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]
← 2006–07 2008–09 →

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.

League table

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

Source: Barclays Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
¹ via 2007–08 FA Cup
² via UEFA Fair Play ranking (0.8 of a point ahead of Fulham)
³ via 2007-08 Football League Cup
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

Arsenal !ARS

Aston Villa !AST

Birmingham !BIR

Blackburn Rovers !BLB

Bolton Wanderers !BOL

Chelsea !CHE

Derby County !DER

Everton !EVE

Fulham !FUL

Liverpool !LIV

Manchester City !MCI

Manchester United !MUN

Middlesbrough !MID

Newcastle United !NEW

Portsmouth !POR

Reading !REA

Sunderland !SUN

Tottenham Hotspur !TOT

West Ham United !WHU

Wigan Athletic !WIG

Arsenal !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 !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 !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 !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 !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 !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 !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 !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 !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 !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 !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 !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 !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 !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 !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 !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 !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 !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 !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 !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)^[9]
• Fastest goal in a match: 28 seconds – Geovanni for Manchester City against Wigan Athletic (1 December 2007)^[10]
• Goal scored at the latest point in a match: 90+6 minutes – Andy Reid for Sunderland against West Ham United (29 March 2008)^[11]
• Widest winning margin: 7 goals – Middlesbrough 8–1 Manchester City (11 May 2008)^[12]
• 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)^[13]
• Most goals by one player in a single match: 4
  • Dimitar Berbatov for Tottenham Hotspur against Reading (29 December 2007)^[14]
  • Frank Lampard for Chelsea against Derby County (12 March 2008)^[15]
• 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)^[16]
  • Fernando Torres for Liverpool
    • Liverpool 3–2 Middlesbrough (23 February 2008)^[17]
    • Liverpool 4–0 West Ham United (5 March 2008)^[18]
  • Emmanuel Adebayor for Arsenal
    • Arsenal 5–0 Derby County (22 September 2007)^[5]
    • Derby County 2–6 Arsenal (28 April 2008)^[19]
      • 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)^[20]
• Most goals in one half by one team: 6
  • Manchester United 6–0 Newcastle United (12 January 2008)^[21]
  • Middlesbrough 8–1 Manchester City (11 May 2008)^[20]
• Most goals scored by losing team: 4 – Reading
  • Portsmouth 7–4 Reading (29 September 2007)^[6]
  • Tottenham Hotspur 6–4 Reading (29 December 2007)^[14]

Cards

• 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)^[22]
• Lowest average home attendance: 19,046 (Wigan Athletic)^[22]

Clean sheets

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

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)

Statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals[23]
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

Monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month	Player of the Month
August 2007	Sven-Göran Eriksson (Manchester City)[24]	Micah Richards (Manchester City)[24]
September 2007	Arsène Wenger (Arsenal)[25]	Cesc Fàbregas (Arsenal)[25]
October 2007	Mark Hughes (Blackburn Rovers)[26]	Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)[26]
November 2007	Martin O'Neill (Aston Villa)[27]	Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa)[27]
December 2007	Arsène Wenger (Arsenal)[28]	Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn Rovers)[28]
January 2008	Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United)[29]	Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)[29]
February 2008	David Moyes (Everton)[30]	Fernando Torres (Liverpool)[30]
March 2008	Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United)[31]	Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)[31]
April 2008	Avram Grant (Chelsea)[32]	Ashley Young (Aston Villa)[32]

Annual awards

League Managers' Association 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.^[33]

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.^[34]

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

• Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal)
• Cesc Fàbregas (Arsenal)
• Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
• David James (Portsmouth)
• Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
• Fernando Torres (Liverpool)

PFA Young Player of the Year

The PFA Young Player of the Year award was won by Cesc Fàbregas of Arsenal.^[34]

The shortlist for the award was as follows:

• Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa)
• Cesc Fàbregas (Arsenal)
• Micah Richards (Manchester City)
• Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
• Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
• Ashley Young (Aston Villa)

PFA Team of the Year

James Sagna Vidić Ferdinand Clichy Ronaldo Fàbregas Gerrard Young Adebayor Torres 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 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.^[35]

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.^[34]

FWA Footballer of the Year

The Football Writers' Association 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.^[36]

Barclays Player of the season

Cristiano Ronaldo won the Barclays Player of the Season accolade for the second season in succession.^[37]

Barclays Manager of the season

Sir Alex Ferguson, picked up the Barclays Manager of the Season for the eighth time.^[37]

