Premier League 2008-09 | ||
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Season information | ||
---|---|---|
Winners | Manchester United | |
Relegated | Newcastle United Middlesbrough West Bromwich Albion | |
Domestic cup winners | ||
FA Cup | Chelsea | |
Carling Cup | Manchester United | |
FA Community Shield | Manchester United | |
Continental cup qualifiers | ||
Champions League | Manchester United Liverpool Chelsea Arsenal | |
Europa League | Everton Aston Villa Fulham | |
Season statistics | ||
Matches played | 380 | |
Goals scored | 942 | |
Average | (2.48 per match) | |
Top goalscorer | Nicolas Anelka (19) | |
Biggest home win | Manchester City 6–0 Portsmouth (21 September 2008) | |
Biggest away win | Hull City 0–5 Wigan Athletic (30 August 2008) Middlesbrough 0–5 Chelsea (18 October 2008) West Bromwich Albion 0–5 Manchester United (27 January 2009) | |
Highest scoring | Arsenal 4–4 Tottenham Hotspur (29 October 2008) Liverpool 4–4 Arsenal (21 April 2009) | |
← 2007-08
|
2009-10 →
|
The 2008–09 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 17th season since the establishment of the Premier League in 1992. Manchester United became champions for the 11th time on the penultimate weekend of the season, defending their crown after winning their tenth Premier League title on the final day of the previous season. They were run close by Liverpool, who had a better goal difference and who had beaten United home and away, including a 4–1 victory at Old Trafford, but who were undone by a series of draws. The campaign – the fixtures for which were announced on 16 June 2008 – began on Saturday, 16 August 2008, and ended on 24 May 2009. A total of 20 teams contested the league, consisting of 17 who competed in the previous season and three promoted from the Football League Championship. The new match ball was the Nike T90 Omni.
At the start of this season, clubs were allowed to name seven substitutes on the bench instead of five. This season was also different in that there was no New Year's Day game, as is traditional. This was because the FA Cup Third Round is traditionally played on the first Saturday in January, which in 2009 fell in the usual spot for New Year's league games. September saw Manchester City taken over by the Abu Dhabi United Group, transforming them into one of the world's wealthiest football clubs, securing the signing of Robinho for a British record £32.5 million just seconds before the 2008 summer transfer window closed in the process.
The first goal of the season was scored by Arsenal's Samir Nasri against newly promoted West Bromwich Albion in the fourth minute of the early kick-off game on the opening day of the season on 16 August. Gabriel Agbonlahor of Aston Villa scored the first hat-trick of the season against Manchester City, scoring three goals in the space of seven minutes. Manchester United clinched the 2009 Premier League title with a scoreless draw against Arsenal on 16 May 2009, their 11th Premier League title, and 18th League title overall, drawing level with fierce rivals Liverpool who finished as runners-up. It is the second time they clinched the title for three consecutive years, the first being in 2001.
West Bromwich Albion were the first team to be relegated to the Championship after losing 2–0 at home to Liverpool on 17 May 2009. They were joined in the Championship by Middlesbrough and Newcastle United on the last day of the season after Middlesbrough's defeat at West Ham United and Newcastle's 1–0 defeat at Aston Villa. It meant that Hull City and Sunderland stayed up despite home defeats to Manchester United and Chelsea respectively. The fact that Hull City avoided relegation (along with Stoke City, who stayed up relatively comfortably under the management of Tony Pulis), meant it was the first time since the 2005–06 season that more than one promoted club maintained their Premier League status. Aston Villa, Everton and Fulham all secured European football for the 2009–10 season through their league position.
Promotion and relegation[]
Start of season[]
Teams promoted from The Championship 2007-08
- West Bromwich Albion (Champions)
- Stoke City (Runners-up)
- Hull City (Playoff winners)
End of season[]
Teams relegated to The Championship 2009-10
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 West Bromwich Albion, Stoke City (returning to the top flight after absences of two and twenty-three years respectively) and Hull City (playing Premier League football for the first time ever). It was Stoke City's first ever season in the Premier League. The promoted teams replaced Reading (relegated to the Championship after a two-year top-flight spell), Birmingham City and Derby County (both teams relegated to the Championship after a season's presence).
Stadiums and locations[]
Personnel and kits[]
(as of 24 May 2009)
Also, Nike provided new match balls, white with red and yellow (autumn/spring) and yellow with purple and black (winter), based on their T90 Laser II Omni model.
