Wolves were relegated from the Premier League with five games to play.

Wolves have been relegated from the Premier League after eight seasons in the English top flight.

With five league games to go after a 3-0 defeat at Leeds sealed their fate, West Ham’s draw with Crystal Palace on Monday evening made it mathematically impossible to prevent a massive escape from Rob Edwards.

After defeat at Leeds, Edwards’ side were given a brief respite on Saturday when a late stoppage-time equaliser from Georginio Rutter meant Tottenham failed to beat Brighton. The result still made it possible for Wolves to leapfrog the struggling north London side.

But by drawing 0-0 with Crystal Palace, West Ham moved 16 points clear of the rock-bottom club in 17th, opening an unbridgeable gap and condemning Wolves to the drop.

Wolves have been at the bottom of the Premier League for 30 consecutive matchdays, marking the worst start to a season in the league’s history. They managed just two points in 18 games—the first top-flight team to achieve such a disappointing feat—and recorded their first win on their 20th outing of the campaign.

Edwards’ side, who started the season alongside Nottingham Forest boss Vitor Pereira before being sacked in November, were in danger of falling below the 11-point bar set by Derby County in 2006/07 as the worst ever Premier League team, but a mid-season purple patch ensured they avoided that.

Wolves stunned three of the top five in the space of two weeks in February and March, forcing Premier League leaders Arsenal to late draws before defeating high-flying Aston Villa and defending champions Liverpool at Molineux.

That run of form still left the Wolves sitting 11 points from safety at the bottom of the table, and that would prove nothing more than a brief morale booster, with the Wolves never showing any real signs that they would be on the run for a lifetime before a return was confirmed.

Wolves return to the Championship after eight consecutive seasons in the top flight.

They were promoted in 2018 under Nuno Espirito Santo, and with a squad full of Portuguese talent, such as Diego Jota, Ruben Neves, and Joao Moutinho, they finished seventh in their first season, qualifying for the Europa League as well as reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

They replicated their seventh-placed feat in 2019/20 while also reaching the last eight of the Europa League but quickly morphed into a middling team in the season before becoming regulars in the relegation battle.

Wolves faced the legitimate prospect of the drop in 2023/24 before Pereira produced a stunning turnaround at Molineux, taking charge of the club when they were 19th with just nine points from 16 matches.

However, this season, Wolves will not be able to stage a comeback as Black Country City prepares for life in the second tier.

Wolves will be hoping they don’t suffer the same fate as the veteran last relegated from the Premier League in 2012.