2007–08 Premier League

Premier League
Season 2007–08
Champions Manchester United
10th Premier League title
17th English title
Relegated Reading
Birmingham City
Derby County
Champions League Manchester United
Chelsea
Arsenal
Liverpool
UEFA Cup Portsmouth
Everton
Tottenham Hotspur
Manchester City
Intertoto Cup Aston Villa
Matches played 380
Goals scored 1,002 (2.64 per match)
Top goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo (31 goals)
Biggest home win Middlesbrough 8–1 Manchester City
(11 May 2008)
Biggest away win Derby County 0–6 Aston Villa
(12 April 2008)
Highest scoring Portsmouth 7–4 Reading
(29 September 2007)
Longest winning run 8 games[1]
Manchester United
Longest unbeaten run 21 games[1]
Chelsea
Longest winless run 32 games[1]
Derby County
Longest losing run 8 games[1]
Reading
Wigan Athletic
Highest attendance 76,013[2]
Manchester United v West Ham United
(3 May 2008)
Lowest attendance 14,007[2]
Wigan Athletic v Middlesbrough
(15 August 2007)
Average attendance 36,076[2]

The 2007–08 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) season was the 16th since its establishment. The first matches of the season were played on 11 August 2007, and the season ended on 11 May 2008. Manchester United went into the 2007–08 season as the Premier League's defending champions, having won their ninth Premier League title and sixteenth league championship overall the previous season. This season was also the third consecutive season to see the "Big Four" continue their stranglehold on the top four spots and places in the UEFA Champions League.

The first goal of the season was scored by Michael Chopra, who scored a 94th-minute winner for Sunderland against Tottenham in the early kick-off.[3] The first red card of the season was given to Reading's Dave Kitson after a challenge on Patrice Evra in their opening game against Manchester United.[4] The first hat-trick was scored by Emmanuel Adebayor in the match between Arsenal and Derby County.[5]

On 29 September 2007, Portsmouth beat Reading 7–4 in the highest-scoring match in Premier League history.[6] On 15 December 2007, both Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn Rovers) and Marcus Bent (Wigan Athletic) scored hat-tricks during Wigan's 5–3 home win over Blackburn. This was the first occasion in Premier League history that two players on opposing teams had scored hat-tricks during the same match.[7]

On 29 March 2008, Derby County drew 2–2 with Fulham while Birmingham City, who were 17th in the table at the time, beat Manchester City 3–1, to make Derby County the first team in Premier League history to be relegated in March,[8] ending the season with a League record low points tally of just 11.

On 11 May 2008, the final day of the season, Manchester United beat Wigan Athletic 2–0 while Chelsea drew 1–1 with Bolton Wanderers, thus crowning Manchester United with their tenth Premier League title, and 17th championship overall, just one behind Liverpool's total of 18. Meanwhile, despite Birmingham beating Blackburn Rovers 4–1 and Reading beating Derby 4–0, both Birmingham and Reading were relegated due to Fulham's 1–0 win over Portsmouth. This meant that Fulham avoided relegation by a goal difference of −22, compared to Reading's −25. On the same day, Middlesbrough beat Manchester City 8–1 to claim the biggest win of the season.

The season was notable for the return of the English league to the top of UEFA's official ranking list, overtaking La Liga for the period from 1 May 2008 to 30 April 2009. This followed the success of English clubs in the UEFA Champions League, with both champions Manchester United and runners-up Chelsea reaching the European Cup final. This was the first time that the English league had topped the UEFA rankings since the events at the Heysel Stadium in 1985.

