2006–07 FA Premier League

FA Premier League
Season 2006–07
Champions Manchester United
9th Premier League title
16th English title
Relegated Sheffield United
Charlton Athletic
Watford
Champions League Manchester United
Chelsea
Liverpool
Arsenal
UEFA Cup Tottenham Hotspur
Everton
Bolton Wanderers
Intertoto Cup Blackburn Rovers
Matches played 380
Goals scored 931 (2.45 per match)
Top goalscorer Didier Drogba (20 goals)
Biggest home win Reading 6–0 West Ham United (1 January 2007)
Biggest away win Middlesbrough 0–4 Portsmouth (28 August 2006)
Reading 0–4 Arsenal (22 October 2006)
Bolton Wanderers 0–4 Manchester United (28 October 2006)
Wigan Athletic 0–4 Liverpool (2 December 2006)
Tottenham Hotspur 0–4 Manchester United (4 February 2007)
Highest scoring Arsenal 6–2 Blackburn Rovers (23 December 2006)

The 2006–07 FA Premier League was the fifteenth season of the FA Premier League since its establishment in 1992. The season started on 19 August 2006 and concluded on 13 May 2007.

Manchester United ended the season as Premiership champions for the ninth time in fifteen years, after Chelsea failed to win against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. This left them seven points behind United, with two games to go, confirming the Manchester club as champions once more.

The three relegation spots were occupied by Watford and Sheffield United who each lasted one season in the league, along with Charlton Athletic who went down after eight seasons.

Contents

Final league table

Pos Club Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Comments
1 Manchester United (C) 38 28 5 5 83 27 +56 89 2007–08 UEFA Champions League Group stage1
2 Chelsea 38 24 11 3 64 24 +40 83 2007–08 UEFA Champions League Group stage1
3 Liverpool 38 20 8 10 57 27 +30 68 2007–08 UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round
4 Arsenal 38 19 11 8 63 35 +28 68 2007–08 UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round
5 Tottenham Hotspur 38 17 9 12 57 54 +3 60 2007–08 UEFA Cup First round
6 Everton 38 15 13 10 52 36 +16 58 2007–08 UEFA Cup First round1
7 Bolton Wanderers 38 16 8 14 47 52 −5 56 2007–08 UEFA Cup First round1
8 Reading 38 16 7 15 52 47 +5 55
9 Portsmouth 38 14 12 12 45 42 +3 54
10 Blackburn Rovers 38 15 7 16 52 54 −2 52 2007 UEFA Intertoto Cup Third round2
11 Aston Villa 38 11 17 10 43 41 +2 50
12 Newcastle United 38 12 10 16 44 49 −5 46
13 Middlesbrough 38 11 10 17 38 47 −9 43
14 Manchester City 38 11 9 18 29 44 −15 42
15 West Ham United 38 12 5 21 35 59 −24 41
16 Fulham 38 8 15 15 38 60 −22 39
17 Wigan Athletic 38 10 8 20 37 59 −22 38
18 Sheffield United (R) 38 10 8 20 32 55 −23 38 Relegated to
Football League Championship 2007–08
19 Charlton Athletic (R) 38 8 10 20 34 60 −26 34
20 Watford (R) 38 5 13 20 29 59 −30 28

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

1. Since the finalists of the 2006–07 FA Cup (Manchester United and Chelsea) and the League Cup winners (Chelsea) had already qualified for the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League through their Premier League positions, their 2007–08 UEFA Cup places were given to the 6th- and 7th-placed Premier League teams.

2.The highest-placed team who applied for the Intertoto Cup and not in an automatic UEFA Cup spot was awarded with a place in that competition. Blackburn Rovers occupied the Intertoto place, because Portsmouth and Reading did not apply.[1] A further place in the UEFA Cup was up for grabs via the Premiership Fair Play League. The winner is placed into a draw with the winners of Fair Play leagues in other countries. The representatives from the two countries that come out of the hat first are given a place in the UEFA Cup first qualifying round. Since the winners of the Premiership Fair Play League, Tottenham Hotspur, had already qualified for the UEFA Cup by virtue of their league position, their place in the Fair Play draw was given to Aston Villa. However, the places in the UEFA Cup were awarded to the representatives from Finland and Norway.

For further information on European qualification see Premier League – Competition.

