Premier League, 2008 (2007-08)

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Premier League – Season Review 2007-08

The 2007-08 Barclays Premier League was the 16th season in the competition’s history. Manchester United won the Premier League title for the 11th time and completed a notable double by beating Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League Final. With the their improving performances in the European competition and growing strength of the Premier League, for the first time since the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985, the English league now headed the UEFA rankings. United's goal difference of +58 became the best in a Premier League campaign.

With Avram Grant having replaced manager Jose Mourinho earlier in the season, the Blues also had to be content with the runners-up spot in the Premier League. Arsenal and Liverpool qualified for the Champions League by finishing third and fourth, respectively. Everton qualified for the UEFA Cup through their league position. The other UEFA Cup qualifiers were Portsmouth (who beat Cardiff City in the FA Cup Final), Tottenham Hotspur (who beat Chelsea in the Carling Cup Final) and Manchester City (via their UEFA Fair Play ranking). Aston Villa entered the UEFA Intertoto Cup by finishing in sixth position.

Derby County became the first club in the competition’s history to be relegated in March as they finished with a Premier League lowest-ever points tally (11). The other two relegated clubs, Reading and Birmingham City, put up a much more valiant fight as they suffered the drop due to Fulham’s last day win against Portsmouth.

Sir Alex Ferguson was named Premier League Manager of the Year. Cristiano Ronaldo won the Premier Player of the Season, PFA Players’ Player of the Year and the Football Writers’ Footballer of the Year awards for the second season in a row. The Manchester United star also won the Golden Boot with 31 goals.

The PFA Premier League Team of the Year was:

  • David James (Portsmouth)
  • Bacary Sagna (Arsenal), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United), Gael Clichy (Arsenal)
  • Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Ashley Young (Aston Villa)
  • Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal), Fernando Torres (Liverpool)

The average attendance was 36,076. The highest attendance was 76,013 for West Ham United’s visit to Manchester United on 3 May 2008 while the lowest attendance was the 14,007 who saw the game between Wigan Athletic and Middlesbrough on 15 August 2007.