2008–09 Premier League

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,^[2] 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.

Premier League

Season	2008–09
Dates	16 August 2008 – 24 May 2009
Champions	Manchester United 11th Premier League title 18th English title
Relegated	Newcastle United Middlesbrough West Bromwich Albion
Champions League	Manchester United Liverpool Chelsea Arsenal
Europa League	Everton Aston Villa Fulham
Matches played	380
Goals scored	942 (2.48 per match)
Top goalscorer	Nicolas Anelka (19 goals)
Biggest home win	Manchester City 6–0 Portsmouth (21 September 2008)
Biggest away win	Hull City 0–5 Wigan Athletic (30 August 2008) Middlesbrough 0–5 Chelsea (18 October 2008) West Bromwich Albion 0–5 Manchester United (27 January 2009)
Highest scoring	Arsenal 4–4 Tottenham Hotspur (29 October 2008) Liverpool 4–4 Arsenal (21 April 2009)
Longest winning run	11 games^[1] Manchester United
Longest unbeaten run	21 games^[1] Arsenal
Longest winless run	14 games^[1] Middlesbrough
Longest losing run	6 games^[1] Blackburn Rovers Hull City
Highest attendance	75,569 Manchester United v Liverpool (14 March 2009)
Lowest attendance	14,169 Wigan Athletic v West Ham United (4 March 2009)
Average attendance	35,650
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

At the start of this season, clubs were allowed to name seven substitutes on the bench instead of five.^[3] 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.^[4] September saw Manchester City taken over by the Abu Dhabi United Group, transforming the football club into one of the world's wealthiest, securing the signing of Robinho for a British record £32.5 million just seconds before the 2008 summer transfer window closed in the process.^[5]

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.^[6] 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.^[7] 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 was the second time that they had clinched the title for three consecutive years, the first being in 2001. Only three other clubs have achieved this feat: Liverpool (1980s), Arsenal (1930s) and Huddersfield Town (1920s).

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 2–1 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 positions.^[8]

Teams

Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the Championship. The promoted teams were West Bromwich Albion, Stoke City (returning to the top flight after absences of two and twenty-three years respectively) and Hull City (playing top flight football for the first time ever). This was also Stoke City's first season in the Premier League. They replaced Reading (relegated to the Championship after a two-year top-flight spell), Birmingham City and Derby County (both teams relegated after a season's presence).

Stadiums and locations

 

 

London

 

Greater Manchester

 

Aston Villa

 

Blackburn Rovers

 

Everton

 

Hull City

 

Liverpool

 

Middlesbrough

 

Newcastle United

 

Portsmouth

 

Stoke City

 

Sunderland

 

West Bromwich Albion

 

London teams:
Arsenal
Chelsea
Fulham
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United

 

Greater Manchester teams:
Bolton Wanderers
Manchester City
Manchester United
Wigan Athletic

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Locations of the 2008–09 Premier League teams

 

 

Arsenal

 

Chelsea

 

Fulham

 

Tottenham
Hotspur

 

West Ham United

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Greater London Premier League football clubs

 

 

Bolton Wanderers

 

Manchester City

 

Manchester United

 

Wigan Athletic

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Greater Manchester Premier League football clubs

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Arsenal	London (Holloway)	Emirates Stadium	60,432
Aston Villa	Birmingham	Villa Park	42,640
Blackburn Rovers	Blackburn	Ewood Park	31,367
Bolton Wanderers	Bolton	Reebok Stadium	28,723
Chelsea	London (Fulham)	Stamford Bridge	42,055
Everton	Liverpool (Walton)	Goodison Park	40,157
Fulham	London (Fulham)	Craven Cottage	26,500
Hull City	Kingston upon Hull	KC Stadium	25,404
Liverpool	Liverpool (Anfield)	Anfield	45,276^[9]
Manchester City	Manchester (Bradford)	City of Manchester Stadium	47,726
Manchester United	Manchester (Old Trafford)	Old Trafford	76,212
Middlesbrough	Middlesbrough	Riverside Stadium	35,100
Newcastle United	Newcastle upon Tyne	St James' Park	52,387
Portsmouth	Portsmouth	Fratton Park	20,224
Stoke City	Stoke-on-Trent	Britannia Stadium	28,000
Sunderland	Sunderland	Stadium of Light	49,000
Tottenham Hotspur	London (Tottenham)	White Hart Lane	36,240
West Bromwich Albion	West Bromwich	The Hawthorns	25,369
West Ham United	London (Upton Park)	Upton Park	35,303
Wigan Athletic	Wigan	JJB Stadium	25,138