Managerial changes[]
Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chelsea | ![]() |
Sacked | 24 May 2008 | Pre-season | ![]() |
1 July 2008 |
Manchester City | ![]() |
Mutual consent | 2 June 2008 | ![]() |
4 June 2008 | |
Blackburn Rovers | ![]() |
Signed by Manchester City | 4 June 2008 | ![]() |
22 June 2008 | |
West Ham United | ![]() |
Resigned | 3 September 2008 | 5th | ![]() |
11 September 2008 |
Newcastle United | ![]() |
4 September 2008 | 11th | ![]() |
26 September 2008 | |
Tottenham Hotspur | ![]() |
Sacked | 25 October 2008 | 20th | ![]() |
26 October 2008 |
Portsmouth | ![]() |
Signed by Tottenham | 26 October 2008 | 7th | ![]() |
28 October 2008 |
Sunderland | ![]() |
Resigned | 4 December 2008 | 18th | ![]() |
27 December 2008 |
Blackburn Rovers | ![]() |
Sacked | 16 December 2008 | 19th | ![]() |
17 December 2008 |
Portsmouth | ![]() |
9 February 2009 | 16th | ![]() |
9 February 2009 | |
Chelsea | ![]() |
9 February 2009 | 4th | ![]() |
11 February 2009 | |
Newcastle United | ![]() |
Medical break clause | 16 February 2009 | 13th | ![]() |
31 March 2009 |
League table[]
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Manchester United (C) | 38 | 28 | 6 | 4 | 68 | 24 | +44 | 90 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
2 | Liverpool | 38 | 25 | 11 | 2 | 77 | 27 | +50 | 86 | |
3 | Chelsea | 38 | 25 | 8 | 5 | 68 | 24 | +44 | 83 | |
4 | Arsenal | 38 | 20 | 12 | 6 | 68 | 37 | +31 | 72 | Qualification for the Champions League play-off round |
5 | Everton | 38 | 17 | 12 | 9 | 55 | 37 | +18 | 63 | Qualification for the Europa League play-off round |
6 | Aston Villa | 38 | 17 | 11 | 10 | 54 | 48 | +6 | 62 | |
7 | Fulham | 38 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 39 | 34 | +5 | 53 | Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round |
8 | Tottenham Hotspur | 38 | 14 | 9 | 15 | 45 | 45 | 0 | 51 | |
9 | West Ham United | 38 | 14 | 9 | 15 | 42 | 45 | −3 | 51 | |
10 | Manchester City | 38 | 15 | 5 | 18 | 58 | 50 | +8 | 50 | |
11 | Wigan Athletic | 38 | 12 | 9 | 17 | 34 | 45 | −11 | 45 | |
12 | Stoke City | 38 | 12 | 9 | 17 | 38 | 55 | −17 | 45 | |
13 | Bolton Wanderers | 38 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 41 | 53 | −12 | 41 | |
14 | Portsmouth | 38 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 38 | 57 | −19 | 41 | |
15 | Blackburn Rovers | 38 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 40 | 60 | −20 | 41 | |
16 | Sunderland | 38 | 9 | 9 | 20 | 34 | 54 | −20 | 36 | |
17 | Hull City | 38 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 39 | 64 | −25 | 35 | |
18 | Newcastle United (R) | 38 | 7 | 13 | 18 | 40 | 59 | −19 | 34 | Relegation to Football League Championship |
19 | Middlesbrough (R) | 38 | 7 | 11 | 20 | 28 | 57 | −29 | 32 | |
20 | West Bromwich Albion (R) | 38 | 8 | 8 | 22 | 36 | 67 | −31 | 32 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated
Results[]
Top goalscorers[]
Scorer | Goals | Team |
---|---|---|
Nicolas Anelka | 19 | Chelsea |
Cristiano Ronaldo | 18 | Manchester United |
Steven Gerrard | 16 | Liverpool |
Robinho | 14 | Manchester City |
Fernando Torres | Liverpool | |
Gabriel Agbonlahor | 12 | Aston Villa |
Darren Bent | Tottenham Hotspur | |
Kevin Davies | Bolton Wanderers | |
Dirk Kuyt | Liverpool | |
Frank Lampard | Chelsea | |
Wayne Rooney | Manchester United |
External links[]
Premier League seasons ![]() |
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