Recently a founding member asked about an article on the schools with the most losses and the worst won/lost records of all-time. I generally try to stay away from doing much about teams that have a long history of losing because I believe they have enough enough problems.

          So, we will look at the worst programs in the history of high school football in Alabama. Just remember that when your favorite team loses it's next game that things could be much worse.

          First up is simply the teams with the most losses all-time. Francis Marion tops this list. The Rams have lost 546 games since first fielding a football team over 100 years ago. During that time the most games they have won in a single season is eight in 1974. They are 0-13 in the playoffs. Ten of the seasons they qualified for the post season they failed to win more games than they lost. The team's best decade over the past seventy years was the 1980s when they managed a 40-63 record.

Most Losses All-Time
1	Francis Marion	259-546-29
2	Bullock County	303-538-29
3	Lawrence County	413-508-20
4	Talladega	416-505-28
5	Robertsdale	302-497-31
6	Carroll	374-495-32
7	Selma	434-494-24
8	Curry	298-491-26
9	Brookwood	286-489-20
10	Phillips Bear Creek	225-489-22

          Next a look at the teams with the worst winning percentage all-time. These schools have played a minimum of 500 games. Baker and North Sand Mountain have been working hard as of late to get their teams off this list with winning seasons. Baker has actually won more games in the past five years than they did in the previous twenty seasons.

Worst Winning Percentage All-Time (500 games)
1	Russell County	189-414-5	31.3%
2	Phillips Bear Creek	225-489-22	31.5%
3	North Sand Mountain	161-349-2	31.6%
4	Baker	202-435-9	31.7%
5	Vina	220-469-19	31.9%
6	Francis Marion	259-546-29	32.2%
7	Hayden	230-470-13	32.9%
8	Elkmont	242-472-10	33.9%
9	Zion Chapel	184-358-1	33.9%
10	Coffeeville	240-457-21	34.4%

          The same criteria as above but we lower the threshold on the number of games played to 300. Now the list is completely different with a new set of schools. There is little doubt about the football program with the least success over the past 40 years. R.C. Hatch has averaged less than two victories per season.

Worst Winning Percentage All-Time (300 games)
1	R.C. Hatch	50-329-0	13.2%
2	Central Hayneville	89-307-0	22.5%
3	Calhoun	75-239-0	23.9%
4	John Essex	107-325-7	24.8%
5	Pleasant Valley	90-252-0	26.3%
6	Grand Bay	111-308-6	26.5%
7	Coosa County	91-245-15	27.1%
8	Sunshine	115-300-5	27.7%
9	Lyman Ward	139-355-3	28.1%
10	Kinston	125-312-1	28.6%
10	Waterloo	120-299-4	28.6%

          One stat that goes overlooked is a team's record against ranked teams. Below is a chart showing the worst teams against a team named in the AWSA weekly rankings since the beginning of the 1984 season. It is difficult to believe that four schools have never managed to defeat a ranked team over the past thirty-two seasons.

Worst Record Against Ranked Teams (since 1984)
1	John Essex	0-43
2	Southside Selma	0-42
3	Thorsby	0-42
4	Appalachian	0-32
5	Phillips Bear Creek	1-56
6	Akron	1-50
7	Selma	1-47
8	White Plains	1-40
9	Keith	1-39
10	Ardmore	1-39

          Up next is a list of the teams with the fewest winning seasons all-time. The schools in this chart have played a minimum of 40 years to qualify for this dubious honor. One note about a team not on this list is that Glenn played football a total of twenty years and never enjoyed a single winning season.

Fewest Winning Seasons (by percentage)
	Team	Totals Seasons	Winning Seasons
1	R.C. Hatch	41	2
2	Central Hayneville	40	2
3	John Essex	45	7
4	Kinston	42	7
5	Sunshine	44	8
6	Douglas	46	9
7	Lyman Ward	56	11
8	Brewer	44	9
9	Grand Bay	44	9
10	Spring Garden	44	9

          This is a short list. It includes teams that have played every season since 1984 and have never been ranked a single week during that time.

Teams Never Ranked in ASWA Polls (since 1984)
1	Brewer
2	Calhoun
3	Central Hayneville
4	Francis Marion
5	John Essex
6	Kinston
7	R.C. Hatch

          One last note. Francis Marion has played a total of 834 games according to our records and lost 546 of those games. They have been shutout in 231 of those losses. That is roughly one-fourth of every game they played. Their longest winning streak is a meager seven consecutive victories in 1974.