The 2009–10 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 18th season of the Premier League since its establishment in 1992. A total of 20 teams competed in the league, with Chelsea unseating the three-time defending champions Manchester United, scoring a Premier League record 103 goals in the process.[4][5] The season began on 15 August 2009 and concluded on 9 May 2010.[6] Prior to each opening week match, a minute's applause was held in memory of Sir Bobby Robson. Nike provided a new match ball – the T90 Ascente – for this season. The league was sponsored by Barclays.
The race for the title went to the final day of the season with Chelsea one point ahead of Manchester United; Chelsea's 8–0 win over Wigan Athletic was enough to secure their first title since 2006, despite Manchester United's 4–0 defeat of Stoke City.[7] The title win came in Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti's first season at the club and he followed this up a week later by securing Chelsea's first FA Cup and League double with a win over Portsmouth at Wembley. Chelsea striker Didier Drogba won the Golden Boot award as the league's top goalscorer for the second time[8] The victorious Chelsea side were noted for their attacking style of football: the team averaged 2.71 goals per game, scoring a Premier League record 103 goals for the season, compared to the average of 1.89 when they won the title in the 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons.[9]
In February 2010, Portsmouth became the first club to go into administration whilst a member of the Premier League.[10] They were docked nine points, and two months later they were the first team of the season to be relegated. Hull City and Premier League debutants Burnley were relegated alongside them.
Chelsea won the league by a point over second placed Manchester United on 9 May 2010, with an 8–0 win at home to Wigan Athletic.[11] They won despite Manchester United's 4–0 win against Stoke.[7] The title win came in Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti's first season with the club. Portsmouth were the first team to be relegated on 10 April 2010, followed by Hull City and Burnley.[12][13][14]Fulham's manager Roy Hodgson was voted manager of the year by the League Managers Association.[15] The season saw Liverpool, runners-up the previous season and considered one of the established 'Big Four', finish outside the top four for the first time since 2004–05 leaving them unable to compete in the UEFA Champions League for the first time since the 2003–04 season.
Newcastle United, Middlesbrough and West Bromwich Albion were relegated to the 2009–10 Football League Championship after finishing the 2008–09 season in the bottom three places. Newcastle suffered their first relegation from the Premier League since their promotion to it in 1993. Middlesbrough returned to the Championship after an eleven-year tenure in England's top flight, while West Bromwich's latest stint in the Premier League lasted only one season.
The three relegated teams were replaced by 2008–09 Football League Championship champions Wolverhampton Wanderers, runners-up Birmingham City and promotion play-off winners Burnley. Wolverhampton play their first season at the top level since the 2003–04 season, and Burnley made their return to England's highest football division after 33 years. Fellow promoted club Birmingham City, on the other hand, had changed divisions between the Premier League and the Championship for the fourth season in a row.
Manchester United came into the season as defending champions and aiming to win a fourth successive Premier League title, following championship-winning campaigns in 2006–07, 2007–08 and 2008–09. They were also looking to overtake Liverpool's record of 18 league titles.
1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored 1 Portsmouth were docked nine points for entering administration.[32] 2 Originally Portsmouth should qualify for the third qualifying round of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League as 2009–10 FA Cup runners-up to Champions League-qualified Chelsea however they failed to apply for a UEFA license therefore Liverpool took their place. (C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished: (Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament. More about European qualification:
For further information on European qualification see Premier League – Competition.
Source: Barclays Premier League
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column. Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For coming matches, an a indicates there is an article about the match.
West Ham United 5–3 Burnley (28 November 2009)[39]
Manchester City 4–3 Sunderland (19 December 2009)[40]
Most goals scored in a match by one player: 5 goals – Jermain Defoe for Tottenham Hotspur against Wigan Athletic (22 November 2009)[1]
Shortest time between goals: 50 seconds – Robin van Persie (41'52") and Cesc Fàbregas (42'42") for Arsenal against Tottenham Hotspur (31 October 2009)[41]
Most own goals scored in a match by same team: 3 – Portsmouth (Anthony Vanden Borre, Richard Hughes and Marc Wilson) against Manchester United (6 February 2010)[42] However, on 26 May 2010, the Dubious Goal Committee declared the second own goal by Richard Hughes as Michael Carrick's goal.