Personnel and kits

(as of 24 May 2009)

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Arsenal	Arsène Wenger	Cesc Fàbregas	Nike	Fly Emirates
Aston Villa	Martin O'Neill	Martin Laursen	Nike	Acorns^[10]
Blackburn Rovers	Sam Allardyce	Ryan Nelsen	Umbro	Crown Paints^[11]
Bolton Wanderers	Gary Megson	Kevin Davies	Reebok	Reebok
Chelsea	Guus Hiddink	John Terry	Adidas	Samsung
Everton	David Moyes	Phil Neville	Umbro	Chang
Fulham	Roy Hodgson	Danny Murphy	Nike	LG
Hull City	Phil Brown	Ian Ashbee	Umbro	Karoo (H) / Kingston Communications (A, 3rd)
Liverpool	Rafael Benítez	Steven Gerrard	Adidas	Carlsberg
Manchester City	Mark Hughes	Richard Dunne	Le Coq Sportif	Thomas Cook
Manchester United	Sir Alex Ferguson	Gary Neville	Nike	AIG
Middlesbrough	Gareth Southgate	Emmanuel Pogatetz	Erreà	Garmin
Newcastle United	Alan Shearer	Nicky Butt	Adidas	Northern Rock
Portsmouth	Paul Hart	David James	Canterbury	Oki
Stoke City	Tony Pulis	Andy Griffin	Le Coq Sportif	Britannia
Sunderland	Ricky Sbragia	Dean Whitehead	Umbro	Boylesports
Tottenham Hotspur	Harry Redknapp	Ledley King	Puma	Mansion.com Casino & Poker
West Bromwich Albion	Tony Mowbray	Jonathan Greening	Umbro	None
West Ham United	Gianfranco Zola	Matthew Upson	Umbro	XL Holidays^[12] / SBOBET^[13]
Wigan Athletic	Steve Bruce	Mario Melchiot	Champion	JJB Sports

Also, Nike provided new match balls, white with red and yellow (autumn/spring) and yellow with purple and black (winter), based on their T90 Laser II Omni model.

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Chelsea	Avram Grant	Sacked	24 May 2008^[14]	Pre-season	Luiz Felipe Scolari	1 July 2008^[15]
Manchester City	Sven-Göran Eriksson	Mutual consent	2 June 2008^[16]		Mark Hughes	4 June 2008^[17]
Blackburn Rovers	Mark Hughes	Manchester City purchased rights for £4.6m^[18]	4 June 2008^[17]		Paul Ince	22 June 2008^[19]
West Ham United	Alan Curbishley	Resigned	3 September 2008^[20]	5th	Gianfranco Zola	11 September 2008^[21]
Newcastle United	Kevin Keegan		4 September 2008^[22]	11th	Joe Kinnear^[1]	26 September 2008^[23]
Tottenham Hotspur	Juande Ramos	Sacked	25 October 2008^[24]	20th	Harry Redknapp	26 October 2008^[24]
Portsmouth	Harry Redknapp	Signed by Tottenham	26 October 2008^[24]	7th	Tony Adams	28 October 2008^[25]
Sunderland	Roy Keane	Resigned	4 December 2008^[26]	18th	Ricky Sbragia	27 December 2008^[27]
Blackburn Rovers	Paul Ince	Sacked	16 December 2008^[28]	19th	Sam Allardyce	17 December 2008^[29]
Portsmouth	Tony Adams		9 February 2009^[30]	16th	Paul Hart^[2]	9 February 2009^[30]
Chelsea	Luiz Felipe Scolari		9 February 2009^[31]	4th	Guus Hiddink^[3]	11 February 2009^[32]
Newcastle United	Joe Kinnear	Medical break clause	16 February 2009	13th	Alan Shearer^[4]	31 March 2009^[33]

