The 2008âÂÂ09 season was the 129th season of competitive football in England. The Premier League started on 16 August 2008, while the Championship, League One, and League Two matches started on 9 August 2008. The regular season of the Football League ended on 3 May 2009, while the Premier League ended on 24 May 2009.
The Premier League title was won by Manchester United, capturing their 18th top-division title and third in a row. Three teams, Newcastle United, Middlesbrough, and West Bromwich Albion were relegated at the end of the season. They were replaced by three teams from the Championship, being the champion Wolverhampton Wanderers alongside regular season runner up Birmingham City, and Burnley, which won a four-team playoff for the third promotion spot. Relegated from Championship to League One were Norwich City, Southampton, and Charlton Athletic. The League One teams promoted to the Championship include champions Leicester City, runners up Peterborough United, and playoff winners Scunthorpe United. Relegated from League One to League Two were Northampton Town, Crewe Alexandra, Cheltenham Town and Hereford United. Promoted from League Two were the champions Brentford, runners up Exeter City, third-place finishers Wycombe Wanderers, and playoff winners Scunthorpe United. Relegated to Conference were Chester City and Luton Town
The England national football team played in four friendlies, winning two, losing one, and playing to a draw in the other. During the season, England played seven of its ten Group 6 matches for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification, winning all seven.
The FA Cup was won by Chelsea who defeated Everton 2âÂÂ1 in the final.
The home team is on the left column; the away team is on the right column.
England is currently in Group 6 of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification process.
5 July 2008 - Former Liverpool and Leeds United winger Harry Kewell joins Galatasaray.
9 July 2008 - Journeyman forward Kevin Phillips swaps Midlands sides, joining newly relegated Birmingham City from West Bromwich Albion.
11 July 2008 - Arsenal complete the signing of Frenchman Samir Nasri from Marseille.
9 August 2008 - The Football League kicks-off, with two promotion favourites, Birmingham City and Sheffield United, locking horns. Kevin Phillips' 90th-minute goal gave the Blues the perfect start, winning 1-0.
16 August 2008 - The Premier League began, with Arsenal defeating West Brom 1-0 at the Emirates to open the season off. Hull City's first ever top flight appearance saw an inspired display by Giovani help them to a 2-1 win over Fulham.
31 August 2008 -
4 September 2008 - Two Premier League managers in succession resigned. Alan Curbishley quit after almost two years as West Ham manager, with Kevin Keegan abrupt second spell as Newcastle United manager ended.
11 September 2008 - Gianfranco Zola was named as Alan Curbishley's successor at West Ham.
13 September 2008 - Liverpool moved six points clear of rivals Manchester United after a 2-1 victory at Anfield. Liverpool kept up the head on Chelsea, staying level on points, but United's title defence took a stuttering start, lying 14th in the Premier League table.
26 September 2008 - Joe Kinnear became the new manager of Newcastle United.
27 September 2008 - Liverpool won the first Merseyside derby of the season, triumphing 2-0 at Goodison Park. Hull City's bright start to the campaign saw them defeat Arsenal 2-1 in their first visit to the Emirates.
30 September 2008 - Goal difference continued to separate both Chelsea and Liverpool at the top of the Premier League, with Aston Villa and Arsenal competing the top four. West Ham remained fifth and Hull City, tipped by many to be the leagues whipping boys in their first top flight campaign, sat sixth. Blackburn held the final European place. Tottenham Hotspur, still without a win, sat at the foot of the table, growing pressure on Juande Ramos. Newcastle United and Stoke City, playing their first top division campaign in 20 years, ended September in the drop zone. Wolves opened up a two points lead at the top of the Championship, as Midlands rivals Birmingham City sitting second. Reading, Burnley, recovering from their slow start, Sheffield Wednesday and Steel City rivals Sheffield United completing the top six. Nottingham Forest ended September at the foot of the Championship, joint in the drop zone by Barnsley and Doncaster.
25 October 2008 - With Tottenham's start to the season not getting better, Juande Ramos was relieved of his duties as manager. Harry Redknapp quit fellow Premier League side Portsmouth to become his successor.
26 October 2008 - Chelsea's historic 86-game unbeaten run at Stamford Bridge ended, as Xavi Alonso's strike earned Liverpool a 1-0 win in London.
