Stephan states QPR need more than 50 points
Queens Park Rangers have won 14 of 38 Championship matches under Julien Stephan and have 50 points [PA Media] QPR boss Julien Stephan says his side need one more win against Portsmouth on Saturday to cement their Championship status for next season, despite hitting the 50-point mark with victory at Leicester City last weekend. The Rs ended a dismal run of four consecutive defeats with a 3-1 comeback win at King Power Stadium to reach a half-century of points with eight matches of the season remaining. It is a milestone that is traditionally referenced to confirm safety from relegation but Stephan, who is in his first year managing in English football, believes his team need two or three more points to guarantee their place in the second tier next term.
"I don't think 50 points is enough. I think we need more, probably two or three more to be sure," he said before Saturday's match against Portsmouth with the visitors to Loftus Road 20th in the table on 40 points. "Probably my answer could be different if Oxford, for example, or West Brom, had lost their last games, but it was not the case.
So I think we need one more win. "And after that, when we will have 52 or 53, the next challenge is to have most possible point at the end of the season. " Does reaching 50 points ensure Championship survival?
Birmingham City were the last club relegated from the Championship in 2023-24 with 50 points [Getty Images] So is 50 points enough to avoid the drop, or does Stephan have a point? Like the fabled 40-point mark in the 20-team Premier League, 50 points has long been seen as the yard-stick for survival in the Championship, which has 24 teams and therefore eight more matches per side, per season. Since three points was introduced for a win in 1981-82, only nine teams have been relegated from the second tier with a total of 50 points or more.
Of those, only Birmingham City have fallen through the trap door on two occasions when they've reached a half-century of points. And on in 2012-13 have we seen two sides relegated when reaching that total, with Peterborough United (54) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (51) heading down to League One with a combined 105 points. Here is the full list: Birmingham City: 1993-94 - 51 points; 2023-24 - 50 points Millwall: 1995-96 - 52 points Walsall: 2003-04 - 51 points Gillingham: 2004-05 - 50 points Leicester City: 2007-08 - 52 points Wolverhampton Wanderers: 2012-13 - 51 points Peterborough United: 2012-13 - 54 points Blackburn Rovers: 2016-17 - 51 points QPR fight back to deepen Leicester relegation fears Birmingham end losing run with comfortable QPR win Brilliant Boro thrash QPR to boost promotion hopes Obikwu could make debut against Portsmouth Justin Obikwu scored 10 goals across two different loan spells with Grimsby Town [Shutterstock] QPR face Portsmouth at Loftus Road on Saturday with the south-coast club in a precarious position, two places and one point above the relegation places.