2012–13 Premier League

Premier League
Season	2012–13
Champions	Manchester United; 13th Premier League title; 20th English title overall
Champions League	Manchester United
Europa League	Swansea City
Matches played	337
Goals scored	930 (2.76 per match)
Top goalscorer	Robin van Persie; (24 goals)
Biggest home win	Chelsea 8–0 Aston Villa
Biggest away win	Queens Park Rangers 0–5 Swansea City
Highest scoring	Arsenal 7–3 Newcastle United
Longest winning run	7 games; Manchester United
Longest unbeaten run	18 games; Manchester United
Longest winless run	16 games; Queens Park Rangers
Longest losing run	7 games; Reading
Highest attendance	75,605; Manchester United 1-0 Reading; (16 March 2013)
Lowest attendance	15,436; Wigan Athletic 3–2 Reading; (24 November 2012)
Average attendance	35,745
	← 2011–12 2013–14 →

The 2012–13 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is the 21st season of the Premier League, the English professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992. The fixture schedule was released on 18 June 2012.^[3]^[4] The season began on 18 August 2012 and will end on 19 May 2013.^[4]

Manchester City are the defending champions, having won their first Premier League title the previous season. This was their first top division league title since the 1967–68 season.

On 22 April, Manchester United won their 13th Premier League title and 20th English title overall by defeating Aston Villa at Old Trafford 3–0.

Teams

A total of 20 teams will contest the league, including 17 sides from the 2011–12 season and three promoted from the 2011–12 Football League Championship.

Relegation for Wolverhampton Wanderers to the 2012–13 Football League Championship was confirmed on 22 April 2012, ending a three-season Premier League tenure.^[5] Blackburn Rovers were relegated after a 1–0 defeat against Wigan Athletic on 7 May 2012, ending an eleven-season tenure in top-flight football.^[6] The final team to be relegated from the 2011–12 Premier League was Bolton Wanderers on 13 May 2012, the final day of the season, also after eleven seasons in the top flight. For only the second time in the history of the Premier League, all three sides who were promoted from the 2010–11 Football League Championship survived and will compete in this season.

Reading (as Champions) and Southampton (as runners-up) secured direct promotion to the Premier League from the Championship. Reading returned to the Premier League after an absence of four years, while Southampton make a comeback to the highest tier after making two successive promotions and seven seasons in the leagues below. The third promoted team was decided in a four-team play-off between the Championship teams ranked third through sixth. Ultimately, third-placed West Ham United defeated fifth-placed Blackpool in the play-off final at Wembley Stadium on 19 May 2012. West Ham returned to the Premier League after one season of absence.

London

London teams
Arsenal
Chelsea
Fulham
Queens Park Rangers
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United

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Locations of the 2012–13 Premier League teams

Tottenham Hotspur

Arsenal

Queens Park Rangers

Chelsea

Fulham

West Ham United

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Greater London football clubs

Stadia and locations

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.^[7]

Team	Stadium^[8]	Capacity
Arsenal	Emirates Stadium	60,362
Aston Villa	Villa Park	42,785
Chelsea	Stamford Bridge	41,798
Everton	Goodison Park	39,571
Fulham	Craven Cottage	25,700
Liverpool	Anfield	45,276
Manchester City	Etihad Stadium	47,405
Manchester United	Old Trafford	75,765
Newcastle United	St James' Park	52,405
Norwich City	Carrow Road	27,224
Queens Park Rangers	Loftus Road	18,439
Reading	Madejski Stadium	24,197
Southampton	St Mary's Stadium	32,689
Stoke City	Britannia Stadium	27,740
Sunderland	Stadium of Light	48,707
Swansea City	Liberty Stadium	20,750
Tottenham Hotspur	White Hart Lane	36,284
West Bromwich Albion	The Hawthorns	26,445
West Ham United	Boleyn Ground	35,016
Wigan Athletic	DW Stadium	25,133

