How Many Points Do We Really Need To Avoid The Dreaded Drop?

Everyone talks about 40 points but West Ham could well stay up with a lot less

- Holly Worthington

While the 40-point mark has traditionally signified safety in the Premier League, West Ham have a long way to go as the season is looking increasingly likely to go down to the wire.

Since the inception of the 20-team Premier League in the 1995-96 season, only four times has a team needed 40 or more points to stay up.

The most recent example was in 2011, when 18th placed Birmingham City went down with 39 points and Midlands rivals Wolves stayed up with 40.

The lowest number of points to guarantee survival was 31 points in 2010, as 18th placed Burnley went down with 30 points, and the highest points total to survive would have been 43 in 2003, with, as I’m sure we all remember, 18th placed West Ham relegated with 42 points.

On average, 36.6 has been the number of points required to guarantee survival over the last 22 seasons, but as it stands, reaching this is a possibility for numerous teams.

So where did this myth come from?

Probably from a different Premier League era, two decades ago.