england league News
Winners and losers in 2006/07
Last term Manchester United won their first English Premier League title since 2003. United’s main rivals Chelsea lost the championship two rounds before the end of the 2006/07 campaign, but they still won two trophies, becoming the first team since Liverpool in 2001 to win both FA Cup and League Cup in the same season. Liverpool edged Arsenal for third place on goal difference, but both teams have earned spots in the qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League. Everton, Tottenham and Bolton all booked their places in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup.
- Champions: Manchester United (Champions League)
- Runners-up and English Cup winners: Chelsea (Champions League)
- Third place: Liverpool ( Champions League 3rd qualifying round)
- Fourth place: Arsenal ( Champions League 3rd qualifying round)
- Fifth place: Tottenham Hotspur (UEFA Cup)
- Sixth place: Everton (UEFA Cup)
- Seventh place: Bolton Wanderers (UEFA Cup)
- Tenth place: Blackburn Rovers (Intertoto Cup)
- Relegated: Sheffield, Charlton, Watford
- Promoted: Birmingham City, Sunderland, Derby County
Despite finishing only 10th Blackburn clinched an Intertoto Cup spot after the two teams ahead of them, Reading and Portsmouth, opted to not take part in the competition. At the bottom, Wigan and West Ham beat the drop at the expense of Sheffield in the final round of the 2006/07 season. Sheffield dropped into the League Championship on goal difference after losing to visiting Wigan 2-1, joining already relegated Charlton and Watford. Meanwhile, rising star Carlos Tevez scored the winner at champions Manchester United to ensure West Ham's Premiership survival.
| teams | titles | 2002/03 | 2003/04 | 2004/05 | 2005/06 | 2006/07 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liverpool | 18 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 |
| Manchester U. | 16 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Arsenal | 13 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Everton | 9 | 7 | 17 | 4 | 11 | 6 |
| Aston Villa | 7 | 16 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 11 |
| Sunderland | 6 | 20 | - | - | 20 | - |
| Newcastle | 4 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 7 | 13 |
| Chelsea | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Blackburn | 3 | 6 | 15 | 15 | 6 | 10 |
| Tottenham | 2 | 10 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 5 |
| Manchester C. | 2 | 9 | 16 | 8 | 15 | 14 |
| Portsmouth | 2 | - | 13 | 16 | 17 | 9 |
| Derby County | 2 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Bolton | - | 17 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 7 |
| Middlesbrough | - | 11 | 11 | 7 | 14 | 12 |
| Fulham | - | 14 | 9 | 13 | 12 | 16 |
| Birmingham | - | 13 | 10 | 12 | 18 | - |
| West Ham | - | 18 | - | - | 9 | 15 |
| Wigan | - | - | - | - | 10 | 17 |
| Reading | - | - | - | - | - | 8 |
This table shows the overall number of titles for each club in English Premiership since 1889 and their league standings in the last five seasons.
New managers
Sam Allardyce has agreed to take over at Newcastle United, the English club's fourth manager in three years. The 52-year-old had joined on a three-year deal, replacing Glenn Roeder, who quit after finishing last campaign in 13th place. Allardyce resigned as Bolton Wanderers manager with two games of the 2006/07 season remaining, ending an eight-year spell at the club. He lifted Bolton from a persistent relegation candidate to a side that finished in the Premier League's top eight for fur straight years. Newcastle have not won a domestic honour since 1955 and Allardyce didn't exactly fill the fans with confidence when he said he needed five years to build a trophy-challenging side. Meanwhile, his former club Bolton promoted assistant Sammy Lee to head manager. Lee also worked as an assistant coach with England from 2001 until leaving after the 2006 World Cup.
Manchester City have sacked manager Stuart Pearce and released eight players in a clearout after they finished in 14th place in the Premier League last campaign. Pearce has blamed a lack of finances for his disappointing spell in charge of the club. They scored only 10 goals at home all season, the lowest ever in England's top division, and 29 goals in their 38 league matches. During the summer, Manchester City's crisis seems to be receding with the news that former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has agreed to buy the club and Sweden manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has agreed to coach the team on a three-year contract. The 59-year-old Eriksson has been out of a job since guiding England to the 2006 World Cup.