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team	Manager¹	Captain^[9]	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Arsenal	Arsène Wenger	Thomas Vermaelen	Nike	Emirates
Aston Villa	Paul Lambert	Ron Vlaar²	Macron	Genting Casinos
Chelsea	Rafael Benítez	John Terry	Adidas	Samsung
Everton	David Moyes	Phil Neville	Nike	Chang Beer
Fulham	Martin Jol	Brede Hangeland	Kappa	FxPro
Liverpool	Brendan Rodgers	Steven Gerrard	Warrior Sports	Standard Chartered
Manchester City	Roberto Mancini	Vincent Kompany	Umbro	Etihad Airways
Manchester United	Sir Alex Ferguson	Nemanja Vidić	Nike	Aon
Newcastle United	Alan Pardew	Fabricio Coloccini	Puma	Virgin Money
Norwich City	Chris Hughton	Grant Holt	Erreà	Aviva
Queens Park Rangers	Harry Redknapp	Clint Hill	Lotto	AirAsia
Reading	Nigel Adkins	Jobi McAnuff	Puma	Waitrose
Southampton	Mauricio Pochettino	Adam Lallana	Umbro	aap3
Stoke City	Tony Pulis	Ryan Shawcross	Adidas	Bet365
Sunderland	Paolo Di Canio	Lee Cattermole	Adidas	Invest In Africa
Swansea City	Michael Laudrup	Garry Monk	Adidas	32Red
Tottenham Hotspur	André Villas-Boas	Michael Dawson	Under Armour	Aurasma
West Bromwich Albion	Steve Clarke	Chris Brunt	Adidas	Zoopla
West Ham United	Sam Allardyce	Kevin Nolan	Macron	SBOBET
Wigan Athletic	Roberto Martínez	Gary Caldwell	MiFit	12BET

¹ According to current revision of List of English Football League managers
² Stiliyan Petrov is Aston Villa's club captain, but Vlaar has been appointed team captain for the season whilst Petrov recovers from leukaemia.^[10]^[11]
Additionally, referee kits are now being sponsored by Expedia.com, and Nike has a new match ball, the Maxim Premier League.

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
West Bromwich Albion	Roy Hodgson	Signed by England	13 May 2012^[12]	Pre-season	Steve Clarke	8 June 2012^[13]
Aston Villa	Alex McLeish	Sacked	14 May 2012^[14]		Paul Lambert	2 June 2012^[15]
Liverpool	Kenny Dalglish	Sacked	16 May 2012^[16]		Brendan Rodgers	1 June 2012^[17]
Swansea City	Brendan Rodgers	Signed by Liverpool	1 June 2012^[17]		Michael Laudrup	15 June 2012^[18]
Norwich City	Paul Lambert	Signed by Aston Villa	2 June 2012^[15]		Chris Hughton	7 June 2012^[19]
Tottenham Hotspur	Harry Redknapp	Sacked	13 June 2012^[20]		André Villas-Boas	3 July 2012^[21]
Chelsea	Roberto Di Matteo		21 November 2012^[22]	3rd	Rafael Benítez (interim)	21 November 2012^[23]
Queens Park Rangers	Mark Hughes		23 November 2012^[24]	20th	Harry Redknapp	24 November 2012^[25]
Southampton	Nigel Adkins		18 January 2013^[26]	15th	Mauricio Pochettino	18 January 2013^[26]
Reading	Brian McDermott		11 March 2013^[27]	19th	Nigel Adkins	26 March 2013^[28]
Sunderland	Martin O'Neill		30 March 2013^[29]	16th	Paolo Di Canio	31 March 2013^[30]

League table

Results

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Rank	Player	Club	Goals^[1]
1	Robin van Persie	Manchester United	24
2	Luis Suárez	Liverpool	23
3	Gareth Bale	Tottenham Hotspur	18
4	Michu	Swansea City	17
5	Demba Ba	Chelsea/Newcastle United	15
5	Christian Benteke	Aston Villa	15
7	Rickie Lambert	Southampton	14
8	Dimitar Berbatov	Fulham	13
8	Romelu Lukaku	West Bromwich Albion	13
10	Santi Cazorla	Arsenal	12
	Edin Džeko	Manchester City	12
	Frank Lampard	Chelsea	12
	Wayne Rooney	Manchester United	12

Rank	Player	Club	Assists^[31]
1	Juan Mata	Chelsea	12
2	Theo Walcott	Arsenal	10
3	Wayne Rooney	Manchester United	9
	Steven Gerrard	Liverpool	9
	Lukas Podolski	Arsenal	9
	Eden Hazard	Chelsea	9
7	Robin Van Persie	Manchester United	8
8	Damien Duff	Fulham	7
	Santi Cazorla	Arsenal	7
	David Silva	Manchester City	7
	Carlos Tevez	Manchester City	7

Teams

Stadia and locations

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

League table

Results

Season statistics

Top scorers

Assists

Hat-tricks

Scoring

Clean sheets

Discipline

Awards

Monthly awards

References