The 2006–07 FA Premier League (known as the FA Barclays Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th season of the FA Premier League since its establishment in 1992. The season started on 19 August 2006 and concluded on 13 May 2007. Chelsea were the two-time defending champions.
On 12 February 2007, the FA Premier League renamed itself simply to the Premier League. The change introduced a new logo, sleeve patches and typeface. The sponsored name remains the Barclays Premier League.
The 2006–07 season was the lowest-scoring season in Premier League history, with only 931 goals (with a 2.45 goals per match ratio, the poorest in the history of Premier League).
Manchester United won their first Premiership title since 2003, following Chelsea's 1–1 draw with Arsenal on 6 May 2007. The result left the defending champions seven points behind United with two games left. It was their ninth title in fifteen seasons.
The three relegation spots were occupied by Watford and Sheffield United who each lasted one season in the league, along with Charlton Athletic who went down after seven seasons.
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 Reading (playing in the top flight for the first time ever), Sheffield United (playing top flight football for the first time in twelve years) and Watford (returning to the Premier League after a six-year absence). They replaced Birmingham City, West Bromwich Albion and Sunderland, who were relegated to the Championship after their top flight spells of four, two and one year respectively.
Stadiums and locations
Team Location Stadium CapacityArsenalLondon Emirates Stadium 60,600Aston VillaBirminghamVilla Park 42,553Blackburn RoversBlackburnEwood Park 31,367Bolton WanderersBoltonReebok Stadium 28,723Charlton AthleticLondon The Valley 27,111ChelseaLondon Stamford Bridge 42,360EvertonLiverpool Goodison Park 40,569FulhamLondon Craven Cottage 24,600LiverpoolLiverpool Anfield 48,677Manchester CityManchester City of Manchester Stadium 48,000Manchester UnitedManchester Old Trafford 76,212MiddlesbroughMiddlesbroughRiverside Stadium 35,049Newcastle UnitedNewcastle upon TyneSt James' Park 52,387PortsmouthPortsmouthFratton Park 20,220ReadingReadingMadejski Stadium 24,250Sheffield UnitedSheffieldBramall Lane 32,609Tottenham HotspurLondon White Hart Lane 36,240WatfordWatfordVicarage Road 19,920West Ham UnitedLondon Boleyn Ground 35,146Wigan AthleticWiganJJB Stadium 25,138
Personnel and kits (as of 13 May 2007)
Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsorArsenal Arsène Wenger Thierry HenryNikeFly EmiratesAston Villa Martin O'Neill Gareth BarryHummel32red.comBlackburn Rovers Mark Hughes Ryan NelsenLonsdalebet24.comBolton Wanderers Sammy Lee Kevin NolanReebokReebokCharlton Athletic Alan Pardew Luke YoungJomaLlaneraChelsea José Mourinho John TerryAdidasSamsung MobileEverton David Moyes Phil NevilleUmbroChangFulham Lawrie Sanchez Brian McBrideAirnessPipexLiverpool Rafael Benítez Steven GerrardAdidasCarlsbergManchester City Stuart Pearce Richard DunneReebokThomas CookManchester United Sir Alex Ferguson Gary NevilleNikeAIGMiddlesbrough Gareth Southgate George BoatengErreà888.comNewcastle United Nigel Pearson (caretaker) Scott ParkerAdidasNorthern RockPortsmouth Harry Redknapp Dejan StefanovićJakoOkiReading Steve Coppell Graeme MurtyPumaKyoceraSheffield United Neil Warnock Chris MorganLe Coq SportifCapital OneTottenham Hotspur Martin Jol Ledley KingPumaMansion.comWatford Aidy Boothroyd Gavin MahonDiadoraloans.co.ukWest Ham United Alan Curbishley Nigel Reo-CokerReebokJobserveWigan Athletic Paul Jewell Arjan De ZeeuwJJBJJB
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment Charlton Athletic Alan Curbishley End of contract 24 April 2006Pre-season Iain Dowie 27 May 2006 Middlesbrough Steve McClaren Signed by England 4 May 2006 Gareth Southgate 7 June 2006 Aston Villa David O'LearySacked 19 July 2006 Martin O'Neill 4 August 2006 Charlton Athletic Iain Dowie 13 November 2006 20th Les Reed 13 November 2006 West Ham United Alan Pardew 11 December 2006 18th Alan Curbishley 13 December 2006 Charlton Athletic Les Reed 20 December 2006 19th Alan Pardew 24 December 2006 Fulham Chris Coleman 10 April 2007 15th Lawrie Sanchez 10 April 2007 Bolton Wanderers Sam AllardyceResigned 29 April 2007 5th Sammy Lee 30 April 2007 Newcastle United Glenn Roeder 6 May 2007 13th Nigel Pearson (caretaker) 6 May 2007
League table
Results
Season statistics
Scoring Biggest win: 6 goals – Reading 6–0 West Ham United (1 January 2007) Highest scoring match: 8 goals – Arsenal 6–2 Blackburn Rovers First goal: Rob Hulse for Sheffield United against Liverpool (19 August 2006) Last goal: Harry Kewell (pen.) for Liverpool against Charlton Athletic (13 May 2007)
Overall Most wins: 28 – Manchester United Fewest wins: 5 – Watford Most losses: 21 – West Ham United Fewest losses: 3 – Chelsea Most goals scored: 83 – Manchester United Fewest goals scored: 29 – Manchester City and Watford Most goals conceded: 60 – Fulham and Charlton Athletic Fewest goals conceded: 24 – Chelsea