Teams

Stadia and locations

Team Stadium Capacity
Manchester UnitedOld Trafford76,212
ArsenalEmirates Stadium60,355
Newcastle UnitedSt James' Park52,387
SunderlandStadium of Light49,000
Manchester CityCity of Manchester Stadium47,726
LiverpoolAnfield45,276
Aston VillaVilla Park42,640
ChelseaStamford Bridge42,055
EvertonGoodison Park40,157
Tottenham HotspurWhite Hart Lane36,244
West Ham UnitedUpton Park35,303
MiddlesbroughRiverside Stadium35,049
Derby CountyPride Park Stadium33,597
Blackburn RoversEwood Park31,367
Birmingham CitySt Andrews Stadium30,009
Bolton WanderersReebok Stadium28,723
FulhamCraven Cottage26,300
Wigan AthleticJJB Stadium25,138
ReadingMadejski Stadium24,161
PortsmouthFratton Park20,688

Personnel and kits

Team Manager Captain Kit maker Shirt sponsor Notes
Arsenal France Arsène Wenger France William Gallas Nike Emirates Same home kit as 2006–07. New white and redcurrant away kit with watermark in tribute to former manager, Herbert Chapman. New third kit for Champions League ties features red and blue hoops.
Aston Villa Northern Ireland Martin O'Neill England Gareth Barry Nike 32red Nike takes over from Hummel. New crest design. The new home strip was unveiled on 17 July 2007, there is a small white lion on the back of the neck. Away kit is white with sky blue pinstripes and also features a lion on the back of the neck (claret). Black third shirt released in November.
Birmingham City Scotland Alex McLeish Northern Ireland Damien Johnson Umbro F&C Investments Lonsdale dropped as kit manufacturers as Umbro come in. F&C Investments replace flybe as sponsors. "Penguin" shirt design returns. White away shirt, with blue shorts and white socks. All-red third kit with blue and white trim.
Blackburn Rovers Wales Mark Hughes New Zealand Ryan Nelsen Umbro Bet 24 Umbro replace Lonsdale as new kit manufacturers. Minor alterations to home kit. New red and black halved away kit.
Bolton Wanderers England Gary Megson England Kevin Davies Reebok Reebok New white home kit, with watermark, red sleeve design and navy blue trim. New indigo blue away kit with turquoise shapes and dark watermark. Last season's third kit unchanged.
Chelsea Israel Avram Grant England John Terry Adidas Samsung Mobile Home kit same as 2006–07. New 'electric yellow' away kit with black trim, new white and blue third/European kit.[9] Both of the new kits have a small Chelsea Lion embossed on the lower back.
Derby County England Paul Jewell England Robbie Savage Adidas Derbyshire Building Society Adidas replaces Joma. New white home kit and black away kit. New crest design. Third kit is bright yellow.
Everton Scotland David Moyes England Phil Neville Umbro Chang Beer New royal blue home kit and white away kit designs. New navy blue alternative kit.
Fulham England Roy Hodgson United States Brian McBride Nike LG Nike replaces Airness as kit maker; LG replaces Pipex as shirt sponsor. All-white home kit and red-and-black striped away kit, honouring Fulham's 1975 FA Cup Final team, with white V-neck collar.[10] Third kit of all-sky blue.
Liverpool Spain Rafael Benítez England Steven Gerrard Adidas Carlsberg Home kit same as 2006–07. New white away kit with red trim. Also, new black and red third/European away kit. New Adidas kit for 2008–09 was previewed in the final home game of the season against Manchester City on 4 May.
Manchester City Sweden Sven-Göran Eriksson Republic of Ireland Richard Dunne Le Coq Sportif Thomas Cook.com Reebok replaced by French sports kit makers. White shorts replace sky blue in home kit, with shirt having white pinstripes. New indigo away kit also with white pinstripes. Third kit is white with a blue cross white shorts and socks.
Manchester United Scotland Sir Alex Ferguson England Gary Neville Nike AIG New red home shirt with a white line which runs down the centre of the back, blue goalkeeper shirt were released on 1 August. Away kit is black with red trim and red line on the back. Previous season's white away kit confirmed as the third kit.
Middlesbrough England Gareth Southgate Ghana George Boateng Erreà Garmin 888.com replaced as sponsor by satellite navigation company Garmin.[11] New home kit with red pinstripe, and new white and gold away kit. New crest design.
Newcastle United England Kevin Keegan England Nicky Butt Adidas Northern Rock New home kit with solid black back and sky blue trims. New sky blue away kit with black trim. New sky blue and white third kit.
Portsmouth England Harry Redknapp England Sol Campbell Canterbury Oki Rugby jersey manufacturer Canterbury replaces Jako in the New Zealand brand's first venture into football. Home shirt is blue with white and gold trim. Away shirt is white with blue and gold trim. Third shirt is black with gold trim. Each kit has a number of reflective circles on the sleeves and down the sides.
Reading England Steve Coppell Scotland Graeme Murty Puma Kyocera Home kit same as 2006–07. New black and grey hooped away kit with black back and 'arch' design. Third kit is the same as last season's.
Sunderland Republic of Ireland Roy Keane England Dean Whitehead Umbro boylesports.com Another change from Lonsdale to Umbro; Reg Vardy out as sponsor. New home kit is red-and-white stripes with Umbro diamond design on shoulders. Away kit is all white with red and black trimmings. Third kit is all blue with red and white trimmings.
Tottenham Hotspur Spain Juande Ramos England Ledley King Puma Mansion Casino Celebrating their 125th season. Home strip to change to all white. Navy blue away kit and yellow third kit to carry Chinese Mandarin version of the Mansion logo. Halved white and light blue throwback worn on anniversary date.
West Ham United England Alan Curbishley Australia Lucas Neill Umbro XL Airways Reebok replaced by Umbro; JobServe replaced by XL Airways as sponsor. New claret-and-blue home shirt unveiled on 16 June; white away shirt unveiled on 27 July.
Wigan Athletic England Steve Bruce Netherlands Mario Melchiot Umbro JJB Sports New home, away and third kit. JJB replaced by Umbro as kit maker, but remains as sponsor. Home kit is a return to blue-and-white stripes with solid blue back. Away kit is white with blue and black trim, with the third kit black with blue and white trim.

