One season wonders in Premier League history

From Alan Shearer, Robbie Fowler, Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez, Sergio Aguero, to Mohamed Salah, the Premier League has never been short of world-class stars.

However, while these players showcased their brilliance consistently, there were some who could not back it up.

These players are known as one-season wonders. And with the Premier League starting this weekend, Pulse Sports go back into the history books to take a look at some of the past season one season wonders.

Ipswich Town have not returned to the Premier League since the 2001/2002 season, but streets will never forget the performance of Marcus Stewart in the 2000/2001 campaign.

The former England star scored 26 goals in the Premier League, but 19 came alone in the 2000/2001 season. Although he scored another six the following season, Stewart never reached the same level.

Bolton Wanderers are one of the ‘streets will never forget’ football clubs in the Premier League. The Trotters had players neutrals liked, especially in the early 2000s. One of such players is Michael Rickets, who scored 13 league goals in the 2001/2002 season.

Rickets’ performance that year was so good that he got a call-up to the England squad. However, that was the highest level he reached in the Premier League.

Before Wilfred Zaha, Andy Johnson was the star at Crystal Palace. Johnson reached an astronomical level in the 2004/ 2005 season, scoring 21 goals in 37 league games for Palace. Only Thierry Henry scored more than Johnson that season.

Unfortunately for Johnson, his goals were unable to save Palace from relegation that season. It is important to note that Johnson had scored 27 goals in the Championship the previous season to help Palace gain promotion.

While it may look unfair to include Johson in the list, considering he also scored 11 for Everton in the 2006/2007 season, he is there because of the standards he set previously.

Mido had a debut season to remember in the 2005/2006 campaign after joining Tottenham Hotspur from AS Roma. The former Egyptian star scored 11 goals in 27 league games for Spurs, which is a good return for a striker in his first year in the Premier League.

However, that was as good as it got at Spurs for the former Ajax star, scoring just one goal the following year before moving to Middlesbrough.

McCarthy’s performance in the 2006/2007 season is one of the best individual displays in a single season from an African player in the Premier League. The newly-appointed Manchester United first-team coach scored 18 goals in 36 games for Blackburn Rovers.

Although he scored eight and ten goals in the next two seasons, he reached his peak in the 2006/2007 season.

There is something about Blackburn Rovers and ‘streets will never forget players.’ One of those players is Roque Santa-Cruz, who scored 19 goals in 37 league games for Blackburn in the 2007/2008 season.

However, he never reached those heights again, scoring four goals the following year before moving to Manchester City. His time at City was not impressive, either, with just three league goals.

Benjani joined Portsmouth in the 2005/2006 season, scoring just one goal in 16 league games. He backed it up with six goals in 31 league matches the following season. At that point, he was looking like a flop.

However, he switched it up in the 2007/2008 season, scoring 12 goals for Portsmouth between August and December. Benjani’s performance in the first half of the season earned him a move to Manchester City. Although he only scored three league goals for City in the second half of the season, his performance for Portsmouth that year will never be forgotten.

Gyan arrived at Sunderland after strengthening his reputation at the 2010 World Cup. The former Ghana star had an excellent first year in the Premier League with ten goals and five assists in 31 league games.

However, that was it for Gyan, as he never scored another goal before leaving for the middle-east.

Pukki’s story is similar to Andy Johnson’s at Crystal Palace, even though he never reached the English man’s number. The Finnish striker had scored 29 goals in the 2018/2019 season to help Norwich gain promotion to the Premier League. There were doubts if he could keep up in the top flight, but he cleared those doubts with 11 goals in 36 league games.

However, his goals could not save Norwich from relegation. In the following season, he scored another 26 goals to help the Canaries back to the Premier League last season. In his second year in the Premier League, Pukki scored another 11 goals but could not save Norwich again.

There is no better one-season wonder and ‘streets will never forget player’ than Michu for Swansea. The Spanish star had one of the great individual seasons in Premier League history for Swansea in the 2012/2013 season. The former Celta Vigo man scored 18 league goals in his debut season in the Premier League after joining Swansea from Rayo Vallecano.

However, that was Michu’s legacy in the league as he never reached the heights of his debut campaign again.