• ^1 Newcastle United manager Joe Kinnear was originally appointed as interim manager until the end of October on 26 September, signed a one-month contract extension on 24 October, and was named manager until the end of the English football season on 28 November.
• ^2 Portsmouth caretaker manager Paul Hart was appointed on 9 February. On 3 March chairman Alexandre Gaydamak confirmed the appointment would be until at least the end of the English football season.^[34]
• ^3 Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink remained Russia manager until the end of the English football season, when he left Chelsea and returned to his Russia duties on a full-time basis.
• ^4 Newcastle United manager Joe Kinnear took leave from Newcastle United following heart bypass surgery on 16 February. His assistants, Chris Hughton and Colin Calderwood, were appointed to serve as caretaker managers until his return, which was understood might not occur before the end of the English football season. On 31 March, Alan Shearer was appointed manager until the end of the season, as Joe Kinnear was not able to return to his Newcastle United duties until the end of the English football season. After the season ended, both Joe Kinnear and Alan Shearer left the club permanently, and Chris Hughton was appointed manager during the course of the following season.
• ^5 Roberto Martínez was announced to be manager on 9 June, however due to complications surrounding the appointment of backroom staff, the deal was not finalised and officially announced until 15 June.

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Manchester United (C)	38	28	6	4	68	24	+44	90	Qualification for the Champions League group stage^[a]
2	Liverpool	38	25	11	2	77	27	+50	86
3	Chelsea	38	25	8	5	68	24	+44	83
4	Arsenal	38	20	12	6	68	37	+31	72	Qualification for the Champions League play-off round
5	Everton	38	17	12	9	55	37	+18	63	Qualification for the Europa League play-off round^[a]
6	Aston Villa	38	17	11	10	54	48	+6	62
7	Fulham	38	14	11	13	39	34	+5	53	Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round^[a]
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	38	12	9	17	34	45	−11	45
12	Stoke City	38	12	9	17	38	55	−17	45
13	Bolton Wanderers	38	11	8	19	41	53	−12	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 Football League 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: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Since both finalists of the FA Cup (Chelsea and Everton) and the League Cup winners (Manchester United) qualified for the European competitions based on their league position, the sixth-placed team (Aston Villa) received a berth in the Europa League play-off round and the seventh-placed team (Fulham) received a berth in the Europa League third qualifying round.

Results

Home \ Away	ARS	AVL	BLB	BOL	CHE	EVE	FUL	HUL	LIV	MCI	MUN	MID	NEW	POR	STK	SUN	TOT	WBA	WHU	WIG
Arsenal		0–2	4–0	1–0	1–4	3–1	0–0	1–2	1–1	2–0	2–1	2–0	3–0	1–0	4–1	0–0	4–4	1–0	0–0	1–0
Aston Villa	2–2		3–2	4–2	0–1	3–3	0–0	1–0	0–0	4–2	0–0	1–2	1–0	0–0	2–2	2–1	1–2	2–1	1–1	0–0
Blackburn Rovers	0–4	0–2		2–2	0–2	0–0	1–0	1–1	1–3	2–2	0–2	1–1	3–0	2–0	3–0	1–2	2–1	0–0	1–1	2–0
Bolton Wanderers	1–3	1–1	0–0		0–2	0–1	1–3	1–1	0–2	2–0	0–1	4–1	1–0	2–1	3–1	0–0	3–2	0–0	2–1	0–1
Chelsea	1–2	2–0	2–0	4–3		0–0	3–1	0–0	0–1	1–0	1–1	2–0	0–0	4–0	2–1	5–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–1
Everton	1–1	2–3	2–3	3–0	0–0		1–0	2–0	0–2	1–2	1–1	1–1	2–2	0–3	3–1	3–0	0–0	2–0	3–1	4–0
Fulham	1–0	3–1	1–2	2–1	2–2	0–2		0–1	0–1	1–1	2–0	3–0	2–1	3–1	1–0	0–0	2–1	2–0	1–2	2–0
Hull City	1–3	0–1	1–2	0–1	0–3	2–2	2–1		1–3	2–2	0–1	2–1	1–1	0–0	1–2	1–4	1–2	2–2	1–0	0–5
Liverpool	4–4	5–0	4–0	3–0	2–0	1–1	0–0	2–2		1–1	2–1	2–1	3–0	1–0	0–0	2–0	3–1	3–0	0–0	3–2
Manchester City	3–0	2–0	3–1	1–0	1–3	0–1	1–3	5–1	2–3		0–1	1–0	2–1	6–0	3–0	1–0	1–2	4–2	3–0	1–0
Manchester United	0–0	3–2	2–1	2–0	3–0	1–0	3–0	4–3	1–4	2–0		1–0	1–1	2–0	5–0	1–0	5–2	4–0	2–0	1–0
Middlesbrough	1–1	1–1	0–0	1–3	0–5	0–1	0–0	3–1	2–0	2–0	0–2		0–0	1–1	2–1	1–1	2–1	0–1	1–1	0–0
Newcastle United	1–3	2–0	1–2	1–0	0–2	0–0	0–1	1–2	1–5	2–2	1–2	3–1		0–0	2–2	1–1	2–1	2–1	2–2	2–2
Portsmouth	0–3	0–1	3–2	1–0	0–1	2–1	1–1	2–2	2–3	2–0	0–1	2–1	0–3		2–1	3–1	2–0	2–2	1–4	1–2
Stoke City	2–1	3–2	1–0	2–0	0–2	2–3	0–0	1–1	0–0	1–0	0–1	1–0	1–1	2–2		1–0	2–1	1–0	0–1	2–0
Sunderland	1–1	1–2	0–0	1–4	2–3	0–2	1–0	1–0	0–1	0–3	1–2	2–0	2–1	1–2	2–0		1–1	4–0	0–1	1–2
Tottenham Hotspur	0–0	1–2	1–0	2–0	1–0	0–1	0–0	0–1	2–1	2–1	0–0	4–0	1–0	1–1	3–1	1–2		1–0	1–0	0–0
West Bromwich Albion	1–3	1–2	2–2	1–1	0–3	1–2	1–0	0–3	0–2	2–1	0–5	3–0	2–3	1–1	0–2	3–0	2–0		3–2	3–1
West Ham United	0–2	0–1	4–1	1–3	0–1	1–3	3–1	2–0	0–3	1–0	0–1	2–1	3–1	0–0	2–1	2–0	0–2	0–0		2–1
Wigan Athletic	1–4	0–4	3–0	0–0	0–1	1–0	0–0	1–0	1–1	2–1	1–2	0–1	2–1	1–0	0–0	1–1	1–0	2–1	0–1