In addition, Premier League officials were supplied with new kit made by Umbro, replacing American makers Official Sports, and are sponsored by Air Asia, replacing Emirates. The 2007–08 season saw a new font used for the names on the back of players' shirts.[12]

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
Manchester City Stuart Pearce Sacked 14 May 2007[13] Sven-Göran Eriksson 6 July 2007[14] Pre-season
Chelsea José Mourinho Mutual consent 20 September 2007[15] Avram Grant 20 September 2007[15] 5th
Bolton Wanderers Sammy Lee Mutual consent 17 October 2007[16] Gary Megson 25 October 2007[17] 19th
Tottenham Hotspur Martin Jol Sacked 25 October 2007[18] Juande Ramos 27 October 2007[19] 18th
Wigan Athletic Chris Hutchings Sacked 5 November 2007[20] Steve Bruce 26 November 2007[21] 18th
Birmingham City Steve Bruce Wigan purchased rights for £3m 19 November 2007[21] Alex McLeish 28 November 2007[22] 15th
Derby County Billy Davies Mutual consent 26 November 2007[23] Paul Jewell 28 November 2007[24] 20th
Fulham Lawrie Sanchez Sacked 21 December 2007[25] Roy Hodgson 30 December 2007[26] 18th
Newcastle United Sam Allardyce Mutual consent 9 January 2008[27] Kevin Keegan 16 January 2008[28] 11th
Chelsea Avram Grant Sacked 24 May 2008[29] Luiz Felipe Scolari 1 July 2008[30] Post-season (2nd)
Manchester City Sven-Göran Eriksson Mutual consent 2 June 2008[31] Mark Hughes 4 June 2008[32] Post-season (9th)
Blackburn Rovers Mark Hughes Manchester City purchased rights for £4.6m[33] 4 June 2008[32] Paul Ince 22 June 2008[34] Post-season (7th)