This page is introduction to the 2007/08 English Premier League season. Latest news, statistics, results and predictions you can find on our main Euro Football > England page.
In April, Fulham fired manager Chris Coleman, with Northern Ireland coach Lawrie Sanchez taking charge of the club for the remaining five games of the 2006/07 season. Sanchez, who has steered Northern Ireland to the top of their EURO 2008 qualifying group, won just one of four Premiership games, but Fulham chairman Mohamed Al Fayed has been impressed by the 47-year-old's "steely determination and focus". So just one month later, Sanchez has stepped down as manager of Northern Ireland after being asked to take charge of Fulham on a permanent basis.
Wigan Athletic have appointed Chris Hutchings as their new manager after Paul Jewell resigned just a day after keeping the club in the Premier League. Jewell had been in charge of Wigan since June 2001 when they were in the third tier of English football and Hutchings was his assistant.
| # | team | points | g.dif. | win-draw-lose | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man. Utd. | 89 | 56 | 28-5-5 (38) | ||
| 2 | Chelsea | 83 | 40 | 24-11-3 (38) | ||
| 3 | Liverpool | 68 | 30 | 20-8-10 (38) | ||
| 4 | Arsenal | 68 | 28 | 19-11-8 (38) | ||
| 5 | Tottenh. | 60 | 3 | 17-9-12 (38) | ||
| 6 | Everton | 58 | 16 | 15-13-10 (38) | ||
| 7 | Bolton | 56 | -5 | 16-8-14 (38) | ||
| 8 | Reading | 55 | 5 | 16-7-15 (38) | ||
| 9 | Portsm. | 54 | 3 | 14-12-12 (38) | ||
| 10 | Blackburn | 52 | -2 | 15-7-16 (38) | ||
| 11 | Ast. Villa | 50 | 2 | 11-17-10 (38) | ||
| 12 | Middlesb. | 46 | -5 | 12-10-16 (38) | ||
| 13 | Newcast. | 43 | -9 | 11-10-17 (38) | ||
| 14 | Man. City | 42 | -15 | 11-9-18 (38) | ||
| 15 | West H. | 41 | -24 | 12-5-21 (38) | ||
| 16 | Fulham | 39 | -22 | 8-15-15 (38) | ||
| 17 | Wigan | 38 | -22 | 10-8-20 (38) | ||
| 18 | Sheffield | 38 | -23 | 10-8-20 (38) | ||
| 19 | Charlton | 34 | -26 | 8-10-20 (38) | ||
| 20 | Watford | 28 | -30 | 5-13-20 (38) | ||
This table shows the English Premier League standings for the 2006/2007 season.
"Big four"
Manchester United may be the bookies' favourites to defend their Premier League crown but after a summer of big spending there are no safe bets this season. Instead the only secure prospect is that the title will be won by one of the "big four", again.
| team | odds | team | odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester United | 2.1 | Chelsea | 2.4 |
| Liverpool | 7.5 | Arsenal | 11 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 121 | Newcastle United | 175 |
| Everton | 250 | Blackburn Rovers | 350 |
| Aston Villa | 350 | Manchester City | 500 |
| Portsmouth | 500 | Middlesbrough | 750 |
| West Ham United | 750 | Bolton Wanderers | 750 |
| Reading | 1000 | Fulham | 1000 |
| Sunderland | 1500 | Birmingham City | 2500 |
| Wigan Athletic | 2500 | Derby County | 5000 |
The preseason odds for the outright winner of the 2007/08 English Premier League
FA Cup finals in last five years
2003 Arsenal - Southampton 1:0
2004 Manchester United - Millwall 3:0
2005 Arsenal - Manchester United 0:0 (5:4 on penalties)
2006 Liverpool - West Ham United 3:3 (3:1 on penalties)
2007 Chelsea - Manchester United 1:0 (after extra time)
League Cup finals in last five years
2003 Liverpool - Manchester United 2:0
2004 Middlesbrough - Bolton 2:1
2005 Chelsea - Liverpool 3:2 (after extra time)
2006 Manchester United - Wigan Athletic 4:0
2007 Chelsea - Arsenal 2:1