Source: Barclays Premier League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Scoring

• First goal of the season: Samir Nasri for Arsenal against West Bromwich, 3 minutes and 40 seconds. (16 August 2008).^[6]
• Last goal of the season: Kenwyne Jones for Sunderland against Chelsea, 90 minutes. (24 May 2009)
• Fastest goal in a match: 31 seconds – Steve Sidwell for Aston Villa against Everton (7 December 2008))^[35]
• Goal scored at the latest point in a match: 90+4 minutes and 56 seconds – Carlton Cole for West Ham United against Blackburn (30 August 2008)^[36]
• First own goal of the season: Robert Huth (Middlesbrough) for Tottenham Hotspur, 90+2 minutes and 28 seconds (16 August 2008)^[37]
• First hat-trick of the season and fastest hat-trick of the season: Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa) against Manchester City, 7 minutes and 3 seconds (17 August 2008)^[7]
• Most goals scored by one player in a match: 4 goals – Andrey Arshavin (Arsenal) against Liverpool, 36', 67', 70', 90' (21 April 2009)^[38]
• Widest winning margin: 6 goals – Manchester City 6–0 Portsmouth (21 September 2008)^[39]
• Most goals in a match: 8 goals
  • Arsenal 4–4 Tottenham Hotspur (29 October 2008)^[40]
  • Liverpool 4–4 Arsenal (21 April 2009)^[38]
• Most goals in one half: 7 goals – Liverpool v Arsenal (21 April 2009) 0–1 at half time, 4–4 final^[38]
• Most goals in one half by a single team: 5 goals – Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur (25 April 2009) 0–2 at half-time, 5–2 final^[41]

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals^[42]
1	Nicolas Anelka	Chelsea	19
2	Cristiano Ronaldo	Manchester United	18
3	Steven Gerrard	Liverpool	16
4	Robinho	Manchester City	14
	Fernando Torres	Liverpool	14
6	Gabriel Agbonlahor	Aston Villa	12
	Darren Bent	Tottenham Hotspur	12
	Kevin Davies	Bolton Wanderers	12
	Dirk Kuyt	Liverpool	12
	Frank Lampard	Chelsea	12
	Wayne Rooney	Manchester United	12

