The 2007–08 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) 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 (which mean
UEFA Champions League qualification).
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 rivalsLiverpool'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.[8] 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 (both teams after a one year absence), and
Derby County (returning after a five-year absence). They 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.
In addition, Premier League officials were supplied with new kit made by
Umbro, replacing American makers Official Sports, and are sponsored by
Air Asia, replacing Emirates. The 2007–08 season saw a new font used for the names on the back of players' shirts.[10]
Source:
Premier League Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored. For further information on European qualification see
Premier League – Competition (C) Champions; (R) Relegated Notes:
^Manchester City qualified as the highest-ranked team not already qualified for European competitions of Premier League Fair Play Ranking by
The Football Association, the top association among
UEFA Fair Play ranking winners.
Most clean sheets – Manchester United and Chelsea (21)
Fewest clean sheets – Derby County and Birmingham (3)
Discipline
First yellow card of the season:
Didier Zokora for Tottenham Hotspur against Sunderland (11 August 2007)[3]
First red card of the season:
Dave Kitson for Reading against Manchester United (12 August 2007)[4]
Most yellow cards: Middlesbrough (85)
Fewest yellow cards: Everton (40)
Most red cards: Chelsea and Fulham (6)
Fewest red cards: Bolton (0)
Average home attendance
Highest average home attendance: 75,691 (Manchester United)[44]
Lowest average home attendance: 19,046 (Wigan Athletic)[44]
Overall
Most wins – Manchester United (27)
Fewest wins – Derby County (1)
Most losses – Derby County (29)
Fewest losses – Arsenal and Chelsea (3)
Most goals scored – Manchester United (80)
Fewest goals scored – Derby County (20)
Most goals conceded – Derby County (89)
Fewest goals conceded – Manchester United (22)
Home
Most wins – Manchester United (17)
Fewest wins – Derby County (1)
Most losses – Derby County (13)
Fewest losses – Arsenal and Chelsea (0)
Most goals scored – Manchester United (47)
Fewest goals scored – Derby County (12)
Most goals conceded – Derby County (43)
Fewest goals conceded – Manchester United (7)
Away
Most wins – Chelsea (13)
Fewest wins – Derby County (0)
Most losses – Derby County (16)
Fewest losses – Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool (3)
Most goals scored – Arsenal and Aston Villa (37)
Fewest goals scored – Derby County (8)
Most goals conceded – Derby County (46)
Fewest goals conceded – Chelsea (13)
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 (with Ronaldo, Adebayor and Torres each scoring more goals individually) 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 (20 goals scored, 89 conceded) was worse than
Ipswich Town's
1994–95 goal difference of −57 (36 goals scored, 93 conceded). 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[7]
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[45]
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.[55][58]
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.[59]
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.[60] The least sporting side was Blackburn Rovers who finished in last place in the rankings.[61]
^
abMcIntyre, David (29 December 2007).
"Tottenham 6–4 Reading". BBC Sport.
Archived from the original on 31 December 2007. Retrieved 29 December 2007.
^Stevenson, Jonathan (12 March 2007).
"Chelsea 6–1 Derby". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 March 2007.
^Whyatt, Chris (19 January 2008).
"Portsmouth 3–1 Derby". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 March 2008.
^Sanghera, Mandeep (23 February 2008).
"Liverpool 3–2 Middlesbrough". BBC Sport.
Archived from the original on 25 February 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
^Fletcher, Paul (5 March 2008).
"Liverpool 4–0 West Ham". BBC Sport.
Archived from the original on 13 March 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
^Stevenson, Jonathan (28 April 2008).
"Derby 2–6 Arsenal". BBC Sport.
Archived from the original on 29 April 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2008.