The Premier League is 20 years old and has enjoyed plenty of highlights. Here, Total Football continues its series, looking back at some of the highs and lows.
In a dramatic title race, Chelsea lifted the Premier League trophy for the first time since 2006, as Carlo Ancelotti won the league and FA Cup double, in his first season in charge.
Manchester United fell a point short of their fourth successive title, as the West Londoners thumped Wigan Athletic 8-0 on the final day, to seal the championship.
Portsmouth became the first Premier League club to enter voluntary administration and they were relegated.
Burnley and Hull City also went down, with all three teams relegated before the beginning of May.
CHAMPIONS: Chelsea
RUNNERS-UP: Manchester United
THIRD PLACE: Arsenal
RELEGATED: Burnley, Hull City, Portsmouth
TOP SCORERS: Didier Drogba (Chelsea) 29, Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) 26, Darren Bent (Sunderland) 24, Carlos Tevez (Manchester City) 23, Frank Lampard (Chelsea) 22, Jermain Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur) 18, Fernando Torres (Liverpool) 18, Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal) 15, Emmanuel Adebayor (Manchester City) 14, Gabby Agbonlahor (Aston Villa) 13, Louis Saha (Everton) 13, Florent Malouda (Chelsea) 12, Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United) 12
BIGGEST WIN: Tottenham Hotspur 9-1 Wigan Athletic (22 November 2009)
HIGHEST SCORING GAMES: Tottenham Hotspur 9-1 Wigan Athletic (22 November 2009), Chelsea 7-2 Sunderland (18 January 2010), Chelsea 8-0 Wigan Athletic (9 May 2010)
PFA PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
PFA YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR: James Milner (Aston Villa)
Pre-season was rocked by Cristiano Ronaldo’s record transfer fee departure, from Manchester United to Real Madrid for £80m.
Despite having sufficient funds in the market, Sir Alex Ferguson elected to save, with his biggest signing, being Antonio Valencia from Wigan Athletic for £17m.
Michael Owen arrived on a free transfer after his release from Newcastle and Gabriel Obertan came in from Bordeaux.
Manchester City continued to flex their muscles in the transfer market, bringing in Gareth Barry for £12m, Kolo Toure for £16m, Emmanuel Adebayor for £25m and most controversially, Carlos Tevez – who wasn’t kept on by United.
Liverpool lost playmaker Xabi Alonso in the summer to Real Madrid. He was replaced by crocked Alberto Aquilani, who arrived injured, whilst Glen Johnson moved from Portsmouth for £18m.
Despite having sold Toure and Adebayor, Arsene Wenger continued to adopt his measured approach in the transfer market, only spending £10m on Belgian defender, Thomas Vermaelen.
Chelsea appointed Carlo Ancelotti as their sixth manager in six years and his only additions were striker Daniel Sturridge and midfielder Yuri Zhirkov, although he managed to persuade John Terry to stay, despite Manchester City’s interest.
Darren Bent moved to Sunderland from Tottenham for a club record fee of £10m, paving the way for Peter Crouch to take his place at White Hart Lane. Marseille captain Lorik Cana also arrived at Sunderland, who had Steve Bruce as their new boss.
Replacing the departed Bruce at Wigan as manager was Roberto Martinez. The Spaniard, who had played for the club in the 1990s, had previously been with Championship side, Swansea City.
Lastly, football lost one of its great icons, as the legendary Sir Bobby Robson passed away in July, after a long, brave fight with cancer aged 76.
Burnley’s brilliant start
Burnley returned to the top flight for the first time in 33 years and they made a memorable start, winning their first four home matches.
This included a shock 1-0 victory over champions Manchester United, with Robbie Blake scoring a stunning volley and goalkeeper Brian Jensen, saving a penalty from Michael Carrick.
Chelsea made a business like start, although they needed a last-gasp victory on the opening day, against a determined Hull City side. Didier Drogba’s double was decisive, in the 2-1 win.
Arsenal made a dream start to the season, winning 6-1 at Everton, with the Toffees pre-season ruined, by Manchester City’s persistence in attempting to sign Joleon Lescott.
Lescott eventually did go to Eastlands and made his debut in a 1-0 triumph at Portsmouth, who lost their first four matches. New signing Adebayor scored in every game in August.