Clean sheets

• Most clean sheets – Manchester United (24)
• Fewest clean sheets – Hull City (6)

Discipline

• First yellow card of the season: Sam Ricketts for Hull City against Fulham, 28 minutes and 6 seconds (16 August 2008)^[43]
• First red card of the season: Mark Noble for West Ham United against Manchester City, 37 minutes and 20 seconds (24 August 2008)^[44]
• Card given at latest point in a game: Michael Dawson (red) at 90+8 minutes and 28 seconds for Tottenham Hotspur against Stoke City (19 October 2008)^[45]
• Most yellow cards in a single match: 8
  • Chelsea 1–1 Manchester United – one for Chelsea (Mikel John Obi) and seven for Manchester United (Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville, Dimitar Berbatov, Wayne Rooney, Patrice Evra and Cristiano Ronaldo) (21 September 2008)^[46]
  • Sunderland 1–1 Arsenal – three for Sunderland (Dean Whitehead, Kieran Richardson and Dwight Yorke) and five for Arsenal (Gaël Clichy, Kolo Touré, Alex Song, Nicklas Bendtner and Emmanuel Adebayor) (4 October 2008)^[47]
  • Aston Villa 2–2 Arsenal – four for Aston Villa (Gabriel Agbonlahor, Nigel Reo-Coker, Stiliyan Petrov and Gareth Barry) and four for Arsenal (Alex Song, Kolo Touré, Abou Diaby and Robin van Persie) (26 December 2008)^[48]
  • Manchester United 3–0 Chelsea – three for Manchester United (Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Park Ji-sung) and five for Chelsea (Frank Lampard, José Bosingwa, Ricardo Carvalho, John Terry and Juliano Belletti) (11 January 2009)^[49]
  • Manchester City 1–0 Sunderland – three for Manchester City (Valeri Bojinov, Gélson Fernandes and Shaun Wright-Phillips) and five for Sunderland (Phil Bardsley, Calum Davenport, Grant Leadbitter, Andy Reid and Anton Ferdinand) (22 March 2009)^[50]
• Most red cards in a single match: 3 – Manchester City 1–2 Tottenham Hotspur – two for Manchester City (Richard Dunne and Gélson Fernandes) and one for Tottenham Hotspur (Benoît Assou-Ekotto) (9 November 2008)^[51]

Table related statistics

Overall

• Most wins – Manchester United (28)
• Fewest wins – Middlesbrough and Newcastle United (7)
• Most losses – West Bromwich Albion (22)
• Fewest losses – Liverpool (2)
• Most goals scored – Liverpool (77)
• Fewest goals scored – Middlesbrough (28)
• Most goals conceded – West Bromwich Albion (67)
• Fewest goals conceded – Chelsea and Manchester United (24)

Home

• Most wins – Manchester United (16)
• Fewest wins – Hull City (3)
• Most losses – Hull City (11)
• Fewest losses – Liverpool (0)
• Most goals scored – Manchester United (43)
• Fewest goals scored – Middlesbrough and Wigan Athletic (17)
• Most goals conceded – Hull City (36)
• Fewest goals conceded – Tottenham Hotspur (10)

Away

• Most wins – Chelsea (14)
• Fewest wins – West Bromwich Albion (1)
• Most losses – Middlesbrough (15)
• Fewest losses – Liverpool (2)
• Most goals scored – Arsenal (37)
• Fewest goals scored – West Bromwich Albion (10)
• Most goals conceded – Stoke City (40)
• Fewest goals conceded – Manchester United (11)

Miscellaneous

• Longest injury time: 11 minutes, 2 seconds – Stoke City against Tottenham Hotspur (19 October 2008)^[52]

Awards

Monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month
	Manager	Club	Player	Club
August^[53]	Gareth Southgate	Middlesbrough	Deco	Chelsea
September^[54]^[55]	Phil Brown	Hull City	Ashley Young	Aston Villa
October^[56]	Rafael Benítez	Liverpool	Frank Lampard	Chelsea
November^[57]	Gary Megson	Bolton Wanderers	Nicolas Anelka	Chelsea
December^[58]	Martin O'Neill	Aston Villa	Ashley Young	Aston Villa
January^[59]	Sir Alex Ferguson	Manchester United	Nemanja Vidić	Manchester United
February^[60]	David Moyes	Everton	Phil Jagielka	Everton
March^[61]	Rafael Benítez	Liverpool	Steven Gerrard	Liverpool
April^[62]	Sir Alex Ferguson	Manchester United	Andrey Arshavin	Arsenal

