Bad Runs By Title Winning Teams

[NorthernLights]

Stenhousemuir are League Two champions and are currently on a run of 1 win in 10 (at the same time you can say it's just 1 defeat in 10).

However I wonder if there have been any other title winners who could match or "better" this sort of run.

[Ray Patterson]

Dundee's run last season was pretty bad towards the title as well.

[craigkillie]

1 hour ago, Ray Patterson said:

Dundee's run last season was pretty bad towards the title as well.

They were unbeaten in their last 10 games, 5 wins and 5 draws.

[craigkillie]

4 hours ago, NorthernLights said:

Stenhousemuir are League Two champions and are currently on a run of 1 win in 10 (at the same time you can say it's just 1 defeat in 10).

However I wonder if there have been any other title winners who could match or "better" this sort of run.

 

I should have the data to be able to answer this, but I'm trying to define what the question is. Are you looking for the fewest wins in a 10 game run for champions?

[Albino Rover]

On a similar vein, what's the longest losing streak by a title-winning side?

Albion Rovers lost 4 in a row at a crucial point in the title-winning 2014-15 season - I am sure that must have happened before (or since), but it can't be very common.

[craigkillie]

20 hours ago, NorthernLights said:

Stenhousemuir are League Two champions and are currently on a run of 1 win in 10 (at the same time you can say it's just 1 defeat in 10).

However I wonder if there have been any other title winners who could match or "better" this sort of run.

I've crunched the numbers on this, and Stenhousemuir's current run is just the fourth time that the eventual champions have had a run of 10 (or more) matches where they've only won a single game.

In 1978/79, Celtic started with 6 wins out of 7 to go top of the league at the end of September. However, over the next three months they had a run of 1 win 11 matches (W1 D5 L5). Due to a terrible winter, they then didn't play another game until March, at which point they were sitting 8th in the table and only two points off the relegation places. However, they were also only 6 behind leaders St Mirren with 4 games in hand. They would go on to win 14 of their remaining 18 fixtures to win the league by 3 points.

In 1991/92, Dumbarton won on Boxing Day to go 6 points clear at the top of the league. They then embarked on a run of 1 win in 10 (W1 D5 L4), but still found themselves 4 points clear, albeit with Cowdenbeath now having 2 games in hand. They beat Queen of the South in their next game, but then failed to win the next two, making their overall run P13 W2 D6 L5, and this left them 3 points behind Cowdenbeath with 6 matches remaining. However, they finished with 5 wins and a draw, including a win over Cowdenbeath, to win the title by a point. Cowdenbeath were promoted as runners-up.

In 1999/00, Queen's Park started like a runaway train, picking up 10 wins and 3 draws from their opening 13 matches to build up a 10 point lead by early November. However, they then went on a run of 1 win in 11 (W1 D5 L5) through to early February and found themselves behind Forfar Athletic on goal difference, having played two games more. They turned things back around by beating Forfar in their next game, and won 9 of their last 12 matches to win the league by three points.

[craigkillie]

3 hours ago, Albino Rover said:

On a similar vein, what's the longest losing streak by a title-winning side?

Albion Rovers lost 4 in a row at a crucial point in the title-winning 2014-15 season - I am sure that must have happened before (or since), but it can't be very common.

There are only three occasions where a team has lost 4 consecutive matches and still went on to win the title.

Dundee in 1961/62 are the only team to do this in the top flight. Bob Shankly's side had picked up 18 wins, 3 draws and just a single defeat from their opening 22 league games and found themselves 5 points clear of Rangers at the top of the league by early February. They lost their next 4 games, and Rangers won their next 4, meaning they slipped 3 points behind with just 8 games remaining in the season. Their next match was against Rangers at Dens Park, and finished 0-0, leaving them with it all to do to win the league. However, Dundee went on to win their final 7 games, and Rangers stumbed badly in the run-in (including failing to win any of their last 3 games, having still led by a point with 3 to go) to hand the Dees their only title.

The above mentioned Queen's Park side of 1999/00 lost four in the row in the midst of that poor run of form, but as mentioned managed to bounce back in the latter part of the season to seal the title.

Albion Rovers in 2014/15 is the most recent. At the end of January they were level on points with leaders Arbroath, and had a game in hand, but they lost their next 4 games on the bounce. Fortunately, Arbroath also lost two games in that period meaning that Rovers were still level with them but now had played a game more. Queen's Park had moved 2 points ahead of both, but Rovers had a game in hand on them (and Arbroath had two). Rovers won their next 5 games to build up a close to unassailable lead and ultimately took the title by 10 points.

[David W]

I believe Stenny's current run of 7 consecutive draws ties a record?

A very strange season for the Warriors.

[David W]

On 15/04/2024 at 15:20, craigkillie said:

I've crunched the numbers on this, and Stenhousemuir's current run is just the fourth time that the eventual champions have had a run of 10 (or more) matches where they've only won a single game.

In 1978/79, Celtic started with 6 wins out of 7 to go top of the league at the end of September. However, over the next three months they had a run of 1 win 11 matches (W1 D5 L5). Due to a terrible winter, they then didn't play another game until March, at which point they were sitting 8th in the table and only two points off the relegation places. However, they were also only 6 behind leaders St Mirren with 4 games in hand. They would go on to win 14 of their remaining 18 fixtures to win the league by 3 points.

In 1991/92, Dumbarton won on Boxing Day to go 6 points clear at the top of the league. They then embarked on a run of 1 win in 10 (W1 D5 L4), but still found themselves 4 points clear, albeit with Cowdenbeath now having 2 games in hand. They beat Queen of the South in their next game, but then failed to win the next two, making their overall run P13 W2 D6 L5, and this left them 3 points behind Cowdenbeath with 6 matches remaining. However, they finished with 5 wins and a draw, including a win over Cowdenbeath, to win the title by a point. Cowdenbeath were promoted as runners-up.

In 1999/00, Queen's Park started like a runaway train, picking up 10 wins and 3 draws from their opening 13 matches to build up a 10 point lead by early November. However, they then went on a run of 1 win in 11 (W1 D5 L5) through to early February and found themselves behind Forfar Athletic on goal difference, having played two games more. They turned things back around by beating Forfar in their next game, and won 9 of their last 12 matches to win the league by three points.

Stenhousemuir ended the season with one win in their last 13, and none in the full final quarter of games. Picked up the record for consecutive draws in the process.

They also had a 12 match winning run, but also became the first league leaders to lose 6-1 at home to the bottom side.

They also won against Premier league St Johnstone in one cup, knocked out another by Brora.

A bizarre roller coaster of a season, culminating in the first title.