28 October 2008 - Redknapp's successor at Portsmouth was former Arsenal defender and captain Tony Adams
31 October 2008 - Liverpool opened up a three point lead over Chelsea after winning all their games in October. The West Londoners remained second, with Arsenal climbing above Aston Villa in an unchanged top four. Hull's fast start showed no sign of slowing down as they were only kept out of the Champions League spots on goal difference. Manchester United began to pick up pace as they sat sixth, still eight points off the top. Tottenham remained bottom, but had renewed optimism with Harry Redknapp's appointment. Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic completing the bottom three. Wolves had their lead at the top cut to one point by Birmingham, but both have opened a comfortable gap over the chasing pack. Cardiff, Reading, Burnley and Sheffield United competing the play-off places. Doncaster became the side rooted to the foot of the division, with Nottingham Forest and Southampton competing the drop zone.
30 November 2008 - Manchester United defeated City in the first Manchester derby of the season, winning 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium. This win moved United into third, and still five points behind leaders, this time which was Chelsea. Liverpool were second, level on points, but with a game in hand. Arsenal completed the top four. Aston Villa, Hull and Everton competed the European places. West Brom sank to the foot, staring down the barrels of an immediate return to the Championship. Blackburn, whom were challenging for Europe two months prior, and Sunderland completed the drop zone, with Newcastle ahead of their North East rivals on goal difference. Wolves opened up a six point lead on Birmingham City and thirteen on third placed Reading, citing their credentials as a Premier League place looks likely. Burnley, Sheffield United and Preston competing the top six. Doncaster and Nottingham Forest's battle remained gloomy, with Charlton, just two years after Premier League relegation, completing the bottom three.
4 December 2008 - Roy Keane departed his post as Sunderland manager, with the team in the Premier League drop zone. His successor was Scotsman Ricky Sbragia. Initially temporary, he took the role until the end of the season.
26 December 2008 - The highlight of the Boxing Day football was Hull City manager Phil Brown giving his side a public dressing down at half-time, as his side were 4-0 down at half-time at Manchester City. It didn't change much, as City ran out 5-1 winners.
31 December 2008 - Liverpool ended the year as the Premier League leaders, ahead of Chelsea by three points and Manchester United by eight points, although United had two games in hand. Aston Villa competed the top four. Arsenal, Everton and Wigan, a little over a month after being in the drop zone, competing the European places. West Brom remained bottom, with Blackburn and Stoke in the drop zone, although Middlesbrough, Tottenham, Sunderland and Newcastle close by. Wolves lead was cut to seven points for promotion, with Reading edging Birmingham out of the top two on goal difference. Cardiff, Burnley and Sheffield United ending 2008 in the play-offs, with close battles from Preston and Crystal Palace. Charlton were rooted to the foot of the table. Debt-riddled Southampton joined the Addicks below the dreaded line, and Doncaster's fortunes had upturned, now 22nd and in the drop zone on goal difference.
Manchester United won their 18th league title, drawing level with Liverpool for the record of most league titles. Liverpool pushed them all the way; they actually had a superior goal difference and completed the double over United, even winning 4âÂÂ1 at Old Trafford in March, but also suffered 11 draws which enabled United to overtake and win the title. Chelsea broke records for all the wrong reasons as their 86-game unbeaten home record finally came to an end, with several surprise away losses effectively ending their title challenge (as well as resulting in manager Luiz Felipe Scolari being sacked), though they did win the FA Cup under caretaker manager Guus Hiddink. Arsenal finished fourth to claim the final Champions League spot, which meant that last season's top 4 all qualified for Europe's elite for the fifth time in six seasons.
Aston Villa had looked like breaking into the Champions League spots for most of the season, but a late collapse that saw them win just twice in their last 13 league games saw them join FA Cup finalists Everton in qualifying for the newly formed UEFA Europa League (which replaced the UEFA Cup). Fulham were the other team to qualify for Europe, marking a remarkable turnaround since Roy Hodgson had taken over 18 months earlier when relegation from the Premier League looked a certainty. This was not only the first time they had qualified for Europe via their league position, but in finishing 7th in the first tier, this was also the highest ever league finish in the club's history. Stoke City, despite being pre-season relegation favourites for many, defied their critics and finishing comfortably in mid-table.
West Bromwich Albion made an immediate return to the Championship after propping up the table for most of the season. Joining them on the final day were Middlesbrough and Newcastle United, ending 11 and 16-year spells in the top flight respectively, the latter going through four managers in Kevin Keegan, Joe Kinnear, Chris Hughton and even former striker Alan Shearer during the campaign. Sunderland survived relegation, thanks to the efforts of caretaker manager Ricky Sbragia after Roy Keane's surprise resignation in December; meaning next season they would be the only North-East team in top flight football. Despite a brilliant start to the season (Which included victories at Arsenal and Tottenham, a draw at Liverpool and a narrow 4âÂÂ3 loss at Manchester United, and climbing as high as third place in October), Hull City won just one league game after the new year, but avoided relegation by a single point.
