Players who stayed after relegation
A look at some high-profile players who stayed after relegation and turned out for their club in the second tier...
The world's finest footballers are not supposed to experience relegation, but sometimes it happens.
More often than not, those players receive big offers to return to the top flight or move to another league. Sometimes, they are sold because their club needs the money.
Loyalty can count for little in modern football and that works both ways, but there are exceptions.
Here, a look at some famous footballers who stuck by their clubs after relegation...
32. Angelo Palombo
Angelo Palombo's career perhaps did not quite live up its early expectations, but the midfielder played 22 times for Italy and is a legend at Sampdoria.
Palombo spent 15 seasons at the Genoa-based club, interrupted only by a brief spell on loan at Inter, and stayed after relegation to Serie B in 2010/11 to help his team bounce back to the top flight the following season.
31. Fabricio Coloccini
After signing for Newcastle from Deportivo La Coruña for a fee of around £10 million in the summer of 2008, Fabricio Coloccini was relegated in his first season at St. James' Park.
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The former Argentina centre-back remained with the Magpies, along with most of his team-mates, and helped the club win the Championship the following season. He went on to stay for eight years, later captaining the club and making 275 appearances overall.
30. Scott Parker
Scott Parker was relegated three times as a player – with Charlton Athletic, West Ham and Fulham – and turned out in England's second tier with all three clubs.
Early in his career, Parker was part of a Charlton side which went down and he
helped them back up the following season. At West Ham, he did not hang around long in the Championship, joining Tottenham after just four games in that division. But at Fulham, he spent the last three years of his professional career in the Championship after relegation from the Premier League in 2013/14.
29. Des Walker
Des Walker won over 50 caps for England between 1988 and 1993 and was part of the England team which reached the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup.
Best known for long spells at Nottingham Forest and Sheffield Wednesday either side of a year at Sampdoria, Walker was relegated from the Premier League in his seventh season with the Owls. After featuring in the First Division the following year, he left the Yorskhire club due to financial constraints in 2001.
28. Luigi Di Biagio
Luigi Di Biagio was one of the finest Italian midfielders of his generation and won 31 caps for the Azzurri between 1998 and 2002.
After long spells at Roma and Inter, Di Biagio joined Brescia in 2003 and spent three years with the Lombardy club, the last of those in Serie B after relegation in 2004/05.
27. David Suazo
David Suazo scored over 100 goals for Cagliari in eight seasons at the Italian club and the former Honduras striker went on to play for Inter and Benfica.
Cagliari were relegated in Suazo's first season in Sardinia, but he stayed with the club for four seasons in Serie B, plus three more back in the top flight. He scored 25 goals in 42 appearances in 2005/06 and moved to Inter in 2007.
26. Gianluca Pagliuca
Gianluca Pagliuca is one of Italy's best-ever goalkeepers and was restricted to 39 caps for the Azzurri largely due to the brilliance of Gianluigi Buffon.
Pagliuca is best remembered for successful spells at Sampdoria and Inter, but later spent seven years at Bologna and dropped down to Serie B for the last of those after relegation in 2004/05.
25. Juan Carlos Valerón
An elegant playmaker in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s, Juan Carlos Valerón won 46 caps for Spain and played for Mallorca, Atletico Madrid, Deportivo La Coruña and Las Palmas in a long career.
Valerón spent 13 seasons at Deportivo and helped the Galician club back up to La Liga after they were relegated in 2010/11.
24. Jimmy Case
Jimmy Case won three European Cups in a glorious era at Liverpool in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but the midfielder is also fondly remembered by Brighton fans.
Case joined Brighton in 1981 in part exchange for Mark Lawrenson and scored in three consecutive rounds of the FA Cup in 1983 as the Seagulls reached the final. The Albion lost to Manchester United in a replay after the first match was drawn and were relegated that season, but Case stayed at the Goldstone Ground for almost two years.
23. Marcos
Marcos was Brazil's first-choice goalkeeper in their 2002 World Cup win in Japan and Korea.
That same year, he was part of a Palmeiras side relegated for the first time in the club's history. In the summer, he travelled to London in order to complete a move to Arsenal, but had a change of heart and opted to stay with Palmeiras in Brazil's Serie B. He ended up spending his entire career with the Sao Paulo club.
22. Wilfried Gnonto
Wilfried Gnonto arrived at Leeds United with a reputation as one of the most talented young players in Europe when he signed from FC Zurich in 2022.
The Italy winger was relegated in his first season at Elland Road and submitted a transfer request in the summer, but later apologised and went on to impress for the Whites in the Championship.
21. Roberto Ayala
Roberto Ayala is one of the great Argentina defenders of the modern era, but little went right for the centre-back at Real Zaragoza.
