Premier League, 2017 (2016-17)
Premier League - Season Review 2016-17
Following the shock of Leicester City's sensational success in the previous campaign, more normal service was resumed as Chelsea clinched their fifth Premier League title.
The 2016-17 Premier League was the 25th season in the competition's history.
The Silver Anniversary coincided with a re-brand that meant there was no competition sponsor and a new logo was introduced.
Freed from the constraints of European commitments following their woeful 2015-16 performance, Chelsea prospered until the inspiration of new manager Antonio Conte.
The Blues secured their sixth English league crown at a relative canter. They finished seven points clear of runner-up Tottenham Hotspur who were the only contenders to mount a serious challenge.
In becoming the first team to win 30 games in a 38-game Premier League season, they were presented with the luxury of allowing club legend John Terry to be substituted after 26 minutes of the final day game to mark the end of his glittering career at Stamford Bridge.
Arguably the pivotal game of the season was Chelsea's 3-0 loss at Arsenal in September which led to Conte's key decision to switch from a back four to a three-man defence.
Spurs' emotional final season at White Hart Lane prior to its re-development saw them finish second for the second season in a row and the mercurial Harry Kane retaining the Golden Boot in fine style with hat-tricks in each of the last two games.
It wasn't such a contented season across North London as Arsenal finished out of top four and missed out on a Champions League place for the first time in 20 years. The Gunners did have the consolation of lifting the FA Cup for the third time in the last four seasons though.
Most of the pre-season hype was focussed on Manchester with the high-profile arrival of managers Pep Guardiola and José Mourinho.
City's expected title challenge failed to materialise while, despite finishing outside of the top four for the third time in the last four seasons, silverware did return to Old Trafford in the shape of the League Cup and UEFA Europa League. The latter success signalled the Red Devils' return to the Champions League.
Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Liverpool were the other Champions League qualifiers while Arsenal and Everton would enter the 2017-18 Europa League.
Down at the bottom, Middlesbrough and Hull City made an immediate return to the Championship.
Despite the recruitment of David Moyes as manager, Sunderland succumbed to the seemingly inevitable as their decade long stay in the top flight came to an end.
Antonio Conte was named Premier League Manager of the Year.
In starring for the champion team for the second year in a row, Chelsea's former Leicester City midfielder N'Golo Kanté swept the awards board by being voted the Premier League Player of the Season, Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year and PFA Players' Player of the Year.
Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane retained the Golden Boot with 29 goals.
The PFA Premier League Team of the Year was:
- David De Gea (Manchester United)
- Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), David Luiz (Chelsea), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur)
- Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), N'Golo Kanté (Chelsea), Sadio Mané (Liverpool)
- Romelu Lukaku (Everton), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)
The average attendance was 35,821.
The highest attendance was 75,397 for West Bromwich Albion's visit to Manchester United on 1 April 2017 while the lowest attendance was the 10,890 who saw the game between AFC Bournemouth and Middlesbrough on 22 April 2017.