The 2019–20 season was the 140th season of competitive association football in England.
The season was suspended 13 March 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the first time that an entire football season was suspended since the 1939-40 season was abandoned due to the onset of World War II. On 26 March, the season was abandoned in divisions below the National League, with all results being expunged, one relegation and one expulsion taking place.
The Premier League resumed on 17 June and the Championship on 20 June with all matches played behind closed doors.
National teams England national football team
Kits
Results and fixtures Friendlies
UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
Group A
England women's national football team
Results and fixtures Friendlies
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup
Group D
Knockout stage
2020 SheBelieves Cup
England U-21 national football team
England U-19 national football team
Results and fixtures Friendlies
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup
Group D
Knockout stage
2020 SheBelieves Cup
FIFA competitions
2019 FIFA Club World Cup
Semi-finals
Final
UEFA competitions UEFA Champions League
Group stage
Group B
Group C
Group E
Group H
Knockout phase
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
UEFA Europa League
Second qualifying round
Third qualifying round
Play-off round
Group stage
Group F
Group K
Group L
Knockout phase
Round of 32
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
UEFA Super Cup
This was the first Super Cup to feature two English teams.
UEFA Youth League
Group stage
Group B
Group C
Group E
Group H
Domestic Champions Path
First round
Second round
Play-offs
Knockout phase
Round of 16
UEFA Women's Champions League
Knockout phase
Round of 32
Notes
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Men's football League DivisionPromoted to league Relegated from league Premier League Norwich City Sheffield United Aston Villa Huddersfield Town Fulham Cardiff City Championship Luton Town Barnsley Charlton Athletic Ipswich Town Bolton Wanderers Rotherham United League One Lincoln City Bury MK Dons Tranmere Rovers Plymouth Argyle Walsall Scunthorpe United Bradford City League TwoLeyton Orient Salford City Yeovil Town Notts County National League Torquay United Stockport County Chorley Woking Braintree Town Gateshead Havant & Waterlooville Maidstone United
Premier League
Amid uncertainty and calls for the season to be rendered null and void in the midst of the pandemic, the FA voted for both the Premier League and the Championship to finish their respective campaigns – a decision that finally helped Liverpool, after decades of heartbreak, near-misses and rebuilding, to end their long wait and win their first league title since 1990, taking the lead in mid-August and not surrendering it all season, holding a double-digit lead from before Christmas and eventually breaking the record for the earliest top-flight win in history, whilst also extending their unbeaten league run at Anfield to a third successive season and 59 games – despite a succession of dropped points in their remaining games ensuring they would miss out on breaking any of the previously set title-winning records on top of an early exit in the Champions League knockout stage, the Reds won both the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup in the first half of the season to mark one of their most successful campaigns since 2001. Finishing second were Manchester City, who had been widely tipped to build on their domestic treble the previous season – however, they endured arguably one of the most disappointing title defences in the club's history, losing ground on Liverpool as early as their second game and suffering a number of unexpected and poor defeats, including home-and-away to both Wolverhampton Wanderers and city rivals Manchester United, a decision ultimately put down to the club's failure to replace departing captain Vincent Kompany and then losing key players Leroy Sane and Aymeric Laporte to long-term injuries; despite this, City were at least able to earn silverware, winning their fifth League Cup in seven seasons.
In similar circumstances to the previous season, the battle for the remaining top-four spots went down to the final day – and saw Chelsea and Manchester United scrape through at the expense of Leicester City; Chelsea's first season under new head coach and former player Frank Lampard proved largely indifferent, conceding far more goals than all of the top ten, but they managed enough consistency to ensure Champions League football, whilst a largely underwhelming 2020 went against Leicester, who lost a winner-takes-all final day game against United, the Red Devils securing Champions League football despite an inconsistent 2019 – the arrival of midfielder Bruno Fernandes in the winter transfer window helping to reinvigorate the team. An uneven start to the season for Tottenham Hotspur ultimately saw manager Mauricio Pochettino sacked after five-and-a-half years at the helm; whilst the installation of Jose Mourinho helped push the club back up the table and into a late battle to ensure Europa League football for the next campaign, an early exit in the Champions League and poor performances across domestic cup competitions put paid to any hopes of Spurs winning a trophy – with similar performances in the league raising questions about Mourinho's long-term tactics.