Leading goalscorer: Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea) â 19
Five years after being relegated from the Premier League, Wolverhampton Wanderers returned to the top flight in style as champions, having been in the top 2 for virtually all the season since August. Birmingham City were runners-up, making this the fourth season in a row that they had swapped divisions. Burnley joined them by beating Sheffield United in the play-off final, earning their place in the top flight after a 33-year absence.
Cardiff City occupied a play-off position for much of the season, but agonisingly slipped out of them on the final day after obtaining just one point in their final four league games. Preston North End in contrast, took twelve points from their final four league games, including a 6âÂÂ0 win over Cardiff to finish ahead of them by courtesy of having scored one goal more throughout the season. Doncaster Rovers who were favourites to go straight back down and in the second tier after half a century out, achieved a respectable mid-table finish ahead of former Premier League teams in Crystal Palace, Coventry City, Derby County, Nottingham Forest and Barnsley.
Charlton suffered their second relegation in three years, despite a run of just one loss out of eight games at the end of the season. Southampton also crashed out of the division amid financial worries, which also meant they would be starting the 2009âÂÂ10 season in League One with a ten-point deduction for entering administration. Norwich were the third relegated club, meaning that all three relegated clubs had been in the Premier League as recently as 2005 and had long left the third tier (Charlton last competed in the third tier in 1981, Southampton and Norwich in 1960).
Leading goalscorer: Sylvan Ebanks-Blake (Wolverhampton Wanderers) â 25
Leicester comfortably won promotion in their first-ever season at this level, leading the table for virtually the entire season, going half the season (23 consecutive games) unbeaten and losing just 4 games in the process. Nigel Pearson brought stability to the club in becoming their first manager in five years to last an entire season as they looked to turn the corner after several years of struggle. Peterborough were runners-up, winning their second successive promotion and entering the second tier for only the second time in their history. Scunthorpe grabbed the final play-off place on the last day of the season in a winner takes all match v 7th place Tranmere Rovers and won promotion through them, making an immediate return to the Championship after being relegated the previous year.
Stockport went into administration before the final match of the season and so suffered a 10-point penalty; however, there was no real chance of them being relegated as a result of this penalty, barring an extremely unlikely set of results on the final day.
Hereford made an immediate return to League Two, finishing bottom in their first campaign at this level for thirty years. Cheltenham improved late in the season, but it proved too late to prevent relegation. Crewe suffered a late collapse and went down to League Two, having looked safe a few weeks previously. Northampton were relegated on the final day of the season after losing at Leeds and other results went against them. Brighton had looked certainties for relegation in the closing weeks, but the appointment of Russell Slade as manager saw them claim 16 points out of a possible 21 to survive. Carlisle and Hartlepool both survived on the last day.
Leading goalscorer: Simon Cox (Swindon Town) â 29, and Rickie Lambert (Bristol Rovers) â 29
Brentford made a return to League One as champions, the second club to win the fourth tier three times since Doncaster Rovers. Exeter won their second successive promotion, and on the final day of the season managed to pip Wycombe Wanderers for the runners-up spot. Wycombe themselves managed the final automatic promotion spot by virtue of a single goal over Bury. The play-offs were won by Gillingham, who made an immediate return to League One after the previous season's relegation.
Several teams suffered heavy points deductions during the season. Rotherham were docked 17 points at the start of the season and Darlington 10 points later on. Without these penalties they would have both qualified for the play-offs, but instead managed only mid table. Bournemouth also suffered a 17-point deduction pre-season, and halfway through it looked to be enough to cost them their League status; however, a fightback under new manager Eddie Howe saw them climb to safety and secure survival with a game to spare.
Luton suffered the heaviest deduction however, and the loss of 30 points proved too much for them to survive (though they would still have been relegated, albeit while finishing a place higher, had they only suffered the same 17-point deduction as Bournemouth and Rotherham). They suffered four back-to-back seasons without getting promoted and dropped out of the league, making them only the third English team to suffer a hat-trick of relegations, and the first to drop from the second tier to the Conference in successive years. The other relegated team was Chester City, who were statistically the worst team in the division and returned to the Conference after only five years. This would ultimately be the final season that the club completed, as they folded in March 2010, before the end of the following campaign. Grimsby would also have suffered relegation, if not for Luton's points deduction.
Leading goalscorers: Simeon Jackson (Gillingham) â 20, Grant Holt (Shrewsbury Town) â 20, and Jack Lester (Chesterfield) â 20