2008–09 Premier League

Premier League 2008-09
Season information
Winners	Manchester United
Relegated	Newcastle United Middlesbrough West Bromwich Albion
Domestic cup winners
FA Cup	Chelsea
Carling Cup	Manchester United
FA Community Shield	Manchester United
Continental cup qualifiers
Champions League	Manchester United Liverpool Chelsea Arsenal
Europa League	Everton Aston Villa Fulham
Season statistics
Matches played	380
Goals scored	942
Average	(2.48 per match)
Top goalscorer	Nicolas Anelka (19)
Biggest home win	Man City 6-0 Portsmouth
Biggest away win	Hull City 0-5 Wigan Middlesbrough 0-5 Chelsea West Brom 0-5 Man Utd
Highest scoring	Arsenal 4-4 Tottenham Liverpool 4-4 Arsenal (8 goals)
← 2007-08	2009-10 →

The 2008–09 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 17th season since the establishment of the Premier League in 1992. Manchester United became champions for the 11th time on the penultimate weekend of the season, defending their crown after winning their tenth Premier League title on the final day of the previous season. They were run close by Liverpool, who had a better goal difference and who had beaten United home and away, including a 4–1 victory at Old Trafford, but who were undone by a series of draws. The campaign – the fixtures for which were announced on 16 June 2008 – began on Saturday, 16 August 2008, and ended on 24 May 2009. A total of 20 teams contested the league, consisting of 17 who competed in the previous season and three promoted from the Football League Championship. The new match ball was the Nike T90 Omni.

At the start of this season, clubs were allowed to name seven substitutes on the bench instead of five. This season was also different in that there was no New Year's Day game, as is traditional. This was because the FA Cup Third Round is traditionally played on the first Saturday in January, which in 2009 fell in the usual spot for New Year's league games. September saw Manchester City taken over by the Abu Dhabi United Group, transforming them into one of the world's wealthiest football clubs, securing the signing of Robinho for a British record £32.5 million just seconds before the 2008 summer transfer window closed in the process.

The first goal of the season was scored by Arsenal's Samir Nasri against newly promoted West Bromwich Albion in the fourth minute of the early kick-off game on the opening day of the season on 16 August. Gabriel Agbonlahor of Aston Villa scored the first hat-trick of the season against Manchester City, scoring three goals in the space of seven minutes. Manchester United clinched the 2009 Premier League title with a scoreless draw against Arsenal on 16 May 2009, their 11th Premier League title, and 18th League title overall, drawing level with fierce rivals Liverpool who finished as runners-up. It is the second time they clinched the title for three consecutive years, the first being in 2001.

West Bromwich Albion were the first team to be relegated to the Championship after losing 2–0 at home to Liverpool on 17 May 2009. They were joined in the Championship by Middlesbrough and Newcastle United on the last day of the season after Middlesbrough's defeat at West Ham United and Newcastle's 1–0 defeat at Aston Villa. It meant that Hull City and Sunderland stayed up despite home defeats to Manchester United and Chelsea respectively. The fact that Hull City avoided relegation (along with Stoke City, who stayed up relatively comfortably under the management of Tony Pulis), meant it was the first time since the 2005–06 season that more than one promoted club maintained their Premier League status. Aston Villa, Everton and Fulham all secured European football for the 2009–10 season through their league position.

Promotion and relegation

Start of season

Teams promoted from The Championship 2007-08

• West Bromwich Albion (Champions)
• Stoke City (Runners-up)
• Hull City (Playoff winners)

End of season

Teams relegated to The Championship 2009-10

• Reading
• Birmingham City
• Derby County

Final league table

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Comments
1	Manchester United (C) (Q)	38	28	6	4	68	24	+44	90	Champions League Group stage
2	Liverpool (Q)	38	25	11	2	77	27	+50	86
3	Chelsea (Q)	38	25	8	5	68	24	+44	83
4	Arsenal (Q)	38	20	12	6	68	37	+31	72	Champions League Play-off round
5	Everton (Q)	38	17	12	9	55	37	+18	63	Europa League Play-off round
6	Aston Villa (Q)	38	17	11	10	54	48	+6	62
7	Fulham (Q)	38	14	11	13	39	34	+5	53	Europa League Third qualifying round
8	Tottenham Hotspur	38	14	9	15	45	45	0	51
9	West Ham United	38	14	9	15	42	45	-3	51
10	Manchester City	38	15	5	18	58	50	+8	50
11	Wigan Athletic	37	12	9	17	34	45	-11	45
12	Stoke City	38	12	9	17	38	55	-17	45
13	Bolton Wanderers	37	11	8	19	41	53	-1	41
14	Portsmouth	38	10	11	17	38	57	-19	41
15	Blackburn Rovers	38	10	11	17	40	60	-20	41
16	Sunderland	38	9	9	20	34	54	-20	36
17	Hull City	38	8	11	19	39	64	-25	35
18	Newcastle United (R)	38	7	13	18	40	59	-19	34	Relegation to The Championship
19	Middlesbrough (R)	38	7	11	20	28	57	-29	32
20	West Bromwich Albion (R)	38	8	8	22	36	67	-31	32

Source: Barclays Premier League
Rules for classification: 1^st points; 2^nd goal difference; 3^rd goals scored.
P = Position; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points;
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (Q) = Qualified to respective tournament; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.

Premier League 2008-09 Winners
Manchester United 11th Premier League title 18th English title

Top goalscorers

Scorer	Goals	Team
Nicolas Anelka	19	Chelsea
Cristiano Ronaldo	18	Manchester United
Steven Gerrard	16	Liverpool
Robinho	14	Manchester City
Fernando Torres		Liverpool
Gabriel Agbonlahor	12	Aston Villa
Darren Bent		Tottenham Hotspur
Kevin Davies		Bolton Wanderers
Dirk Kuyt		Liverpool
Frank Lampard		Chelsea
Wayne Rooney		Manchester United

External links

• 2008-09 Premier League Season at RSSSF

Template:2008-09 in English football Template:2008-09 in European football (UEFA)