Having been tipped to struggle in their first top-flight season since 2007, Sheffield United defied all their critics by recording both a top-ten finish and conceding fewer goals than much of the top half, even staying in the fight for a European spot up until the final game, an effort that gave the Blades and manager Chris Wilder deserved praise. Arsenal endured one of their worst seasons since the inception of the Premier League, with a succession of draws and winless runs across all competitions in the first half of the season extinguishing the Gunners' hopes of winning the league title and costing manager Unai Emery his job; whilst the season's second half proved to be much better under former player and new manager Mikel Arteta, including winning the FA Cup for the fourth time in seven seasons and ensuring Europa League football next season, further dropped points either side of the suspension ensured the London club would only just scrap into the top eight. Southampton endured yet another underwhelming start to the season, including suffering the worst home defeat in the history of the top-flight in late October at the hands of Leicester City – however, strong away form from that point onwards helped pushed the Saints comfortably clear of the drop, with safety ensured following an impressive home win over Manchester City.
At the bottom of the table, Norwich City endured a disastrous return to the Premier League, suffering relegation with three games to go in a torrid season that saw the Canaries hit with an extensive injury crisis and fail to really make much impact both in the transfer window and in the league itself, despite an astonishing victory against Manchester City at Carrow Road early in the campaign; having been bottom but still in with a shout of survival when the season was suspended, they were ultimately undone by losing every single match after the season resumed. The battle to avoid the remaining relegation places proved to be closer than expected, but both Aston Villa – defying the odds in their first season back in the top-flight – and West Ham United survived the drop, at the expense of Watford and Bournemouth, the Hornets ultimately being let down by both an atrocious start to the season with only a solitary win in their opening sixteen games and their sacking of three different managers, with Bournemouth also being let down by a collapse in points and form either side of the season being suspended despite a remarkable victory over Everton on the final day; coincidentally, all three clubs had been promoted in the same season only five years prior, albeit Norwich had gone straight back down the following year.
Championship
The race for the automatic promotion spots proved competitive, both before the season was suspended and after the decision was made to resume following a vote by the FA. But in the end, Leeds United made up for their play-off semi-final disappointment the previous year and returned to the Premier League for the first time since 2004 in Marcelo Bielsa's second season as manager, the Yorkshire club remaining in the promotion positions all season despite poor January form and ensuring both promotion and the champions' spot before their penultimate game. The battle for second place proved to be just as hotly contested with three teams in the mix in the last round of games, but West Bromwich Albion successfully held off strong runs of form from both Brentford and Fulham to end a two-year absence from the top-flight, giving Slaven Bilić promotion in his first season as head coach. Both London clubs therefore qualified for the play-offs, alongside Welsh clubs Cardiff City and Swansea City, the latter managed to leapfrog Nottingham Forest in the closing minutes of the season on goals scored - Forest being left to rue a six-game winless run, having been all but guaranteed a top-six finish at the start of July; the playoffs were then won by Fulham, making an immediate return to the Premier League while giving Scott Parker a successful first full season in management.
The battle for the play-offs ultimately proved a closer affair, with many teams battling for one spot; among the teams to miss out were Derby County, who overcame a sluggish start to only narrowly miss out on a play-off position, whilst also managing to sign top-flight legend Wayne Rooney in the winter transfer window. Amid yet another poor start to their season, Reading looked poised to endure a third successive relegation battle – however, the unorthodox decision of newly installed Sporting Director Mark Bowen to appoint himself as manager proved to be a successful one as the Royals rocketed away from the bottom and even looked likely to snatch an unlikely play-off position in the closing weeks of the campaign, falling short in the closing games. Newly relegated Huddersfield Town suffered a similarly dreadful start to their campaign and found themselves battling a second consecutive relegation in a row, but the appointment of Lincoln City manager Danny Cowley and several key wins picked up at crucial points ultimately proved enough for the Terriers to secure their Championship status, the win in their penultimate game that ensured safety ironically being the one to send Leeds back into the top-flight.