Top of the table in the early weeks, were Tottenham Hotspur. Jermain Defoe bagged a hat-trick in a 5-1 away drubbing at Hull and with four wins from four, Harry Redknapp’s side made their best start since 1961.
Having lost only two games throughout the whole of the previous season, Liverpool lost two of their first three matches this time around. A 3-1 home reverse to Aston Villa was their first home defeat, since December 2007.
The first significant game of the season was at Old Trafford. Despite Andriy Arshavin hitting Arsenal infront, Manchester United recovered and took the honours 2-1, with Arsene Wenger’s dissent seeing him sent to the stands in the closing stages.
The Gunners fortunes didn’t improve in Manchester a fortnight later. They went down 4-2 at the City of Manchester Stadium, in a game dominated by Adebayor.
He scored against his former club and he ran the length of the pitch to taunt the North London supporters in his celebration. The FA later banned him for this petulant act.
The greatest Manchester derby of all-time
A week later and it was the Manchester derby. The 152nd derby turned into the greatest of all-time.
Wayne Rooney gave United a second minute lead but a Ben Foster error, allowed Barry to level matters. Darren Fletcher and Craig Bellamy exchanged four goals between them in the second half, meaning the scoreline was 3-3 in stoppage time.
In the dying seconds, Owen came off the bench to score a dramatic winner and leave Mark Hughes absolutely livid, with the extra stoppage being played.
After an opening day victory at Aston Villa, Wigan Athletic had lost four of their next five games but gave Ancelotti his first taste of Premier League defeat. Petr Cech was sent off, as Chelsea lost 3-1 at the DW Stadium in late September.
With no points in their first seven games, Portsmouth stared down the financial abyss, when it was revealed to the press, that the players hadn’t been paid. They responded with their first points of the season, a 1-0 away win at Wolves.
Liverpool’s season continued to disintegrate and it got worse when they visited Sunderland and lost 1-0.
Darren Bent’s fourth minute goal was freakish to say the least. His shot deflected in, having struck a beach ball!
The Reds worst run of results in 22 years ended with a polished 2-0 success over Manchester United but with an early elimination from the Champions’ League group stages looming, Rafa Benitez was under pressure.
It didn’t get any better at Fulham, where his side lost 3-1 and ended with nine men, as both Jamie Carragher and Phillip Degen were dismissed.
Another foreign investor arrived in the Premier League, as Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung, completed his takeover of Birmingham City. They beat Sunderland 2-1, to go on a run of 12 league games unbeaten, their best run in almost 100 years.
Sorry Wigan hit for nine
Wigan Athletic arrived at Tottenham on 22 November in buoyant mood but had a horror show.
Defoe scored five and Tottenham ended up winning a staggering 9-1! It was their biggest win in the Premier League and Wigan’s heaviest defeat in their history.
Manager Martinez ordered his players to refund the travelling supporters for the embarrassing performance.
In a big head-to-head, Chelsea went five points clear of Manchester United, after registering a 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge. Terry’s header was the difference with 15 minutes left.
Later in the month, Ancelotti’s side went to the Emirates and comfortably beat Arsenal 3-0; pulling 11 points clear of their London rivals.
Blackburn claimed their first away victory of the season, 2-0 at Bolton with boss Sam Allardyce missing the game, after he needed minor heart surgery. The game is best remembered for a comical own goal from Trotters defender, Sam Ricketts.
The first managerial casualty was at Portsmouth. Paul Hart’s tenure ended after a 1-0 away defeat at Stoke City. Former Chelsea boss Avram Grant took over.
One of the Premier League’s best loved characters returned from injury and Jimmy Bullard didn’t disappoint. He scored a penalty in Hull’s 1-1 draw with Manchester City and produced a parody of Phil Brown’s half-time rant from the previous season.
Brown said afterwards: “It was first class, well planned and well thought out from a character!”
Another manager feeling the strain was Hughes, as Manchester City set a new unwanted record, drawing seven consecutive matches in the Premier League, which dropped them to seventh.
Hughes terminated
Despite a 2-1 victory over league leaders Chelsea, the death knell of Hughes at Eastlands came with a dreary performance and a 3-0 defeat at Tottenham.