League table

Pos
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Manchester United (C) 38 27 6 5 80 22 +58 87 2008–09 UEFA Champions League Group stage
2 Chelsea 38 25 10 3 65 26 +39 85
3 Arsenal 38 24 11 3 74 31 +43 83 2008–09 UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round
4 Liverpool 38 21 13 4 67 28 +39 76
5 Everton 38 19 8 11 55 33 +22 65 2008–09 UEFA Cup First round
6 Aston Villa 38 16 12 10 71 51 +20 60 2008 UEFA Intertoto Cup Third round
7 Blackburn Rovers 38 15 13 10 50 48 +2 58
8 Portsmouth 38 16 9 13 48 40 +8 57 2008–09 UEFA Cup First round 1
9 Manchester City 38 15 10 13 45 53 −8 55 2008–09 UEFA Cup First qualifying round 2
10 West Ham United 38 13 10 15 42 50 −8 49
11 Tottenham Hotspur 38 11 13 14 66 61 +5 46 2008–09 UEFA Cup First round 3
12 Newcastle United 38 11 10 17 45 65 −20 43
13 Middlesbrough 38 10 12 16 43 53 −10 42
14 Wigan Athletic 38 10 10 18 34 51 −17 40
15 Sunderland 38 11 6 21 36 59 −23 39
16 Bolton Wanderers 38 9 10 19 36 54 −18 37
17 Fulham 38 8 12 18 38 60 −22 36
18 Reading (R) 38 10 6 22 41 66 −25 36 Relegation to 2008–09 Football League Championship
19 Birmingham City (R) 38 8 11 19 46 62 −16 35
20 Derby County (R) 38 1 8 29 20 89 −69 11

Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
1 As FA Cup winners
2 Via UEFA Fair Play ranking (0.8 of a point ahead of Fulham)
3 As League Cup winners
For further information on European qualification see Premier League – Competition
(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.

Results

Home \ Away[1] ARS AST BIRBLBBOLCHEDEREVEFULLIVMCIMUNMIDNEWPORREASUNTOTWHUWIG
Arsenal 1–1 1–1 2–0 2–0 1–0 5–0 1–0 2–1 1–1 1–0 2–2 1–1 3–0 3–1 2–0 3–2 2–1 2–0 2–0
Aston Villa 1–2 5–1 1–1 4–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–1 1–2 1–1 1–4 1–1 4–1 1–3 3–1 0–1 2–1 1–0 0–2
Birmingham 2–2 1–2 4–1 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–2 3–1 0–1 3–0 1–1 0–2 1–1 2–2 4–1 0–1 3–2
Blackburn Rovers 1–1 0–4 2–1 4–1 0–1 3–1 0–0 1–1 0–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 3–1 0–1 4–2 1–0 1–1 0–1 3–1
Bolton Wanderers 2–3 1–1 3–0 1–2 0–1 1–0 1–2 0–0 1–3 0–0 1–0 0–0 1–3 0–1 3–0 2–0 1–1 1–0 4–1
Chelsea 2–1 4–4 3–2 0–0 1–1 6–1 1–1 0–0 0–0 6–0 2–1 1–0 2–1 1–0 1–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 1–1
Derby County 2–6 0–6 1–2 1–2 1–1 0–2 0–2 2–2 1–2 1–1 0–1 0–1 1–0 2–2 0–4 0–0 0–3 0–5 0–1
Everton 1–4 2–2 3–1 1–1 2–0 0–1 1–0 3–0 1–2 1–0 0–1 2–0 3–1 3–1 1–0 7–1 0–0 1–1 2–1
Fulham 0–3 2–1 2–0 2–2 2–1 1–2 0–0 1–0 0–2 3–3 0–3 1–2 0–1 0–2 3–1 1–3 3–3 0–1 1–1
Liverpool 1–1 2–2 0–0 3–1 4–0 1–1 6–0 1–0 2–0 1–0 0–1 3–2 3–0 4–1 2–1 3–0 2–2 4–0 1–1
Manchester City 1–3 1–0 1–0 2–2 4–2 0–2 1–0 0–2 2–3 0–0 1–0 3–1 3–1 3–1 2–1 1–0 2–1 1–1 0–0
Manchester United 2–1 4–0 1–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 4–1 2–1 2–0 3–0 1–2 4–1 6–0 2–0 0–0 1–0 1–0 4–1 4–0
Middlesbrough 2–1 0–3 2–0 1–2 0–1 0–2 1–0 0–2 1–0 1–1 8–1 2–2 2–2 2–0 0–1 2–2 1–1 1–2 1–0
Newcastle United 1–1 0–0 2–1 0–1 0–0 0–2 2–2 3–2 2–0 0–3 0–2 1–5 1–1 1–4 3–0 2–0 3–1 3–1 1–0
Portsmouth 0–0 2–0 4–2 0–1 3–1 1–1 3–1 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 1–1 0–1 0–0 7–4 1–0 0–1 0–0 2–0
Reading 1–3 1–2 2–1 0–0 0–2 1–2 1–0 1–0 0–2 3–1 2–0 0–2 1–1 2–1 0–2 2–1 0–1 0–3 2–1
Sunderland 0–1 1–1 2–0 1–2 3–1 0–1 1–0 0–1 1–1 0–2 1–2 0–4 3–2 1–1 2–0 2–1 1–0 2–1 2–0
Tottenham Hotspur 1–3 4–4 2–3 1–2 1–1 4–4 4–0 1–3 5–1 0–2 2–1 1–1 1–1 1–4 2–0 6–4 2–0 4–0 4–0
West Ham United 0–1 2–2 1–1 2–1 1–1 0–4 2–1 0–2 2–1 1–0 0–2 2–1 3–0 2–2 0–1 1–1 3–1 1–1 1–1
Wigan Athletic 0–0 1–2 2–0 5–3 1–0 0–2 2–0 1–2 1–1 0–1 1–1 0–2 1–0 1–0 0–2 0–0 3–0 1–1 1–0

