The cheers that greeted Sheffield Wednesday’s win over West Brom on the final day of the 2025/26 season were part genuine joy, part irony. The Owls defeated the Baggies 2-1, with Nathaniel Chalobah and Liam Palmer on the scoresheet. In a season of dreadful hardship for the supporters at Hillsborough, you can forgive them their moment of joy – no matter how pained it might have been.
Wednesday won two games and drew 12; that points tally of 18 would have been the lowest in Championship history. But, of course, there were two points deductions dished out to the Owls in 2025/26 due to the financial mismanagement of their (thankfully now) former owner, Dejphon Chansiri. Eighteen points won, 18 points lost in deductions… yep, Sheffield Wednesday finished the campaign on zero points.
The final day cheers were to celebrate the fact that at least they didn’t it on a minus number, as they had been for much of the season. And with Chansiri now a distant memory, the club’s fans can look forward to a brighter, more hopeful future. But their point-less campaign did get us thinking. Has any other professional club finished the season on zero points… or even on minus?
The moment Sheffield Wednesday fans found out their club isn’t facing any points deductions next season… #SWFC pic.twitter.com/L2kuvYLxRa
— Rob Staton (@robstaton) May 2, 2026
Which Football Clubs Have Finished the Season on Zero Points?
There are plenty of examples of clubs finishing the season on zero points, but most – in the professional game, at least – have come as a result of points deductions, as opposed to losing every single game played.
Juventus
The most famous example belongs to Juventus, who found themselves embroiled in the Calciopoli scandal of 2005/06. The Turin outfit thrived on the pitch, collecting 91 points – and losing only one game – to win the Serie A title… or so they thought.
But an investigation into the alleged rigging of referee appointments found numerous rule breaches, with Juventus implicated in securing ‘agreeable’ match officials for key fixtures via a series of telephone wire taps.
Following a lengthy legal process, the decision was taken to strip Juventus of their 2005/06 title and administratively relegate them to Serie B, meaning that they ended the campaign on zero points. To rub salt into the wound, the Old Lady were deducted a further nine points for their first season in the second tier.
But with several superstars staying loyalty to Juventus, including Alessandro Del Piero, Gigi Buffon and Pavel Nedved, unsurprisingly they breezed to the Serie B title even with their deduction, losing just four of their 38 games. Another Italian club ended their season on zero points in headline-making fashion…
Genoa
Genoa were expected to struggle in 1959/60 anyway, and ultimately ended the season with 18 points – a tally that would have seen them finish bottom of Serie A. But more embarrassment was inflicted in the form of a points deduction, with their entire haul taken away from them following an investigation.
In a matter that later became known as Caso Capello, it was found that Genoa had attempted to bribe Atalanta players to throw a key Serie A game during that ill-fated campaign. The book was thrown at them, with a 28-point deduction – their 18 earned in 1959/60, plus ten more the following term – metered out.
That was later reduced to 25 points on appeal, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Genoa from being relegated from Serie A with that inglorious tally of zero points.
Arminia Bielefeld
Room for one more? How about Arminia Bielefeld in 1971/72? Once again, they were on the receiving end of a points deduction following an integrity scandal. And what a scene it was, like something out of a film: Kickers Offenbach president Horst-Gregorio Canellas player an audio tape implicating a number of Bundesliga clubs in match fixing at his fiftieth birthday party.
Amongst the stunned guests at the garden soiree were officials from the DFB, Germany’s equivalent of the Football Association, and a number of influential journalists. With the matter escalated, investigators found irrefutable evidence that some of Schalke’s players had agreed to throw the game against Bielefeld in return for cash payments.
They protested their innocence and even swore an oath, although no new evidence to contradict the original verdict was presented. All of Bielefeld’s results were expunged, meaning that they finished the campaign on zero points. They were relegated to the second tier, along with Borussia Dortmund. While the Schalke players involved were banned for lengthy periods, their club avoided sanction and retained their second-place finish.
Has Any Football Club Ever Finished the Season on Minus Points?
In this modern era of mass points deductions, it’s not completely out of the question for clubs to finish their season on minus points.
Yeni Malatyaspor
Just ask Yeni Malatyaspor, who played the 2024/25 season in the second tier of Turkish football. Their staggering campaign can be laid bare in numbers:
- Games Played: 38
- Games Won: 0
- Games Drawn: 0
- Games Lost: 38
- Goal Difference: -139
In another year, they would have taken up a place alongside other members of the zero-point club. But this was no ordinary season for Yeni Malatyaspor. Their former president effectively fled – leaving behind debts in the region of £17 million, which is astronomical for a second-tier club in Turkey.
They were deducted 21 points by FIFA as well, owing to unpaid bills. With wages also going unpaid, players left the club. Left behind were loyalists, freebies and youngsters… most of whom weren’t quite up to the mark.
That all felt trivial in the wake of the earthquake that struck the Turkish and Syrian border in February 2023. That claimed 53,000 lives, including that of Yeni Malatyaspor goalkeeper Ahmet Eyup Turkaslan. The devastation affected the club’s home stadium and training ground… and the spiral of tragedy proved just too much for them in 2024/25.
Chernomorets Burgas Sofia
The Bulgarian side Chernomorets Burgas Sofia ended their 2006/07 in the top-flight on -2 points. The season was nothing short of a disaster on the pitch, with Chernomorets Burgas Sofia losing 29 of their 30 games played.
Their sole draw saw them end the campaign on one point, but a three-point deduction – for failing to have enough youth players registered – saw them drop down to the ignominious total of -2.
