Celebrating the absolutely bonkers Premier League table in March 2016

Ten years feels like an eternity. It’s both recent history and liable to give you jumpscares as you clock your personal interpretation of high fashion in blurry photographs

Football also moves remorselessly over the course of a decade. Back in March 2016, Roy Hodgson was England manager, away goals ruled in the Champions League and nobody had sullied the game with VAR.

Nothing lasts forever and nothing is permanent. This indisputable fact gives life its meaning, flavouring the dull day-to-day gruel of most people’s existence.

As the Premier League pauses for the final international break of the season, it’s worth reminding ourselves just how the table looked on this day 10 years ago.

The relegation battle was one of the most exciting in years, with three well-supported clubs on the precipice.

Aston Villa were effectively down after years of mismanagement hollowed out the club. It would be their first top-flight demotion since 1987.

Meanwhile, two North East rivals had rolled the dice to avoid ignominy. While Sam Allardyce snaffled enough points to keep Sunderland afloat, swapping Steve McClaren for Rafa Benitez wouldn’t be enough to save Newcastle.

Allardyce’s Black Cats overtook Norwich. Rotund Samuel rewarded himself with a pint of wine and the England job.

Ten years is a long time. What would the likes of Swansea, Stoke, West Brom and Watford give for a time machine patent?

But 2015-16 was an unofficial Gap Year for the league’s biggest clubs. Chelsea downed tools for Jose Mourinho and settled for bobbing around in 10th under Uncle Guus.

The jury was out as Liverpool dumped Brendan Rodgers for Jurgen Klopp, especially among members of Rodgers’ immediate family.

But Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was Klopp’s imperial Reds team. For now, upper mid-table safety and a Europa League run kept Liverpool fans onside.

Manchester United were busy providing the CIA with torture material under Louis van Gaal, their tally of 38 goals in 30 matches dwarfed by under-performing Everton and upwardly mobile Southampton.

Still, Marcus Rashford had burst onto the scene and injected life back into the twitching corpse. United would finish 5th and win the FA Cup, but Van Gaal was effectively dumped over text.

Their city rivals were patiently waiting out the Pellegrini era, knowing Pep Guardiola was taking charge in the summer. Arsenal were Arsenal.

That left three unexpected teams to steal the headlines as the March days grew longer and the Premier League took the unusual step of being genuinely interesting.

West Ham were riding the wave of emotion in the final months at their beloved Upton Park. Slaven Bilic had assembled a swashbuckling team, led by the baller’s baller Dimitri Payet.

Payet was deep in his free-kick era, producing more outlandish strikes by the week and becoming the first West Ham player since Laurent Courtois to enter Ballon d’Or territory.

A series of dodgy refereeing decisions and a sieve-like defence cost the Hammers Champions League football, but they still finished 7th.

Under Mauricio Pochettino’s macho eye, a young Spurs team had become unexpected title challengers.

Harry Kane had established himself as a two-season wonder, Christian Eriksen’s assists were as prominent as his hairline and Dele Alli was enjoying a breakout season to remember.

Dele is perhaps the biggest signifier of the times. Wafer-thin, but with a heavenly touch and sniper’s eye for goal, the midfielder would never have made the same impact in 2026’s brawn-fetishising league.

There was growing excitement at White Hart Lane (RIP), but the season ultimately belonged to Leicester.

Their title charge was headline news across the world in 2016, as Americans struggled to pronounce the name and everyone else struggled to believe their eyes.

Infamously rated as 5000-1 outsiders before the campaign, Leicester’s triumph was the definition of a modern-day fairytale.

The Foxes held a five-point lead over Spurs in late-March, but held their nerve in a series of narrow wins. By contrast, Spurs gloriously lost their heads at Stamford Bridge.

Riyad Mahrez, N’Golo Kante and Jamie Vardy became household names, while manager Claudio Ranieri finally lost his ‘Tinkerman’ label.

The Premier League’s biggest clubs breathed heavily from their nostrils. They’d all spend heavily that summer to ensure there could never be another Leicester, backed by several subsequent rule changes in their favour.

Ten years on and Leicester are financially capsized and struggling against the drop to League One. Spurs and West Ham are both aggressively flirting with a ruinous top-flight relegation.

Several well-run clubs like Brentford and Brighton have overtaken them. Nottingham Forest and Leeds have emerged from lower league purgatory to swing punches with the big boys again.

Nothing lasts forever and nothing is permanent. But it’s hard to imagine football being in a better place 10 years from now.