated?
Everton have been relegated from the English top flight on two occasions, and have never played in a league lower than the second division in the club’s history.
Since the club’s inception in 1887, its only relegations came in 1929-30 and 1950-51.
After each drop, Everton managed to return to the top flight quickly, going straight back up in 1930-31 after winning the Second Division title. Following the next drop in 1951, it took three seasons to secure a return to the First Division in 1953-54.
Except for those four campaigns spent outside the top tier of English football, Everton have been in the top flight in every other season throughout the club’s history.
MORE: Updated top scorers table
Will Everton be relegated?
Everton continue to be hovering around the relegation zone and sit outside the bottom three on goal difference.
They are winless in their last four matches, snatching draws against Chelsea and Tottenham before losing to Manchester United at Old Trafford and Fulham at home. Man United previously eliminated the Toffees from the FA Cup, while they were knocked out of the League Cup by Bournemouth.
The Toffees have seven more matches to attempt to retain their top-tier status, which they’ve held on to since the 1954/55 season.
As things stand, data analytics website FiveThirtyEight projects that Everton have the second-highest probability of dropping down. The fact that preseason relegation candidates like Bournemouth, Fulham, and Brentford are having successful seasons and are pushing into the top half has only complicated things for Everton.
Everton remaining match schedule
| Match | Date | Opponent | Home/ Away |
Position | Relegation probability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | April 1 | vs. Tottenham | 1-1 D | 16th | 37% |
| 30 | April 8 | @ Man United | 2-0 L | 17th | 43% |
| 31 | April 15 | vs. Fulham | 1-3 L | 17th | 57% |
| 32 | April 22 | @ Crystal Palace | 0-0 D | 18th | 63% |
| 33 | April 25 | vs. Newcastle | 1-4 L | 19th | 67% |
| 34 | April 29 | @ Leicester | A | ||
| 35 | May 6 | @ Brighton | A | ||
| 36 | May 13 | vs. Man City | H | ||
| 37 | May 20 | @ Wolves | A | ||
| 38 | May 28 | vs. Bournemouth | H |