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.

Season statistics

Scoring

  • First goal of the season: Michael Chopra for Sunderland against Tottenham Hotspur (11 August 2007)[3]
  • Last goal of the season: Matthew Taylor for Bolton Wanderers against Chelsea (11 May 2008)[35]
  • Fastest goal in a match: 28 seconds – Geovanni for Manchester City against Wigan Athletic (1 December 2007)[36]
  • Goal scored at the latest point in a match: 90+6 minutes – Andy Reid for Sunderland against West Ham United (29 March 2008)[37]
  • Widest winning margin: 7 goals – Middlesbrough 8–1 Manchester City (11 May 2008)[38]
  • Most goals in a match: 11 – Portsmouth F.C. 7–4 Reading F.C. (29 September 2007)[6]
  • First hat-trick of the season: Emmanuel Adebayor for Arsenal against Derby County (22 September 2007)[5]
  • First own goal of the season: Martin Laursen for Liverpool against Aston Villa (11 August 2007)[39]
  • Most goals by one player in a single match: 4
  • Most hat-tricks scored by one player: 2
    • Benjani for Portsmouth
      • Portsmouth 7–4 Reading (29 September 2007)[6]
      • Portsmouth 3–1 Derby County (19 January 2008)[42]
    • Fernando Torres for Liverpool
      • Liverpool 3–2 Middlesbrough (23 February 2008)[43]
      • Liverpool 4–0 West Ham United (5 March 2008)[44]
    • Emmanuel Adebayor for Arsenal
      • Arsenal 5–0 Derby County (22 September 2007)[5]
      • Derby County 2–6 Arsenal (28 April 2008)[45]
        • This is the first time in the Premier League that any player has scored a hat-trick against the same team twice in one season.
  • Most goals by one team in a match: 8
    • Middlesbrough 8–1 Manchester City (11 May 2008)[46]
  • Most goals in one half by one team: 6
    • Manchester United 6–0 Newcastle United (12 January 2008)[47]
    • Middlesbrough 8–1 Manchester City (11 May 2008)[46]
  • Most goals scored by losing team: 4 – Reading
    • Portsmouth 7–4 Reading (29 September 2007)[6]
    • Tottenham Hotspur 6–4 Reading (29 December 2007)[40]

Top scorers

Rank Scorer Club Goals[48]
1 Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United 31
2 Fernando Torres Liverpool 24
Emmanuel Adebayor Arsenal
4 Roque Santa Cruz Blackburn Rovers 19
5 Benjani Portsmouth / Manchester City 15
Dimitar Berbatov Tottenham Hotspur
Robbie Keane
Yakubu Everton
9 Carlos Tevez Manchester United 14
10 John Carew Aston Villa 13

Fastest scorers

Scorer Time (seconds) Team Opponent
Geovanni 28 Manchester City Wigan Athletic
Cameron Jerome 32 Birmingham City Derby County
Yakubu 47 Everton Portsmouth
David Healy 50 Fulham Arsenal