FA Premier League 2006–07 winners
Manchester United
9th Title

Personnel and kits

(as of 13 May 2007)

Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Arsenal Arsène Wenger Thierry Henry Nike Fly Emirates
Aston Villa Martin O'Neill Gareth Barry Hummel 32red.com
Blackburn Rovers Mark Hughes Ryan Nelsen Lonsdale bet24.com
Bolton Wanderers Sammy Lee Kevin Nolan Reebok Reebok
Charlton Athletic Alan Pardew Luke Young Joma Llanera
Chelsea José Mourinho John Terry adidas Samsung Mobile
Everton David Moyes David Weir Umbro Chang
Fulham Lawrie Sanchez Brian McBride Airness Pipex
Liverpool Rafael Benítez Steven Gerrard adidas Carlsberg
Manchester City Stuart Pearce Richard Dunne Reebok Thomas Cook
Manchester United Sir Alex Ferguson Gary Neville Nike AIG
Middlesbrough Gareth Southgate George Boateng Errea 888.com
Newcastle United Sam Allardyce Scott Parker adidas Northern Rock
Portsmouth Harry Redknapp Dejan Stefanović Jako Oki
Reading Steve Coppell Graeme Murty Puma Kyocera
Sheffield United Neil Warnock Chris Morgan le coq sportif CapitalOne
Tottenham Hotspur Martin Jol Ledley King Puma Mansion.com
Watford Aidy Boothroyd Gavin Mahon Diadora loans.co.uk
West Ham United Alan Curbishley Nigel Reo-Coker Reebok Jobserve
Wigan Athletic Paul Jewell Arjan De Zeeuw JJB JJB

Results

Home \ Away1 ARS AST BLB BOL CHA CHE EVE FUL LIV MNC MNU MID NEW POR REA SHE TOT WAT WHU WIG
Arsenal 1–1 6–2 2–1 4–0 1–1 1–1 3–1 3–0 3–1 2–1 1–1 1–1 2–2 2–1 3–0 3–0 3–0 0–1 2–1
Aston Villa 0–1 2–0 0–1 2–0 0–0 1–1 1–1 0–0 1–3 0–3 1–1 2–0 0–0 2–1 3–0 1–1 2–0 1–0 1–1
Blackburn Rovers 0–2 1–2 0–1 4–1 0–2 1–1 2–0 1–0 4–2 0–1 2–1 1–3 3–0 3–3 2–1 1–1 3–1 1–2 2–1
Bolton Wanderers 3–1 2–2 1–2 1–1 0–1 1–1 2–1 2–0 0–0 0–4 0–0 2–1 3–2 1–3 1–0 2–0 1–0 4–0 0–1
Charlton Athletic 1–2 2–1 1–0 2–0 0–1 1–1 2–2 0–3 1–0 0–3 1–3 2–0 0–1 0–0 1–1 0–2 0–0 4–0 1–0
Chelsea 1–1 1–1 3–0 2–2 2–1 1–1 2–2 1–0 3–0 0–0 3–0 1–0 2–1 2–2 3–0 1–0 4–0 1–0 4–0
Everton 1–0 0–1 1–0 1–0 2–1 2–3 4–1 3–0 1–1 2–4 0–0 3–0 3–0 1–1 2–0 1–2 2–1 2–0 2–2
Fulham 2–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–1 0–2 1–0 1–0 1–3 1–2 2–1 2–1 1–1 0–1 1–0 1–1 0–0 0–0 0–1
Liverpool 4–1 3–1 1–1 3–0 2–2 2–0 0–0 4–0 1–0 0–1 2–0 2–0 0–0 2–0 4–0 3–0 2–0 2–1 2–0
Manchester City 1–0 0–2 0–3 0–2 0–0 0–1 2–1 3–1 0–0 0–1 1–0 0–0 0–0 0–2 0–0 1–2 0–0 2–0 0–1
Manchester United 0–1 3–1 4–1 4–1 2–0 1–1 3–0 5–1 2–0 3–1 1–1 2–0 3–0 3–2 2–0 1–0 4–0 0–1 3–1
Middlesbrough 1–1 1–3 0–1 5–1 2–0 2–1 2–1 3–1 0–0 0–2 1–2 1–0 0–4 2–1 3–1 2–3 4–1 1–0 1–1
Newcastle United 0–0 3–1 0–2 1–2 0–0 0–0 1–1 1–2 2–1 0–1 2–2 0–0 1–0 3–2 0–1 3–1 2–1 2–2 2–1
Portsmouth 0–0 2–2 3–0 0–1 0–1 0–2 2–0 1–1 2–1 2–1 2–1 0–0 2–1 3–1 3–1 1–1 2–1 2–0 1–0
Reading 0–4 2–0 1–2 1–0 2–0 0–1 0–2 1–0 1–2 1–0 1–1 3–2 1–0 0–0 3–1 3–1 0–2 6–0 3–2
Sheffield United 1–0 2–2 0–0 2–2 2–1 0–2 1–1 2–0 1–1 0–1 1–2 2–1 1–2 1–1 1–2 2–1 1–0 3–0 1–2
Tottenham Hotspur 2–2 2–1 1–1 4–1 5–1 2–1 0–2 0–0 0–1 2–1 0–4 2–1 2–3 2–1 1–0 2–0 3–1 1–0 3–1
Watford 1–2 0–0 2–1 0–1 2–2 0–1 0–3 3–3 0–3 1–1 1–2 2–0 1–1 4–2 0–0 0–1 0–0 1–1 1–1
West Ham United 1–0 1–1 2–1 3–1 3–1 1–4 1–0 3–3 1–2 0–1 1–0 2–0 0–2 1–2 0–1 1–0 3–4 0–1 0–2
Wigan Athletic 0–1 0–0 0–3 1–3 3–2 2–3 0–2 0–0 0–4 4–0 1–3 0–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 3–3 1–1 0–3