Having previously signed for Villarreal from Valencia, Ayala joined Zaragoza in 2007 as the Aragonese club paid his release clause, but was relegated in his first season at La Romareda. He stayed to help Los Blanquillos win promotion, but left by mutual consent in 2010.
20. Alex Stepney
Alex Stepney was Manchester United's goalkeeper for their First Division title in 1967 and maiden European Cup win the following season, in a team which also included the likes of Bobby Charlton and George Best.
Charlton and Best were gone by 1973/74, but Stepney was still there as United suffered relegation after finishing 21st in the old First Division. The goalkeeper stayed and helped the Red Devils return to the top flight as champions. He eventually left United in 1978.
19. Kerry Dixon
Kerry Dixon joined Chelsea from Reading in 1983 and went on to become a legend in nine seasons at Stamford Bridge.
Dixon was part of England's World Cup squad in 1986 and played eight times for the Three Lions, scoring four goals. He stayed with the Blues after relegation in 1988 and fired the club back to the First Division with 25 league goals the following season.
18. Marcos Senna
One of the finest midfielders of his generation, Marcos Senna helped Spain win Euro 2008 after switching international allegiance from his native Brazil and spent over a decade with Villarreal.
Villarreal were relegated in Senna's 10th season with the club, finishing 18th in a disastrous campaign. Many of the club's top players left in the summer, including Diego Lopez, Carlos Marchena, Borja Valero and Giuseppe Rossi, but Senna stayed for one more season to help the Yellow Submarine regain their La Liga status. He joined New York Cosmos in 2013.
17. Stefan Effenberg
Stefan Effenberg signed for Fiorentina from Bayern Munich in the summer of 1992, but suffered relegation from Serie A in his first season with the Florence-based club.
The German midfielder stayed to help Fiorentina win Serie B and return to the top flight at the first time of asking, before moving to Borussia Monchengladbach in 1994.
16. Giorgio Chiellini
Giorgio Chiellini made 17 Serie A appearances for Juventus in his first season at the club in 2005/06, having spent the previous year on loan at Fiorentina.
Juve finished first in Serie A that season, but had their title taken away due to the Calciopoli scandal, which also saw the club relegated to Serie B. Chiellini stayed and after helping the Bianconeri to the title in Serie B, he went on to play for the club for 15 more years until 2022.
15. Pierre van Hooijdonk
Pierre van Hooijdonk joined Nottingham Forest with the club in deep relegation trouble and the striker was unable to help the Reds avoid the drop in 1996/97.
The Dutch international pledged his future to Forest and vowed to help win promotion back to the Premier League. He kept his word, scoring 34 goals in 47 games to fire them back up, but felt betrayed by the club after they failed to strengthen sufficiently and blocked a move. He threatened to go on strike and eventually left at the end of the 1998/99 season, with Forest relegated again.
14. Lewis Holtby
Lewis Holtby spent five seasons at Hamburg after leaving Tottenham in the summer of 2014 and played the last of those in Germany's second tier.
After it emerged that the midfielder's contract would not be renewed by HSV, a group of fans started an online petition demanding he be kept which gained thousands of signatures, but the former German international left after a season in the 2. Bundesliga to join Blackburn Rovers in 2019.
13. Fabien Barthez
Fabien Barthez joined Marseille from Toulouse in the summer of 1992 and the former France goalkeeper won the Champions League in his first season with OM.
But that same season, Marseille were stripped of their French title and relegated to the second tier for the 1994/95 campaign due to a match-fixing scandal. Barthez rejected a number offers and stayed to help OM win the title in France's second tier, but their punishment meant they were not allowed to be promoted and he left that summer to sign for Monaco. Barthez later spent three years back at Marseille after leaving Manchester United in 2003.
12. Michael Carrick
It is often said that some sides are "too good to go down" and that appeared to be the case with West Ham in 2002/2003. But the Irons did go down after finishing 18th in the Premier League.
Jermain Defoe, Paolo Di Canio, Joe Cole, Glen Johnson and Frederic Kanoute all left that summer, but Michael Carrick stayed for a season in England's second tier. He ultimately left a year later after the Hammers failed to win promotion and signed for Tottenham, before moving to Manchester United in 2006.
11. Jack Grealish
Jack Grealish was a promising young talent for Aston Villa in the 2015/16 season, but the campaign was a disaster for both player and club.
Grealish played in 16 games and set an unwanted record as all of them ended in defeat. Villa went on to win just 17 points and were relegated in last place. The midfielder stayed for five more seasons – including three in the Championship – at Villa Park, before moving to Manchester City in 2021.
