2007–08 Premier League


The 2007–08 Premier League season was the 16th since its establishment. The first matches of the season were played on 11 August 2007, and the season ended on 11 May 2008. Manchester United went into the 2007–08 season as the Premier League's defending champions, having won their ninth Premier League title and sixteenth league championship overall the previous season. This season was also the third consecutive season to see the "Big Four" continue their stranglehold on the top four spots.
Fandom football:2007–08_Premier_...

Overview

The first goal of the season was scored by Michael Chopra, who scored a 94th-minute winner for Sunderland against Tottenham in the early kick-off. The first red card of the season was given to Reading's Dave Kitson after a challenge on Patrice Evra in their opening game against Manchester United. The first hat-trick was scored by Emmanuel Adebayor in the match between Arsenal and Derby County.
On 29 September 2007, Portsmouth and Reading played the highest-scoring match in Premier League history, in which Portsmouth [Portsmouth F.C. 7–4 Reading F.C.|Reading F.C.|won 7–4]. On 15 December 2007, both Roque Santa Cruz and Marcus Bent scored hat-tricks during Wigan's 5–3 home win over Blackburn. This was the first occasion in Premier League history that two players on opposing teams had scored hat-tricks during the same match.
Manchester United successfully defended their title, winning tenth Premier League on the final day with a 2–0 win over Wigan Athletic, while second-placed Chelsea drew 1–1 with Bolton Wanderers. It was their seventeenth English title overall, with the club just one title behind their rivals Liverpool's total of 18. Elsewhere on the final day, Middlesbrough thrashed Manchester City 8–1 to claim the biggest win of the season.
On 29 March 2008, Derby County drew 2–2 with Fulham while Birmingham City, who were 17th in the table at the time, beat Manchester City 3–1, to make Derby County the first team in Premier League history to be relegated in March. Throughout the season, the team won just one game and recorded only 11 points, the lowest tally in top flight history. On the final day of the season, Reading beat Derby 4–0 and Birmingham City beat Blackburn Rovers 4–1. However, Fulham's 1–0 win over Portsmouth sent both teams down as the London club avoided the drop on goal difference.
The season was notable for the return of the English league to the top of UEFA's official ranking list, overtaking La Liga for the period from 1 May 2008 to 30 April 2009. This followed the success of English clubs in the UEFA Champions League, with both champions Manchester United and runners-up Chelsea reaching the final. This was the first time that the English league had topped the UEFA rankings since the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985.

Teams

Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the Championship. The promoted teams were Sunderland, Birmingham City, and Derby County. The promoted teams replaced Sheffield United, Charlton Athletic and Watford. The previous season had seen Sheffield United and Watford both suffer an immediate return to the Championship, while Charlton Athletic were relegated after a seven-year top flight spell.

Stadiums and locations

TeamLocationStadiumCapacity
ArsenalLondon Emirates Stadium60,355
Aston VillaBirmingham Villa Park42,640
Birmingham CityBirmingham St Andrew's Stadium30,009
Blackburn RoversBlackburnEwood Park31,367
Bolton WanderersBoltonReebok Stadium28,723
ChelseaLondon Stamford Bridge42,055
Derby CountyDerbyPride Park Stadium33,597
EvertonLiverpool Goodison Park40,157
FulhamLondon Craven Cottage26,300
LiverpoolLiverpool Anfield45,276
Manchester CityManchester City of Manchester Stadium47,726
Manchester UnitedManchester Old Trafford76,212
MiddlesbroughMiddlesbroughRiverside Stadium35,049
Newcastle UnitedNewcastle upon TyneSt James' Park52,387
PortsmouthPortsmouthFratton Park20,688
ReadingReadingMadejski Stadium24,161
SunderlandSunderlandStadium of Light49,000
Tottenham HotspurLondon White Hart Lane36,244
West Ham UnitedLondon Upton Park35,303
Wigan AthleticWiganJJB Stadium25,138

Personnel and kits

In addition, Premier League officials were supplied with new kit made by Umbro, replacing American makers Official Sports, and were sponsored by AirAsia, replacing Emirates. The 2007–08 season saw a new font used for the names on the back of players' shirts.

League table


Season statistics

Scoring

Clean sheets

  • Most clean sheets – Manchester United and Chelsea
  • Fewest clean sheets – Derby County and Birmingham

Discipline

  • First yellow card of the season: Didier Zokora for Tottenham Hotspur against Sunderland
  • First red card of the season: Dave Kitson for Reading against Manchester United
  • Most yellow cards: Middlesbrough
  • Fewest yellow cards: Everton
  • Most red cards: Chelsea and Fulham
  • Fewest red cards: Bolton

Average home attendance

  • Highest average home attendance: 75,691
  • Lowest average home attendance: 19,046

Overall

  • Most wins – Manchester United
  • Fewest wins – Derby County
  • Most losses – Derby County
  • Fewest losses – Arsenal and Chelsea
  • Most goals scored – Manchester United
  • Fewest goals scored – Derby County
  • Most goals conceded – Derby County
  • Fewest goals conceded – Manchester United

Home

  • Most wins – Manchester United
  • Fewest wins – Derby County
  • Most losses – Derby County
  • Fewest losses – Arsenal and Chelsea
  • Most goals scored – Manchester United
  • Fewest goals scored – Derby County
  • Most goals conceded – Derby County
  • Fewest goals conceded – Manchester United

Away

  • Most wins – Chelsea
  • Fewest wins – Derby County
  • Most losses – Derby County
  • Fewest losses – Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool
  • Most goals scored – Arsenal and Aston Villa
  • Fewest goals scored – Derby County
  • Most goals conceded – Derby County
  • Fewest goals conceded – Chelsea

