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).
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 won 7–4. On 15 December 2007, both Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn Rovers) and Marcus Bent (Wigan Athletic) 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 (both teams returning after a season's 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.
Stadiums and locations
Team Location Stadium CapacityArsenalLondon Emirates Stadium 60,355Aston VillaBirmingham Villa Park 42,640Birmingham CityBirmingham St Andrew's Stadium 30,009Blackburn RoversBlackburnEwood Park 31,367Bolton WanderersBoltonReebok Stadium 28,723ChelseaLondon Stamford Bridge 42,055Derby CountyDerbyPride Park Stadium 33,597EvertonLiverpool Goodison Park 40,157FulhamLondon Craven Cottage 26,300LiverpoolLiverpool Anfield 45,276Manchester CityManchester City of Manchester Stadium 47,726Manchester UnitedManchester Old Trafford 76,212MiddlesbroughMiddlesbroughRiverside Stadium 35,049Newcastle UnitedNewcastle upon TyneSt James' Park 52,387PortsmouthPortsmouthFratton Park 20,688ReadingReadingMadejski Stadium 24,161SunderlandSunderlandStadium of Light 49,000Tottenham HotspurLondon White Hart Lane 36,244West Ham UnitedLondon Upton Park 35,303Wigan AthleticWiganJJB Stadium 25,138
Personnel and kits Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor Arsenal Arsène Wenger William Gallas Nike Emirates Aston Villa Martin O'Neill Gareth Barry Nike 32red Birmingham City Alex McLeish Damien Johnson Umbro F&C Investments Blackburn Rovers Mark Hughes Ryan Nelsen Umbro Bet 24 Bolton Wanderers Gary Megson Kevin Davies Reebok Reebok Chelsea Avram Grant John Terry Adidas Samsung Mobile Derby County Paul Jewell Robbie Savage Adidas Derbyshire Building Society Everton David Moyes Phil Neville Umbro Chang Beer Fulham Roy Hodgson Brian McBride Nike LG Liverpool Rafael Benítez Steven Gerrard Adidas Carlsberg Manchester City Sven-Göran Eriksson Richard Dunne Le Coq Sportif Thomas Cook.com Manchester United Sir Alex Ferguson Gary Neville Nike AIG Middlesbrough Gareth Southgate George Boateng Erreà Garmin Newcastle United Kevin Keegan Nicky Butt Adidas Northern Rock Portsmouth Harry Redknapp Sol Campbell Canterbury Oki Reading Steve Coppell Graeme Murty Puma Kyocera Sunderland Roy Keane Dean Whitehead Umbro boylesports.com Tottenham Hotspur Juande Ramos Ledley King Puma Mansion Casino West Ham United Alan Curbishley Lucas Neill Umbro XL Airways Wigan Athletic Steve Bruce Mario Melchiot Umbro JJB
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.
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment Wigan Athletic Paul Jewell Resigned 14 May 2007Pre-season Chris Hutchings 14 May 2007 Newcastle United Nigel PearsonEnd of caretaker period 14 May 2007 Sam Allardyce 15 May 2007 Manchester City Stuart Pearce Sacked 14 May 2007 Sven-Göran Eriksson 6 July 2007 Chelsea José Mourinho Mutual consent 20 September 2007 5th Avram Grant 20 September 2007 Bolton Wanderers Sammy Lee 17 October 2007 19th Gary Megson 25 October 2007 Tottenham Hotspur Martin Jol Sacked 25 October 2007 18th Juande Ramos 27 October 2007 Wigan Athletic Chris Hutchings 5 November 2007 Steve Bruce 26 November 2007 Birmingham City Steve Bruce Signed by Wigan 19 November 2007 15th Alex McLeish 28 November 2007 Derby County Billy Davies Mutual consent 26 November 2007 20th Paul Jewell 28 November 2007 Fulham Lawrie Sanchez Sacked 21 December 2007 18th Roy Hodgson 30 December 2007 Newcastle United Sam Allardyce Mutual consent 9 January 2008 11th Kevin Keegan 16 January 2008
League table
Results
Season statistics
Scoring First goal of the season: Michael Chopra for Sunderland against Tottenham Hotspur (11 August 2007) Last goal of the season: Matthew Taylor for Bolton Wanderers against Chelsea (11 May 2008) Fastest goal in a match: 28 seconds – Geovanni for Manchester City against Wigan Athletic (1 December 2007) Goal scored at the latest point in a match: 90+6 minutes – Andy Reid for Sunderland against West Ham United (29 March 2008) Widest winning margin: 7 goals – Middlesbrough 8–1 Manchester City (11 May 2008) Most goals in a match: 11 – Portsmouth 7-4 Reading (29 September 2007) First hat-trick of the season: Emmanuel Adebayor for Arsenal against Derby County (22 September 2007) First own goal of the season: Martin Laursen for Liverpool against Aston Villa (11 August 2007) Most goals by one player in a single match: 4 Dimitar Berbatov for Tottenham Hotspur against Reading (29 December 2007) Frank Lampard for Chelsea against Derby County (12 March 2008) Most hat-tricks scored by one player: 2 Benjani for Portsmouth Portsmouth 7–4 Reading (29 September 2007) Portsmouth 3–1 Derby County (19 January 2008) Fernando Torres for Liverpool Liverpool 3–2 Middlesbrough (23 February 2008) Liverpool 4–0 West Ham United (5 March 2008) Emmanuel Adebayor for Arsenal Arsenal 5–0 Derby County (22 September 2007) Derby County 2–6 Arsenal (28 April 2008) This is the first time in the Premier League that any player has scored a hat-trick against the same team twice in one season. Most goals by one team in a match: 8 Middlesbrough 8–1 Manchester City (11 May 2008) Most goals in one half by one team: 6 Manchester United 6–0 Newcastle United (12 January 2008) Middlesbrough 8–1 Manchester City (11 May 2008) Most goals scored by losing team: 4 – Reading Portsmouth 7–4 Reading (29 September 2007) Tottenham Hotspur 6–4 Reading (29 December 2007)
Top scorers RankPlayerClubGoals1 Cristiano RonaldoManchester United312 Emmanuel AdebayorArsenal24 Fernando TorresLiverpool4 Roque Santa CruzBlackburn Rovers195 BenjaniPortsmouth / Manchester City15 Dimitar Berbatov Tottenham Hotspur Robbie Keane YakubuEverton9 Carlos TevezManchester United1410 John CarewAston Villa13
Fastest scorers ScorerTime (seconds)TeamOpponentGeovanni28Manchester CityWigan AthleticCameron Jerome32Birmingham CityDerby CountyYakubu47EvertonPortsmouthDavid Healy50FulhamArsenal
Clean sheets 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) First red card of the season: Dave Kitson for Reading against Manchester United (12 August 2007) 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) Lowest average home attendance: 19,046 (Wigan Athletic)
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