Barclays Golden Boot Award

Cristiano Ronaldo was named the winner of the Barclays 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.^[37][38]

Barclays Golden Glove Award

Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina claimed the Premier League's golden gloves 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.^[39]

Barclays Fair Play Award

The 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.^[40] The least sporting side was Blackburn Rovers who finished in last place in the rankings.^[41]

Barclays Premier League Merit Award

Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese winger, collected the Barclays Premier League Merit Award for reaching 30 league goals this season.^[38]

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit maker	Shirt sponsor	Notes
Arsenal	Arsène Wenger	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	Martin O'Neill	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	Alex McLeish	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	Mark Hughes	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	Gary Megson	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	Avram Grant	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.[42] Both of the new kits have a small Chelsea Lion embossed on the lower back.
Derby County	Paul Jewell	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	David Moyes	Phil Neville	Umbro	Chang Beer	New royal blue home kit and white away kit designs. New navy blue alternative kit.
Fulham	Roy Hodgson	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.[43] Third kit of all-sky blue.
Liverpool	Rafael Benítez	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	Sven-Göran Eriksson	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	Sir Alex Ferguson	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	Gareth Southgate	George Boateng	Erreà	Garmin	888.com replaced as sponsor by satellite navigation company Garmin.[44] New home kit with red pinstripe, and new white and gold away kit. New crest design.
Newcastle United	Kevin Keegan	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	Harry Redknapp	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	Steve Coppell	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	Roy Keane	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	Juande Ramos	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	Alan Curbishley	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	Steve Bruce	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.^[45]

Stadia

Team	Stadium	Capacity
Manchester United	Old Trafford	76,212
Arsenal	Emirates Stadium	60,355
Newcastle United	St James' Park	52,387
Sunderland	Stadium of Light	49,000
Manchester City	City of Manchester Stadium	47,726
Liverpool	Anfield	45,276
Aston Villa	Villa Park	42,640
Chelsea	Stamford Bridge	42,055
Everton	Goodison Park	40,157
Tottenham Hotspur	White Hart Lane	36,244
West Ham United	Upton Park	35,303
Middlesbrough	Riverside Stadium	35,049
Derby County	Pride Park Stadium	33,597
Blackburn Rovers	Ewood Park	31,367
Birmingham City	St Andrews Stadium	30,009
Bolton Wanderers	Reebok Stadium	28,723
Fulham	Craven Cottage	26,300
Wigan Athletic	JJB Stadium	25,138
Reading	Madejski Stadium	24,161
Portsmouth	Fratton Park	20,688

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
Manchester City	Stuart Pearce	Contract terminated	14 May 2007[46]	Sven-Göran Eriksson	6 July 2007[47]	Pre-season
Chelsea	José Mourinho	Mutual consent	20 September 2007[48]	Avram Grant	20 September 2007[48]	5th
Bolton Wanderers	Sammy Lee	Mutual consent	17 October 2007[49]	Gary Megson	25 October 2007[50]	19th
Tottenham Hotspur	Martin Jol	Contract terminated	25 October 2007[51]	Juande Ramos	27 October 2007[52]	18th
Wigan Athletic	Chris Hutchings	Contract terminated	5 November 2007[53]	Steve Bruce	26 November 2007[54]	18th
Birmingham City	Steve Bruce	Wigan purchased rights for £3m	19 November 2007[54]	Alex McLeish	28 November 2007[55]	15th
Derby County	Billy Davies	Mutual consent	26 November 2007[56]	Paul Jewell	28 November 2007[57]	20th
Fulham	Lawrie Sanchez	Contract terminated	21 December 2007[58]	Roy Hodgson	30 December 2007[59]	18th
Newcastle United	Sam Allardyce	Mutual consent	9 January 2008[60]	Kevin Keegan	16 January 2008[61]	11th
Chelsea	Avram Grant	Contract terminated	24 May 2008[62]	Luiz Felipe Scolari	1 July 2008[63]	Post-season (2nd)
Manchester City	Sven-Göran Eriksson	Mutual consent	2 June 2008[64]	Mark Hughes	4 June 2008[65]	Post-season (9th)
Blackburn Rovers	Mark Hughes	Manchester City purchased rights for £4.6m[66]	4 June 2008[65]	Paul Ince	22 June 2008[67]	Post-season (7th)

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^[68]

References

External links

• 2007–08 Premier League Season RSSSF
• Premier League official site
• 2007–08 Premier League Kits Historical Kits