Records

  • Derby County finished with the worst record since the league was founded in 1992–93 and also the worst since the introduction of the three points for a win rule. Among the records set by the Rams were:
  • * A final record of one win, eight draws and 29 losses for a total of eleven points, worse than the Sunderland team from 2005–06, with the previously set lows of three wins, six draws and 29 losses totalling fifteen points. The single win, coming at home against Newcastle United 1–0 on 17 September was also a record for the fewest wins in a Premier League campaign
  • * Derby's 20 goals scored as a team was lower than the 2002–03 Black Cats' total with 21 goals scored. This marked the third time a team was outscored by one or more players. The team also failed to score in 21 of their 38 games
  • * Their −69 goal difference was worse than Ipswich Town's 1994–95 goal difference of −57. The 89 goals they conceded was the worst defensive performance by a team since Ipswich Town conceded 93 goals in 1994–95. It was also the worst record since the Premier League adopted the 20-team, 38-match format in 1995–96
  • * The 29 defeats they suffered equalled the 2005–06 Sunderland team for the most losses suffered in one Premier League season
  • Chelsea's 85 points accumulated was a new record for the most points gained in a 38-game season without securing the title. The 83 points achieved by Arsenal was a new record for the most points gained in a 38-game season for finishing third
  • Manchester United's goal difference of +58 was the greatest ever attained in a Premier League season, beating the record set by Chelsea in 2004–05
  • Cristiano Ronaldo beat his own record for most goals scored by a midfielder, raising the record to 31 goals. The previous record was 17 goals, from the previous season. Furthermore, his goal total equalled the highest number of goals ever scored in the Premier League during a 38-game season, equalling the record first set by Blackburn Rovers' Alan Shearer during the 1995–96 season
  • Marcus Bent and Roque Santa Cruz each scored a hat trick for their team during Wigan Athletic's 5–3 victory over Blackburn Rovers on 15 December 2007. This is the first time in Premier League history that players from opposing sides both scored hat-tricks in the same match
  • Emmanuel Adebayor scored two hat tricks home and away against Derby. This was the first time in the Premier League that a player had scored a hat trick against the same team twice in the league
  • Fernando Torres scored 24 goals for Liverpool, a new record for goals scored by a foreign player during his debut season

Awards

Annual awards

Premier League Manager of the Season

Sir Alex Ferguson picked up the Premier League Manager of the Season award for the eighth time.

Premier League Player of the Season

Cristiano Ronaldo won the Premier League Player of the Season accolade for the second season in succession.

PFA Players' Player of the Year

The PFA Players' Player of the Year award for 2008 was won by Cristiano Ronaldo for the second year in a row.
The shortlist for the PFA Players' Player of the Year award, in alphabetical order, was as follows:

PFA Team of the Year


PFA Team of the Year

Goalkeeper: David James

Defence: Bacary Sagna, Gaël Clichy, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidić

Midfield: Steven Gerrard, Cristiano Ronaldo, Cesc Fàbregas, Ashley Young


Attack: Emmanuel Adebayor, Fernando Torres

PFA Young Player of the Year

The PFA Young Player of the Year award was won by Cesc Fàbregas of Arsenal.
The shortlist for the award was as follows:

FWA Footballer of the Year

The FWA Footballer of the Year award for 2008 was won by Cristiano Ronaldo for a second successive season. The Manchester United winger saw off the challenges of Liverpool striker Fernando Torres and Portsmouth goalkeeper David James, who finished second and third respectively.

Premier League Golden Boot

Cristiano Ronaldo was named the winner of the Premier League Golden Boot award. The Manchester United winger's 31 goals from 34 league appearances helped see off stiff opposition for this award from Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor and Fernando Torres of Liverpool. This was the first Premier League season that a player has scored more than 30 goals since Alan Shearer's 31-goal haul for Blackburn Rovers twelve years prior.

Premier League Golden Glove

Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina claimed the Premier League Golden Glove award for the third season in succession. Clean sheets in 18 out of the 38 games meant Reina kept more clean sheets than any other goalkeeper in the top flight during the 2007–08 campaign.

Premier League Fair Play Award

The Premier League Fair Play Award is a merit given to the team who has been the most sporting and best behaved team. Tottenham topped the Fair Play League, ahead of Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal. The least sporting side was Blackburn Rovers who finished in last place in the rankings.

LMA Manager of the Year

The LMA Manager of the Year award was won by Sir Alex Ferguson after leading Manchester United to back-to-back league title wins. The award was presented by Fabio Capello on 13 May 2008.

PFA Fans' Player of the Year

2007 winner, Cristiano Ronaldo, was named the PFA Fans' Player of the Year again in 2008. Liverpool striker Fernando Torres finished second, with Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fàbregas finishing third.

PFA Merit Award

BBC broadcaster and former England and Blackpool full-back Jimmy Armfield received the PFA Merit Award for his services to the game.

Premier League Merit Award

Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese winger, collected the Premier League Merit Award for reaching 30 league goals this season.

Attendances

Source:
No.ClubMatchesTotal attendanceAverage
1Manchester United191,438,13675,691
2Arsenal FC191,141,33560,070
3Newcastle United19975,09351,321
4Liverpool FC19827,11143,532
5Sunderland AFC19823,54043,344
6Manchester City19800,40042,126
7Chelsea FC19786,54941,397
8Aston Villa19760,56040,029
9Everton FC19702,14236,955
10Tottenham Hotspur19683,37035,967
11West Ham United19657,42334,601
12Derby County19616,21632,432
13Middlesbrough FC19507,45026,708
14Birmingham City19497,43826,181
15Blackburn Rovers19454,92823,944
16Fulham FC19451,71423,774
17Reading FC19448,11523,585
18Bolton Wanderers19397,12220,901
19Portsmouth FC19378,36719,914
20Wigan Athletic19361,87619,046