Source: League]
1The 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

Overall

Home

Away

Goals

Rank Scorer Club Goals
1 Didier Drogba Chelsea 20
2 Benni McCarthy Blackburn Rovers 18
3 Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United 17
4 Wayne Rooney Manchester United 14
Mark Viduka Middlesbrough 14
6 Darren Bent Charlton Athletic 13
Kevin Doyle Reading 13
8 Dimitar Berbatov Tottenham Hotspur 12
Dirk Kuyt Liverpool 12
Yakubu Aiyegbeni Middlesbrough 12

Top assists

Rank Assistant Club Assists[2]
1 Cesc Fàbregas Arsenal 13
Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United 13
3 Mikel Arteta Everton 12
4 David Bentley Blackburn Rovers 11
Dimitar Berbatov Tottenham Hotspur 11
Morten Gamst Pedersen Blackburn Rovers 11
Wayne Rooney Manchester United 11
8 Frank Lampard Chelsea 10
9 Ryan Giggs Manchester United 9
10 Peter Crouch Liverpool 8
Aaron Lennon Tottenham Hotspur 8
James Milner Newcastle United 8

Historic goals

15,000th goal

The Premier League expected to have the league's 15,000th goal scored at some point in the period between Christmas and New Year. The target was reached on 30 December when Moritz Volz scored for Fulham against Chelsea. Barclays, the Premiership's sponsor, donated £15,000 to the Fulham Community Sports Trust in Volz' name. Additionally, a fan who correctly predicted that Volz would score the historic goal in a contest presented the player with a special award prior to Fulham's game against Watford at Craven Cottage on 1 January.[3] The honour of scoring the 15,000th goal has led to Volz being nicknamed "15,000 Volz" (his name is often pronounced in English as "Volts", although the proper German pronunciation would be "Folts").

Goalkeeper scores

On 17 March, Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Paul Robinson scored against Watford from an 83-yard free kick, which bounced over his England team-mate Ben Foster, who was in goal for the Hornets, leading Spurs to a 3–1 win at White Hart Lane.[4] This was the third goal scored by a goalkeeper in Premiership history. The other two were scored by Peter Schmeichel, for Aston Villa against Everton on 21 October 2001,[5] and Brad Friedel, for Blackburn Rovers against Charlton Athletic on 21 February 2004.[6] In those two cases, the teams they played for lost. Robinson became the first keeper to score for the winning team in a Premiership match.