Clean sheets

  • Most clean sheets – Manchester United and Chelsea (21)
  • Fewest clean sheets – Derby County and Birmingham (3)

Discipline

  • First yellow card of the season: Didier Zokora for Tottenham Hotspur against Sunderland (11 August 2007)[3]
  • First red card of the season: Dave Kitson for Reading against Manchester United (12 August 2007)[4]
  • Most yellow cards: Middlesbrough (85)
  • Fewest yellow cards: Everton (40)
  • Most red cards: Chelsea and Fulham (6)
  • Fewest red cards: Bolton (0)

Average home attendance

  • Highest average home attendance: 75,691 (Manchester United)[49]
  • Lowest average home attendance: 19,046 (Wigan Athletic)[49]

Overall

  • Most wins – Manchester United (27)
  • Fewest wins – Derby County (1)
  • Most losses – Derby County (29)
  • Fewest losses – Arsenal and Chelsea (3)
  • Most goals scored – Manchester United (80)
  • Fewest goals scored – Derby County (20)
  • Most goals conceded – Derby County (89)
  • Fewest goals conceded – Manchester United (22)

Home

  • Most wins – Manchester United (17)
  • Fewest wins – Derby County (1)
  • Most losses – Derby County (13)
  • Fewest losses – Arsenal and Chelsea (0)
  • Most goals scored – Manchester United (47)
  • Fewest goals scored – Derby County (12)
  • Most goals conceded – Derby County (43)
  • Fewest goals conceded – Manchester United (7)

Away

  • Most wins – Chelsea (13)
  • Fewest wins – Derby County (0)
  • Most losses – Derby County (16)
  • Fewest losses – Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool (3)
  • Most goals scored – Arsenal and Aston Villa (37)
  • Fewest goals scored – Derby County (8)
  • Most goals conceded – Derby County (46)
  • Fewest goals conceded – Chelsea (13)

Records

  • Derby County finished with the worst record since the league was founded in 1992–93 and also the worst since the introduction of the three points for a win rule. Among the records set by the Rams were:
    • A final record of one win, eight draws and 29 losses for a total of eleven points, worse than the Sunderland team from 2005–06, with the previously set lows of three wins, six draws and 29 losses totalling fifteen points. The single win, coming at home against Newcastle United 1–0 on 17 September was also a record for the fewest wins in a Premier League campaign
    • Derby's 20 goals scored as a team (with Ronaldo, Adebayor and Torres each scoring more goals individually) was lower than the 2002–03 Black Cats' total with 21 goals scored. This marked the third time a team was outscored by one or more players. The team also failed to score in 21 of their 38 games
    • Their −69 goal difference (20 goals scored, 89 conceded) was worse than Ipswich Town's 1994–95 goal difference of −57 (36 goals scored, 93 conceded). The 89 goals they conceded was the worst defensive performance by a team since Ipswich Town conceded 93 goals in 1994–95. It was also the worst record since the Premier League adopted the 20-team, 38-match format in 1995–96
    • The 29 defeats they suffered equalled the 2005–06 Sunderland team for the most losses suffered in one Premier League season
  • Chelsea's 85 points accumulated was a new record for the most points gained in a 38-game season without securing the title. The 83 points achieved by Arsenal was a new record for the most points gained in a 38-game season for finishing third
  • Manchester United's goal difference of +58 was the greatest ever attained in a Premier League season, beating the record set by Chelsea in 2004–05
  • Cristiano Ronaldo beat his own record for most goals scored by a midfielder, raising the record to 31 goals. The previous record was 17 goals, from the previous season. Furthermore, his goal total equalled the highest number of goals ever scored in the Premier League during a 38-game season, equalling the record first set by Blackburn Rovers' Alan Shearer during the 1995–96 season
  • Marcus Bent and Roque Santa Cruz each scored a hat trick for their team during Wigan Athletic's 5–3 victory over Blackburn Rovers on 15 December 2007. This is the first time in Premier League history that players from opposing sides both scored hat-tricks in the same match[7]
  • Emmanuel Adebayor scored two hat tricks home and away against Derby. This was the first time in the Premier League that a player had scored a hat trick against the same team twice in the league
  • Fernando Torres scored 24 goals for Liverpool, a new record for goals scored by a foreign player during his debut season[50]