Moments after a 4-3 home win over Sunderland, he was sacked after just two wins in 11 games and ‘not meeting agreed targets,’ as the club statement said.
Italian Roberto Mancini took charge and his first match was a 2-0 victory on Boxing Day against Stoke City.
Before the end of 2009, Gary Megson was sacked by Bolton Wanderers. The unpopular manager with the fans had dragged the club into the drop zone following a run of one win in nine matches.
Liverpool’s poor season continued when Arsenal came from behind to win 2-1 at Anfield. Arshavin scored another crucial goal on Merseyside.
The Gunners began to close in on the top two, as Everton took a point off Chelsea, drawing 3-3 in West London and Manchester United lost 1-0 at home to Aston Villa and 3-0 away at Fulham.
Villa’s win at Old Trafford, was their first since 1983 and Martin O’Neill’s side had quietly risen to fourth at Christmas.
Going into 2010, Chelsea led Manchester United by five points, with Arsenal, Tottenham and Aston Villa close behind. West Ham, Bolton and Portsmouth made up the bottom three.
Freezing temperatures
The start of 2010 was slow in the Premier League, after freezing arctic temperatures and snow paralysed much of the UK.
Seven of the ten scheduled matches across the weekend of the 9 January were called off, due to either bad weather or safety concerns around the stadiums being used.
In the January transfer window, Patrick Vieira made a shock return to England with Manchester City on a free transfer. City also captured Middlesbrough young winger, Adam Johnson.
Leaving the cold chill of England behind was Robinho, with the unsettled striker going back home to Santos for six months.
35-year old Sol Campbell made a dramatic return to Arsenal. He had been training with the squad as a free agent, since leaving Notts County in September.
Campbell’s return allowed Swiss defender Philippe Senderos to join Everton, with the Toffees also signing Landon Donovan on a three month loan deal from LA Galaxy.
Other movers saw Younes Kaboul return to Tottenham for £5m, Craig Gardner moved across the Birmingham divide from Villa to City, Maxi Rodriguez joined Liverpool and Wigan added young Crystal Palace hotshot, Victor Moses.
Taking over at West Ham United were the former Birmingham City owners and East London fanatics, David Sullivan and David Gold. Seeing the need to improve the strikeforce, they bought in Mido, Benni McCarthy and Ilan.
Bolton got their man, as Owen Coyle elected to leave Burnley and take charge at his former club. The Clarets fans were furious, calling him ‘Judas,’ for moving to one of their bitterest rivals.
On the pitch and Chelsea tore apart Sunderland, winning 7-2. In a ruthless display, Nicolas Anelka and Frank Lampard both scored twice.
Seven wins in nine matches had propelled Arsenal back into the title race and they went top in mid-January, after coming from 2-0 down to beat Bolton 4-2.
3D football
In a fascinating technological innovation, the match between Arsenal and Manchester United at the Emirates, was the first live sports transmission across the world in 3D.
Nani, Ji-sung Park and Rooney scored in United’s 3-1 win, with Rooney’s strike being his 100th in the Premier League.
After the game, Sir Alex Ferguson said: “We need Chelsea to drop points. I hope Arsenal go to Stamford Bridge next Sunday and batter them!”
Ferguson didn’t get his wish, as Chelsea won 2-0, courtesy of two first half goals from Drogba, which kept them clear at the top.
In the 213th Merseyside Derby, Liverpool came out on top against Everton 1-0 at Anfield. Dirk Kuyt scored the only goal, whilst Sotiris Krygiakos and Steven Pienaar were both sent off in another bruising encounter.
That result did take Liverpool into the top four but they relinquished that days later, as Abou Diaby’s header saw Arsenal beat them 1-0, Wenger’s 300th Premier League victory.
Chelsea came unstuck at Goodison Park against an improving Everton side. A brace from Louis Saha helped the Toffees to a 2-1 triumph, exposing Terry for both goals.
Terry was not the public’s best liked person, as revelations came out in the press about his private life, which involved having an alleged affair with the girlfriend of his former team-mate, Wayne Bridge.
When Bridge’s current club, Manchester City arrived at Stamford Bridge at the end of February, there was a lot of speculation about whether they would shake hands.