Monthly awards

Month Manager Player
August 2006 Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United) Ryan Giggs (Manchester United)
September 2006 Steve Coppell (Reading) Andrew Johnson (Everton)
October 2006 Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United) Paul Scholes (Manchester United)
November 2006 Steve Coppell (Reading) Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
December 2006 Sam Allardyce (Bolton) Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
January 2007 Rafael Benítez (Liverpool) Cesc Fàbregas (Arsenal)
February 2007 Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United) Ryan Giggs (Manchester United)
March 2007 José Mourinho (Chelsea) Petr Čech (Chelsea)
April 2007 Martin O'Neill (Aston Villa) Robbie Keane (Tottenham Hotspur)
Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham Hotspur)1

1. Keane and Berbatov became the first joint winners of the Player of the Month award since Arsenal's Dennis Bergkamp and Edu in February 2004[7]

Annual awards

This season's awards were dominated by Manchester United, who, as a team, picked up a total of eight individual awards, five of which went to Cristiano Ronaldo. They also had eight players in the Team of the Year.

PFA Players' Player of the Year

The PFA Players' Player of the Year award for 2007 was won by Cristiano Ronaldo. He had won the PFA Young Player of the Year award earlier on in the awards ceremony, making him the first player to win both awards in the same year since Andy Gray managed the same feat in 1977. Didier Drogba came second, while Paul Scholes was third.

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

PFA Young Player of the Year

The PFA Young Player of the Year award was also won by Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United. Cesc Fàbregas came in second place, and Aaron Lennon was third. Wayne Rooney was going for a hat-trick of Young Player of the Year awards, having won this award for both of the two preceding seasons, but didn't even feature in the top three for the 2006–07 season.

The shortlist for the award was as follows:

PFA Team of the Year

Goalkeeper: Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United)
Defence: Gary Neville, Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidić (all Manchester United)
Midfield: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Cristiano Ronaldo (all Manchester United)
Attack: Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham Hotspur)

PFA Merit Award

The PFA Merit Award was awarded to Sir Alex Ferguson, manager of Manchester United, for his commitment to the club, the Premiership, and as recognition of the nineteen major trophies he has won in his time in England.

PFA Fans' Player of the Year

This award was voted for in an online poll run by the PFA on their website GiveMeFootball.com. With four days of voting left before the closing date of midnight on 15 April, the five players with the most votes in the poll were Cristiano Ronaldo, Steven Gerrard, Dimitar Berbatov, Thierry Henry and Frank Lampard, but it was Ronaldo who managed to fend off the challenges of the other four.

Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year

The Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year award for 2007 was also won by Cristiano Ronaldo. The award is presented by the Football Writers' Association and voted for by its members. This year, Didier Drogba came second and Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes came third and fourth respectively.

Barclays Manager of the Season

This award was presented to Manchester United's Sir Alex Ferguson before the club's final game of the season against West Ham United.

Barclays Player of the Season

This award was also presented before Manchester United's game with West Ham United on the last day of the season, and was awarded to Cristiano Ronaldo, granting him the sextuple of PFA Players' Player, Young Player, Fans' Player of the Year, Barclays Premiership Player of the Season, Football Writers' Association Player of the Year and a place in the Team of the Year.

Barclays Premiership Merit Award

Ryan Giggs was presented with this special award at the same time as the Manager and Player of the Season Awards were given out, in recognition of his record of nine Premier League titles.

Barclays Golden Glove Award

This award was presented to Liverpool's José Manuel Reina for the second successive season after keeping 19 clean sheets, ahead of Tim Howard of Everton (14) and Marcus Hahnemann of Reading (13).[8][9]

Notable changes

Managers

Sponsors

Online gambling sites have joined the traditional industries of automakers, breweries, electronics and financial institutions as team sponsors. For the 2006–07 season, there are no fewer than three Internet betting sites as new kit sponsors, joining Middlesbrough with 888.com. Here are the current lists (as of 12 June 2006) of changes:

Stadia

Arsenal
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Everton
Fulham
Liverpool
Middlesbrough
Portsmouth
Reading
Sheffield United
Tottenham
Watford
Locations of the Premier League 2006–07 teams
Team Stadium Capacity
Manchester United Old Trafford 76,212
Arsenal Emirates Stadium 60,355
Newcastle United St James' Park 52,387
Manchester City City of Manchester Stadium 48,000
Liverpool Anfield 45,276[16]
Aston Villa Villa Park 42,553
Chelsea Stamford Bridge 42,360
Everton Goodison Park 40,569
Tottenham Hotspur White Hart Lane 36,240
West Ham United Boleyn Ground 35,146
Middlesbrough Riverside Stadium 35,049
Sheffield United Bramall Lane 32,609
Blackburn Rovers Ewood Park 31,367
Bolton Wanderers Reebok Stadium 28,723
Charlton Athletic The Valley 27,111
Wigan Athletic JJB Stadium 25,138
Fulham Craven Cottage 24,600
Reading Madejski Stadium 24,250
Portsmouth Fratton Park 20,220
Watford Vicarage Road 19,920

Ownership

Rebranding

On 12 February 2007, the FA Premier League renamed itself simply the Premier League, complete with new logo, sleeve patches and typeface. The sponsored name remains the Barclays Premier League.

These three teams were promoted from the Football League Championship at the start of the season:

Relegated teams

These three teams were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the season:

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Spurs win may harm Rovers' Intertoto chances
  2. ^ "Barclays Premier League Top Scorers". premierleague.com. FA Premier League. http://www.premierleague.com/page/Statistics/0,,12306,00.html. Retrieved 25 May 2009. 
  3. ^ "VOLZ SCORES 15,000TH PREMIER LEAGUE GOAL". premierleague.com. 30 December 2006. http://www.premierleague.com/fapl.rac?command=setSelectedId&nextPage=enNewsLatest&id=1572495&type=com.fapl.website.news.NewsItem&categoryCode=NewsSpecialFeatures. Retrieved 17 May 2007. 
  4. ^ Lyon, Sam (17 March 2007). "Tottenham 3–1 Watford". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/6437237.stm. Retrieved 17 May 2007. 
  5. ^ "Schmeichel strike in vain". BBC Sport. 20 October 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/1606115.stm. Retrieved 17 May 2007. 
  6. ^ "Charlton 3–2 Blackburn". BBC Sport. 21 February 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/3496741.stm. Retrieved 17 May 2007. 
  7. ^ "Keane & Berbatov win April award". BBC Sport. 7 May 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/6631841.stm. Retrieved 17 May 2007. 
  8. ^ "REINA NETS GOALKEEPING AWARD". http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N156627070808-1659.htm. Retrieved 9 August 2007. 
  9. ^ Glicksman, Gavin. "Reina has the safest hands". The Sun (London). http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2002390000-2007360649,00.html. Retrieved 9 August 2007. 
  10. ^ "Coleman out as Sanchez takes over". BBC Sport. 10 April 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/f/fulham/6543541.stm. Retrieved 10 April 2007. 
  11. ^ "Pearce sacked as Man City manager". BBC Sport. 14 May 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_city/6655007.stm. Retrieved 16 May 2007. 
  12. ^ "Warnock resigns as Blades manager". BBC Sport. 16 May 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sheff_utd/6659513.stm. Retrieved 16 May 2007. 
  13. ^ "Pardew sacked as West Ham manager". BBC Sport. 11 December 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_ham_utd/6169349.stm. Retrieved 11 December 2006. 
  14. ^ "Jewell resigns as Wigan manager". BBC Sport. 14 May 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/wigan_athletic/6653185.stm. Retrieved 16 May 2007. 
  15. ^ "Aston Villa". London: Guardian Unlimited. 8 August 2005. http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,1544976,00.html. Retrieved 25 October 2007. 
  16. ^ Club Profile: Liverpool
  17. ^ "West Ham accept £85m takeover bid". BBC Sport. 21 November 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_ham_utd/6165272.stm. Retrieved 22 November 2006. 
  18. ^ "West Ham handed record £5.5m fine". BBC Sport. 27 April 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_ham_utd/6594613.stm. Retrieved 29 April 2007. 
  19. ^ "US pair agree Liverpool takeover". BBC Sport. 6 February 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/6323037.stm. Retrieved 6 February 2007. 
  20. ^ "Reds revel in £450m takeover talk". BBC. 4 December 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/6205386.stm. Retrieved 4 December 2006. 
  21. ^ Scott, Matt (6 April 2007). "Takeover gains pace at Arsenal with 9.9% sale". London: Guardian Unlimited. http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2051488,00.html. Retrieved 18 May 2007. 

External links