Derby County's place in the record books as the holders of the worst points tally in Premier League history is, for now, safe. Hull City were widely expected to threaten that unwanted mark when the top-flight season began, yet four games in, Hull sit fourth with eight points to their name. The footnote that had Derby's name on it will have to wait.

The record nobody wants

Derby accumulated just 11 points across the entire 2007-08 Premier League campaign, a figure that has stood as the division's lowest ever since. When Hull secured promotion via the Championship play-off final at Wembley, courtesy of a last-minute Oli McBurnie goal, pre-season analysts were quick to suggest they might be the side finally to eclipse it. Those predictions now look premature at best.

It is worth remembering that Hull's journey to the top flight was statistically improbable from the very start. Twelve months before their Wembley triumph, they survived relegation to League One on goal difference alone, needing other results to fall their way on the final day of the Championship season. A transfer embargo, the worst goals-scored record in the Championship (44 in 46 matches), and a managerial change in the summer of 2025 were hardly the ingredients for a promotion push.

What Hull's form means for Derby's Championship season

None of this has any direct bearing on Derby's Championship campaign this term, of course. The Rams are firmly focused on the second tier, where their own form has attracted concern in recent weeks. Back-to-back defeats, an attacking drought, and a defensive rotation that cannot continue have all been documented here at length.

But the Hull story does carry a broader lesson that Derby's management and supporters would do well to absorb. Sergej Jakirovic's side finished sixth in the Championship last season with 73 points, shipping 66 goals and finishing second-bottom on expected goals. By nearly every metric, they were not supposed to go up. They did. The Championship routinely produces outcomes the numbers cannot fully explain, and that cuts both ways: clubs that look safe can crumble, and clubs that look too far behind can close ground faster than the table suggests.

For Derby, currently navigating a difficult run and under real pressure to arrest a slide, the lesson is not to read too much into a sequence of four games in either direction. Hull's unbeaten start to the Premier League season has already prompted caution from those who cover the top flight, and rightly so. There are 34 games still to play up there. The same scepticism applies in the Championship: four poor results do not condemn a side, and four good ones do not rescue them.

The record endures

What is clear is that Derby's 11-point haul in 2007-08 remains the Premier League's lowest ever total, and Hull's early form makes it increasingly unlikely to be matched this season. Whether that offers any comfort to Derby supporters battling through a difficult Championship campaign is another matter entirely.

The more pressing record Derby need to worry about is not one etched into top-flight history. It is the points-per-game rate they are currently posting in the second tier, and whether John Eustace can turn it around before the gap to the play-off places becomes something more daunting than a bad run. The table does not lie, and right now it is telling an uncomfortable story.

  • Derby have won just one of their last five Championship fixtures, according to recent reports.
  • Hull City needed a goal-difference reprieve on the final day of the 2024-25 Championship season before going on to win promotion via the play-offs.
  • Derby's Premier League record of 11 points in a single season (2007-08) remains the lowest in the competition's history.

Frequently asked

What is Derby County's Premier League points record?
Derby County hold the record for the lowest ever points tally in a Premier League season, finishing the 2007-08 campaign with just 11 points from 38 games.
Are Derby County in the Premier League?
No. Derby County are in the Championship, the second tier of English football, this season.
Could Hull City beat Derby's worst Premier League points record?
It looks increasingly unlikely. Hull sit fourth in the Premier League after four games with eight points, far exceeding the pace needed to threaten Derby's record low of 11 points in a season.