Bridge refused Terry’s hand and he had the last laugh as City won 4-2. Michael Ballack was sent off and there were two goals apiece for Bellamy and Tevez.
Arsenal had to deal with another trauma in a 3-1 away success at Stoke City. A bad challenge by Ryan Shawcross on Aaron Ramsay left the Welshman with a horrifying broken leg.
It’s over for Pompey
In late February, Portsmouth went into voluntary administration, due to being £70m in debt. The club picked up a nine points deduction, becoming the first Premier League side to suffer this fate and they were going down.
Hull City would join them after a run of one win in 14 games. This included a 5-1 mauling at Everton. Phil Brown was placed on ‘gardening leave’ and Iain Dowie was appointed as a management consultant.
They were relegated in April, after a 1-0 home defeat to Sunderland and despite Brian Laws’ best efforts, Burnley’s lack of quality caught up with them.
A 4-0 home defeat to Liverpool ended their one year stay back in England’s premier division.
In the title race, Chelsea slipped to third in March after an unconvincing 1-1 draw at Blackburn, which put them four points off the top.
They bounced back in style though, hammering Aston Villa 7-1, setting up a defining match at Old Trafford with leaders Manchester United.
Joe Cole’s lovely backheel had the Blues infront and Drogba came off the bench to score the winner. Despite a late consolation from Federico Macheda, the game ended 2-1.
Ferguson admitted afterwards: “Chelsea are favourites, there’s no question about that.”
Arsenal’s title dreams ended with a 2-1 defeat to Tottenham in the North London derby. Danny Rose scored a scorching volley nine minutes into his first-team debut, helping the Lilywhites to their first Premier League win in 11 years against their bitterest rivals.
The Gunners then produced the collapse of the season at the DW Stadium. They were 2-0 up against Wigan with ten minutes to go but somehow lost the game 3-2. The result ensured the Lactics Premier League status, for another season at least.
Chris Kamara misses….Chelsea scores
In one of the lighter hearted moments of the season, Soccer Saturday’s Chris Kamara became famous on YouTube for missing a red card at Fratton Park between Portsmouth and Blackburn.
Kamara: “I don’t know Jeff, has there…I must have missed that. Red card?
Jeff Stelling: “Chris, have you not been watching, I haven’t! I don’t know where that has come from, I have no idea what has happened there, what’s happened Chris.
Kamara: “I don’t know Jeff! (Cue a lot of studio laughter!)
Stelling: “Chris, let me just tell you that according to our sources, Anthony Vanden Borre has been sent off for a second bookable offence. (Using gestures) Get your fingers out and count the number of Portsmouth players that are on the field.
Kamara: “No you’re right, I saw him go off but I thought they were bringing on a sub Jeff!”
Matt Le Tissier in studio: “As professional as ever Kammy!”
Kamara: “Still 0-0!”
Stelling: “Cutting edge reports on Gillette Soccer Saturday!”
On the pitch and Manchester United kept the pressure on Chelsea, with a goal from Paul Scholes in the last 20 seconds, helping them win 1-0 at Manchester City.
Chelsea had Terry sent off and they lost 2-1 at Tottenham, to see their lead drop again to one point.
However, no more slip-ups occurred and goals from Drogba and Lampard beat a woeful Liverpool side 2-0 in early May and set the Blues up for the title.
It went to the last day, a title race that had been full of twists and turns but there was to be no more.
Chelsea crushed Wigan 8-0, meaning a 4-0 victory over Stoke, was academic to Manchester United, who fell one point short of a fourth successive championship.
In the race for fourth spot, Tottenham’s 1-0 triumph away at Manchester City, took them into the Champions League and a tilt at Europe’s most prestigious club prize, for the first time since 1962.
Aston Villa came sixth and Liverpool’s seventh place finish, their worst since 1999 saw Rafa Benitez parting company by mutual consent at the end of the season. Gianfranco Zola was sacked by West Ham’s new owners, after they only narrowly avoided relegation.
The four year wait for the main trophy had ended for Chelsea and they added the FA Cup a week later too. They scored 103 goals, which was a new record, lost the fewest games during the campaign and beat Manchester United home and away.
There was no stopping the West Londoners class of 2009-10.
By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
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