Home Most wins: 15 – Manchester United Fewest wins: 3 – Watford Most losses: 10 – Wigan Athletic Fewest losses: 0 – Chelsea Most goals scored: 46 – Manchester United Fewest goals scored: 10 – Manchester City Most goals conceded: 30 – Wigan Athletic Fewest goals conceded: 7 – Liverpool
Away Most wins: 13 – Manchester United Fewest wins: 1 – Fulham and Charlton Athletic Most losses: 14 – Sheffield United Fewest losses: 3 – Manchester United and Chelsea Most goals scored: 37 – Manchester United Fewest goals scored: 8 – Sheffield United Most goals conceded: 42 – Fulham Fewest goals conceded: 13 – Chelsea
Top scorers RankPlayerClubGoals1 Didier DrogbaChelsea202 Benni McCarthyBlackburn Rovers183 Cristiano RonaldoManchester United174 Wayne RooneyManchester United14 Mark VidukaMiddlesbrough6 Darren BentCharlton Athletic13 Kevin DoyleReading8 Dimitar BerbatovTottenham Hotspur12 Dirk KuytLiverpool YakubuMiddlesbrough
Historic goals 15,000th goal The Premier League expected to have the league's 15,000th goal scored at some point in the period between Christmas and New Year. The target was reached on 30 December when Moritz Volz scored for Fulham against Chelsea. Barclays, the Premiership's sponsor, donated £15,000 to the Fulham Community Sports Trust in Volz' name. Additionally, a fan who correctly predicted that Volz would score the historic goal in a contest presented the player with a special award prior to Fulham's game against Watford at Craven Cottage on 1 January. The honour of scoring the 15,000th goal led to Volz being nicknamed "15,000 Volz".
Goalkeeper scores On 17 March 2007, Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Paul Robinson scored against Watford from an 83-yard free kick, which bounced over his England teammate Ben Foster, who was in goal for the Hornets, leading Spurs to a 3–1 win at White Hart Lane. This was the third goal scored by a goalkeeper in Premiership history. The other two were scored by Peter Schmeichel, for Aston Villa against Everton on 21 October 2001, and Brad Friedel, for Blackburn Rovers against Charlton Athletic on 21 February 2004. In those two cases, the teams they played for lost. Robinson became the first keeper to score for the winning team in a Premiership match.
Relegation controversy West Ham escaped relegation on the final day of the season with a 1–0 win over Manchester United, with Carlos Tevez scoring the winner. Sheffield United were relegated, along with Charlton and Watford. Tevez was subsequently found to have been ineligible to play, as he was not owned by West Ham, but by a third party. Sheffield United sued to keep their Premier League status and, when that failed, went to an FA arbitration panel seeking up to £30m compensation. The arbitration panel found in favour of Sheffield United. The two clubs subsequently settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, while West Ham were fined £5.5 million by the Premier League.
Awards Monthly awards MonthManager of the MonthPlayer of the MonthReferenceManagerClubPlayerClubAugust Sir Alex FergusonManchester United Ryan GiggsManchester UnitedSeptember Steve CoppellReading Andrew JohnsonEvertonOctober Sir Alex FergusonManchester United Paul ScholesManchester UnitedNovember Steve CoppellReading Cristiano RonaldoManchester UnitedDecember Sam AllardyceBolton Wanderers Cristiano RonaldoManchester UnitedJanuary Rafael BenítezLiverpool Cesc FàbregasArsenalFebruary Sir Alex FergusonManchester United Ryan GiggsManchester UnitedMarch José MourinhoChelsea Petr ČechChelseaApril Martin O'NeillAston Villa Robbie Keane Dimitar BerbatovTottenham Hotspur Annual awards Award Winner Club Premier League Manager of the Season Sir Alex Ferguson Manchester United Premier League Player of the Season Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United PFA Players' Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United PFA Young Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United PFA Fans' Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United FWA Footballer of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United PFA Team of the Year Goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United) Defence Gary Neville (Manchester United) Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United) Nemanja Vidić (Manchester United) Patrice Evra (Manchester United) Midfield Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) Paul Scholes (Manchester United) Ryan Giggs (Manchester United) Attack Didier Drogba (Chelsea) Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham Hotspur)
Attendances
See also 2006–07 in English football 2006–07 Football League
Notes
External links
2006–07 Premier League Season at RSSSF Premier League 2006–07 on BBC Sport: News – Recent results – Upcoming fixtures – Live Scores – Current standings Official Premier League site