Awards

Monthly awards

MonthManager of the MonthPlayer of the Month
August 2007Sven-Göran Eriksson (Manchester City)[51]Micah Richards (Manchester City)[51]
September 2007Arsène Wenger (Arsenal)[52]Cesc Fàbregas (Arsenal)[52]
October 2007Mark Hughes (Blackburn Rovers)[53]Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)[53]
November 2007Martin O'Neill (Aston Villa)[54]Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa)[54]
December 2007Arsène Wenger (Arsenal)[55]Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn Rovers)[55]
January 2008Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United)[56]Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)[56]
February 2008David Moyes (Everton)[57]Fernando Torres (Liverpool)[57]
March 2008Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United)[58]Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)[58]
April 2008Avram Grant (Chelsea)[59]Ashley Young (Aston Villa)[59]

Annual awards

Premier League Manager of the Season

Sir Alex Ferguson, picked up the Premier League Manager of the Season award for the eighth time.[60]

Premier League Player of the Season

Cristiano Ronaldo won the Premier League Player of the Season accolade for the second season in succession.[60]

PFA Players' Player of the Year

The PFA Players' Player of the Year award for 2008 was won by Cristiano Ronaldo for the second year in a row.[61]

The shortlist for the PFA Players' Player of the Year award, in alphabetical order, was as follows:

PFA Team of the Year

Goalkeeper: David James (Portsmouth)
Defence: Bacary Sagna, Gaël Clichy (both Arsenal), Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidić (both Manchester United)
Midfield: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Cesc Fàbregas (Arsenal), Ashley Young (Aston Villa)
Attack: Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal), Fernando Torres (Liverpool)

PFA Young Player of the Year

The PFA Young Player of the Year award was won by Cesc Fàbregas of Arsenal.[61]

The shortlist for the award was as follows:

FWA Footballer of the Year

The FWA Footballer of the Year award for 2008 was won by Cristiano Ronaldo for a second successive season. The Manchester United winger saw off the challenges of Liverpool striker Fernando Torres and Portsmouth goalkeeper David James, who finished second and third respectively.[62]

Premier League Golden Boot

Cristiano Ronaldo was named the winner of the Premier League Golden Boot award. The Manchester United winger's 31 goals from 34 league appearances helped see off stiff opposition for this award from Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor and Fernando Torres of Liverpool. This was the first Premier League season that a player has scored more than 30 goals since Alan Shearer's 31-goal haul for Blackburn Rovers twelve years prior.[60][63]

Premier League Golden Glove

Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina claimed the Premier League Golden Glove award for the third season in succession. Clean sheets in 18 out of the 38 games meant Reina kept more clean sheets than any other goalkeeper in the top flight during the 2007–08 campaign.[64]

Premier League Fair Play Award

The Premier League Fair Play Award is a merit given to the team who has been the most sporting and best behaved team. Tottenham topped the Fair Play League, ahead of Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal.[65] The least sporting side was Blackburn Rovers who finished in last place in the rankings.[66]

LMA Manager of the Year

The LMA Manager of the Year award was won by Sir Alex Ferguson after leading Manchester United to back-to-back league title wins. The award was presented by Fabio Capello on 13 May 2008.[67]

PFA Fans' Player of the Year

2007 winner, Cristiano Ronaldo, was named the PFA Fans' Player of the Year again in 2008. Liverpool striker Fernando Torres finished second, with Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fàbregas finishing third.[68]

PFA Merit Award

BBC broadcaster and former England and Blackpool full-back Jimmy Armfield received the PFA Merit Award for his services to the game.[61]

Premier League Merit Award

Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese winger, collected the Premier League Merit Award for reaching 30 league goals this season.[63]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "English Premier League 2007–08". statto.com. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 "Barclays Premier League Statistics 2007–08". ESPN FC. Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN). Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 McKenzie, Andrew (11 August 2007). "Sunderland 1–0 Tottenham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 September 2007.
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