Annual awards

Premier League Manager of the Season

Sir Alex Ferguson, 67, picked up the Premier League Manager of the Season for the ninth time. During his hugely successful spell with Manchester United, which began in 1986, he won eleven Premier League titles, five FA Cups, three League Cups, three European titles, one Intercontinental Cup and one Club World Cup.^[63]

Premier League Player of the Season

Nemanja Vidić, 27, won the Premier League Player of the Season accolade for the first time.^[64]

PFA Players' Player of the Year

The PFA Players' Player of the Year award for 2009 was won by Ryan Giggs of Manchester United.

The shortlist for the PFA Players' Player of the Year award was as follows:

• Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United)
• Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
• Ryan Giggs (Manchester United)
• Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
• Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United)
• Nemanja Vidić (Manchester United)

PFA Team of the Year

Van der Sar Johnson Vidić Ferdinand Evra Ronaldo Gerrard Giggs Young Anelka Torres PFA Team of the Year

Goalkeeper: Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United)
Defence: Glen Johnson (Portsmouth), Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidić (all Manchester United)
Midfield: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Cristiano Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs (both Manchester United), Ashley Young (Aston Villa)
Attack: Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea), Fernando Torres (Liverpool)

PFA Young Player of the Year

The PFA Young Player of the Year award was won by Ashley Young of Aston Villa.

The shortlist for the award was as follows:

• Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa)
• Jonny Evans (Manchester United)
• Stephen Ireland (Man City)
• Aaron Lennon (Tottenham Hotspur)
• Rafael (Manchester United)
• Ashley Young (Aston Villa)

FWA Footballer of the Year

The FWA Footballer of the Year award for 2009 was won by Steven Gerrard for the first time. The Liverpool captain saw off the challenges of Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs and forward Wayne Rooney, who finished second and third respectively.

Premier League Golden Boot

Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka won the Premier League Golden Boot award for the first time. He scored 19 goals in 35 appearances, which ensured he finished as the season's top scorer.

Premier League Golden Glove

Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar collected the Premier League Golden Glove award for the first time. He kept a total of 21 clean sheets in 33 appearances, including a record run of 11 consecutive clean sheets (1,311 minutes) from Stoke City on 15 November 2008 to West Bromwich Albion on 27 January 2009.

Premier League Fair Play Award

The Premier League Fair Play Award is merit given to the team who has been the most sporting and best behaved team. Fulham won this, ahead of London neighbours Chelsea and Arsenal. Hull City were deemed the least sporting side, finished in last place in the rankings^[65][66][67]

LMA Manager of the Year

The LMA Manager of the Year award was won by David Moyes after he led Everton to back-to-back fifth-place finishes and the FA Cup Final.^[68]

PFA Fans' Player of the Year

Steven Gerrard was named the PFA Fans' Player of the Year.^[69]

Premier League Merit Award

• Aston Villa and former Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper Brad Friedel was honoured with the Premier League Merit Award after reaching 167 consecutive Premier League appearances on 5 December 2008.^[70]
• Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar collected the Premier League Premier League Merit Award after breaking the Premier League record for minutes played without conceding a goal, spanning 11 consecutive clean sheets from Stoke City on 15 November 2008 to West Bromwich Albion on 27 January 2009.^[71]
• Portsmouth goalkeeper David James was honoured with the Premier League Premier League Merit Award after he broke the Premier League's appearance record with 536 appearances on 14 February 2009 in Portsmouth's 2–0 victory over Manchester City.^[72]

Premier League Spirit Award

The Premier League Spirit Award is given to "the player or manager whose actions best encapsulate the spirit of the game". In recognition for leading his club to the top of the Fair Play league, the Premier League Spirit Award for 2008–09 was given to Fulham manager Roy Hodgson.^[73]

Behaviour of the Public League

Given to the best-behaved fans, Fulham won this for the third consecutive year, rounding off a hat-trick of sporting awards.^[65]

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External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to FA Premier League season 2008-2009.

• League and cup results for all the 2008/09 Premier Division clubs at footballsite
• 2008–09 Premier League Season at RSSSF
• at premierleague.com