10. Nwankwo Kanu
Nwankwo Kanu signed for Portsmouth in the summer of 2008 and helped Pompey win the FA Cup two years later.
In 2009/10, Portsmouth reached the FA Cup final again, but lost to Chelsea and the south coast club were also relegated after finishing bottom of the Premier League. Nevertheless, Kanu stayed and spent two seasons in the Championship with Pompey before retiring in the summer of 2012.
9. Jamie Vardy
Jamie Vardy is perhaps the most emblematic player from Leicester City's Premier League title win in 2015/16 and the striker stayed loyal to the Foxes – despite receiving big offers to leave.
While N'Golo Kante and later Riyad Mahrez moved on, Vardy stayed put and the former England striker stuck by the Foxes even after their relegation to the Championship in 2023.
8. Angelo Di Livio
A midfielder, winger or wing-back who played 40 times for Italy between 1995 and 2002, Angelo Di Livio joined Fiorentina from Juventus in 1999 and captained the team to a Coppa Italia win in 2001.
When the club went bankrupt a year later, he was the only senior player to stay with the team as they were reborn as Fiorentina Viola in Serie C2. He helped the Tuscan side work its way back up through the divisions and retired after a season back in Serie A in 2004/05.
7. Stuart Pearce
Stuart Pearce is one of England's best-ever left-backs and was known for his tough tackling and fierce commitment in an impressive career.
Pearce is most associated with Nottingham Forest at club level. The defender spent over a decade at the City Ground and after relegation in 1993, stayed to captain the team as they returned to the top flight. After a period as caretaker manager in a troublesome 1996/97 campaign which brought another relegation, Pearce opted to leave the club on a free transfer after 12 seasons at the City Ground.
6. Pavel Nedved
Pavel Nedved won the Ballon d'Or in 2003, but the Czech midfielder found himself playing in Italy's second tier just three years later.
After Juve were demoted to Serie B following the Calciopoli scandal in 2006, Nedved was wanted by Manchester United, but opted to stay loyal to the Bianconeri and saw out the rest of his career in Turin.
5. Glenn Hoddle
Glenn Hoddle was an extraordinarily gifted midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur in the late 1970s and 1980s and has often been voted as Spurs' greatest-ever player by fans over the years.
Hoddle scored 110 goals in 490 appearances for the Lilywhites and stayed at White Hart Lane to help the north London club return to the First Division after relegation in 1976/77.
4. Gabriel Batistuta
It is hard to imagine one of the world's greatest strikers playing in Serie B these days, but that is exactly what Gabriel Batistuta did at Fiorentina in the 1990s.
The former Argentina attacker spent nine years at Fiorentina between 1991 and 2000, but played one season in Serie B after the Florence outfit lost their top-flight status in 1993. Batistuta helped Fiorentina win promotion and spent six more years at the Tuscan club, scoring over 200 goals in that time.
3. Franco Baresi
Franco Baresi is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time and the legendary centre-back spent his entire career at AC Milan.
Baresi stayed loyal to Milan through two relegations – the first due to the club's involvement in the Totonero betting scandal in 1980 and the second after they finished 14th out of 16 teams in 1982 – and went on to make over 700 appearances for the Rossoneri. When he hung up his boots, Milan retired his number 3 shirt.
2. Gianluigi Buffon
Gianluigi Buffon made 656 appearances for Juventus in a 17-year stay at the Italian giants and later returned for a second spell after a brief stint at Paris Saint-Germain.
Buffon admitted he was tempted to seek a new experience after Juventus were relegated to Serie B in 2006 due to the Calciopoli scandal, but the World Cup-winning goalkeeper said: "If I have become world champion, it is thanks to Juve. I can cope with a year in the second division and I will look to do something new and win the Serie B title." And that's what he did.
1. Alessandro Del Piero
Alessandro Del Piero is a legend at Juventus and that status only grew as the former Italy forward stayed loyal to the Bianconeri when the club was relegated to Serie B following the Calciopoli scandal.
Many of Juve's top players – including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Patrick Vieira, Fabio Cannavaro, Lilian Thuram and Gianluca Zambrotta – left the club, but Del Piero stayed. "A true gentleman never leaves his lady," he said. Del Piero helped Juve bounce back to Serie A and remained in Turin until 2012.
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Ben Hayward is the Weekend Editor of FourFourTwo. A European football writer and Tottenham Hotspur fan with over 15 years’ experience, he has covered games all over the world - including three World Cups, several Champions League finals, Euros, Copa America - and has spent much of that time in Spain. Ben speaks English and Spanish, currently dividing his time between Barcelona and London, covering all the big talking points of the weekend on FFT: he’s also written several list features and interviewed Guglielmo Vicario for the magazine.