Last goal of the season: Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (Everton) against Portsmouth 93 minutes and 10 seconds (9 May 2010)[43]
Least times failed to score: 1 game – Chelsea against Birmingham[44]
Most times failed to score: 17 games – Wolverhampton Wanderers [44]
First yellow card of the season: Bernard Mendy for Hull City against Chelsea, 45+1 minute and 30 seconds (15 August 2009)[46]
First red card of the season: Sean Davis for Bolton Wanderers against Liverpool, 53 minutes and 57 seconds (29 August 2009)[47]
Card given at latest point in a game: Barry Ferguson (red) at 90+5 minutes and 27 seconds for Birmingham City against Manchester City (1 November 2009)[48]
Most red cards in a single match: 3 – Portsmouth 1–1 Sunderland – 1 for Portsmouth (Ricardo Rocha) and 2 for Sunderland (Lee Cattermole and David Meyler) (9 February 2010)[51]
Longest first half injury time: 8 minutes, 26 seconds – Stoke City against Chelsea (12 September 2009)[52]
Longest second half injury time: 10 minutes, 25 seconds – Hull City against Aston Villa (21 April 2010)[53]
Worst start to a Premier League season: 0 points from 7 games – Portsmouth (26 September 2009). Losing streak ended on 3 October 2009, with 1–0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers[54]
Most own goals in a season for a single team: 10 – Manchester United
Chelsea broke the record for most goals scored in a season with 103 goals, becoming the first Premier League club to cross the century mark. The previous record of 97 goals was set by Manchester United in the 1999–2000 season. The Blues also broke the record for the highest goal difference in a season with +71 goals. The previous record of +58 goals was set by Manchester United in the 2007–08 campaign. United equalled their own previous record during the 2009–10 campaign.
Chelsea scored seven or more goals in four league matches, a record for both the club and the Premier League, and in consecutive home fixtures achieved an aggregate score of 15–0, in their last two home matches of the season against Stoke City and Wigan Athletic, having already scored seven in home matches against Sunderland and Aston Villa.
Harry Redknapp, 63, received the FA Premier League Manager of the Year Award for the first time in his career, as a result of leading Tottenham Hotspur to Champions League qualification. Redknapp winning Manager of the Season marked the first time a non-title winning manager received the award since George Burley in the 2000–01 Premier League season.[70][71]
The Fair Play Award was given to Arsenal, the team deemed to have been the most sporting and best behaved. Sunderland occupied last place as the least sporting side[72]
This season was the last of a three-year domestic television rights deal agreed in 2006. Television rights continue to provide a large portion of Premier League clubs' revenue. However, on 19 June 2009, the Premier League annulled its contract with Ireland-based broadcaster Setanta Sports after the company failed to pay an instalment to the league with speculation mounting that the company would enter administration. As a result, Setanta Sports' share was bought by United States-based broadcasters ESPN, while Sky Sports continue to hold four of the six 23-live match packages.[74] In the United States, the Disney-owned network is making use of sibling-network ESPN2 to televise early Saturday matches and Monday matches. This was possible due to Setanta Sports' financial troubles, which required their USA-based North America division to sell its rights to those games back to Fox Sports International, who in turn sublicensed them to ESPN. Setanta continues to broadcast a reduced number of matches in Ireland. In Australia, most games are available live on Fox Sports. Sentanta Sports USA operations ceased on 28 February, and Fox Soccer Plus replaced Sentanta as a pay service the following day.
On 31 January 2010, Sky Sports broadcast the match between Arsenal and Manchester United in 3D. The 3D broadcast was shown at nine pubs in London, Manchester, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Dublin, making the match the first sports event to be televised in 3D to a public audience anywhere in the world.[75][76]
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